1922 United States Senate election in Texas
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. A runoff was held between former Governor Pa Ferguson and Railroads Commissioner Earle Bradford Mayfield.
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County Results
Mayfield: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Texas |
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| Government |
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. Peddy agreed to run against Mayfield as the candidate of the "Independent Democrats," members of the party who opposed the Klan. 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.
Peddy ran a write-in campaign as the candidate of the Independent Democrats and Republicans. Peddy also ran with the endorsements of Senator Culberson and President Warren G. Harding. 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%). Peddy challenged Mayfield's election, and the subsequent Senate investigation prevented Mayfield from taking his seat as scheduled on March 4, 1923. Mayfield assumed his seat on December 3, 1923, and was sworn in pending a resolution to Peddy's challenge, which was ultimately denied on February 4, 1925.