Claude R. Porter

Claude Rodman Porter
Porter in 1910
Member of the Iowa Senate
from the 3rd district
In office
January 8, 1900 – January 10, 1904
Preceded byBeryl F. Carroll
Succeeded byLewis Leroy Taylor
Member of the Iowa House of Representatives
from the 4th district
In office
1896–1900
Preceded byGeorge W. Wyckoff
Succeeded byFrank Smith Payne
Personal details
Born(1872-07-08)July 8, 1872
Moulton, Iowa, U.S.
DiedAugust 17, 1946(1946-08-17) (aged 74)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationParsons College
St. Louis Law School
OccupationAttorney

Claude Rodman Porter (July 8, 1872 – August 17, 1946) was an American politician and lawyer. He served in both chambers of the Iowa General Assembly and as a United States Attorney, and was a perennial Democratic Party runner-up to Republican victors in three races for governor of Iowa and six races for U.S. senator. In an era in which the Republican Party was so dominant in Iowa that Senator Jonathan P. Dolliver remarked that "Iowa will go Democratic when Hell goes Methodist,"[1] Porter twice came closer to winning the governorship than all but one other Democratic candidate of that era.[2] He later served as a member of the U.S. Interstate Commerce Commission for eighteen years.

  1. ^ Thomas R. Ross, "Jonathan Prentiss Dolliver; A Study in Political Integrity and Independence," 65 (Iowa City: State Historical Society of Iowa 1958).
  2. ^ Editorial, "Harding's Pluralities,' Cedar Rapids Republican, 1919-01-18 at p.4 (referring to his 1906 and 1918 losses).