The 1924 United States Senate special election in Colorado took place on November 4, 1924, to fill the remainder of the term for which
Samuel D. Nicholson was elected in
1920. Nicholson died in office on March 24, 1923, and Democratic Governor
William Ellery Sweet appointed
Alva B. Adams, a prominent
Pueblo attorney, to fill the vacancy. Adams, however, declined to be a candidate in the special election, instead challenging incumbent Republican Senator
Lawrence C. Phipps in the
regular election the same year.
In the Republican primary,
Rice W. Means, the City Attorney of
Denver, defeated attorney
Charles W. Waterman and state prison official Charles T. Moynihan, reportedly aided in part by furtive help from the state's Ku Klux Klan organization.[1] Meanwhile, attorney Morrison Shafroth, the son of
John F. Shafroth, defeated former Congressman
Benjamin C. Hilliard in the Democratic primary, advancing to the general election. Aided by President
Calvin Coolidge's
landslide victory in the state, Means, as well as most of the rest of the state Republican ticket, won handily.
Democratic primary
Candidates
Morrison Shafroth, attorney and son of former Governor and U.S. Senator
John F. Shafroth[2]
The 1924 United States Senate special election in Colorado took place on November 4, 1924, to fill the remainder of the term for which
Samuel D. Nicholson was elected in
1920. Nicholson died in office on March 24, 1923, and Democratic Governor
William Ellery Sweet appointed
Alva B. Adams, a prominent
Pueblo attorney, to fill the vacancy. Adams, however, declined to be a candidate in the special election, instead challenging incumbent Republican Senator
Lawrence C. Phipps in the
regular election the same year.
In the Republican primary,
Rice W. Means, the City Attorney of
Denver, defeated attorney
Charles W. Waterman and state prison official Charles T. Moynihan, reportedly aided in part by furtive help from the state's Ku Klux Klan organization.[1] Meanwhile, attorney Morrison Shafroth, the son of
John F. Shafroth, defeated former Congressman
Benjamin C. Hilliard in the Democratic primary, advancing to the general election. Aided by President
Calvin Coolidge's
landslide victory in the state, Means, as well as most of the rest of the state Republican ticket, won handily.
Democratic primary
Candidates
Morrison Shafroth, attorney and son of former Governor and U.S. Senator
John F. Shafroth[2]