1848–49 United States Senate elections
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19 of the 60 seats in the United States Senate (with special elections) 31 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Results: Democratic gain Democratic hold Whig gain Whig hold Free Soil Gain | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1848–49 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states. As these U.S. Senate elections were prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were chosen by state legislatures. Senators were elected over a wide range of time throughout 1848 and 1849, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock.[1] In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 3.
The Democratic Party lost seats but maintained control of the Senate.
Results
[edit]Senate party division, 31st Congress (1849–1851)
- Majority party: Democratic (33–36)
- Minority party: Whig Party (25–24)
- Other parties: Free Soil (2)
- Total seats: 60–62
Change in Senate composition
[edit]Before the elections
[edit]| D1 | D2 | D3 | D4 | D5 | D6 | D7 | D8 | D9 | D10 |
| D20 | D19 | D18 | D17 | D16 | D15 | D14 | D13 | D12 | D11 |
| D21 | D22 | D23 | D24 | D25 Ran |
D26 Ran |
D27 Ran |
D28 Ran |
D29 Ran |
D30 Ran |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Majority → | D31 Ran | ||||||||
| W21 Unknown |
ID1 | D38 Retired |
D37 Retired |
D36 Retired |
D35 Retired |
D34 Unknown |
D33 Ran |
D32 Ran | |
| W20 Ran |
W19 Ran |
W18 Ran |
W17 Ran |
W16 | W15 | W14 | W13 | W12 | W11 |
| W1 | W2 | W3 | W4 | W5 | W6 | W7 | W8 | W9 | W10 |
As a result of the elections
[edit]| D1 | D2 | D3 | D4 | D5 | D6 | D7 | D8 | D9 | D10 |
| D20 | D19 | D18 | D17 | D16 | D15 | D14 | D13 | D12 | D11 |
| D21 | D22 | D23 | D24 | D25 Re-elected |
D26 Re-elected |
D27 Re-elected |
D28 Re-elected |
D29 Re-elected |
D30 Hold |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Majority → | D31 Hold | ||||||||
| W21 Gain |
W22 Gain |
W23 Gain |
W24 Gain |
W25 Gain |
ID1 | FS1 Gain |
D33 Gain |
D32 Hold | |
| W20 Hold |
W19 Re-elected |
W18 Re-elected |
W17 Re-elected |
W16 | W15 | W14 | W13 | W12 | W11 |
| W1 | W2 | W3 | W4 | W5 | W6 | W7 | W8 | W9 | W10 |
Note: "Re-elected" includes incumbent appointee elected to the next term.
Beginning of the next Congress
[edit]| D1 | D2 | D3 | D4 | D5 | D6 | D7 | D8 | D9 | D10 |
| D20 | D19 | D18 | D17 | D16 | D15 | D14 | D13 | D12 | D11 |
| D21 | D22 | D23 | D24 | D25 | D26 | D27 | D28 | D29 | D30 |
| Majority → | D31 | ||||||||
| W21 | W22 | W23 | W24 | W25 | FS2 | FS1 | D33 | D32 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W20 | W19 | W18 | W17 | W16 | W15 | W14 | W13 | W12 | W11 |
| W1 | W2 | W3 | W4 | W5 | W6 | W7 | W8 | W9 | W10 |
| Key: |
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Race summaries
[edit]Special elections during the 30th Congress
[edit]In these special elections, the winners were seated during 1848 or in 1849 before March 4; ordered by election date.
| State | Incumbent | Results | Candidates | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senator | Party | Electoral history | |||
| Mississippi (Class 1) |
Jefferson Davis | Democratic | 1847 (appointed) | Interim appointee elected January 11, 1848.[2] |
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| Connecticut (Class 1) |
Roger S. Baldwin | Whig | 1847 (appointed) | Interim appointee elected in May 1848. |
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| Maine (Class 1) |
Wyman B. S. Moor | Democratic | 1848 (appointed) | Interim appointee retired when successor elected June 7, 1848. Democratic hold. |
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| Wisconsin (Class 1) |
None (new state) | Wisconsin admitted to the Union May 29, 1848. Senator elected June 8, 1848. Democratic gain. |
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| Wisconsin (Class 3) |
Wisconsin admitted to the Union May 29, 1848. Senator elected June 8, 1848. Democratic gain. |
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| Alabama (Class 3) |
Arthur P. Bagby | Democratic | 1841 (special) 1842 |
Incumbent resigned June 16, 1848 to become U.S. Minister to Russia. New senator elected July 1, 1848. Democratic hold. |
|
| Arkansas (Class 2) |
William K. Sebastian | Democratic | 1848 (appointed) | Interim appointee elected November 17, 1848.[3] |
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| Iowa (Class 2) |
None (new state) | Iowa was admitted to the Union December 28, 1846. Legislature had failed to elect due to a three-way split that prevented any candidate from earning the required 30 votes.[4] Senator elected December 7, 1848. Democratic gain. |
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| Iowa (Class 3) |
Iowa was admitted to the Union December 28, 1846. Legislature had failed to elect due to a three-way split that prevented any candidate from earning the required 30 votes.[4] Senator elected December 7, 1848. Democratic gain. |
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| Kentucky (Class 3) |
Thomas Metcalfe | Whig | 1848 (appointed) | Interim appointee elected January 3, 1849.[5] |
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| Michigan (Class 1) |
Thomas Fitzgerald | Democratic | 1848 (appointed) | Interim appointee retired. New senator elected January 20, 1849, but did not take his seat until March 4, 1849. Democratic hold. |
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| Delaware (Class 1) |
John M. Clayton | Whig | 1829 1835 |
Incumbent resigned February 23, 1849 to become U.S. Secretary of State. New senator elected February 23, 1849. Whig hold. |
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Races leading to the 31st Congress
[edit]In these regular elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1849; ordered by state.
All of the elections involved the Class 3 seats.
| State | Incumbent | Results | Candidates | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senator | Party | Electoral history | |||
| Alabama | William R. King | Democratic | 1848 (special) | Incumbent re-elected in 1848 or 1849. |
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| Arkansas | Solon Borland | Democratic | 1848 (appointed) | Incumbent appointee elected to a full term in November 1848.[7] |
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| Connecticut | John M. Niles | Democratic | 1842 | Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1848 or 1849. Whig gain. |
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| Florida | James Westcott | Democratic | 1845 | Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1848. Whig gain. |
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| Georgia | Herschel V. Johnson | Democratic | 1848 (appointed) | Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1847.[8] Whig gain. |
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| Illinois | Sidney Breese | Democratic | 1843 | Incumbent lost renomination. New senator elected January 13, 1849. Democratic hold. |
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| Indiana | Edward A. Hannegan | Democratic | 1842 | Incumbent lost renomination. New senator elected in 1848. Democratic hold. |
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| Kentucky | Thomas Metcalfe | Whig | 1848 (appointed) ? (special) |
Incumbent retired or lost re-election. New senator elected February 1, 1849. Whig hold. |
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| Louisiana | Henry Johnson | Whig | 1844 (special) | Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected in 1848. Democratic gain. |
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| Maryland | James Pearce | Whig | 1843 | Incumbent re-elected in 1849. |
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| Missouri | David Rice Atchison | Democratic | 1843 (appointed) 1843 (special) |
Incumbent re-elected in 1849. |
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| New Hampshire | Charles G. Atherton | Democratic | 1843 (special) | Incumbent retired or lost re-election. New senator elected in 1848 or 1849. Democratic hold. |
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| New York | John Adams Dix | Democratic | 1845 (special) | Incumbent lost re-election as a Free Soiler. New senator elected February 6, 1849. Whig gain. |
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| North Carolina | George Badger | Whig | 1846 (special) | Incumbent re-elected in 1849. |
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| Ohio | William Allen | Democratic | 1837 1842 |
Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected in 1849. Free Soil gain. |
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| Pennsylvania | Simon Cameron | Democratic | 1845 (special) | Incumbent retired. New senator elected January 10, 1849. Whig gain. |
|
| South Carolina | Andrew Butler | Democratic | 1846 (appointed) ? (special) |
Incumbent re-elected in 1848. |
|
| Vermont | William Upham | Whig | 1843 | Incumbent re-elected in 1848. |
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| Wisconsin | Isaac P. Walker | Democratic | 1848 | Incumbent re-elected in 1849. |
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Elections during the 31st Congress
[edit]In these elections, the winners were elected in 1849 after March 4.
| State | Incumbent | Results | Candidates | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senator | Party | Electoral history | |||
| Illinois (Class 3) |
James Shields | Democratic | 1848 or 1849 | Senate voided election March 15, 1849, as incumbent had not been a U.S. citizen long enough as required by the U.S. Constitution. Incumbent was re-elected October 27, 1849, having by then qualified. Democratic hold. |
|
| Alabama (Class 2) |
Benjamin Fitzpatrick | Democratic | 1848 (appointed) | Interim appointee retired when successor elected or lost election to finish the term. New senator elected November 30, 1849. Democratic hold. |
|
| California (Class 1) |
None (new state) | California admitted as a state on September 9, 1850. Senator elected December 20, 1849 and seated upon statehood. Democratic gain. |
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| California (Class 3) |
California admitted as a state on September 9, 1850. Senator elected December 20, 1849 and seated upon statehood. Democratic gain. |
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Individual elections
[edit]Maryland
[edit]![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (November 2022) |
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80 members of the Maryland General Assembly | ||||||||||||||||
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80 members of the Maryland General Assembly | ||||||||||||||||
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Reverdy Johnson won election in 1844 but retired to become the United States Attorney General. In order to fill his seat, David Stewart was elected by an unknown margin of votes, for the Class 1 seat.[10]
James Pearce won re-election by an unknown margin of votes, for the Class 3 seat.[11]
New York
[edit]The New York election was held February 6, 1849. Barnburner John Adams Dix had been elected in 1845 to this seat after the resignation of Silas Wright, and Dix's term would expire on March 3, 1849. In November 1848, Dix was the Barnburners/Free-Soilers candidate for Governor of New York, but was defeated by Whig Hamilton Fish.
At this time New York Democratic Party was split in two fiercely opposing factions: the Barnburners" and the "Hunkers". The Barnburners organized the Free Soil Party in 1848 and nominated Martin Van Buren for U.S. President. Due to the split, the Whig Party won most of the elective offices by pluralities.
At the State election in November 1847, 24 Whigs and 8 Democrats were elected for a two-year term (1848–1849) in the State Senate. At the State election in November 1848, 106 Whigs, 15 Free Soilers and 7 Hunkers were elected to the Assembly for the session of 1849. The 72nd New York State Legislature met from January 2 to April 11, 1849, at Albany, New York.
Ex-Governor of New York William H. Seward was nominated by a caucus of Whig State legislators on February 1, 1849. The vote was 88 for Seward, 12 for John A. Collier, 18 scattering and 4 blanks. The incumbent U.S. Senator John Adams Dix ran for re-election supported by the Free Soilers. Ex-Chancellor Reuben H. Walworth was the candidate of the Hunkers. Walworth had been third place in the last gubernatorial election, behind Fish and Dix. Ex-Congressman Daniel D. Barnard (Whig) received 2 scattering votes in the Senate. William H. Seward was the choice of both the Assembly and the Senate, and was declared elected.
| House | Whig | Free Soil | Dem./Hunker | also ran | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State Senate (32 members) | William H. Seward | 19 | John Adams Dix | 6 | Reuben H. Walworth | 2 | Daniel D. Barnard | 2 |
| State Assembly (128 members) | William H. Seward | 102 | John Adams Dix | 15 | Reuben H. Walworth | 7 | ||
Ohio
[edit]The two houses of the Ohio General Assembly met in joint session February 22, 1849, with 72 representatives and 35 senators present to elect a Senator (Class 3) to succeed incumbent William Allen. On the fourth ballot, Salmon P. Chase was elected with a majority of the votes cast, as follows:[12]
| Ballot | William Allen | Thomas Ewing | Joshua Reed Giddings | Salmon P. Chase | Reuben Hitchcock | Emery D. Potter | David T. Disney | John C. Vaughn | blank ballots | total votes cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27 | 41 | 9 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 106 |
| 2 | 1 | 41 | 8 | 52 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 108 |
| 3 | 0 | 39 | 9 | 53 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 105 |
| 4 | 0 | 39 | 11 | 55 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 106 |
The second ballot was declared a nullity by Speaker of the Senate Brewster Randall, because there were one more ballots cast than members present.
Pennsylvania
[edit]The Pennsylvania election was held January 10, 1849. James Cooper was elected by the Pennsylvania General Assembly.[13]
Incumbent Democrat Simon Cameron, who was elected in 1845, was not a candidate for re-election to another term. The Pennsylvania General Assembly, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate, convened on January 10, 1849, to elect a new Senator to fill the term beginning on March 4, 1849. Three ballots were recorded. The results of the third and final ballot of both houses combined are as follows:
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whig | James Cooper | 66 | 49.62 | |
| Democratic | Richard Brodhead | 62 | 46.62 | |
| Free Soil | Thaddeus Stevens | 3 | 2.26 | |
| N/A | Not voting | 2 | 1.50 | |
| Totals | 133 | 100.00% | ||
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ "17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Direct Election of U.S. Senators (1913)". National Archives and Records Administration. 8 February 2022.
- ^ Byrd, p. 129.
- ^ Byrd, p. 164.
- ^ a b Clark, pp. 17–46, 72–79.
- ^ Byrd, p. 112.
- ^ Journal of the Senate of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, begun and held in the Town of Frankfort, on Saturday 30th December 1848. Frankfort, KY: A. G. Hodges & Co, State Printers. 1848. p. 26.
- ^ a b "Encyclopedia of Arkansas".
- ^ "Stryker's American Register and Magazine". 1849.
- ^ Journal of the Senate of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, begun and held in the Town of Frankfort, on Saturday 30th December 1848. Frankfort, KY: A. G. Hodges & Co, State Printers. 1848. p. 170.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - MD US Senate Race - Dec 00, 1849". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - MD US Senate Race - Jan 00, 1849". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
- ^ Taylor, William Alexander; Taylor, Aubrey Clarence (1899). Ohio statesmen and annals of progress: from the year 1788 to the year 1900 ... State of Ohio. p. 232.
- ^ a b "U.S. Senate Election - 10 January 1849" (PDF). Wilkes University. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
References
[edit]- "Party Division in the Senate, 1789-Present". via Senate.gov.
- Clark, Dan Elbert (1913). History of Senatorial Elections in Iowa. Iowa City, Iowa.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Byrd, Robert C. (1 October 1993). Wolff, Wendy (ed.). The Senate, 1789-1989: Historical Statistics, 1789–1992. United States Senate Historical Office (volume 4 Bicentennial ed.). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. ISBN 9780160632563.
- The New York Civil List compiled in 1858 (see: pg. 63 for U.S. Senators; pg. 136 for State Senators 1849; pg. 236ff for Members of Assembly 1849)
- Members of the 31st United States Congress
- Result State election, 1847: The Whig Almanac and United States Register for 1848
- Result Whig caucus: The American Whig Review, Vol. 11 by George Hooker Colton & James Davenport Whelpley (page 638)
- Result U.S. Senate election, State Senate: Journal of the Senate (72nd Session) (1849; pg. 167)
- Result U.S. Senate election, State Assembly: Journal of the Assembly (72nd Session) (1849; pg. 355f)
- Pennsylvania Election Statistics: 1682-2006 from the Wilkes University Election Statistics Project