1958 United States Senate election in Massachusetts

1958 United States Senate election in Massachusetts

November 4, 1958

Nominee John F. Kennedy Vincent Celeste Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,362,926 488,318 Percentage 73.20% 26.23%

County results Municipality results Kennedy   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%   90–100% Celeste   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%

U.S. senator before election John F. Kennedy Democratic Elected U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy Democratic

The 1958 United States Senate election in Massachusetts was held on November 4, 1958. Democratic incumbent John F. Kennedy was reelected to a second six-year term, defeating Republican candidate Vincent J. Celeste.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• John F. Kennedy, incumbent Senator since 1953

Results

Senator Kennedy was unopposed for renomination.

Republican primary

Candidates

• Vincent J. Celeste, East Boston attorney and candidate for U.S. Representative in 1950 and 1952

Results

Celeste was unopposed for the Republican nomination.

General election

Candidates

• Vincent J. Celeste, East Boston attorney and candidate for U.S. Representative in 1950 and 1952 (Republican)
• Lawrence Gilfedder, perennial candidate (Socialist Labor)
• John F. Kennedy, incumbent Senator since 1953 (Democratic)
• Mark R. Shaw, perennial candidate (Prohibition)

Campaign

Kennedy was overwhelmingly popular in Massachusetts and the 1958 elections were a wave election favoring the Democratic Party. Celeste's campaign was poorly funded but the candidate worked 17-hour days, running his campaign out of his law offices and attempting to frame the race as one pitting a working-class child of Sicilian immigrants against "that millionaire Jack Kennedy."^[1]

The Kennedy campaign had bought and produced thousands of pieces of campaign material with the slogan "Be Proud of Your Vote!" but scrapped them after Celeste's nomination, as Senator Kennedy's father Joe thought the slogan could alienate Italian-Americans and divide the state on ethnic lines.^[1]

Results

Kennedy defeated Celeste by a margin of 874,608 votes; this represented the largest margin of victory in a statewide Massachusetts election up to that point.^[2]

United States Senate election in Massachusetts, 1958 ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John F. Kennedy (incumbent)	1,362,926	73.20%	21.86
	Republican	Vincent J. Celeste	488,318	26.23%	22.12
	Socialist Labor	Lawrence Gilfedder	5,457	0.29%	0.09
	Prohibition	Mark R. Shaw	5,335	0.29%	0.18
Total votes			1,862,036	100.00%
	Democratic hold

References

1. "Vincent Celeste, at 90; JFK's US Senate opponent in '58". The Boston Globe. February 17, 2015. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
2. "John F. Kennedy". Retrieved January 16, 2017.
3. "Our Campaigns - MA US Senate Race - Nov 04, 1958". www.ourcampaigns.com.