1898–99 United States Senate elections

← 1896 & 1897 January 25, 1898 – April 19, 1899 1900 & 1901 →
30 of the 90 seats in theUnited States Senate (as well as special elections) 46 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader William B. Allison[1] David Turpie[2] (Lost re-election) Party Republican Democratic Leader since March 4, 1897 March 4, 1897 Leader's seat Iowa Indiana Seats before 43 35 Seats after 51 27 Seat change 8 8 Seats up 11 15 Races won 17 6   Third party Fourth party   Party Populist Silver Republican Seats before 5 4 Seats after 4 2 Seat change 1 2 Seats up 1 2 Races won 0 0   Fifth party   Party Silver Seats before 2 Seats after 2 Seat change Seats up 1 Races won 1
Results of the elections:      Democratic gain     Democratic hold      Republican gain     Republican hold      Silver hold     Legislature failed to elect
Majority Party before election Republican Elected Majority Party Republican

The1898–99 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 1898 and 1899, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due tolegislative deadlock.^[3] In these elections, terms were up for the senators inClass 1.

TheRepublican Party gained eight seats at the expense of theDemocrats and several minor third parties. The Democrats saw strong gains in the concurrent1898 House of Representatives elections. However, this group of Senators were last up for election in1892, since which amajor political realignment had occurred. Many state legislatures in northern states that had been controlled by Democrats during thethird party system had flipped in the Republican wave years of1894 and1896, resulting in the huge number of seats the party gained in 1898.

The Democrats flipped a Silver Republican held seat in Montana while Republicans flipped a Populist held seat in Nebraska. In North Dakota, Wisconsin, Indiana, West Virginia, Maryland, New York, and New Jersey, Republicans flipped Democratic held seats.

A large number of state legislatures failed to fill their Senators during this election cycle: in Utah, aSilver Republican failed to secure re-election; in Delaware and California, aDemocrat did so; in Pennsylvania, aRepublican seat was lost.

In Nebraska and Florida, senators were elected shortly after the beginning of the56th Congress on March 4.

In Oregon, a special election was held to fill a vacant seat.These elections reflected the continuing national realignment sparked by the Panic of 1893, which shifted political power in many state legislatures toward the Republicans.

The results also underscored the influence of emerging third parties, as Populist and Silver factions affected legislative outcomes in several western states.

Senate party division,56th Congress (1899–1901)

• Majority party: Republican (52)
• Minority party: Democratic (25)
• Other parties:Populist (4);Silver Republican (2);Silver (2)
• Vacant: 5
• Total seats: 90

After the October 7, 1898 special election in Oregon.

In these elections, the winners were seated during 1898 or in 1899 before March 4; ordered by election date.

In these regular elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1899; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 1 seats.

In these elections, the winners were elected in 1899 after March 4, and seated in the56th Congress.

In this election, the winner was seated in the57th Congress, starting March 4, 1901.

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1898 United States Senate election in Maryland

← 1892 1898 1904 →
80 members of theMaryland General Assembly
Candidate Louis E. McComas Party Republican Legislative vote 80 Percentage 93.02%

Louis E. McComas won election by an unknown margin of votes for the Class 1 seat.^[29]

The election in New York was held January 17, 1899.

DemocratEdward Murphy Jr. had been elected to this seat in1893, and his term would expire on March 3, 1899. At theState election in November 1898, 27 Republicans and 23 Democrats were elected for a two-year term (1899–1900) in the State Senate; and 88 Republicans and 62 Democrats were elected for the session of 1899 to the Assembly. The122nd New York State Legislature met from January 4 to April 28, 1899, atAlbany, New York.

TheRepublican caucus met on January 12. State SenatorHobart Krum presided. They nominatedChauncey M. Depew unanimously. Depew had beenSecretary of State of New York from 1864 to 1865, and was the frontrunning candidate to succeedThomas C. Platt at theU.S. Senate special election in 1881 when he withdrew after the 41st ballot. Parallel to his political career, he moved up the ladder in theVanderbilt Railroad System, being President of theNew York Central and Hudson River Railroad from 1885 to 1898, and holding positions in dozens of other railroad companies.

TheDemocratic caucus met also on January 12. State SenatorGeorge W. Plunkitt presided. They re-nominated the incumbent U.S. SenatorEdward Murphy Jr. unanimously.

Chauncey M. Depew was the choice of both the Assembly and the State Senate, and was declared elected.

Note: The votes were cast on January 17, but both Houses met in a joint session on January 18 to compare nominations, and declare the result.

In mid-August 1898,Alfred W. McCune decided to seek office as aDemocrat for theUnited States Senate.^[30] State legislators had already indicated they would not support the incumbent,Frank J. Cannon for reelection. Cannon, aRepublican, had voted against theDingley Act, which would have raisedtariffs on sugar and helped the Utah sugar industry.^[31] The Dingley bill was strongly supported by the LDS Church hierarchy, who now opposed his reelection.^[31] Other factors were his support forFree Silver; rumors about immoral acts he may have committed while living in Washington, D.C.; and that the Utah legislature was controlled by Democrats.^[31] The McCunes were close friends withHeber J. Grant, seventh LDS Churchpresident and an ordainedLDS apostle.^[32] Although the LDS church had (just weeks before) made a decision to stay out of state politics, McCune asked Grant for the church's assistance in winning office.^[30] Grant consulted withJoseph F. Smith (Apostle and sixth LDS president) andJohn Henry Smith (a member of theQuorum of the Twelve Apostles and theFirst Presidency of the LDS Church), both of whom supported McCune's senatorial bid.^[30] But McCune was not alone in seeking the office. FormerRepresentativeWilliam H. King was also running (and backed by two Apostles), as wasJames Moyle (a prominent attorney and founder of theUtah Democratic Party who was backed by state legislators) andGeorge Q. Cannon (an Apostle and member of the First Presidency).^[30]

At the time, members of the Senate were still elected by their respective state legislatures.^[30] The Utah state legislature convened in January 1899.^[33] There were 13Republicans and 50 Democrats in the state legislature.^[34] From the beginning, McCune was considered the leading candidate.^[33] But the legislature quickly deadlocked over the election. One-hundred and twenty-one ballots were cast, and no winner emerged.^[33] McCune was one or two votes shy of winning on several ballots.^[33] on February 18, before the 122nd ballot, state representative Albert A. Law (a Republican fromCache County and a Cannon supporter) claimed McCune offered him $1,500 for his vote.^[35] McCune strenuously denied the charge, and a seven-member legislative established to investigate the allegation.^[33][35] The committee voted 7-to-2 to absolve McCune of the charge, and this outcome was announced to the legislature on March 6.^[33][35] Balloting resumed, and on March 8, on the 149th ballot, McCune still lacked enough votes to win office (he had only 25 votes).^[33][35] The legislature adjourned without having chosen a senator,^[36] and McCune traveled in Europe for several weeks to regain his health (returning in June 1899).^[37]

Utah's U.S. Senate seat remained vacant until January 1901.

• 1898 United States elections
  • 1898 United States House of Representatives elections
• 55th United States Congress
• 56th United States Congress

• Party Division in the Senate, 1789–Present, via Senate.gov
• Proceedings before the Committee on Privileges and Elections of the United States Senate in the Matter of the Protests Against the Right on Hon. Reed Smoot, a Senator from the State of Utah, to Hold his Seat. Vol. 1.Washington, D.C.:U.S. Government Printing Office. 1906.
• Alexander, Thomas G. (1996).Mormonism in Transition.Urbana, Illinois:University of Illinois Press.
• 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.).Washington, D.C.:U.S. Government Printing Office.ISBN 9780160632563.
• Maisel, L. Sandy;Forman, Ira N., eds. (2001).Jews in American Politics.Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield.
• Powell, Allan Kent (1995).Utah History Encyclopedia. Salt Lake City:University of Utah Press.
• Rhoades, Henry Eckford; McPherson, Edward; Schem, A. J.; Ottarson, F. J.; Cleveland, John F.; Greeley, Horace (1899). "United States Senators".The Tribune Almanac and Political Register 1899.New York:The Tribune Association. pp. 255–256 – viaHathi Trust Digital Library.
• Rhoades, Henry Eckford; McPherson, Edward; Schem, A. J.; Ottarson, F. J.; Cleveland, John F.; Greeley, Horace (1900). "United States Senators".The Tribune Almanac and Political Register 1900.New York:The Tribune Association. pp. 240–247 – viaHathi Trust Digital Library.
• Wadley, Carma (April 19, 2001). "A Unique 100-Year-Old Heirloom".Deseret News.
• Whitney, Orson F. (October 1904).History of Utah. Vol. IV Biographical. George Q. Cannon & Sons., Co.
• Whitney, Orson F. (1916).Popular History of Utah. Deseret News.{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)
• "MR. DEPEW FOR SENATOR"(PDF).The New York Times. January 13, 1899.
• "Senator Murphy Renominated"(PDF).The New York Times. January 13, 1899.
• "ELECTION OF MR. DEPEW"(PDF).The New York Times. January 18, 1899.

• 1898 United States Senate elections
• 1899 United States Senate elections

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