August Claessens

U.S. House candidate

Born: June 17, 1885
Died: December 9, 1954
Age at death: 69
Home state: New York
Party: socialist
On the ballot: 1914–1950

Career timeline

1914Rep 1916Rep 1924Rep 1928Rep 1928Rep 1930Rep

1932Rep 1934Rep 1946Rep 1948Rep 1950Rep

0-11

RecordWin–Loss

Total Popular Votes

Claessens177,791

Opponents7.5M

Elections run

Between 1914 and 1950, August Claessens ran in 11 U.S. House elections, losing all 11. Claessens's biggest single-election total was 138,778 votes, in the 1934 U.S. House election in New York's at-large district.

Browse every U.S. House race in New York's District 8, every U.S. House race in New York's District 10, or every U.S. House race in New York's at-large district.

How many votes has August Claessens received?

August Claessens has received 177,791 popular votes across 11 U.S. elections, with a career record of 0–11.

Election history

August Claessens’s election history
Year	Office	Result	Votes	Opponent(s)
1950	U.S. HouseNew York	Lost	3,3244.87%	Victor Anfuso Joseph R Fontanetta Antonio Iandiorio
1948	U.S. HouseNew York	Lost	3,3743.74%	Joseph Pfeifer Benjamin F Westervelt Jr.
1946	U.S. HouseNew York	Lost	8,3148.35%	Andrew Somers Victor Wichum
1934	U.S. HouseNew York	Lost	138,7781.94%	Caroline Mrs Oday Matthew Merritt Natalie F Couch Eugene C Groat Charles W Noonan Henry Sheppard Emanuel Levin Dorothy Frooks William E Barron Crowley Jacob Berlin
1932	U.S. HouseNew York	Lost	2,7358.03%	William Sirovich (head-to-head) Henry A Lowenberg Abraham Markoff
1930	U.S. HouseNew York	Lost	9303.24%	Oconnor Irwin Ira Rackoff
1928	U.S. HouseNew York	Lost	6293.03%	Christopher Sullivan (head-to-head) Jacob Rosenberg
1928	U.S. HouseNew York	Lost	1,6485.4%	William Sirovich (head-to-head) H Charles Ullman Alex Trachtenberg
1924	U.S. HouseNew York	Lost	15,77113.12%	Frank Oliver Albert B Rossdale Harry W Wicks
1916	U.S. HouseNew York	Lost	1,64415.42%	Christopher Sullivan (head-to-head) Frank Dostal James F Gillespie
1914	U.S. HouseNew York	Lost	6443.03%	Michael Conry Oscar W Ehrhorn D Leigh Colvin

Identity & sources. Identity verified against Wikidata (Q4820672). Election results come from official certified totals and the MIT Election Data and Science Lab; see methodology.

Cite this profile. PolitiFinder, “August Claessens: election history & vote totals.” https://politifinder.com/p/august-claessens. Accessed [date].

Compiled by PolitiFinder. Election results from official certified sources and the MIT Election Lab. See Data & sources and methodology. Data last verified July 28, 2026.