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) 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.
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). 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." The Senate considered Jackson's challenge but eventually rejected it and seated Lee.
Results
Results by county +CountyBlair Lee DemocraticThomas Parran Sr. RepublicanOtherTotal Votes
Cast#### Allegany3,3322,9142,4238,669 Anne Arundel3,3782,2301565,764 Baltimore (City)48,65824,0285,55378,239 Baltimore (County)11,9636,46584019,268 Calvert6581,189461,893 Caroline1,8751,5931173,585 Carroll3,5363,1802136,929 Cecil2,2081,7481084,064 Charles1,0171,349882,454 Dorchester2,6582,4541015,213 Frederick5,1634,63350910,305 Garrett9181,3652442,527 Harford3,0601,9201995,179 Howard1,7131,079952,887 Kent1,7901,3551113,256 Montgomery3,4942,5201756,189 Prince George's2,5631,7831484,494 Queen Anne's1,8901,377883,355 St. Mary's957929811,967 Somerset1,7071,7501333,590 Talbot1,8241,4271533,404 Washington4253,7644904,679 Wicomico2,7181,9022924,912 Worcester1,160336571,553Total112,48573,3006,090198,205
References