1916 United States Senate election in Texas

The 1916 United States Senate election in Texas was held on November 7, 1916. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Charles Culberson was re-elected to a fourth term in office. Culberson survived a challenge from former Governor Oscar Colquitt in the Democratic primary, then easily won the general election. He was challenged by Republican Alex W. Atcheson and Socialist Thomas Hickey, publisher of The Rebel.^[2]

1916 United States Senate election in Texas

← 1911 November 7, 1916 1922 →

Nominee Charles Culberson Alex W. Atcheson Thomas A. Hickey Party Democratic Republican Socialist Popular vote 303,035 48,788 18,616 Percentage 81.30% 13.09% 4.99%

County Results[1] Culberson:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Atcheson:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      80–90% No vote:

U.S. senator before election Charles Culberson Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Charles Culberson Democratic

This was the first U.S. Senate election in Texas held after the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment, which required all Senators be elected by a direct popular vote.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Samuel Palmer Brooks, president of Baylor University and the Texas Baptist General Convention
• Thomas Mitchell Campbell, former Governor of Texas (1907–11)
• Oscar Branch Colquitt, former Governor of Texas (1911–15)
• Charles Allen Culberson, incumbent U.S. Senator since 1899
• John Davis
• Robert Lee Henry, U.S. Representative from Waco
• G. W. Riddle

Results

1916 Democratic U.S. Senate primary^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Oscar Branch Colquitt	119,598	29.95%
	Democratic	Charles Allen Culberson (incumbent)	87,421	21.89%
	Democratic	Samuel Palmer Brooks	78,641	19.69%
	Democratic	Thomas Mitchell Campbell	65,721	16.46%
	Democratic	Robert Lee Henry	37,725	9.45%
	Democratic	John Davis	9,924	2.49%
	Democratic	G. W. Riddle	335	0.08%
Total votes			399,366	100.00%

Runoff

1916 Democratic U.S. Senate runoff^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Charles Allen Culberson (incumbent)	163,182	63.43%
	Democratic	Oscar Branch Colquitt	94,098	36.57%
Total votes			257,280	100.00%

General election

Results

1916 United States Senate election in Texas^[5][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Charles Allen Culberson (incumbent)	303,035	81.30%
	Republican	Alex W. Atcheson	48,788	13.09%
	Socialist	Thomas A. Hickey	18,616	4.99%
	Prohibition	Edward H. Conibear	2,319	0.62%
Total votes			372,758	100.00%
	Democratic hold

See also

• 1916 United States Senate elections

References

1. Bartlett, C. J. (1917). Supplemental Biennial Report of the Secretary of State. Austin, Texas: A. C. Baldwin & Stone Printers. pp. 48–51.
2. Boyd, Steven; Smith, David (2007). "Thomas Hickey, the Rebel, and Civil Liberties in Wartime Texas Thomas Hickey, the Rebel, and Civil Liberties in Wartime Texas". East Texas Historical Journal. 45 (1): 43.
3. "Our Campaigns – TX US Senate – D Primary Race – July 22, 1916". www.ourcampaigns.com.
4. "Our Campaigns – TX US Senate – D Primary Race – August 26, 1916". www.ourcampaigns.com.
5. Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives (1917). "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 6, 1916" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office.
6. "Our Campaigns – TX US Senate Race – Nov 07, 1916". www.ourcampaigns.com.