1913 United States Senate special election in Maryland

A special election to the United States Senate was held in Maryland on November 4, 1913, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Sen. Isidor Rayner (a Democrat). The election was the second Senate election (after a June 1913 late election in Georgia[1][2]) held under the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which required direct popular election of senators, but was the first contested by multiple parties.[3][1]

Maryland special election

← 1910 November 4, 1913 1916 →
 
Nominee Blair Lee Thomas Parran Sr.
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 112,485 73,300
Percentage 56.75% 36.98%

County results
Parran:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
Lee:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

U.S. senator before election

William P. Jackson
Republican

Elected U.S. senator

Blair Lee
Democratic

Blair Lee I, a Democrat and former state senator, became the second U.S. Senator directly elected by the people of a state under the Constitution's provisions (although other states had previously elected senators indirectly through party primaries and popular elections, which were then ratified by the state legislature).[4] The election led to a controversy when the incumbent who had been appointed to fill Rayner's seat, Republican William P. Jackson, refused to give up his seat to Lee. Jackson claimed that "since he had been appointed under the original constitutional provision, he was entitled to hold his seat until the regularly scheduled adjournment date of the Maryland state assembly."[5] The Senate considered Jackson's challenge but eventually rejected it and seated Lee.

Results

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1913 Maryland U.S. Senate special election[3][6][7]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Blair Lee I 112,485 56.75%
Republican Thomas Parran Sr. 73,300 36.98%
Progressive George Wellington 7,033 3.55%
Socialist Robert Fields 2,982 1.5%
Prohibition Finley Hendrickson 2,405 1.21%
Total votes 198,205 100.00%
Democratic hold

Results by county

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County Blair Lee

Democratic

Thomas Parran Sr.

Republican

Other Total

Votes

Cast

# # # #
Allegany 3,332 2,914 2,423 8,669
Anne Arundel 3,378 2,230 156 5,764
Baltimore (City) 48,658 24,028 5,553 78,239
Baltimore (County) 11,963 6,465 840 19,268
Calvert 658 1,189 46 1,893
Caroline 1,875 1,593 117 3,585
Carroll 3,536 3,180 213 6,929
Cecil 2,208 1,748 108 4,064
Charles 1,017 1,349 88 2,454
Dorchester 2,658 2,454 101 5,213
Frederick 5,163 4,633 509 10,305
Garrett 918 1,365 244 2,527
Harford 3,060 1,920 199 5,179
Howard 1,713 1,079 95 2,887
Kent 1,790 1,355 111 3,256
Montgomery 3,494 2,520 175 6,189
Prince George's 2,563 1,783 148 4,494
Queen Anne's 1,890 1,377 88 3,355
St. Mary's 957 929 81 1,967
Somerset 1,707 1,750 133 3,590
Talbot 1,824 1,427 153 3,404
Washington 425 3,764 490 4,679
Wicomico 2,718 1,902 292 4,912
Worcester 1,160 336 57 1,553
Total 112,485 73,300 6,090 198,205

References

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  1. ^ a b Cleveland, John Fitch; Ottarson, F. J.; Schem, Alexander Jacob; McPherson, Edward; Rhoades, Henry Eckford (1914). The Tribune Almanac and Political Register. Tribune Association. p. 458. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  2. ^ "Landmark Legislation: The Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution". www.senate.gov. U.S. Senate. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  3. ^ a b United States Congress (1917). "Official Congressional Directory, Volume 64, Issue 2, Part 2; Volume 65". U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 42. Retrieved February 24, 2020 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ "Direct Election of Senators". www.senate.gov. U.S. Senate. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  5. ^ "The Election Case of William P. Jackson v. Blair Lee of Maryland (1914)". www.senate.gov. U.S. Senate. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  6. ^ "Archives of Maryland, Volume 0124, Page 239 - Maryland Manual, 1913-14". msa.maryland.gov. Maryland State Archives. n.d. p. 239. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
  7. ^ "Our Campaigns - MD US Senate Race - Nov 04, 1913". www.ourcampaigns.com. Our Campaigns. n.d. Retrieved April 12, 2023.