| ←1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 → Presidential election year | |
| Election day | November 7 |
|---|---|
| Incumbent president | Franklin D. Roosevelt (Democratic) |
| Next Congress | 79th |
| Presidential election | |
| Partisan control | Democratic hold |
| Popular vote margin | Democratic +7.5% |
| Electoral vote | |
| Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) | 432 |
| Thomas E. Dewey (R) | 99 |
 | |
| 1944 presidential election results.Red denotes states won by Dewey,blue denotes states won by Roosevelt. Numbers indicate theelectoral votes won by each candidate. | |
| Senate elections | |
| Overall control | Democratic hold |
| Seats contested | 35 of 96 seats (32 Class 1 seats + 4 special elections)[a] |
| Net seat change | Republican +1[b] |
 | |
| 1944 Senate results Democratic gain Democratic hold | |
| House elections | |
| Overall control | Democratic hold |
| Seats contested | All 435 voting members |
| Popular vote margin | Democratic +4.7% |
| Net seat change | Democratic +22 |
 | |
| 1944 House election results Democratic gain Democratic hold | |
| Gubernatorial elections | |
| Seats contested | 32 |
| Net seat change | Democratic +3 |
 | |
| 1944 gubernatorial election results Democratic gain Democratic hold | |
Elections were held on November 7, 1944, during the final stages ofWorld War II. PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt was easily re-elected to an unprecedented fourth term, and theDemocratic Party retained their majorities in both chambers ofCongress.
During the presidential election, Roosevelt was in office for three terms and eleven years, making him the longest-serving President in U.S. history. As the incumbent president, Roosevelt was renominated by the Democratic Party, while in theRepublican primaries, New York GovernorThomas E. Dewey won his party's nomination. InTexas, theTexas Regulars was formed to block Roosevelt's reelection over theNew Deal and his perceived supportive policies onAfrican Americans, but their efforts were unsuccessful. Roosevelt defeated Dewey in a landslide, taking 432 electoral votes against Dewey's 99 electoral votes.
In the congressional elections, Democrats maintained control of Congress. In theSenate, Democrats lost seats but maintained control of the chamber. In theHouse of Representatives, Democrats won the popular vote by a margin of 4.7 percentage points and gained 22 seats for a healthy majority after spending the last term holding a razor-thin majority. In the governorships, Democrats gained three seats.
The elections were a referendum on Roosevelt's execution of the war. With the United States andthe Allies delivering successful results against theAxis powers, especially with thefall of fascist Italy a year ago and theNormandy landings the last summer, the public rallied around the Democrats. After the election, Roosevelt died in office in April 1945 afterhis fourth inauguration.
Seeking a record fourth term, Democratic incumbent presidentFranklin D. Roosevelt was challenged byRepublican governorThomas E. Dewey of New York. Dewey ran an energetic campaign, seeking a smaller government and a less-regulated economy as the end of World War II seemed in sight. Roosevelt dominated the electoral college for the fourth straight election and won the popular vote by seven and a half points, his lowest margin. Roosevelt easily won hisparty's nomination, while Dewey took theRepublican nomination on the first ballot over Ohio GovernorJohn W. Bricker, who would be nominated for vice president. Future presidentHarry S. Truman won the Democratic nomination for vice president, replacingHenry A. Wallace on the Democratic ballot.
The Democrats picked up a net gain of 20 seats in the House, increasing their majority, 242–191 (not included are two seats held by minor parties).
Although the Democrats suffered a net loss of one seat to the Republicans, they still kept a large majority in the Senate.[1][2][3]