1836–37 United States Senate elections

← 1834 & 1835 Dates vary by state 1838 & 1839 →
17 of the 52 seats in theUnited States Senate (plus special elections) 27 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party Third party   Party Democratic Whig Nullifier Last election 22[a] 24[b] 2 Seats before 31[a] 19[b] 2 Seats won 12 5 0 Seats after 34 17 1 Seat change 3 2 1 Seats up 9 7 1
Results:      Democratic gain     Democratic hold      Whig hold
Majority Party before election Jacksonian Elected Majority Party Democratic

The1836–37 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 1836 and 1837, 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 3.

In this election cycle, theJacksonian coalition emerged as theDemocratic Party, and theAdams, or Anti-Jackson, coalition emerged as theWhig Party.

Senate party division,25th Congress (1837–1839)

• Majority party: Democratic (35)
• Minority party: Whig (17–16)
• Other parties: (0–1)
• Total seats: 52

"Hold" means the incumbent lost and the winner was from an affiliated new party, either Anti-Jacksonian to Whig or Jacksonian to Democratic.

Bold states link to specific election articles.

In these elections, senators were elected to finish terms already in progress either as special elections or as elections to a new state. senators were seated during 1836 or before March 4, 1837; ordered by election date.

In these regular elections, the winner was seated on March 4, 1837; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 3 seats.

In these special elections, the winners were seated in 1837 after March 4; ordered by election date.

There were two elections in Alabama in this cycle, both for the same seat.

First-term senator Anti-JacksonianGabriel Moore lost re-election in November 1836 to JacksonianJohn McKinley.

Shortly after the new term started, Jacksonian-now-DemocratJohn McKinley resigned to becomeAssociate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He was replaced by fellow DemocratClement C. Clay in a June 19, 1837 special election.

Clay would serve only until November 15, 1841, when he, too, resigned.

1836 United States Senate election in Arkansas

September 19, 1836 1837 →
68 members of theArkansas General Assembly
Candidate Ambrose H. Sevier William S. Fulton Horace F. Walworth Party Jacksonian Jacksonian Legislative vote 60 56 4 Percentage 88.2% 82.3% 5.9%

Arkansas became a new state and elected its two senators in a joint session of theArkansas General Assembly on September 19, 1836.^[5]

Jacksonian formerGovernor of Arkansas TerritoryWilliam Fulton was elected to the Class 2 seat, with the term ending March 3, 1841.

Jacksonian formerdelegateAmbrose Sevier was elected to the Class 3 seat, with the term ending March 3, 1837.

Sevier was also re-elected in 1837 to the next term that would end in 1843.

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There were two elections in Georgia in this cycle.

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There were two elections in Louisiana in this cycle, both for the same seat.

Anti-JacksonianAlexander Porter resigned January 5, 1837 due to ill health.

JacksonianAlexandre Mouton was elected January 12, 1837 to finish Porter's term, ending March 3, 1837.

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JacksonianAlexandre Mouton was also elected as a Democrat in 1837 (possibly re-elected) to the next term, beginning March 4, 1837.

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Anti-JacksonianRobert Henry Goldsborough died October 5, 1836. Anti-JacksonianJohn S. Spence was elected in late 1836 to finish Goldsborough's term, ending March 3, 1837.^[6]

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John S. Spence won election to a full term an unknown margin of votes, for the Class 3 seat.^[7]

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Silas Wright Jr., had beenelected in 1833 to this seat after the resignation ofWilliam L. Marcy who had been electedGovernor of New York. Wright's term would expire on March 3, 1837.

At the State election in November 1836, 94 Democrats and 34 Whigs were elected to the Assembly, and seven of the eight State senators elected were Democrats. The60th New York State Legislature met from January 3 to May 16, 1837, atAlbany. The party strength in the Assembly as shown by the election forSpeaker was: 80 for DemocratEdward Livingston and 27 for WhigLuther Bradish.

Wright was re-nominated in aDemocratic caucus by a large majority. Silas Wright Jr., was the choice of both the Assembly and the Senate, and was declared elected.

There were two elections in North Carolina in this cycle, both for the same seat.

Anti-JacksonianWillie P. Mangum resigned November 26, 1836.

JacksonianRobert Strange was elected in late 1836 to finish Mangum's term, ending March 3, 1837.

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JacksonianRobert Strange was also elected as a Democrat in 1836, to the next term, beginning March 4, 1837.

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ThePennsylvania General Assembly convened on December 14, 1836, to elect a Senator to serve the term beginning on March 4, 1837. The results of the vote of both houses combined are as follows:

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There were three special elections in Virginia in this cycle.

Two-term Anti-Jacksonian (and future President)John Tyler resigned February 29, 1836 due to policial differences and conflict with theVirginia House of Delegates, which had come under control of the rival Jacksonians.

Former Jacksonian senatorWilliam C. Rives (who had served in the class 2 seat from December 10, 1832, to February 22, 1834) was elected March 4, 1836 to finish Tyler's term that would end March 3, 1839.

Anti-JacksonianBenjamin W. Leigh, who had served in the seat since an1834 special election andre-elected in 1835, resigned July 4, 1836 to return to his private legal practice.

JacksonianRichard E. Parker was elected December 12, 1836, but he would only remain in the seat for four months.

Parker, now a Democrat, was elected to theVirginia Supreme Court of Appeals and so he resigned from the Senate March 13, 1837.

Fellow DemocratWilliam H. Roane was elected March 14, 1837 to finish the term that would end March 3, 1841.

• 1836 United States elections
  • 1836 United States presidential election
  • 1836–37 United States House of Representatives elections
• 24th United States Congress
• 25th United States Congress

• Party Division in the Senate, 1789-Present, via Senate.gov

• 1836 United States Senate elections
• 1837 United States Senate elections

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