1860 United States Senate special election in Oregon

← 1858 October 2, 1860 1862 →
50 members of theOregon Legislative Assembly Majority of voting members needed to win
Nominee Edward D. Baker George H. Williams George L. Curry Party Republican Douglas Democratic Breckinridge Democratic 1st ballot — 11 (22.4%) 8 (16.3%) 14th ballot 26 (52.0%) 20 (40.0%) 2 (4.0%)   Nominee La Fayette Grover Amory Holbrook Party Douglas Democratic Republican 1st ballot 16 (32.6%) 11 (22.4%) 14th ballot — —
Senator before election None (vacant from March 4, 1859) Elected Senator Edward D. Baker Republican

The1860 United States Senate special election in Oregon was held on October 2, 1860, as part of the1860–61 United States Senate elections. TheRepublican formerU.S. representative fromIllinois's 6th congressional districtEdward D. Baker defeated theDouglas Democratic formerchief justice of the Oregon Supreme CourtGeorge H. Williams on the 14th ballot.

Delazon Smith won the1858 election for the term ending March 4, 1859, in anticipation the admission of Oregon to theUnion. After the expiration of Smith's term, but before the36th United States Congress convened, thegovernor of OregonJohn Whiteaker called a special session of theOregon Legislative Assembly in May 1859 to hold an election for the succeeding term. TheOregon Democratic Party was divided between partisans of U.S. senatorJoseph Lane andAsahel Bush, who were identified with support or opposition to theBuchanan administration's policy on slavery in theU.S. territories, respectively. In the Democratic caucus, Smith, a Lane Democrat, was narrowly renominated with 22 out of 43 votes. The Bush Democrats subsequently refused to support Smith's re-election in the legislative joint session, and the legislature adjourned on July 4 without having elected a senator.^[1]

In the1860 United States presidential election, Lane was nominated for vice president by supporters ofJohn C. Breckinridge, theSouthern Democratic candidate for president; the Lane faction became identified with Breckinridge's candidacy in Oregon, while the Anti-Lane forces supportedStephen A. Douglas. In state elections held in June 1860, an ad-hoc Anti-Lane coalition of Republicans and Douglas Democrats handed a decisive defeat to the Lane faction, which was reduced to a minority in the legislature. Besides their shared hatred of Lane, both groups opposed theUnited States Supreme Court's ruling inDred Scott v. Sandford and supportedpopular sovereignty in the territories. The election of an Anti-Lane majority cleared the way for a cooperation between Republicans and Douglas Democrats in the upcoming senatorial elections.^[2]

The legislature met again in joint session on September 21, 1860, to hold concurrent elections for the vacant Class 2 seat and the Class 3 seat held by Lane.^[3] The elected legislature included 19 Lane Democrats, 18 Douglas Democrats, and 13 Republicans. In an attempt to prevent aquorum in theSenate, six Lane Democrats absented themselves from the proceedings; during their absence, theHouse of Representatives attempted to conduct the election, but no candidate for either seat gained a majority over twenty ballots.^[4]

At length, the absent senators were persuaded to return, and balloting resumed on October 1. RepublicanAmory Holbrook, Douglas DemocratsGeorge H. Williams andLa Fayette Grover, and Breckinridge DemocratGeorge L. Curry were the major candidates on the first ballot.^[5] A coalition between the Republicans and Douglas Democrats remained elusive until the following day. On October 2, the Republican members switched their votes from Holbrook to Baker, who had withdrawn his candidacy for the Class 3 seat. Fifteen Douglas Democrats joined the Republicans to elect Baker, in exchange for Republicans vote to elect the Douglas Democratic candidate for the Class 3 seat,James Nesmith.^[6] Holbrook, who thought fusion ill-advised and mistrusted Baker's Republican credentials, cast a blank ballot all through the voting on October 2.^[7]

• Oregon (1860).Journal of the Proceedings of the Senate of the Legislative Assembly of Oregon [...]. Salem, OR.

• Carey, Charles Henry (1922).History of Oregon. Chicago: Pioneer Historical Publishing Company.
• Johannsen, Robert W. (1955).Frontier Politics and the Sectional Conflict: The Pacific Northwest on the Eve of the Civil War. Seattle: University of Washington Press.

• United States Senate elections in Oregon
• 1860 United States Senate elections
• 1860 Oregon elections
• Special elections to the 36th United States Congress
• United States Senate special elections
• Oregon special elections