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The1879 United States Senate election in Wisconsin was held in the32nd Wisconsin Legislature onJanuary 22, 1879. Incumbent Republican U.S. senatorTimothy O. Howe ran for a fourth six-year term, but was defeated for renomination. Former U.S. senatorMatthew H. Carpenter—who had been ousted by a split in the party four years earlier—was electedUnited States senator on the 1st ballot.[1]
At the start of the 1879 term, Republicans held large majorities in both chambers of theWisconsin Legislature, so had more than enough votes to elect a Republican United States senator. The main drama of the election was in the Republican caucus, which dragged out for a week and went to 96 ballots as they failed to agree on a nominee. Republican party bossElisha W. Keyes was seeking the U.S. Senate seat as a crowning achievement in his mastery of the Wisconsin Republican Party, but would require unseating his former ally, the incumbent U.S. senator Timothy Howe, who still had a large loyal following. Former U.S. senator Matt Carpenter, who had been ousted by a party rebellion in 1875 also had significant support in the caucus for his return to office.
After 96 failed votes, Keyes and Howe withdrew and endorsed Carpenter; Carpenter was then unanimously nominated less than an hour before the start of the joint session of the legislature. The Republican caucus was likely afraid of a repeat of the1875 election, where a divided party had allowed the Democrats to effectively choose which Republican would becomeU.S. senator.
Prior to the Republican caucus, Republican Party boss Elisha Keyes made an extensive campaign for the nomination with the support of many allies, operatives, and loyal newspapers around the state; several papers reported that he was nearly guaranteed to secure the U.S. Senate seat, possibly with near-unanimous support. It was also suggested that Keyes had been preparing to win a special election for U.S. Senate two years earlier, when he believed the Republican incumbent senator, Timothy Howe, would be appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court.[2] Although Senator Howe was still seeking another term and Republicans generally did not object to him on policy or personal grounds, many described him as too old (at age 63), and having served long enough (about to complete his third six-year term).[3]
The Republican caucus met on January 16. An initial informal ballot was taken, indicating roughly equal support for Keyes, Howe, and formerU.S. senator Matt Carpenter, with a scattering of votes for other candidates. Over the course of the night, they took 21 ballots for the nomination with very little change in the outcome. They re-convened on January 17 and continued voting. After 49 ballots, the top three candidates remained roughly tied even as other minor candidates fell off.[4] They adjourned for the weekend and returned to caucus on January 20, where voting resumed. Numerous dark horse alternative candidates rose and fell, but none of them attained even 10% of the caucus vote. Voting continued on the 20th until12:30 am, with the 79th formal ballot showing little change from the first. They reconvened at 11 am on January 21 to continued voting through the entire day.[5] During the course of the day on January 21, the legislators also had to cast their ballots in their respective chambers as an informal step before the joint session. That informal vote found Keyes receiving 29 votes, Democrat Edward G. Ryan receiving 29, Carpenter receiving 26, Howe receiving 24, Democrat Gabriel Bouck receiving 11, and 10 scattering.
Back in the Republican caucus, voting continued. The 96th ballot showed almost no change from the first day, with Keyes stuck at 25, Carpenter with 33, and Howe with 28. At about9:12 pm, a motion was made for a 97th ballot, but no one seconded the motion. They instead narrowly voted to adjourn until 9 am the following day, an hour before the joint session was scheduled to begin.
On the morning of January 22, state senatorGeorge B. Burrows gave an impassioned speech extolling the virtues of his candidate, Keyes, before announcing Keyes's withdrawal from the race and calling for the unanimous nomination of Matt Carpenter. Assembly speakerDavid M. Kelly, a supporter of Howe, then spoke and seconded Burrows' motion. Carpenter was then declared the nominee by acclamation.[6]
The32nd Wisconsin Legislature met in joint session on January 22, 1879, to elect a U.S. senator. The voting was almost entirely along party lines, with one vacant seat, and seven members absent or not voting. Of the 125 present and voting, Matt Carpenter received the votes of every Republican legislator, winning the election.[1]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Matthew H. Carpenter | 84[a] | 67.20% | ||
| Democratic | Edward George Ryan | 28[b] | 22.40% | ||
| Democratic | Gabriel Bouck | 13[c] | 10.40% | ||
| Absent or not voting | 7 | ||||
| Vacant seats | 1[d] | ||||
| Majority | 63 | 50.40% | |||
| Total votes | 125 | 93.98% | |||
| Republicanhold | |||||
