James E. Watson

Notable Facts

  • Served as U.S. House Majority Whip (Republican) from 1905-1909
  • Served as U.S. Senate Majority Leader (Republican) from 1929-1933
  • Served as U.S. Senate Republican Conference Chair (Republican) from 1929-1933

Offices

U.S. House
District 4
In office
Mar 4, 1895 to Mar 4, 1897

Party: Republican
Assumed: General Election
Left: Ran For Other Office
2 years, 1 day
U.S. House
District 6
In office
Mar 4, 1899 to Mar 4, 1909

Party: Republican
Assumed: General Election
Left: Ran For Other Office
10 years, 2 days
U.S. Senate
Class 3
In office
Nov 8, 1916 to Mar 4, 1933

Party: Republican
Assumed: Special Election
Left: Lost Reelection Bid
16 years, 3 months, 28 days
James E. Watson spent 28 years, 4 months, 1 day in office in Indiana, all of it at the federal level.

Elections

1894–U.S. House (District 4) WON
General Election–Tuesday, November 6, 1894
48.88%
James E. Watson*, Republican, 17,905 votes
47.69%
William Steele Holman (i), Democratic, 17,471 votes
 1.92%
Richard Gregg, People's (Populist), 703 votes
 1.51%
Samuel V. Wright, Prohibition, 554 votes
Out of 36,633 votes casts, the margin of victory was 434 (1.19%)
Permalink for this election
1898–U.S. House (District 6) WON
General Election–Tuesday, November 8, 1898
52.60%
James E. Watson*, Republican, 21,048 votes
47.09%
Charles A. Robinson, Democratic, 18,844 votes
 0.30%
Samuel Walker, Prohibition, 121 votes
Out of 40,013 votes casts, the margin of victory was 2,204 (5.51%)
Permalink for this election
1900–U.S. House (District 6) WON
General Election–Tuesday, November 6, 1900
52.04%
James E. Watson (i)*, Republican, 24,203 votes
45.84%
David W. McKee, Democratic, 21,320 votes
 2.04%
Henry C. Pitts, Prohibition, 947 votes
 0.08%
John Nipp, People's (Populist), 36 votes
Out of 46,506 votes casts, the margin of victory was 2,883 (6.20%)
Permalink for this election
1902–U.S. House (District 6) WON
General Election–Tuesday, November 4, 1902
52.88%
James E. Watson (i)*, Republican, 23,641 votes
43.70%
James T. Arbuckle, Democratic, 19,535 votes
 3.42%
Mercer Brown, Prohibition, 1,529 votes
Out of 44,705 votes casts, the margin of victory was 4,106 (9.18%)
Permalink for this election
1904–U.S. House (District 6) WON
General Election–Tuesday, November 8, 1904
56.33%
James E. Watson (i)*, Republican, 29,089 votes
42.69%
Uriah S. Jackson, Democratic, 22,046 votes
 0.98%
Frederick M. Price, Socialist, 507 votes
Out of 51,642 votes casts, the margin of victory was 7,043 (13.64%)
Permalink for this election
1906–U.S. House (District 6) WON
General Election–Tuesday, November 6, 1906
49.53%
James E. Watson (i)*, Republican, 22,135 votes
46.16%
Thomas H. Kuhn, Democratic, 20,629 votes
 3.20%
Benjamin F. Daily, Prohibition, 1,432 votes
 1.10%
James M. Doddridge, Socialist, 492 votes
Out of 44,688 votes casts, the margin of victory was 1,506 (3.37%)
Permalink for this election
1908–Governor LOST
General Election–Tuesday, November 3, 1908
48.95%
Thomas R. Marshall*, Democratic, 348,849 votes
46.87%
James E. Watson, Republican, 334,040 votes
 2.23%
Sumner W. Haynes, Prohibition, 15,926 votes
 1.68%
Frank S. Goodman, Socialist, 11,948 votes
 0.14%
Frederick J. S. Robinson, People's (Populist), 986 votes
 0.08%
Oliver P. Stoner, Socialist Labor, 573 votes
 0.05%
James M. Zion, Independence, 383 votes
Out of 712,705 votes casts, the margin of victory was 14,809 (2.08%)
Permalink for this election
1916–U.S. Senate (Class 3) WON
Special Election–Tuesday, November 7, 1916
47.66%
James E. Watson*, Republican, 335,193 votes
46.29%
Thomas Taggart, Democratic, 325,577 votes
 3.07%
Edward Henry, Socialist, 21,626 votes
 2.29%
William Hickman, Prohibition, 16,095 votes
 0.68%
John F. Clifford, Progressive (Bull Moose), 4,798 votes
Out of 703,289 votes casts, the margin of victory was 9,616 (1.37%)
Permalink for this election
1920–U.S. Senate (Class 3) WON
General Election–Tuesday, November 2, 1920
54.57%
James E. Watson (i)*, Republican, 681,854 votes
41.15%
Thomas Taggart, Democratic, 514,191 votes
 1.87%
Francis M. Wampler, Socialist, 23,395 votes
 1.34%
Francis J. Dillon, Farmer-Labor, 16,804 votes
 1.07%
Culla J. Vayhinger, Prohibition, 13,323 votes
Out of 1,249,567 votes casts, the margin of victory was 167,663 (13.42%)
Permalink for this election
1926–U.S. Senate (Class 3) WON
General Election–Tuesday, November 2, 1926
50.04%
James E. Watson (i)*, Republican, 522,837 votes
48.95%
Albert Stump, Democratic, 511,454 votes
 0.52%
William H. Harris, Prohibition, 5,420 votes
 0.49%
Forrest Wallace, Socialist, 5,106 votes
Out of 1,044,817 votes casts, the margin of victory was 11,383 (1.09%)
Permalink for this election
1932–U.S. Senate (Class 3) LOST
General Election–Tuesday, November 8, 1932
55.57%
Frederick R. Van Nuys*, Democratic, 870,053 votes
42.26%
James E. Watson (i), Republican, 661,750 votes
 1.20%
Forrest Wallace, Socialist, 18,724 votes
 0.60%
Allison E. Wrentmore, Prohibition, 9,406 votes
 0.14%
William Townsend, Communist, 2,123 votes
 0.12%
Ralph Green, National, 1,869 votes
 0.12%
Evartt Edward Bailey, Socialist Labor, 1,825 votes
Out of 1,565,750 votes casts, the margin of victory was 208,303 (13.31%)
Permalink for this election
1984–U.S. House (District 1) LOST
General Election–Tuesday, November 6, 1984
70.70%
Peter J. Visclosky*, Democratic, 147,035 votes
28.84%
Joseph B. Grenchik, Republican, 59,986 votes
 0.45%
James E. Watson, Libertarian, 943 votes
Out of 207,964 votes casts, the margin of victory was 87,049 (41.86%)
Permalink for this election
In the 12 races for which we have results, James E. Watson had a record of 9-3. That includes a record of 8-3 in 11 general elections, and 1-0 in 1 special election.