Eligible to begin serving immediately, Tom Stewart instead waited until the expiry of his term as district attorney on January 16, 1939, to take his Senate seat.[3]
The Tennessee Republican Party chose to hold a convention instead of a primary election. Harley G. Fowler, a former president of the Tennessee Bar Association, of Knoxville was declared the party's nominee for U.S. Senate by its executive committee.[5][6]
^Although eligible and elected, he did not "take his seat" as he preferred to remain as district attorney general. Nevertheless, his service in the Senate begins on the date of election and eligibility, not on the date of an oath.