1938 Wisconsin gubernatorial election

The 1938 Wisconsin gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1938. Primary elections were held on September 20, 1938. Incumbent Progressive Governor Philip La Follette was defeated by Republican nominee Julius P. Heil.

The 1938 special session
Despite having a high initial popularity, La Follette's reputation had begun to deteriorate as his governorship ran its course. This all culminated in the disastrous 1938 special session, where La Follette attempted to force through a bill without public debate, and without the normal machinery of the legislative process. The bill, decried by critics as dictatorial, would have, among other things, fundamentally altered the system of checks and balances in Wisconsin by making it so that legislation would be written up by the executive and handed to the legislature to either approve or reject. Alongside this, the session passed through legislation reorganizing the state executive branch to remove redundant agencies to remove efficiency. This had been one of the final blows for the establishment, who had begun to talk of electoral fusion to defeat La Follette.

Coalition talks
At Oshkosh, a committee was established by members of the Democratic, Republican, Union, and Progressive parties in the hope of defeating La Follette. In their goals they aligned with Robert Kirkland Henry, the former Democratic state treasurer, in that goal. Despite the bipartisan nature of this committee, it was still done in opposition to the leadership of both parties. Due to the nature of the primary system in Wisconsin, one candidate could not officially run under multiple party lines, so instead, the candidate would be required to give up one party to run under another, to the coalition hopefuls, that meant the party their candidate got the least votes in.

Henry stood for both the Democratic and Republican nominations as part of a coalition movement designed to defeat Philip La Follette and the Progressive Party. If he had won both nominations, he intended to decline the nomination of the party in whose primary he received fewest votes.

Nominee

 * Philip La Follette, incumbent Governor

Eliminated in primary

 * Glenn P. Turner, Socialist nominee for Attorney General of Wisconsin in 1930 and 1934

Nominee

 * Robert Kirkland Henry, former Wisconsin State Treasurer (1933–1937) (withdrew)

Eliminated in primary

 * Jerome F. Fox, former state representative from Calumet (1931–1935)
 * Edward Ihlenfeldt, unsuccessful candidate for Democratic nomination for Secretary of State of Wisconsin in 1934

Aftermath
Henry won the Democratic nomination but lost the Republican nomination to Julius P. Heil. On October 1, 1938, Henry withdrew from the election in favour of Heil. On October 7, 1938, the Democratic state central committee met and nominated State Senator Harry W. Bolens, another proponent of a coalition, to replace Henry on the Democratic ticket.

Candidates

 * Julius P. Heil, industrialist
 * Robert Kirkland Henry, former Wisconsin State Treasurer (1933–1937)
 * Clun L. Miller, insurance counsellor
 * James G. Peterson, farmer

Nominee

 * Frank W. Smith

Candidates
Major party candidates
 * Harry W. Bolens, Democratic
 * Julius P. Heil, Republican
 * Philip La Follette, Progressive

Other candidates
 * John Schleier, Jr., Independent Socialist Labor
 * Frank W. Smith, Union