The Wheeler for Senate Club was formed to re-nominate U.S. Senator Burton K. Wheeler in the 1946 Montana Democratic primary. R. Bailey Stortz, a member of Wheeler's Washington, D.C. staff, became secretary-treasurer for the club, and Sam E. Winn was president. The club was headquartered in Helena, Montana. Wheeler, who had first been elected by Montanans in 1922, and who was one of the most powerful senators in Washington D.C. in the 1930s, was defeated in the 1946 primary by Leif Erickson. Erickson was subsequently defeated in the general election by Republican candidate Zales Ecton.
From the guide to the Wheeler for Senate Club Records, 1940-1946, (University of Montana--Missoula Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library Archives and Special Collections)
