United States House of Representatives elections, 1916

United States House of Representatives elections, 1916

1914 ← November 7, 1916 → 1918

All 435 seats to the United States House of Representatives 218 seats were needed for a majority   First party Second party Third party   Leader James Mann Champ Clark Whitmell P. Martin Party Republican Democratic Progressive Leader's seat Illinois-2nd Missouri-9th Louisiana-3rd Last election 197 seats 230 seats 5 seats Seats won 216 214 3 Seat change 19 16 2   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Meyer London Charles H. Randall Party Socialist Prohibition Leader's seat New York-12th California-9th Last election 1 seat 1 seat Seats won 1 1 Seat change

Speaker before election Champ Clark Democratic Elected Speaker Champ Clark Democratic

Elections to the United States House of Representatives in 1916 were held for members of the 65th Congress, coinciding with the re-election of President Woodrow Wilson.

Although Wilson eked out a narrow victory, his Democratic Party lost seats to the opposition Republican Party. Wilson's hybrid approach, which injected a progressive element into Democratic policies, had proved to be dissatisfying to much of the nation. International affairs also became important in the traditionally non-interventionist United States, as voters attempted to determine which party would be best served to keep the nation from entering The Great War.

Although the Republicans gained a plurality, the Democrats narrowly maintained control of the House with minor party support, forming an alliance with the remaining third-party Progressives and Socialist Meyer London. This is the last example (to date) of a type of coalition holding power in the House, rather than a single party (as is normally the case). The Democrats would not win a majority of seats again until 1932. Notable freshman included Jeannette Rankin, a Republican from Montana who was the first woman ever elected to congress.

Election summaries

State	Type	Total seats	Republican		Democratic		Progressive		Others
			Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Alabama	District	10	0		10		0		0
Arizona	At-large	1	0		1		0		0
Arkansas	District	7	0		7		0		0
California	District	11	5	1	4	1	1	1	1	1
Colorado	District	4	1		3		0		0
Connecticut	District	5	4	1	1	1	0		0
Delaware	At-large	1	0	1	1	1	0		0
Florida	District	4	0		4		0		0
Georgia	District	12	0		12		0		0
Idaho	At-large	2	2		0		0		0
Illinois	District +2 at-large	27	21	5	6	4	0	1	0
Indiana	District	13	9	7	4	7	0		0
Iowa	District	11	11	1	0	1	0		0
Kansas	District	8	3	1	5	1	0		0
Kentucky	District	11	2		9		0		0
Louisiana	District	8	0		7	1	1	1	0
Maine	District	4	4	1	0	1	0		0
Maryland	District	6	2	1	4	1	0		0
Massachusetts	District	16	12		4		0		0
Michigan	District	13	12	1	1	1	0		0
Minnesota	District	10	9		1		0		0
Mississippi	District	8	0		8		0		0
Missouri	District	16	2		14		0		0
Montana	At-large	2	1	1	1	1	0		0
Nebraska	District	6	3		3		0		0
Nevada	At-large	1	1		0		0		0
New Hampshire	District	2	2	2	0	2	0		0
New Jersey	District	12	9	1	3	1	0		0
New Mexico	At-large	1	0	1	1	1	0		0
New York	District	43	26	4	16	3	0	1	1
North Carolina	District	10	0	1	10	1	0		0
North Dakota	District	3	3		0		0		0
Ohio	District	22	9	4	13	4	0		0
Oklahoma	District	8	2	1	6	1	0		0
Oregon	District	3	3		0		0		0
Pennsylvania	District +4 at-large	36	29	1	6		1	1	0
Rhode Island	District	3	2		1		0		0
South Carolina	District	7	0		7		0		0
South Dakota	District	3	2		1		0		0
Tennessee	District	10	2		8		0		0
Texas	District +2 at-large	18	0		18		0		0
Utah	District	2	0	1	2	1	0		0
Vermont	District	2	2		0		0		0
Virginia	District	10	1		9		0		0
Washington	District	5	4	1	1	1	0	2	0
West Virginia	District	6	4	1	2	1	0		0
Wisconsin	District	11	11	3	0	3	0		0
Wyoming	At-large	1	1		0		0		0
Total		435	216 49.7%	19	214 49.2%	16	3 0.7%	2	2 0.5%	1

The Democrats retained control of the House by forming a coalition with the Progressives and the single Socialist, combining to form a razor-thin majority of 218 Representatives

Maine held its election September 11, 1916. There had previously been multiple states with earlier elections, but between 1914 and 1958, Maine was alone in holding early elections.

House seats by party holding plurality in state   80.1-100% Republican   80.1-100% Democratic   60.1-80% Republican   60.1-80% Democratic   Up to 60% Republican   Up to 60% Democratic

6+ Republican gain   6+ Democratic gain   3-5 Republican gain   3-5 Democratic gain   1-2 Republican gain   1-2 Democratic gain   1-2 Progressive gain   no net change

Complete results

Party abbreviations

• D: Democratic
• I: Independent
• Prog: Progressive
• Proh: Prohibition
• R: Republican
• S: Socialist

A slash between two labels indicates a fusion ticket

California

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in California, 1916

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
California 1	William Kent	Independent	1910	Retired Democratic gain	Clarence F. Lea (D) 48.8% Edward H. Hart (R) 42.8% Mary M. Morgan (S) 5.5% Jay Scott Ryder (Proh) 2.9%
California 2	John E. Raker	Democratic	1910	Re-elected	John E. Raker (D) 71% James T. Matlock (R) 29%
California 3	Charles F. Curry	Republican	1912	Re-elected	Charles F. Curry (R) 66.7% O. W. Kennedy (D) 23.4% Ben Cooper (S) 6.2% Edwin F. Van Vlear (Proh) 3.7%
California 4	Julius Kahn	Republican	1898	Re-elected	Julius Kahn (R) 77.2% J. M. Fernald (D) 15.7% Allen K. Gifford (S) 5.6% Henry W. Hutchinson (Proh) 1.5%
California 5	John I. Nolan	Republican	1912	Re-elected	John I. Nolan (R) 84.7% Charles A. Preston (S) 9.6% Frederick Head (Proh) 5.8%
California 6	John A. Elston	Progressive	1912	Re-elected	John A. Elston (Prog) 64.6% H. Avery Whitney (D) 22.6% Luella Twining (S) 8.7% Harlow E. Wolcott (Proh) 4.1%
California 7	Denver S. Church	Democratic	1912	Re-elected	Denver S. Church (D) 51% W. W. Phillips (R) 36.4% Harry M. McKee (S) 7.2% J. F. Butler (Proh) 5.3%
California 8	Everis A. Hayes	Republican	1904	Re-elected	Everis A. Hayes (R) 68.6% George S. Walker (Prog/D) 23.8% Cora Pattleton Wilson (S) 7.5%
California 9	Charles H. Randall	Prohibition	1914	Re-elected	Charles H. Randall (Proh.) 57.8% Charles W. Bell (I) 32.7% Ralph L. Criswell (S) 9.5%
California 10	Henry S. Benedict	Progressive	1916	Retired Republican gain	Henry Z. Osborne (R) 49.5% Rufus V. Bowden (D) 25.7% Henry Stanley Benedict (Prog) 11.1% James H. Ryckman (S) 7% Henry Clay Needham (Proh) 6.8%
California 11	William Kettner	Democratic	1912	Re-elected	William Kettner (D) 44.5% Robert C. Harbison (R) 35.7% James S. Edwards (Proh) 15.6% Marcus W. Robbins (S) 4.1%

Montana

This was the last time Montana used an at-large district until its representation was reduced to one in 1992. This was also the first time a woman was elected to Congress.

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Montana at-large 2 seats on a general ticket	John M. Evans	Democratic	1912	Re-elected	John M. Evans (D) 26.7% Jeannette Rankin (R) 24.3% Harry B. Mitchell (D) 22.3% George W. Farr (R) 21.2% John McGuffey (S) 2.8% Albert F. Meissner (S) 2.7%
	Tom Stout	Democratic	1912	Retired Republican gain

South Carolina

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina, 1916

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
South Carolina 1	Richard S. Whaley	Democratic	1913 (special)	Re-elected	Richard S. Whaley (D) 95.4% J. O. Ladd (R) 4.6%
South Carolina 2	James F. Byrnes	Democratic	1910	Re-elected	James F. Byrnes (D) 98.5% Isaac Myers (R) 1.5%
South Carolina 3	Wyatt Aiken	Democratic	1902	Lost primary Democratic hold	Frederick H. Dominick (D) 100%
South Carolina 4	Samuel J. Nicholls	Democratic	1915 (special)	Re-elected	Samuel J. Nicholls (D) 99.4% G. F. Mills (R) 0.6%
South Carolina 5	David E. Finley	Democratic	1898	Re-elected	David E. Finley (D) 100%
South Carolina 6	J. Willard Ragsdale	Democratic	1912	Re-elected	J. Willard Ragsdale (D) 99.1% W. L. McFarlan (R) 0.9%
South Carolina 7	Asbury F. Lever	Democratic	1901 (special)	Re-elected	Asbury F. Lever (D) 93.5% I. S. Leevy (R) 6.5%

See also

• 65th United States Congress
• United States presidential election, 1916
• United States Senate elections, 1916

References

• Unless otherwise noted, electoral data are from Ourcampaigns.com