1942 Election Cycle
Republicans dominated again at the ballot box although there was one incumbent electoral casualty. Lieutenant Governor C. Elmer Anderson was defeated in the GOP primary by state Dairy and Food Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of Agriculture Edward Thye. Republicans swept statewide offices in November with Governor Harold Stassen, Secretary of State Mike Holm, Auditor Stafford King, Attorney General J.A.A. Burnquist, Treasurer Julius Schmahl, and Clerk of the Supreme Court Grace Kaercher Davis winning reelection, Thye holding the Lieutenant Governorship, and William Nolan winning an open seat on the Railroad and Warehouse Commission. Governor Stassen resigned on April 27, 1943 to enter the U.S. Navy and serve in World War II with Thye succeeding him.
Republicans won both U.S. Senate elections on the ballot. Arthur Nelson won the special election to fill the remaining two months of the term for the seat of the late Farmer-Laborite Ernest Lundeen who died in August 1940. Senator Joseph Ball, who was appointed to fill the vacancy caused by Lundeen’s death, opted to only run for the full six-year term and won easily. In U.S. House contests, Walter Judd defeated freshman Oscar Youngdahl in the 5th CD GOP primary. Republicans held all eight seats in the general with Harold Hagen holding the open 9th CD for the Farmer-Labor Party.
Luther Youngdahl and Thomas Gallagher won two open seats on the Supreme Court with incumbent Royal Stone dying in office following the September primary but prior to the general election.