The 1942 South Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1942. Incumbent Republican Governor

Harlan J. Bushfield Harlan John Bushfield (August 6, 1882 – September 27, 1948) was an American politician from South Dakota. He served as the 16th governor of South Dakota and as a United States senator. A native of Iowa, Bushfield was raised in Miller, South ...

declined to seek re-election to a third term and instead successfully ran for the U.S. Senate. A crowded Republican primary developed to succeed him, and because no candidate received 35% of the vote, the nomination was decided at the state Republican convention, where former Attorney General Merrell Q. Sharpe, the second-place finisher in the primary, won the nomination. In the general election, Sharpe faced Democratic nominee Lewis W. Bicknell, the

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, events related to World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *Janu ...

Democratic nominee for governor. Aided by the national Republican landslide, Sharpe defeated Bicknell in a landslide.

Democratic primary

Lewis W. Bicknell—a former Day County State's Attorney, former chairman of the State Department of Public Welfare, and the

Democratic nominee for governor—announced that he would again run for governor. He was the only Democratic candidate to file and he won the Democratic nomination for governor unopposed, thereby removing the race from the primary ballot.

Republican primary

Candidates

Joseph H. Bottum Joseph Henry Bottum (August 7, 1903July 4, 1984) was an American politician. He served as the 27th Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota and as a member of the United States Senate from South Dakota. Early life Bottum was born in Faulkton, Sout ...

, State Director of Taxation, former Faulk County State's Attorney * Merrell Q. Sharpe, former Attorney General of South Dakota *

Leo A. Temmey Leo A. Temmey (November 6, 1894 – April 22, 1975) was an American attorney and 15th attorney general of South Dakota Attorney may refer to: * Lawyer ** Attorney at law, in some jurisdictions * Attorney, one who has power of attorney * ''The ...

, Attorney General of South Dakota * Millard G. Scott, State Rural Credit Director

Campaign

At the May 5, 1942, primary, all four candidates ended up with vote totals that were within six thousand votes of each other, and for the first time since

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be on J ...

, no candidate received the requisite 35% of the vote. Merrell Q. Sharpe, who ran on a reform, "oust the state house" platform, was seen by many observers as having a lead coming into the convention, despite placing second in the primary. There was speculation that Sharpe's three other opponents would consolidate their forces to defeat him at the convention, but uncertainty as to whether they would do so. Influential state Republicans, chief among them Governor Bushfield, declined to publicly intervene. At the convention, Sharpe took an early lead, and despite the speculation about anti-Sharpe consolidation, as Temmey and Scott collapsed, the vast majority of their votes went to Sharpe, not Bottom. On the third ballot, with Temmey's support halved and Scott's near zero, Sharpe easily won a majority, earning himself the nomination.

Primary election results

Convention results

General election

Results

References

{{1942 United States elections

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

1942 The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...

Gubernatorial A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

November 1942 in the United States