The 1922 United States Senate election in Texas was held on November 7, 1922. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Charles Culberson ran for re-election to a fifth term, but lost the Democratic primary.[2] A runoff was held between former Governor Pa Ferguson and Railroads Commissioner Earle Bradford Mayfield.
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County Results[1]
Mayfield: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% | ||||||||||||||||||||
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In the runoff, Mayfield, a member of the Texas Railroad Commission defeated Ferguson for the Democratic nomination, then tantamount to election in Texas as a legacy of the American Civil War. Mayfield had the support of the resurgent Ku Klux Klan, and anti-Klan activists in the Democratic Party including George Peddy were unable to have him stripped of the nomination.[3] Peddy agreed to run against Mayfield as the candidate of the "Independent Democrats," members of the party who opposed the Klan.[4] The Texas Republican Party also backed Peddy, but after a lengthy court battle, they were unable to have him included on the general election ballot as their official nominee.[5]
Peddy ran a write-in campaign as the candidate of the Independent Democrats and Republicans.[6] Peddy also ran with the endorsements of Senator Culberson and President Warren G. Harding.[5][7] In the general election, he ran a surprisingly strong race and held Mayfield to a smaller margin than was usual for Texas Democrats, but Mayfield defeated him 264,260 votes (66.9%) to 130,744 (33.1%).[8] Peddy challenged Mayfield's election, and the subsequent Senate investigation prevented Mayfield from taking his seat as scheduled on March 4, 1923.[3] Mayfield assumed his seat on December 3, 1923,[9][10] and was sworn in pending a resolution to Peddy's challenge, which was ultimately denied on February 4, 1925.[11]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Earle B. Mayfield | 153,538 | 26.78% | |
Democratic | Pa Ferguson | 127,071 | 22.16% | |
Democratic | Charles Culberson (incumbent) | 99,635 | 17.38% | |
Democratic | Cullen F. Thomas | 88,026 | 15.35% | |
Democratic | Charles Ousley | 62,451 | 10.89% | |
Democratic | Robert Lee Henry | 41,567 | 7.25% | |
Democratic | Sterling P. Strong (withdrew) | 1,085 | 0.19% | |
Total votes | 573,373 | 100.00% |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Earle B. Mayfield | 273,308 | 54.44% | |
Democratic | Pa Ferguson | 228,701 | 45.56% | |
Total votes | 502,009 | 100.00% |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Earle B. Mayfield | 264,260 | 66.90% | 14.40 | |
Ind. Democratic | George Peddy (write-in) | 130,744 | 33.10% | 20.01 | |
Total votes | 395,004 | 100.00% | |||
Democratic hold |