page_title: 1912 and 1913 United States Senate elections
section_title: Tennessee (Special)
hierarchical_section_title: 1912 and 1913 United States Senate elections / Tennessee / Tennessee (Special)
caption_attribution_description: English: Senator William R. Webb
context_page_description: In the United States Senate elections of 1912 and 1913, Democrats gained control of the Senate from the Republicans. Of the 22 seats up for election, 17 were won by Democrats, thereby gaining 4 seats from the Republicans. Two seats were unfilled by state legislators who failed to elect a new senator on time.
  These elections coincided with Democrat Woodrow Wilson's victory in the presidential election amid a divide in the Republican Party. In the Senate, Joseph M. Dixon and Miles Poindexter defected from the Republican Party and joined Theodore Roosevelt's new Progressive Party. Dixon, however, lost his seat during this election.
  Some states elected their senators directly even before passage of the 17th Amendment in 1913. Oregon pioneered direct election and experimented with different measures over several years until it succeeded in 1907. Soon after, Nebraska followed suit and laid the foundation for other states to adopt measures reflecting the people's will. By 1912, as many as 29 states elected senators either as nominees of their party's primary or in conjunction with a general election.
  This was the first time in 20 years that the Democrats won a majority in the Senate.
context_section_description: Democrat William R. Webb, the founder of the Webb School and former Confederate soldier, was elected January 23, 1913 to finish the term ending March 3, 1913. Webb was not a candidate in the general election.
  The election was then made unanimous by motion of the joint convention.
caption: Senator William R. Webb
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