1874–75 United States Senate elections

← 1872 & 1873 Dates vary by state (And other dates for special elections) 1876 & 1877 →
25 of the 74 seats in theUnited States Senate (with special elections) 38 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Henry B. Anthony[a] John W. Stevenson[b] Party Republican Democratic Leader since March 4, 1863 March 4, 1873 Leader's seat Rhode Island Kentucky Seats before 52 19 Seats won 10 14 Seats after 42 28 Seat change 10 9 Seats up 20 5   Third party Fourth party   Party Liberal Republican Anti-Monopoly Seats before 2 0 Seats won 0 1 Seats after 2 1 Seat change 1 Seats up 0 0
Results of the elections:      Democratic gain     Democratic hold      Republican hold     Anti-monopoly gain
Majority Party before election Republican Elected Majority Party Republican

The1874–75 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 1874 and 1875, 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.

Although theRepublican Party (the party of incumbent PresidentUlysses S. Grant) maintained their Senate majority, theDemocratic Party gained nine seats.

Colored shading indicates party with largest share of that row.

Parties						Total
		Democratic	Republican	Liberal Republican	Anti- Monopoly
Before these elections		19	52	2	0	73
Not up		14	32	2	—	48
	Class 2 (1870/71)	9	15	1	—	25
	Class 3 (1872/73)	5	17	1	—	31
Up		5	22	1	—	36
	Regular: Class 1	5	20	—	—	25
	Special: Class 1	0	1	1	—	2
	Special: Class 2	0	1	—	—	1
Incumbent retired		2	11	—	—	13
	Held by same party	1	4	—	—	5
	Replaced by other party	7 Republicans replaced by7 Democrats 1 Democrat replaced by1 Anti-Monopolist				8
	Result	8	4	—	1	13
Incumbent's intent unknown		1	4	—	—	5
	Held by same party	1	2	—	—	3
	Replaced by other party	2 Republicans replaced by2 Democrats				2
	Result	3	2	—	—	5
Incumbent ran		2	5	—	—	7
	Won re-election	2	2	—	—	4
	Lost re-election	1 Republican replaced by1 Democrat				1
	Lost renomination but held by same party	—	2	—	—	2
	Result	3	4	—	—	7
Total elected		14	10	—	1	25
Net change		9	10	—	1	9
Result		28	42	2	1	73

After the April 17, 1874, special election in Massachusetts.

In these elections, the winners were seated during 1874 or in 1875 before March 4; ordered by election date.

In these regular elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1875; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 1 seats.

There were no special elections in 1875 to the 44th Congress.

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

1874 United States Senate election in Maryland

← 1868 1874 1880 →
80 members of theMaryland General Assembly
Candidate William Pinkney Whyte Party Democratic Legislative vote - Percentage -%

William Pinkney Whyte won election for an unknown margin of votes for the Class 1 seat.^[8]

The New York election was held on January 19 and 20, 1875, by theNew York State Legislature.

RepublicanReuben E. Fenton had been elected in January 1869 to this seat, and his term would expire on March 3, 1875.

At thestate election in November 1873, a Republican majority was elected for a two-year term (1874–1875) in the State Senate. At theState election in November 1874, DemocratSamuel J. Tilden was elected Governor, 75 Democrats and 53 Republicans were elected for the session of 1875 to the Assembly, and DemocratAlbert P. Laning was elected in the 31st District to fill a vacancy in the State Senate. The98th New York State Legislature met from January 5 to May 19, 1875, atAlbany, New York.

The caucus ofDemocratic State legislators met on January 15, State Senator Albert P. Laning, ofBuffalo, presided. All but one of the legislators were present, only Assemblyman John M. Roscoe, ofSchoharie County, was sick. The caucus nominatedFrancis Kernan for the U.S. Senate. Kernan had been the Democratic/Liberal Republican candidate for Governor inNovember 1872 but had been defeated byJohn Adams Dix. Now Kernan was the choice ofTammany bossJohn Kelly who had succeeded the corruptWilliam M. Tweed. Kelly was opposed byJohn C. Jacobs, who proposed Ex-State SenatorHenry C. Murphy, Jacobs's predecessor from the 3rd District, and the Democratic candidate who had lost the U.S. Senate elections in 1867 and 1869 when the Democrats were the minority. Kelly stood firm in his intention to dominate the Democratic Party, and had the caucus nomination made byviva voce vote instead of the more traditional secret ballot. Jacobs and Murphy had expected to get votes from many legislators who would not dare to cross Kelly openly, but had to abandon their hopes when the secret ballot was voted down 74 to 13.

The caucus of theRepublican State legislators nominated Ex-U.S. Senator from New York Edwin D. Morgan.

On January 19, the Democratic majority of the Assembly nominated Francis Kernan, and the Republican majority of the State Senate nominated Ex-U.S. Senator Edwin D. Morgan. On January 20, both Houses met in joint session to compare nominations, and finding that they disagreed, proceeded to a joint ballot. Francis Kernan was elected, the first Democratic U.S. Senator from New York since 1851 whenDaniel S. Dickinson left office.

Note: The vote for Ex-Governor of New York Hoffman was cast by Reuben E. Fenton's brother-in-law Samuel Scudder, a Democratic Assemblyman fromCattaraugus County.

The Pennsylvania election was held on January 19, 1875. ThePennsylvania General Assembly, consisting of theHouse of Representatives and theSenate, electedWilliam A. Wallace.^[9]

1875 United States Senate election in West Virginia

← 1869 January 26–February 17, 1875 1877 (special) →
Needed to win: Majority of votes cast jointly by the Legislature
Candidate Allen Caperton Party Democratic First ballot 6 votes 6.9% 23rd ballot 68 votes 80.9%
U.S. senator before election Arthur Boreman Republican Elected U.S. Senator Allen Caperton Democratic

On January 26, 1875, each house of the West Virginia Legislature held votes to elect a Senator, with no person receiving the majority of votes in either chamber. Pursuant to the 1866 Act regulating the election of senators (S.414), the legislature convened into a joint assembly the following day and held further voting. After 23 ballots held jointly,Allen T. Caperton received the majority of votes on February 17, 1875, and was declared duly elected as senator. Votes for senator across the 23 rounds were mostly scattered, with Caperton, the eventual winner, only starting out with 6 votes in the first joint ballot, and receiving only 30 (13 votes short) on the round before his victory.^[11]

Prior to the election, Johnson Camden and Henry S. Walker were seen as the foremost contenders for the Democratic nomination, which, because of Democrats' large majorities in both houses, was tantamount to election under normal circumstances.^[12] However, after repeated failures of any candidate to win a majority either in internal caucus votes or on the floor, legislative Democrats turned to finding a compromise candidate, settling on former Confederate senator Allen T. Caperton. Republican votes were similarly split on most ballots, though on the final one, they supported formerAppeals Court chief justice and state senatorRalph Berkshire nearly unanimously.

• 1874 United States elections
  • 1874–75 United States House of Representatives elections
• 43rd United States Congress
• 44th United States Congress

• Party Division in the Senate, 1789-Present, via Senate.gov
• Members of the 44th United States Congress, via GPO.gov
• NEW-YORK ELECTIONS.; Results of the Official Canvass for the Various Officers in NYT on November 19, 1874
• THE SENATORSHIP.; FRANCIS KERNAN'S SWEEPING VICTORY in NYT on January 16, 1875
• ALBANY.; ELECTION OF KERNAN TO THE SENATE in NYT on January 21, 1875
• Pennsylvania Election Statistics: 1682-2006 from theWilkes University Election Statistics Project

• 1874 United States Senate elections
• 1875 United States Senate elections
• Hannibal Hamlin

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