Republicans nominated David W. Stewart, a Sioux City attorney and Cummins supporter, to run for the unexpired term ending in March 1927.

[2] His indifference to President Calvin Coolidge in the 1924 presidential election also upset conservatives.

[3] In 1924, he ran re-election to a full term, and it initially appeared he had narrowly defeated Democratic nominee Daniel Steck despite the defection of many conservative Republicans.

[3] Iowa's other Senator, Albert B. Cummins, was a respected political veteran and took no position in the contested 1924 election, at least in part because he believed Brookhart would challenge him if unseated.

As Brookhart was narrowly unseated on April 12, just two months before the primary, he had little time to return to Iowa and mount a campaign.