Six years later Beckham again attempted to win the Senate seat . Due to the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment , the senator would not be elected by the legislature , but by popular vote . In the Democratic primary Beckham defeated Augustus O. Stanley , a 12 @-@ year veteran congressman . The Republican nominee was former governor Augustus E. Willson . Bolstered by his support of President Woodrow Wilson , Beckham won the election by 32 @,@ 000 votes .