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158 votes in theNew York State Legislature 80 votes needed to win | |||||||||||||||||
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The1863 United States Senate election in New York was held on February 3, 1863. TheUnion candidateEdwin D. Morgan defeated theDemocratic candidateErastus Corning on the joint ballot of theSenate and theAssembly.
RepublicanPreston King was elected in 1857. King's term was due to expire on March 4, 1863, with the end of the37th United States Congress.[1]
The86th New York State Legislature convened on January 6, 1863, following general elections held in1862. Thirty senators elected in1861 were held over from the85th Legislature. The incoming legislature consisted of 23 Unionists and nine Democrats in the Senate and 64 Unionists and 64 Democrats in the Assembly.[2]
A long struggle to elect aspeaker ensued in the closely divided Assembly. The Union candidateHenry Sherwood and the Democratic candidateGilbert Dean received 63 votes each on the first ballot.[3] Voting continued for several days without a majority for either candidate. Failure to organize the chamber threatened to postpone the election of a U.S. senator indefinitely. Sherwood and Dean withdrew their candidacies on January 16; the Union members then switched their votes to DemocratTheophilus C. Callicot, in exchange for Callicot's support for the Union candidate in the senatorial election.[4] A Democraticfilibuster continued the contest until January 26, when Callicot defeated the replacement Democratic candidate Eliphaz Trimmer on the 92nd ballot.[5][6]
The Union members of the legislature held a caucus on February 2, 1863. Morgan, King,Daniel S. Dickinson,Charles B. Sedgwick,David D. Field,Henry J. Raymond,Ward Hunt, andHenry R. Selden were candidates. Morgan was nominated with a majority on the second ballot.[7]
| Candidate | U.S. senatorial ballot | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Informal | 1st | 2nd | |
| Edwin D. Morgan | 25 | 39 | 50 |
| Preston King | 19 | 16 | 11 |
| Daniel S. Dickinson | 15 | 11 | 13 |
| Charles B. Sedgwick | 11 | 7 | 1 |
| David D. Field | 7 | 5 | 2 |
| Henry J. Raymond | 6 | 8 | 9 |
| Ward Hunt | 4 | — | — |
| Henry R. Selden | 1 | — | — |
| Blank | 1 | — | — |
| TOTAL | 89 | 86 | 86 |
The Democratic members of the legislature held a caucus on February 2, 1863. The meeting found it inexpedient to nominate a candidate and advised members tovote their conscience in the senatorial election.[7] The caucus met again on February 3 and voted to reconsider the previous day's motion.Erastus Corning defeatedFernando Wood on the first ballot.[8]
| Candidate | 1st |
|---|---|
| Erastus Corning | 28 |
| Fernando Wood | 25 |
| Scattering | 18 |
| TOTAL | 71 |
The Senate and the Assembly met separately on February 3 to hold an election for the next term. Morgan was nominated by the Senate with 23 votes to 7 for Corning.[9]
In the Assembly, Morgan led on the first ballot with 64 votes, one less than a majority, Speaker Callicot having voted forJohn A. Dix. The Union members then switched their votes to Dix, who was nominated by the Assembly on the second ballot with 65 votes to 63 for Corning.[10]
The two chambers being in disagreement, the Legislature convened in joint session. Morgan defeated Corning on the first joint ballot.[11]
| Party | Candidate | State Assembly | State Senate | Joint session | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st ballot | 2nd ballot | 1st ballot | 1st ballot | |||||||
| Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | |||
| Union | Edwin D. Morgan | 64 | 50.00 | — | 23 | 76.67 | 86 | 54.43 | ||
| Democratic | Erastus Corning | 62 | 48.44 | 63 | 49.22 | 7 | 23.33 | 70 | 44.30 | |
| Union | John A. Dix | 1 | 0.78 | 65 | 50.78 | — | 1 | 0.63 | ||
| Democratic | Fernando Wood | 1 | 0.78 | — | — | — | ||||
| Union | Daniel S. Dickinson | — | — | — | 1 | 0.63 | ||||
| Total votes | 128 | 100.00 | 128 | 100.00 | 30 | 100.00 | 158 | 100.00 | ||
| Votes needed to win | 65 | 50.01 | 65 | 50.01 | 16 | 50.01 | 80 | 50.01 | ||
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