Earle Bradford Mayfield (April 12, 1881 – June 23, 1964) was a Texas lawyer who, from 1907 to 1913, was a Texas State Senator. In 1922, he was elected to the U.S. Senate as a Democrat. He was the first U.S. Senator to be widely considered by the voters to be a member of the revived Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. Mayfield quietly accepted KKK support but never said he had joined.[1] He was defeated for reelection in 1928 when his opponent attacked his links to the KKK.[2][3][4]
Mayfield was born in Overton, Texas, April 12, 1881, to the marriage of John Blythe Mayfield (1857–1921) and Mary Ellen DeGuerin (maiden; 1859–1886). He graduated from high school in Timpson, Texas, and then from Tyler Business College.
In 1900, Mayfield graduated from Southwestern University, and he studied law at the University of Texas at Austin from 1900 to 1901. He continued to study law, was admitted to the bar in 1907, and practiced in Meridian, Bosque County. Mayfield was also involved in several business ventures including the wholesale grocery industry and operation of several farms.
In 1922, Mayfield was one of six candidates who challenged five-term United States Senator Charles A. Culberson for the Democratic senatorial nomination. In the ensuing runoff between Mayfield and former GovernorJames E. Ferguson, Mayfield was openly allied with the Ku Klux Klan[2][6] in support of prohibition and continued segregation of Whites and Blacks, while Ferguson spoke-out against the Klan and was strongly against prohibition and was a known abolitionist. At the time, the sale of alcoholic beverages was illegal throughout the United States under the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
After securing the endorsement of the other U.S. Senator from Texas, Morris SheppardofTexarkana, Mayfield won the Democratic nomination. In the general election held on November 7, 1922, Mayfield faced the Independent candidate George Peddy, who also had the backing of the Republican Party. Because Peddy's name was not on the ballot, his supporters waged a write-in campaign. Peddy's write-in effort netted him a third of the vote.
After the election, Peddy challenged the results on the grounds of disputes over filing deadlines and other technical issues. A Senate committee ruled in Mayfield's favor, and the full Senate voted to seat him, but his swearing in was delayed. He took office on December 3, 1923.[7][8][9]
On June 10, 1902, in Bosque County, Texas, Mayfield married Ora Lumpkin (1882–1979).[10] They were the parents of three sons. Mayfield's uncle, Allison Mayfield (1860–1923), had been the Texas Secretary of State and, from January 5, 1897, Chairman of the Railroad Commission until his death, January 23, 1923.
