1928 United States Senate election in New Jersey

* * *

| <- 1922 | November 6, 1928 | 1934 ->

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Nominee  | Hamilton Fish Kean | Edward I. Edwards |
Party  | Republican | Democratic
Popular vote  | 841,752 | 608,623
Percentage  | 57.87% | 41.84%

* * *

County results
Kean:  50–60% 60–70% 70–80%
Edwards:  60–70%

* * *

| Senator before election

Edward I. Edwards
Democratic

| Elected Senator

Hamilton Fish Kean
Republican

|

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* v
* t
* e

The United States Senate election of 1928 in New Jersey was held on November 6, 1928. Incumbent Democratic Senator Edward I. Edwards ran for re-election to a second term in office, but was defeated by Hamilton Fish Kean in a landslide. This was the third of four straight elections to this seat in which the incumbents were defeated.

## Democratic primary[edit]

### Candidates[edit]

* Edward I. Edwards, incumbent Senator since 1923

### Results[edit]

Senator Edwards was unopposed for the re-nomination.

1928 Democratic U.S. Senate primary[1] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %

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|
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| Democratic | Edward I. Edwards (incumbent)  | 153,528  | 100.0%
Total votes  | 153,528  | 100.0%

## Republican primary[edit]

### Candidates[edit]

* Lillian Feickert, suffragette, former vice-chair of the New Jersey Republican Party, and prohibition activist[1]
* Joseph Frelinghuysen, former U.S. Senator (1917–23)[1]
* Edward W. Gray, former U.S. Representative from Jersey City (1915–19)[1]
* Hamilton Fish Kean, member of the Republican National Committee and candidate for Senate in 1924[1]
* Edward C. Stokes, former Governor of New Jersey (1905–08)[1]

### Campaign[edit]

In June 1924, former Senator Joseph Frelinghuysen declined to run for the U.S. Senate and announced his intention to run in this election instead.[2]

In June 1927, party chair and former Governor Edward C. Stokes entered the race after failing to convince Frelinghuysen and Hamilton Fish Kean to step aside for a compromise candidate. Frelinghuysen derided Stokes for having no particular candidate in mind.[3]

Kean formally announced his entry into the race on January 19, claiming that President Calvin Coolidge had advised him to run.[4]

Lillian Feickert and Edward W. Gray ran peripheral campaigns focused on the issue of prohibition; Feickert supported prohibition and Gray was opposed.[5] Feickert ran as the sole "dry" candidate.[6]

### Endorsements[edit]

Joseph Frelinghuysen

* Clarence Case, New Jersey Senator for Somerset County[2]
* Somerset County Republican Party[2]

Hamilton Fish Kean

* Enoch L. Johnson[7]

Edward C. Stokes

* Walter Evans Edge, United States Senator from New Jersey[7][8]

### Campaign spending[edit]

In February, Frelinghuysen claimed that other candidates were spending too freely and risking an investigation by James Reed's Senate committee on campaign spending, which had begun investigations into the elections of William Scott Vare and Frank L. Smith. (Both would ultimately be expelled.) Most observers took this as an attack on Kean.[9]

Kean, Frelinghuysen, and Stokes were all called to testify before the Reed committee in early June. Both Kean and Frelinghuysen testified that they donated the maximum $50,000 to their campaigns and did not accept outside funding; Kean repudiated charges from the committee that he had issued a "blank check."[7]

Kean claimed $49,366.30 in spending. Frelinghuysen claimed $48,774.97.[7] Stokes testified that he had raised 16,355, of which he contributed $3,000 personally. He claimed to have spent only $14,609.[10]

### Results[edit]

1928 Republican U.S. Senate primary[1] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %

|
|
|

| Republican | Hamilton Fish Kean | 167,029  | 33.57%
| Republican | Edward C. Stokes | 142,123  | 28.56%
| Republican | Joseph S. Frelinghuysen | 137,440  | 27.62%
| Republican | Lillian Feickert | 26,029  | 5.23%
| Republican | Edward W. Gray | 24,959  | 5.02%
Total votes  | 497,580  | 100.0%

On election night, the results were too close to call.[5]

Robert Carey, a reformist Jersey City judge who lost the Republican nomination for Governor to Morgan F. Larson, quickly alleged that many Hudson County Democrats had voted in the Republican primary for Larson and Stokes as part of a deal with Democratic boss Frank Hague. Carey demanded an investigation by the state Attorney General, which Kean and Frelinghuysen seconded.[5]

#### Results by county[edit]

County  | Kean  | %  | Stokes  | %  | Frelinghuysen  | %  | Feickert  | %  | Gray  | %  | Total

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Atlantic | 22,672 | 70% | 5,258  | 16%  | 2,600  | 8%  | 954  | 3%  | 906  | 3%  | 32,390
Bergen | 13,107  | 31%  | 5,566  | 13%  | 17,355 | 41% | 2,560  | 6%  | 3,349  | 8%  | 41,937
Burlington | 5,125  | 27%  | 6,198 | 33% | 5,088  | 27%  | 1,568  | 8%  | 1,051  | 6%  | 19,030
Camden | 27,095 | 52% | 9,416  | 18%  | 11,066  | 21%  | 2,610  | 5%  | 1,873  | 4%  | 52,060
Cape May | 4,021 | 55% | 1,678  | 23%  | 948  | 13%  | 480  | 7%  | 237  | 3%  | 7,364
Cumberland | 1,468  | 9%  | 10,254 | 62% | 3,314  | 20%  | 1,063  | 6%  | 417  | 3%  | 16,516
Essex | 22,274  | 29%  | 19,926  | 26%  | 26,559 | 34% | 3,272  | 4%  | 5,806  | 7%  | 77,837
Gloucester | 3,801  | 25%  | 3,105  | 20%  | 7,495 | 49% | 658  | 4%  | 358  | 2%  | 15,417
Hudson | 9,049  | 19%  | 26,373 | 54% | 9,808  | 20%  | 1,415  | 3%  | 2,070  | 4%  | 48,715
Hunterdon | 707  | 18%  | 1,274  | 32%  | 1,599 | 40% | 301  | 8%  | 107  | 3%  | 3,988
Mercer | 1,753  | 8%  | 14,966 | 71% | 2,966  | 14%  | 911  | 4%  | 625  | 3%  | 21,221
Middlesex | 5,650  | 27%  | 7,448 | 35% | 5,972  | 28%  | 1,247  | 6%  | 814  | 4%  | 21,131
Monmouth | 8,091 | 43% | 4,088  | 22%  | 4,547  | 24%  | 1,162  | 6%  | 881  | 5%  | 18,769
Morris | 3,754  | 22%  | 5,502  | 33%  | 7,591 | 45% | 1,588  | 9%  | 1,029  | 6%  | 16,847
Ocean | 3,040 | 40% | 1,372  | 18%  | 2,116  | 28%  | 340  | 5%  | 660  | 9%  | 7,528
Passaic | 16,267 | 44% | 7,807  | 21%  | 9,461  | 26%  | 1,234  | 3%  | 1,834  | 5%  | 36,603
Salem | 1,258  | 25%  | 1,896 | 37% | 1,258  | 25%  | 585  | 11%  | 109  | 2%  | 5,106
Somerset | 1,093  | 12%  | 1,257  | 13%  | 5,764 | 62% | 870  | 9%  | 339  | 4%  | 9,323
Sussex | 536  | 21%  | 747  | 29%  | 892 | 34% | 237  | 9%  | 184  | 7%  | 2,596
Union | 15,409 | 42% | 6,253  | 17%  | 9,933  | 27%  | 2,614  | 7%  | 2,141  | 6%  | 36,350
Warren | 859  | 20%  | 1,739 | 41% | 1,108  | 26%  | 360  | 9%  | 169  | 4%  | 4,235

### Aftermath[edit]

The primary left a lasting rift in the state Republican Party. At the party convention weeks later, Stokes denounced "payroll politicians" and unsuccessfully called for a resolution to bar candidates from spending except on specific items, which he claimed would prevent the nomination from being "purchased."[11] Frelinghuysen also demanded an investigation of Carey's charges against Hague, denouncing "those who pretended to be loyal Republicans but who traded with the Democratic bosses."[11]

Frelinghuysen finally endorsed Kean in September, citing his friendship with Herbert Hoover and his support for the "progressive policies" of the Coolidge administration.[12] He ran for Senate again in 1930 but finished a distant third in the primary to Dwight Morrow.

## General election[edit]

### Candidates[edit]

* Charlotte L. Bohlin (Socialist)
* Edward I. Edwards (Democrat), incumbent Senator
* Hamilton Fish Kean (Republican), banker and member of the Republican National Committee
* Will D. Martin (Prohibition)
* Frank Sanders (Socialist Labor)
* Albert Weisbord (Workers)

### Results[edit]

1928 United States Senate election in New Jersey[13][14] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %

|
|
|

| Republican | Hamilton Fish Kean | 841,752  | 57.87%
| Democratic | Edward I. Edwards (incumbent)  | 608,623  | 41.84%
| Socialist | Charlotte L. Bohlin  | 2,267  | 0.16%
| Workers  | Albert Weisbrod  | 1,333  | 0.09%
| Prohibition | Will D. Martin  | 372  | 0.03%
| Socialist Labor | Frank Sanders  | 280  | 0.02%
Majority  | 232,129  | 16.03%
Turnout | 1,454,627  |
| Republican gain from Democratic

## See also[edit]

* 1928 United States Senate elections

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g Secretary of the State of New Jersey. "Results of the Primary Election May 15th, 1928" (PDF). Retrieved August 18, 2021.
2. ^ a b c "FRELINGHUYSEN OUT OF RACE THIS YEAR: Defeated United States Senator Will Run Again in 1928, It Is Announced". The New York Times. June 29, 1924. p. 10. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
3. ^ "FRELINGHUYSEN HITS STOKES PEACE PLAN". The New York Times. June 22, 1927. p. 30. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
4. ^ "KEAN ENTERS RACE FOR JERSEY SENATE". The New York Times. January 20, 1928. p. 2. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
5. ^ a b c "KEAN HOLDS LEAD BY NARROW MARGIN IN JERSEY PRIMARY". The New York Times. May 16, 1928. p. 1. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
6. ^ "WOMAN IN RACE FOR U.S. SENATE". The New York Times. April 15, 1928. p. 140. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
7. ^ a b c d "NEW JERSEY FUNDS LESS THAN $50,000". The New York Times. June 5, 1928. p. 5. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
8. ^ "EDGE BACKS STOKES AT TRENTON PARLEY". The New York Times. April 7, 1928. p. 4. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
9. ^ "BIG FUNDS SCORED BY FRELINGHUYSEN: Candidate Warns Senate Inquiry Into Primary Expenditures in Jersey Is Possible". The New York Times. February 22, 1928. p. 3. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
10. ^ "STOKES LAYS DEFEAT TO RIVALS' SPENDING". The New York Times. June 6, 1928. p. 7. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
11. ^ a b "REPUBLICANS FAIL TO HEAL JERSEY RIFT". The New York Times. May 30, 1928. p. 8. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
12. ^ "FRELINGHUYSEN FOR KEAN". The New York Times. September 11, 1928. p. 4. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
13. ^ "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 3, 1928" (PDF). Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
14. ^ "Our Campaigns - NJ US Senate Race - Nov 06, 1928". www.ourcampaigns.com.

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