# 1964 United States Senate election in Massachusetts

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U.S. Senate
Class 1: 1788
1790
1796 (S)
1796
1798
1800 (S)
1803
1808 (S)
1810 (S)
1811
1813 (S)
1815
1815 (S)
1816 (S)
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1934
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1982
1988
1994
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2010 (S)
2012
2018
2024
Class 2: 1788
1793
1796
1800 (S)
1803 (S)
1805
1810
1811 (S)
1816
1822 (S)
1826 (S)
1828
1835
January 1841 (S)
1841
1845 (S)
1847
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1855 (S)
1859
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1871
1873 (S)
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1942
1944 (S)
1948
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1960
1966
1972
1978
1984
1990
1996
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2008
2013 (S)
2014
2020
U.S. House
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1790/1792
1792/1793
1794/1795
1796/1797
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1800/1801
1802/1803
1804
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3rd
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Ballot measures
1980: Proposition 2½
2002: English Language Education in Public Schools
2006: 2008
Greyhound Protection
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State Income Tax Repeal
2010: No Sales Tax for Alcohol
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2012: Right to Repair
Death with Dignity
Medical Marijuana
2014: Automatic Gas Tax Increase Repeal
Expansion of Bottle Deposits
Casino Repeal
Paid Sick Days
2016: Expand Slot Machine Gaming
Charter School Expansion
Farm Animal Confinement
Legalization, Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana
2018: Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination
2020: pending :
Boston
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Springfield
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Massachusetts portal :
vte :
The 1964 United States Senate election in Massachusetts was held on November 3, 1964, with the incumbent Democratic senator, Ted Kennedy, easily defeating his Republican challenger Howard J. Whitmore Jr.
The election coincided with the 1964 United States presidential election, which was won by incumbent Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson in a landslide, as well as the Senate election in neighboring New York which was won by Kennedy's older brother Robert. It took place less than a year after the assassination of the incumbent Senator's eldest surviving brother, President John F. Kennedy. The two surviving Kennedy brothers thus benefited from both an overall national swing to the Democrats and public sympathy following their sibling's murder. Much of the campaign-appearance burden in Massachusetts on behalf of Ted Kennedy fell on his wife, Joan, because of Ted's serious back injury in a plane crash.
Ted Kennedy recorded his highest-ever percentage of the vote in this election, although he won a larger margin of victory against divided opposition in 2000.

## Democratic primary
### Candidates

* Ted Kennedy, incumbent Senator since 1962

### Results

Senator Kennedy was unopposed for renomination.
1964 Democratic U.S. Senate primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Ted Kennedy (incumbent) | 608,791 | 99.99 |
| | Write-in | All others | 32 | 0.01 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 608,823 | 100.00 |

## Republican primary
### Candidates

* Howard J. Whitmore Jr., former State Representative and mayor of Newton

### Results

Whitmore was unopposed for the Republican nomination.
1964 Republican U.S. Senate primary :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Howard J. Whitmore Jr. | 172,078 | 99.95% |
| | Write-in | All others | 86 | 0.05% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 172,164 | 100.00% |

## General election
### Candidates

* Lawrence Gilfedder, perennial candidate (Socialist Workers)
* Ted Kennedy, incumbent Senator since 1962 (Democratic)
* Grace F. Luder, candidate for Congress in 1950 and 1952 (Prohibition)
* Howard J. Whitmore Jr., former State Representative and mayor of Newton (Republican)

### Results

1964 U.S. Senate election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Democratic | Ted Kennedy (incumbent) | 1,716,907 | 74.26 | 21.30 |
| | Republican | Howard J. Whitmore Jr. | 587,663 | 25.42 | 19.08 |
| | Socialist Labor | Lawrence Gilfedder | 4,745 | 0.21 | 0.03 |
| | Prohibition | Grace F. Luder | 2,700 | 0.12 | 0.05 |
| | Write-in | All others | 13 | 0.00 | |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 2,312,028 | 100.00 | |