William Scott Vare

William Vare
United States Senator-elect
from Pennsylvania
In office
March 4, 1927 – December 6, 1929
Not seated
Preceded byGeorge Pepper
Succeeded byJoe Grundy
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 1st district
In office
March 4, 1923 – March 3, 1927
Preceded byHimself
Succeeded byJames Hazlett
In office
May 24, 1912 – January 2, 1923
Preceded byHenry Bingham
Succeeded byHimself
Member of the Pennsylvania Senate
from the 1st district
In office
November 7, 1922 – November 30, 1923
Preceded byEdwin Vare
Succeeded byFlora M. Vare
Personal details
Born
William Scott Vare

(1867-12-24)December 24, 1867
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedAugust 7, 1934(1934-08-07) (aged 66)
Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Political partyRepublican (Before 1934)
Democratic (1934)

William Scott Vare (December 24, 1867 – August 7, 1934) was an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives for Pennsylvania's 1st congressional district from 1912 to 1927. He also served as a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate from the 1st Senatorial District from 1922 to 1923.[1] He won election to the United States Senate for Pennsylvania in 1926 but was never seated and was eventually removed in 1929 due to allegations of corruption and voter fraud.

He was a notorious political boss in the Philadelphia Republican machine of the early 20th century.[2] Vare and his two brothers, Edwin and George, were known as the "Dukes of South Philadelphia" and held political control over South Philadelphia ward leadership and patronage jobs for decades. The contracting business he owned along with his brothers was involved in the construction of well-known sites in Philadelphia such as Municipal Stadium, the Broad Street subway and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

  1. ^ Cox, Harold (2004). "Pennsylvania Senate - 1923-1924" (PDF). Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.
  2. ^ "Closed for Business". www.digitalhistory.hsp.org. Retrieved 2 January 2019.