1916 United States Senate election in Maryland

1916 United States Senate election in Maryland

←  1913 (special) November 7, 1916 1922  →

Nominee Joseph I. France David John Lewis Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 113,662 109,740 Percentage 49.32% 47.62%

County results France:     40–50%     50–60% Lewis:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%

U.S. senator before election Blair Lee I Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Joseph I. France Republican

The 1916 United States Senate election in Maryland was held on November 7, 1916.

Incumbent Democratic Senator Blair Lee I ran for election to a full term in office, but was defeated in the Democratic primary by U.S. Representative David John Lewis. Lewis went on to lose the general election to Republican Joseph I. France, a professor of medicine and former state senator.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• William Cabell Bruce, historian and former state delegate
• Blair Lee I, incumbent senator since 1913
• David John Lewis, U.S. representative from Cumberland

Results

1916 Democratic U.S. Senate primary ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	David John Lewis	34,038	44.34%
	Democratic	Blair Lee I (inc.)	34,801	45.33%
	Democratic	William Cabell Bruce	7,930	10.33%
Total votes			76,769	100.00%

Lee received more raw votes than Lewis did, but Lewis received a higher share of the unit vote at the state convention.

Republican primary

Candidates

• Joseph I. France, professor of medicine and former state senator
• Phillips Lee Goldsborough, governor of Maryland

Results

1916 Republican U.S. Senate primary ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Joseph I. France	27,951	50.84%
	Republican	Phillips Lee Goldsborough	27,031	49.16%
Total votes			54,982	100.00%

General election

Results

1916 U.S. Senate election in Maryland ^{[3] [4] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Joseph I. France	113,662	49.32%	12.34
	Democratic	David John Lewis	109,740	47.62%	9.13
	Prohibition	James W. Frizzell	3,325	1.44%	0.23
	Socialist	Sylvester L. Young	2,590	1.12%	0.29
	Labor	Robert E. Long	1,143	0.50%	N/A
Total votes			230,460	100.00%
	Republican gain from Democratic

Results by county

County	Joseph I. France Republican		David John Lewis Democratic		James W. Frizzell Prohibition		Sylvester L. Young Socialist		Robert E. Long Labor		Margin		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Allegany	4782	44.66%	5352	49.98%	148	1.38%	375	3.50%	51	0.48%	-570	-5.32%	10708
Anne Arundel	2429	41.61%	3223	55.21%	93	1.59%	51	0.87%	42	0.72%	-794	-13.60%	5838
Baltimore (city)	51496	53.10%	42736	44.07%	1062	1.10%	1236	1.27%	445	0.46%	8760	9.03%	96975
Baltimore (county)	11697	48.72%	11532	48.04%	450	1.87%	201	0.84%	127	0.53%	165	0.69%	24007
Calvert	973	55.35%	714	40.61%	49	2.79%	10	0.57%	12	0.68%	259	14.73%	1758
Caroline	1681	48.77%	1690	49.03%	53	1.54%	14	0.41%	9	0.26%	-9	-0.26	3447
Carroll	3356	48.45%	3415	49.30%	102	1.47%	25	0.36%	29	0.42%	-59	-0.85%	6927
Cecil	2059	49.82%	2010	48.63%	39	0.94%	10	0.24%	15	0.36%	49	1.19%	4133
Charles	1349	52.63%	1092	42.61%	46	1.79%	38	1.48%	38	1.48%	257	10.03%	2563
Dorchester	2295	48.82%	2270	48.29%	102	2.17%	8	0.17%	26	0.55%	25	0.53%	4701
Frederick	5115	47.22%	5479	50.58%	129	1.19%	66	0.61%	43	0.40%	-364	-3.36%	10832
Garrett	1575	58.99%	1012	37.90%	29	1.09%	45	1.69%	9	0.34%	563	21.09%	2670
Harford	2047	39.62%	2944	56.98%	98	1.90%	30	0.58%	48	0.93%	-897	-17.36%	5167
Howard	1303	43.12%	1643	54.37%	48	1.59%	8	0.26%	20	0.66%	-340	-11.25%	3022
Kent	1617	47.10%	1757	51.18%	33	0.96%	11	0.32%	15	0.44%	-140	-4.08%	3433
Montgomery	2697	42.69%	3432	54.32%	123	1.95%	38	0.60%	28	0.44%	-735	-11.63%	6318
Prince George's	2572	47.24%	2713	49.83%	71	1.30%	42	0.77%	47	0.86%	-141	-2.59%	5445
Queen Anne's	1258	37.31%	2047	60.71%	49	1.45%	5	0.15%	13	0.39%	-789	-23.40%	3372
St. Mary's	983	43.32%	1083	47.73%	148	6.52	34	1.50%	21	0.93%	-100	-4.41%	2269
Somerset	2480	58.53%	1632	38.52%	97	2.29%	16	0.38%	12	0.28%	848	20.01	4237
Talbot	1768	44.47%	2080	52.31%	109	2.71%	5	0.13%	14	0.35%	-312	-7.85%	3976
Washington	4626	45.18%	5225	51.03%	71	0.69%	283	2.76%	34	0.33%	-599	-5.85%	10239
Wicomico	2197	42.64%	2790	54.14%	110	2.13%	34	0.66%	22	0.43%	-593	-11.51%	5153
Worcester	1307	39.93%	1869	57.10%	66	2.02%	8	0.24	23	0.70%	-562	-17.17%	3273
Total	113662	49.32%	109740	47.62%	3325	1.44%	2590	1.12%	2590	1.12%	3922	1.70%	230460

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Baltimore (City)
• Baltimore (County)
• Cecil
• Dorchester

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Washington

See also

• 1916 United States Senate elections
• 1916 United States elections

References

1. "Our Campaigns - MD US Senate Race - D Primary Race - May 01, 1916". www.ourcampaigns.com. Our Campaigns. n.d. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
2. "Our Campaigns - MD US Senate Race - R Primary Race - May 01, 1916". www.ourcampaigns.com. Our Campaigns. n.d. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
3. "Archives of Maryland, Volume 0127, Page 258 - Maryland Manual, 1916-17". msa.maryland.gov. Maryland State Archives. n.d. p. 258. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
4. "Our Campaigns - MD US Senate Race - Nov 07, 1916". www.ourcampaigns.com. Our Campaigns. n.d. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
5. "1916 Senatorial General Election Results - Maryland". uselectionatlas.org. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. January 29, 2016. Retrieved April 12, 2023.