At a meeting on July 31, attended by forty-two Republican conferees from Delaware County and twenty-two from Chester County, thirty-nine-year-old James Wolfenden of Upper Darby was nominated to fill the unexpired term without opposition. Born on July 25, 1889 in Cardington, Delaware County, Wolfenden was an Upper Darby Township Commissioner for nine years and had run his father's cotton and woolen goods manufacturing firm, Wolfenden-Shore, for seven years. He also was a vice president of the Citizen's Bank of Lansdowne and vice president of the Delaware County Hospital, besides being the Republican leader of Upper Darby and later would be named by John J. McClure to the then-young Delaware County Board of Republican Supervisors (War Board). McClure, himself a candidate for the state senate district, which encompassed all of Delaware County, offered a resolution recognizing Butler's passing as the "loss of a great statesman and national leader." The Chester Times heavily praised the choice of Wolfenden, stating that he "will make a good representative" with his "business training" and that he was "progressive", a "leader" and a "booster".