The 1916 United States Senate election in Massachusetts was held on November 7, 1916. Republican incumbent Henry Cabot Lodge defeated Democratic Mayor of Boston John F. Fitzgerald to win election to a fifth term.
This was the first United States Senate election in Massachusetts decided by popular vote, as required by the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
John F. Fitzgerald, former Mayor of Boston and U.S. Representative (Democratic)
Henry Cabot Lodge, incumbent U.S. Senator since 1893
William N. McDonald (Socialist)
Campaign[]
Fitzgerald attacked Lodge for his opposition to the direct election of Senators and the Federal Employees' Compensation Act. He declared that "[Lodge's] career shows a singular lack of touch with the people... it is for private interests that he has stood during his career."[3]
Lodge also faced criticism over his charge of weakness against President Wilson's response to the sinking of the RMS Lusitania. Lodge was forced to withdraw his charge.[3]
Results[]
1916 United States Senate election in Massachusetts[4]
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Republican
Henry Cabot Lodge (incumbent)
267,177
51.68%
Democratic
John F. Fitzgerald
234,238
45.31%
Socialist
William N. McDonald
15,558
3.01%
Write-in
All others
26
0.00%
Total votes
516,999
100.00%
Aftermath[]
In 1952, Fitzgerald's grandson John F. Kennedy defeated Lodge's grandson Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. to win election to this same Senate seat. Fitzgerald's daughter Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy would say that her son John had "evened the score" with the Lodges and avenged her father's defeat. A final contest between the two families came in 1962, when Ted Kennedy defeated George C. Lodge for the same seat.[5]