1916 United States Senate election in Indiana
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1916 United States Senate election in Indiana took place on November 7, 1916. Incumbent Democratic U.S. senator and Senate Majority Leader John W. Kern ran for re-election to a second term in office. He was defeated by Republican Harry New, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee.
.jpg)
 | |||||||||||||||||
November 7, 1916
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
 County results New: 40â50% 50â60% 60â70% Kern: 40â50% 50â60% 60â70% | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
Democratic primary
Candidates
- John W. Kern, incumbent senator since 1911 and Democratic caucus chairman leader since 1913
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | John W. Kern | 151,931 | 100.00% | |
| Total votes | 151,931 | 100.00% | ||
Republican primary
Candidates
- Harry Stewart New, former state senator from Indianapolis and chairman of the Republican National Committee
- Arthur N. Robinson
- James E. Watson, former U.S. representative from Rushville
Results
| Republican primary results[2] | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Round 1 | Round 2 | ||||||||||||
| Votes | % | Transfer | Votes | % | |||||||||||
| Republican | Harry New | 97,118 | 46.07% | + 3,981 | 101,099 | 52.05% | |||||||||
| Republican | James Watson | 89,847 | 42.62% | + 3,273 | 93,120 | 47.95% | |||||||||
| Republican | Arthur Robinson | 23,835 | 11.31% | - 23,835 | Eliminated | ||||||||||
After losing the primary, Watson ran in the special election for Indiana's other Senate seat caused by the death of Senator Benjamin F. Shively, which he won over Indiana's other Senator Thomas Taggart. Watson would be sworn in as a U.S. senator 3 months before Senator-elect New's term began.
Progressive primary
Candidates
- John N. Dyer, candidate for U.S. representative in 1912
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Progressive | John N. Dyer | 7,567 | 100.00% | |
| Total votes | 7,567 | 100.00% | ||
General election
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Harry Stewart New | 337,089 | 47.77% | |
| Democratic | John W. Kern | 325,588 | 46.14% | |
| Socialist | Joseph Zimmerman | 21,558 | 3.06% | |
| Prohibition | Elwood Haynes | 15,598 | 2.21% | |
| Progressive | John N. Dyer | 4,272 | 0.61% | |
| Socialist Labor | Ira J. Decker | 1,562 | 0.22% | |
| Total votes | 705,667 | 100.00% | ||
| Republican gain from Democratic | ||||
Kern died five months after leaving the U.S. Senate.