The 1916 United States Senate election in Texas was held on November 7, 1916. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Charles Culberson was re-elected to a fourth term in office. Culberson survived a challenge from former Governor Oscar Colquitt in the Democratic primary, then easily won the general election. He was challenged by Republican Alex W. Atcheson and Socialist Thomas Hickey, publisher of The Rebel.
This was the first US Senate election in Texas held after the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment, which required all Senators be elected by a direct popular vote. Culberson's runoff performance was the largest for a second-place finisher in a US Senate primary in Texas until Ken Paxton's performance in 2026.
Democratic primary Candidates Samuel Palmer Brooks, president of Baylor University and the Texas Baptist General Convention Thomas Mitchell Campbell, former Governor of Texas (1907–11) Oscar Branch Colquitt, former Governor of Texas (1911–15) Charles Allen Culberson, incumbent U.S. Senator since 1899 John Davis Robert Lee Henry, U.S. Representative from Waco G. W. Riddle
Results
Runoff
General election Results
See also 1916 United States Senate elections
References