1958 United States Senate election in Massachusetts

← 1952

November 4, 1958

1962 (special) →


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

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

Federal government

U.S. President
1788–89 1792 1796 1800 1804 1808 1812 1816 1820 1824 1828 1832 1836 1840 1844 1848 1852 1856 1860 1864 1868 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 Dem 2004 Dem 2008 Dem GOP 2012 2016 Dem GOP 2020 Dem GOP 2024 Dem GOP
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) 1818 (S) 1820 1820 (S) 1822 1826 1827 1829 (S) 1833 1839 February 1841 (S) 1845 1851 1851 (S) 1857 1863 1869 1874 (S) 1875 1881 1887 1893 1899 1905 1911 1916 1922 1928 1934 1940 1946 1952 1958 1962 (S) 1964 1970 1976 1982 1988 1994 2000 2006 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 1853 1855 (S) 1859 1865 1871 1873 (S) 1877 1883 1889 1895 1901 1905 (S) 1907 1913 1918 1924 1930 1936 1942 1944 (S) 1948 1954 1960 1966 1972 1978 1984 1990 1996 2002 2008 2013 (S) 2014 2020
U.S. House
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State government

Governor
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State Senate
1787 1824 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022
State House
2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2020 2022
Governor's Council
2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Ballot measures
1980: Proposition 2½ 2002: English Language Education in Public Schools 2006: 2008 Greyhound Protection Sensible Marijuana Policy State Income Tax Repeal 2010: No Sales Tax for Alcohol Sales Tax Relief Comprehensive Permits and Regional Planning 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

Mayor
1822 1823 1824 Apr 1825 Dec 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844–45 Dec 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853–54 Dec 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1897 1899 1901 1903 1905 1907 1910 1914 1917 1921 1925 1929 1933 1937 1941 1945 1949 1951 1955 1959 1963 1967 1971 1975 1979 1983 1987 1991 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021 2025
City council
1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019 2021 2023

Springfield

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

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

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