1942 United States Senate election in Massachusetts

Republican primary

Candidates

• Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., incumbent US Senator since 1937
• Courtenay Crocker, former Boston City Councilor (1909–1910) and State Representative (1910–1914)

Campaign

Crocker, who left the Republican Party in 1920 over the party's opposition to the League of Nations and Treaty of Versailles, returned and announced his candidacy for the United States Senate against Senator Lodge, whose grandfather led the 1920 charge against the League and Treaty. Massachusetts Secretary of State Frederic W. Cook ruled that Crocker was ineligible to run in the Republican primary because he did not register as a Republican at least 30 days before filing his nomination papers. However, Suffolk Superior Court Judge John V. Spalding ordered Cook to place Crocker on the ballot.

Results

After losing the primary, Crocker supported Democratic nominee Joseph E. Casey in the general election.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Joseph E. Casey, U.S. Representative from Clinton
• Daniel H. Coakley, former member of the Massachusetts Executive Council
• John F. Fitzgerald, former U.S. Representative and Mayor of Boston
• Joseph Lee, former member of the Boston School Committee

Results

General election

Candidates

• Joseph E. Casey, U.S. Representative from Canton (Democratic)
• Horace Hillis, candidate for Governor in 1936 and Senate in 1940 (Socialist Labor)
• Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., incumbent Senator since 1937 (Republican)
• George Lyman Paine, candidate for Senate in 1940 (Socialist)
• George Thompson, candidate for Governor in 1936 and Senate in 1940 (Prohibition)

Campaign

Casey attempted to make an issue of Lodge's pre-war isolationism, although he had voted for the Lend-Lease Act in 1941. Lodge countered that his isolationism had been rooted in concerns over the nation's lack of military preparedness.

Lodge, an Army reservist himself, was briefly unable to campaign after he enlisted and was sent to Libya for training. While there, he inadvertently took part in a major Allied defeat when Erwin Rommel launched a surprise attack on Lodge's training position in Tobruk. He returned to Massachusetts in July, when President Roosevelt required all members of Congress be relieved from active duty. When Casey attempted to portray his service as a mere "Cook's tour of the Libyan desert," Lodge angrily refuted him.

Late in the campaign, Lodge drew criticism from U.S. Representative John W. McCormack and Secretary of War Henry Stimson for citing a letter from Stimson commending his military service in his campaign. Lodge responded that the use of the letter was only made in response to Casey's and McCormack's earlier "slurs on men in the armed forces."

Results

References

References

1. (July 28, 1942). "Ely and Crocker File for Senate". The Boston Daily Globe.
2. "Our Campaigns - MA US Senate - D Primary Race - Sep 15, 1942".
3. Harris, John G.. (October 25, 1942). "Courtenay Crocker Bolts Lodge, Will Support Casey for Senator". The Boston Daily Globe.
4. Whalen, Thomas J.. (2000). "Kennedy versus Lodge: The 1952 United States Senate Election in Massachusetts". Northeastern University Press.
5. (3 Nov 1942). "LODGE IS ACCUSED OF MISUSING LETTER". [[The New York Times]].