Claude R. Porter - Statewide Elections 1906-1911

Statewide Elections 1906-1911

In 1906, Porter ran for Governor of Iowa, winning the Democratic nomination, but losing to incumbent Republican Albert B. Cummins.

Because the term of U.S. Senator Dolliver would expire in March 1907, Dolliver was up for re-election by the General Assembly in January 1907. All but one of the Democrats in the General Assembly voted for Porter rather than Dolliver, but their numbers were far too few to prevent Dolliver's re-election.

In 1908, Iowa's other U.S. Senate seat was up, and a new state law provided for Senate nominees to be selected in a primary election. Porter won the Democratic nomination. Senator William B. Allison defeated Cummins in the Republican primary but died soon thereafter, and in a special convention Republicans chose Cummins to take Allison's place as Republican nominee. The Iowa General Assembly, which retained the power to choose U.S. senators from among the parties' nominees, twice selected Cummins over Porter, in a November 1908 vote (resolving who would serve the rest of Allison's original March 1903-1909 term) and a January 1909 vote (resolving who would serve the March 1909-1915 term).

In 1910 Porter ran for governor again, this time losing to incumbent Republican Beryl F. Carroll.

Porter tried again to become a U.S. Senator in 1911, when the entire contest was decided in the Iowa General Assembly without a primary due in part to Dolliver's death. Porter was the choice of the Democrats' minority caucus, and the Republicans' majority caucus divided their votes among multiple candidates, but at the end of the legislative session, on the 67th ballot, Republican William S. Kenyon finally achieved a large enough majority to win. In all, five times in five years, Porter was the Democrats' top choice for either Governor or U.S. Senator, but came away with nothing.