Railroad & Warehouse Commissioner, 1944 Election

Special

Date: November 7, 1944
Cycle: 1944
Office: Railroad & Warehouse Commissioner
State: Minnesota
District: Statewide
Candidate Gender Party Votes Percent Margin
Raymond P. (Ray) Chase Man Republican 594,854 57.11 +14.22
Arthur N. Cosgrove Man Democratic-Farmer-Labor 446,785 42.89

The election for this seat was for the remainder of a six-year term ending in 1948.

Chase was a resident of Anoka, former Anoka municipal judge (1911-1916), deputy state Auditor (1916-1921), state Auditor (1921-1931), Republican gubernatorial nominee in 1930, U.S. Representative (At-large, 1933-1935), and candidate for U.S. Senate in 1940. Chase died in office on September 18, 1948. Former Commissioner Rollin Johnson was appointed to his seat by Governor Luther Youngdahl on October 5, 1948. Johnson was an attorney from Forest Lake, former state Representative (HD 43, 1925-1931, 1935-1943), and GOP candidate for Railroad and Warehouse Commissioner in 1942 and 1946.

Cosgrove was a resident of Minneapolis, cashier for the Great Northern Railway, Democratic nominee for Railroad and Warehouse Commissioner in 1936, 1938, 1940, and 1942, and DFL candidate for Railroad and Warehouse Commissioner in 1946.

Sources

  • The Legislative Manual of the State of Minnesota, 1945 (Abstract of Votes Polled for State Officers By Counties).