View source for Abe Murdock

{{Short description|American politician}}
{{redirect|Senator Murdock|the Utah State Senate member|Joseph R. Murdock}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Abe Murdock
| image  = Abe Murdock, 1939.jpg
| office = Member of the [[National Labor Relations Board]]
| term_start = August 1, 1947
| term_end = December 16, 1957
| jr/sr1 = United States Senator
| state1 = [[Utah]]
| term_start1 = January 3, 1941
| term_end1 = January 3, 1947
| predecessor1 = [[William H. King]]
| successor1 = [[Arthur V. Watkins]]
| state2 = [[Utah]]
| district2 = [[Utah's 1st congressional district|1st]]
| term_start2 = March 4, 1933 
| term_end2 = January 3, 1941
| predecessor2 = [[Don B. Colton]]
| successor2 = [[Walter K. Granger]]
| birth_name  = Orrice Abram Murdock Jr.
| birth_date  = {{birth date|1893|7|18}}
| birth_place = [[Austin, Nevada]]
| death_date  = {{death date and age|1979|9|15|1893|7|18}}
| death_place = [[Bethesda, Maryland]]
| party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| spouse=Mary Violet Yardley Murdock
| children=6
| resting_place = Mountain View Cemetery in [[Beaver, Utah]]
| education = [[University of Utah]] 
}}

'''Orrice Abram Murdock Jr.''' (July 18, 1893{{spaced ndash}}September 15, 1979) was an American attorney and politician who served as a member of both chambers of the [[United States Congress]] for [[Utah]]. From 1947 to 1957, he served as a member of the [[National Labor Relations Board]].

== Early life and education ==
Born in [[Austin, Nevada]],<ref>{{Citation | last = Gessel | first = David C. | title = Utah History Encyclopedia | publisher = University of Utah Press | year = 1994 | chapter = MURDOCK, ABE | chapter-url = https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/m/MURDOCK_ABE.shtml | url = https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20250419152053/https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/m/MURDOCK_ABE.shtml | archive-date = April 19, 2025 | isbn =9780874804256 | access-date = May 30, 2025}}</ref> he moved with his parents to [[Beaver, Utah]], in 1898. Murdock attended the public schools and Murdock Academy in Beaver, and the [[University of Utah]] at [[Salt Lake City]].

== Career ==
Murdock studied law and was admitted to the [[bar (law)|bar]] in 1922.

=== Early political career ===
He was a member of the Beaver [[city council]] in 1920 and 1921 and was county attorney in 1923–1924, 1927–1928, and 1931–1932. He served as city attorney of Beaver from 1926 to 1933, and was an unsuccessful [[USDemocrat|Democratic]] candidate for [[district attorney]] for the fifth Utah district in 1928.

=== Congress ===
In 1932, Murdock ran for and was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-third Congress and was reelected to the three succeeding Congresses, serving from March 4, 1933, to January 3, 1941.

=== Senate ===
Instead of running for reelection in 1940, he challenged incumbent Senator [[William H. King]] for the Democratic nomination. King had opposed President [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]]'s [[Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937|proposal to expand the Supreme Court]] and Roosevelt's candidacy for an unprecedented third term, while Murdock was a "100% [[New Deal]]er" who strongly supported Roosevelt.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,764661,00.html|title=UTAH: King into Exile|magazine=Time |date=September 16, 1940|via=content.time.com}}</ref> Murdock defeated King for the nomination and was elected as a Democrat to the Senate, serving from January 3, 1941, to January 3, 1947.

Murdock was defeated by Republican [[Arthur Vivian Watkins]] in his bid for reelection in 1946.

== Later career ==
After his defeat, he resumed the practice of law and engaged in agricultural pursuits and livestock raising. From 1947 to 1957, he was a member of the [[National Labor Relations Board]] and in 1960 was a member of the Atomic Energy Labor-Management Relations Panel.

== Death and burial ==
Murdock died of natural causes in [[Bethesda, Maryland]], in 1979, and was interred in Mountain View Cemetery in Beaver, Utah.

== Electoral history ==

{{Election box begin no change | title= [[1932 United States House of Representatives elections]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1932election.pdf|title=1932 Election Results}}</ref>
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
 | party      = Democratic Party (US)
 | candidate  = Abe Murdock
 | votes      = 47,774
 | percentage = 51.59
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
 | party      = Republican Party (US)
 | candidate  = [[Don B. Colton]] (Incumbent)
 | votes      = 44,827
 | percentage = 48.41
}}
{{Election box total no change
 | votes      = 92,601
 | percentage = 100.0
}}
{{Election box gain with party link without swing
 | winner     = Democratic Party (US)
 | loser      = Republican Party (US)
}}
{{End}}
{{Election box begin no change | title= [[1934 United States House of Representatives elections]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1934election.pdf|title=1934 Election Results}}</ref>
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
 | party      = Democratic Party (US)
 | candidate  = Abe Murdock (Incumbent)
 | votes      = 55,800
 | percentage = 64.43
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
 | party      = Republican Party (US)
 | candidate  = Arthur Woolley
 | votes      = 29,878
 | percentage = 34.51
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
 | party      = Socialist Party of America
 | candidate  = William J. McConnell
 | votes      = 644
 | percentage = 0.74
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
 | party      = Communist Party USA
 | candidate  = Lawrence Mower
 | votes      = 279
 | percentage = 0.32
}}
{{Election box total no change
 | votes      = 86,601
 | percentage = 100.0
}}
{{Election box hold with party link without swing
 | winner     = Democratic Party (US)
}}
{{End}}
{{Election box begin no change | title= [[1936 United States House of Representatives elections]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1936election.pdf|title=1936 Election Results}}</ref>
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
 | party      = Democratic Party (US)
 | candidate  = Abe Murdock (Incumbent)
 | votes      = 68,877
 | percentage = 69.23
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
 | party      = Republican Party (US)
 | candidate  = Charles W. Dunn
 | votes      = 30,415
 | percentage = 30.57
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
 | party      = Socialist Party of America
 | candidate  = William J. McConnell
 | votes      = 202
 | percentage = 0.20
}}
{{Election box total no change
 | votes      = 99,494
 | percentage = 100.0
}}
{{Election box hold with party link without swing
 | winner     = Democratic Party (US)
}}
{{End}}
{{Election box begin no change | title= [[1938 United States House of Representatives elections]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1938election.pdf|title=1938 Election Results}}</ref>
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
 | party      = Democratic Party (US)
 | candidate  = Abe Murdock (Incumbent)
 | votes      = 52,927
 | percentage = 59.66
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
 | party      = Republican Party (US)
 | candidate  = LeRoy B. Young
 | votes      = 35,790
 | percentage = 40.34
}}
{{Election box total no change
 | votes      = 88,717
 | percentage = 100.0
}}
{{Election box hold with party link without swing
 | winner     = Democratic Party (US)
}}
{{End}}
{{Election box begin no change
 | title      = 1940 United States Senate election in Utah
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
 | party      = Democratic Party (US)
 | candidate  = [[Orrice Abram Murdock Jr.|Abe Murdock]]
 | votes      = 155,499
 | percentage = 62.85
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
 | party      = Republican Party (US)
 | candidate  = Philo Farnsworth
 | votes      = 91,931
 | percentage = 37.15
}}
{{Election box majority no change
 | votes      = 63,568
 | percentage = 25.70
}}
{{Election box turnout no change
 | votes      = 247,430
 | percentage =
}}
{{Election box hold with party link no change
 | winner     = Democratic Party (US)
}}
{{End}}
{{Election box begin no change
 | title      = 1946 United States Senate election in Utah
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
 | party      = Republican Party (US)
 | candidate  = [[Arthur Vivian Watkins]]
 | votes      = 101,142
 | percentage = 51.24%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
 | party      = Democratic Party (US)
 | candidate  = Abe Murdock (incumbent)
 | votes      = 96,257
 | percentage = 48.76%
}}
{{Election box majority no change
 | votes      = 4,885
 | percentage = 2.48%
}}
{{Election box turnout no change
 | votes      = 197,399
 | percentage = 
}}
{{Election box gain with party link no change
 | winner     = Republican Party (US)
 | loser      = Democratic Party (US)
 | swing      = 
}}
{{Election box end}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline|Orrice Abram Murdock Jr.}}
{{congbio|M001082}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before=[[William H. King]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] nominee for [[United States Senator|U.S. Senator]] from [[Utah]]<br>([[Classes of United States Senators|Class 1]])|years=[[1940 United States Senate election in Utah|1940]], [[1946 United States Senate election in Utah|1946]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Walter K. Granger]]}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{US House succession box
| state=Utah
| district=1
| before=[[Don B. Colton]]
| after=[[Walter K. Granger]]
| years=1933&ndash;1941
}}
{{s-par|us-sen}}
{{U.S. Senator box | state=Utah | class=1 | before=[[William H. King]] | after=[[Arthur V. Watkins]] | years=1941&ndash;1947 | alongside=[[Elbert D. Thomas]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{USSenUT}}
{{UtahUSRepresenatives}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murdock, Abe}}
[[Category:1893 births]]
[[Category:1979 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Lander County, Nevada]]
[[Category:American people of Scottish descent]]
[[Category:Latter Day Saints from Utah]]
[[Category:Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Utah]]
[[Category:Democratic Party United States senators from Utah]]
[[Category:National Labor Relations Board officials]]
[[Category:Utah city council members]]
[[Category:People from Beaver, Utah]]
[[Category:Utah lawyers]]
[[Category:University of Utah alumni]]
[[Category:Truman administration personnel]]
[[Category:Eisenhower administration personnel]]
[[Category:20th-century United States senators]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives]]