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The1879 United States Senate election in New York was held on January 21, 1879, by theNew York State Legislature to elect aU.S. Senator (Class 3) to represent the State ofNew York in theUnited States Senate.
RepublicanRoscoe Conkling had been re-elected in January 1873 to this seat, and his term would expire on March 3, 1879.
At theState election in November 1877, 19 Republicans and 13 Democrats were elected for a two-year term (1878–1879) in the State Senate. At theState election in November 1878, 97 Republicans, 28 Democrats and 3 Greenbackers were elected for the session of 1879 to the Assembly, and RepublicanThomas Murphy was elected to fill the vacancy in the State Senate caused by the death of DemocratJohn Morrissey. The102nd New York State Legislature met from January 7 to May 22, 1879, atAlbany, New York.
The caucus ofRepublican State legislators met on January 20, Temporary President of the State SenateWilliam H. Robertson presided. Present were all Republican legislators except State SenatorLouis S. Goebel[1] (6th D.) and AssemblymanJames W. Wadsworth. They re-nominated the incumbent U.S. Senator Conkling unanimously.
The caucus of theDemocratic State legislators met also on January 20. State SenatorThomas C. E. Ecclesine (8th D.) offered to adopt a prostest against the senatorial election proceedings, claiming that the senatorial and assembly districts were incorrectly apportioned and thus the State Legislature did not represent the wish of the people of the State. The protest was substituted by a resolution to appoint a committee which would elaborate an address on the apportionment at a later date. Ecclesine then marched out, and the remaining legislators nominated Lieutenant GovernorWilliam Dorsheimer for the U.S. Senate.
| Office | Candidate | First ballot | Second ballot |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Senator | William Dorsheimer | 11 | 18 |
| James F. Starbuck | 8 | 8 | |
| DeWitt C. West[2] | 8 | 6 | |
| Elijah Ward | 2 |
The two Greenback assemblymen John Banfield (Chemung Co.) and George E. Williams (Oswego Co.) voted for 87-year-oldPeter Cooper, aNew York City inventor, industrialist and philanthropist who hadrun for U.S. president in 1876 on the Greenback ticket.
Roscoe Conkling was the choice of both the Assembly and the State Senate, and was declared elected.
| Office | House | Republican | Democrat | Greenback | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Senator | State Senate (32 members) | Roscoe Conkling | 20 | William Dorsheimer | 12 | ||
| State Assembly (128 members) | Roscoe Conkling | 95 | William Dorsheimer | 23 | Peter Cooper | 2 | |
Note: The votes were cast on January 21, but both Houses met in a joint session on January 22 to compare nominations, and declare the result.
Conkling remained in office until May 17, 1881, when he resigned in protest against the distribution of federal patronage in New York by PresidentJames A. Garfield without being consulted. The crisis between theStalwart and theHalf-Breed factions of the Republican party arose when the leader of the New Yorker Half-BreedsWilliam H. Robertson was appointedCollector of the Port of New York, a position Conkling wanted to give to one of his Stalwart friends.
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