1868–69 United States Senate elections

← 1866 & 1867 Dates vary by state (And other dates for special elections) 1870 & 1871 →
25 of the 66 (8 vacant)/74 seats in theUnited States Senate (with special elections) 34 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Henry B. Anthony[a] Party Republican Democratic Leader since March 4, 1863 Leader's seat Rhode Island Last election 39 seats 10 seats Seats before 57 9 Seats won 17 5 Seats after 57 9 Seat change Seats up 17 5
Results of the elections:      Democratic gain     Democratic hold      Republican gain     Republican hold      Unreconstructed states
Majority Party before election Republican Elected Majority Party Republican

The1868–69 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states. As theseU.S. Senate elections were prior to the ratification of theSeventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were chosen bystate legislatures. Senators were elected over a wide range of time throughout 1868 and 1869, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due tolegislative deadlock.^[1] In these elections, terms were up for the senators inClass 1.

TheRepublican Party maintained their Senate majority. Six former Confederate states were then readmitted separately from the regular election, each electing two Republicans. This increased the Republicans' already overwhelming majority to the largest proportion of seats ever controlled by the party.

Senate party division,41st Congress (1869–1871)

• Majority party: Republican (57)
• Minority party: Democratic (9)
• Other parties: (0)
• Vacant: (8)
• Total seats: 74

After July 16, 1868, readmission of South Carolina.

In these elections, the winners were seated during 1868 or in 1869 before March 4; ordered by election date.

In these regular elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1869; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 1 seats.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	Electoral history
California	John Conness	Republican	1862–63	Incumbent lost re-election or retired. New senatorelected in 1868. Democratic gain.	▌YEugene Casserly (Democratic) [data missing]
Connecticut	James Dixon	Republican	1856 1863	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected in 1868 or 1869. Republican hold.	▌YWilliam Buckingham (Republican) [data missing]
Delaware	James A. Bayard Jr.	Democratic	1851 1857 1863 1864(resigned) 1867(appointed) 1869(special)	Incumbent retired. New senatorelected in 1869. Democratic hold.	▌YThomas F. Bayard Sr. (Democratic) [data missing]
Florida	Adonijah Welch	Republican	1868(special)	Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1868 or 1869. Republican hold.	▌YAbijah Gilbert (Republican) [data missing]
Indiana	Thomas A. Hendricks	Democratic	1862	Incumbent retired. New senatorelected in 1868. Republican gain.	▌YDaniel D. Pratt (Republican) [data missing]
Maine	Lot M. Morrill	Republican	1861(special) 1863	Incumbent lost re-election. New senatorelected in 1869. Republican hold.	▌YHannibal Hamlin (Republican) [data missing]
Maryland	William P. Whyte	Democratic	1868(appointed)	Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1868 or 1869. Democratic hold.	▌YWilliam T. Hamilton (Democratic) [data missing]
Massachusetts	Charles Sumner	Republican	1851(special) 1857 1863	Incumbentre-elected in 1869.	▌YCharles Sumner (Republican) [data missing]
Michigan	Zachariah Chandler	Republican	1857 1863	Incumbentre-elected in 1869.	▌YZachariah Chandler (Republican) [data missing]
Minnesota	Alexander Ramsey	Republican	1863	Incumbentre-elected in 1869.	▌YAlexander Ramsey (Republican) 52 (80%) ▌Charles W. Nash (Democratic) 13 (20%)[3]
Mississippi	Vacant since January 21, 1861, whenJefferson Davis (D) resigned.			Legislature failed to elect duringCivil War andReconstruction. Seat remained vacant until1870.	None.
Missouri	John B. Henderson	Republican	1862(appointed) 1862	Incumbent retired. New senatorelected in 1868. Republican hold.	▌YCarl Schurz (Republican) [data missing]
Nebraska	Thomas Tipton	Republican	1867	Incumbentre-elected in 1869.	▌YThomas Tipton (Republican) [data missing]
Nevada	William M. Stewart	Republican	1865	Incumbentre-elected in 1869.	▌YWilliam M. Stewart (Republican) [data missing]
New Jersey	Frederick T. Frelinghuysen	Republican	1866(appointed) 1867(special)	Incumbent lost re-election. New senatorelected in 1869. Democratic gain.	▌YJohn P. Stockton (Democratic) 42 ▌Frederick T. Frelinghuysen (Republican) 34 [data missing]
New York	Edwin D. Morgan	Republican	1863	Incumbent lost renomination. New senatorelected January 19, 1869. Republican hold.	▌YReuben E. Fenton (Republican) ▌Henry C. Murphy (Democratic) ▌Henry S. Randall (Democratic)
Ohio	Benjamin Wade	Republican	1851 1856 1863	Incumbent lost renomination. New senatorelected in 1868. Democratic gain.	▌YAllen G. Thurman (Democratic) [data missing]
Pennsylvania	Charles R. Buckalew	Democratic	1863	Incumbent lost re-election or retired. New senatorelected January 19, 1869. Republican gain.	▌YJohn Scott (Republican) 58.65% ▌William A. Wallace (Democratic) 38.35% ▌Hiester Clymer (Democratic) 0.75%
Rhode Island	William Sprague IV	Republican	1862	Incumbentre-elected in 1868.	▌YWilliam Sprague IV (Republican) [data missing]
Tennessee	David T. Patterson	Democratic	1866(readmission)	Incumbent retired. New senatorelected early on October 22, 1867, for the term beginning March 4, 1869. Republican gain.	▌YWilliam G. Brownlow (Republican) 63 ▌William B. Stokes (Republican) 39[4]
Texas	Vacant since March 23, 1861, whenLouis Wigfall (D) withdrew.			Legislature failed to elect duringCivil War andReconstruction. Seat remained vacant until1870.	None.
Vermont	George F. Edmunds	Republican	1866(appointed) 1866(special)	Incumbentre-elected in 1868.	▌YGeorge F. Edmunds (Republican) [data missing]
Virginia	Vacant since January 2, 1864, whenJoseph Segar (U) was not seated.[5]			Legislature failed to elect duringCivil War andReconstruction. Seat remained vacant until1870.	None.
West Virginia	Peter G. Van Winkle	Republican	1863	Incumbent lost re-election or retired. New senator elected in 1869. Republican hold.	▌YArthur I. Boreman (Republican) 43(H), 19(S) ▌Daniel Lamb (Republican) 10(H), 3(S)
Wisconsin	James R. Doolittle	Republican	1857 1863	Incumbent retired. New senatorelected January 27, 1869.[6] Republican hold.	▌YMatthew H. Carpenter (Republican) 67.19% ▌George Baldwin Smith (Democratic) 32.03% ▌William Pitt Lynde (Democratic) 0.78%

There were no elections in 1869 during this Congress after March 4.

Interim appointed SenatorJames A. Bayard Jr. waselected January 19, 1869 to finish his term.^[2]

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1868 United States Senate special election in Maryland

← 1863 1868 1868 →
80 members of theMaryland General Assembly
Candidate William Pinkney Whyte Party Democratic Legislative vote - Percentage -%

William Pinkney Whyte won election by an unknown margin of votes, for the Class 1 seat to fill the vacancy created byReverdy Johnson.^[7]

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(November 2022)

1868 United States Senate election in Maryland

← 1868 1868 1874 →
80 members of theMaryland General Assembly
Candidate William Thomas Hamilton Thomas Swann Party Democratic Democratic Legislative vote 56 46 Percentage 50.91% 41.82

William Thomas Hamilton won election againstThomas Swann by a margin of 9.09%, or 10 votes for the Class 1 seat.^[8]

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(November 2022)

1868 United States Senate special election in Maryland

← 1864 March 6, 1868 1872 →
80 members of theMaryland General Assembly
Candidate John Creswell Philip Francis Thomas Party Democratic Democratic Legislative vote 59 41 Percentage 57.84% 40.20%

Philip Francis Thomas, aDemocrat, was elected in 1867, however, failed to qualify for the seat due to his support for the Confederacy.George Vickers was elected to finish the rest of the term by a margin of 17.65%, or 18 votes, for the Class 3 seat.^[9]

The Minnesota U.S. Senate election was held by the state legislature on January 19, 1869, with each chamber voting separately. Republican Senator Alexander Ramsey received 16 of 21 votes in the state Senate and 36 of 44 in the state House. The legislature declared Ramsey the duly elected U.S. Senator in a joint convention on January 20, 1869. Democratic nominee Charles W. Nash was an attorney from Hastings, former state Senator for the 7th Senate District (1862–1864), and the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in 1865.^[3]

The election in New York was held on January 19, 1869, by theNew York State Legislature. RepublicanEdwin D. Morgan had been elected in February 1863 to this seat, and his term would expire on March 3, 1869. At theState election in November 1867, 17 Republicans and 15 Democrats were elected for a two-year term (1868–1869) in the State Senate. At theState election in November 1868, DemocratJohn T. Hoffman was elected Governor, and 75 Republicans and 53 Democrats were elected for the session of 1869 to the Assembly. The92nd New York State Legislature met from January 5 to May 11, 1869, atAlbany, New York.

The caucus ofRepublican State legislators met on January 16, AssemblymanJohn H. Selkreg presided. All 92 legislators were present. They nominated Ex-GovernorReuben E. Fenton for the U.S. Senate. The incumbent U.S. SenatorEdwin D. Morgan was very keen on his re-election, but was voted down. SpeakerTruman G. Younglove had held back the appointments to the standing Assembly committees until after the caucus, and subsequent election, of a U.S. Senator, and was accused by the Morgan men to have made a bargain to favor the Fenton men with appointments after the election was accomplished. After the caucus, comparing notes, the assemblymen discovered that some of the most important committee chairmanships had been promised to a dozen different members by Speaker Younglove.

Note: On the first ballot, 93 votes were cast, one too many, and it was annulled without announcing the result. The above stated result transpired unofficially. The blank vote caused some debate if the result was really invalidated by it, but it was finally agreed to take a second ballot.

The caucus of theDemocratic State legislators met on January 18. State SenatorHenry C. Murphy was again nominated, like in 1867.

In the Assembly, Republicans DeWitt C. Hoyt (Saratoga Co.) and James O. Schoonmaker (Ulster Co.); and Democrats James Irving (NYC), Lawrence D. Kiernan (NYC), Harris B. Howard (Rensselaer Co.), James B. Pearsall (Queens), John Tighe (Albany Co.) and Moses Y. Tilden (Columbia Co.); did not vote.

In the State Senate, Republicans Matthew Hale (16th D.) and Charles Stanford (15th D.); and Democrats Cauldwell,Thomas J. Creamer, Michael Norton (5th D.) and John J. Bradley (7th D.); did not vote.

Reuben E. Fenton was the choice of both the Assembly and the State Senate, and was declared elected.

Notes:

• The vote for Ex-Secretary of State Randall was cast by Henry C. Murphy.
• The votes were cast on January 19, but both Houses met in a joint session on January 20 to compare nominations, and declare the result.

The Pennsylvania election was held January 19, 1869.John Scott was elected by thePennsylvania General Assembly.^[10] The Pennsylvania General Assembly, consisting of theHouse of Representatives and theSenate, convened on January 19, 1869, to elect a Senator to serve the term beginning on March 4, 1869. The results of the vote of both houses combined are as follows:

1869 United States Senate election in West Virginia

← 1863 February 2, 1869 1875 →
Needed to win: Majority of votes cast in each House of the Legislature 53 votes cast in theHouse; 27 votes needed 22 votes cast in theSenate; 12 votes needed
Candidate Arthur Boreman Daniel Lamb Party Republican Democratic House vote 43 votes 81.1% 10 votes 18.9% Senate vote 19 votes 86.4% 3 votes 13.6%
U.S. senator before election Peter Van Winkle Republican Elected U.S. Senator Arthur Boreman Republican

On February 2, 1869, the West Virginia Legislature held an election for senator to replacePeter Van Winkle. Nominated wereArthur Boreman, the first governor of West Virginia, and Daniel Lamb, a member of West Virginia's constitutional convention and former delegate.^[12] Boreman, having received majorities of the vote in both the House and Senate, was declared duly as elected senator on February 3, 1869.^[13]

• 1868 United States elections
  • 1868 United States presidential election
  • 1868–69 United States House of Representatives elections
• 40th United States Congress
• 41st United States Congress

• "Party Division in the Senate, 1789-Present". United States Senate.
• Byrd, Robert C. (October 1, 1993). Wolff, Wendy (ed.).The Senate, 1789-1989: Historical Statistics, 1789-1992.United States Senate Historical Office (volume 4 Bicentennial ed.).U.S. Government Printing Office.ISBN 9780160632563.
• Taft, George S. (1885).Compilation of Senate Election Cases from 1789 to 1885.United States Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections. Washington, DC:U.S. Government Printing Office.
• Members of the 41st United States Congress
• Result state election 1867 inThe Tribune Almanac for 1868 compiled byHorace Greeley of theNew York Tribune
• Result state election 1868 inThe Tribune Almanac for 1869 compiled byHorace Greeley of theNew York Tribune
• ALBANY.; Caucus of the Republican Members of the Legislature; Reuben E. Fenton Nominated United States Senator in NYT on January 17, 1869
• ALBANY.; Election of United States Senator in NYT on January 20, 1869
• Result New York State Senate inJournal of the Senate (92nd Session) (1869; pg. 58f)
• Result New York Assembly inJournal of the Assembly (92nd Session) (1869; Vol. I, pg. 75f)
• Pennsylvania Election Statistics: 1682-2006 from theWilkes University Election Statistics Project

• 1868 United States Senate elections
• 1869 United States Senate elections
• Hannibal Hamlin

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