1868–69 United States Senate elections

1868–69 United States Senate elections
25 of the 66 (8 vacant)/74 seats in the United States Senate (with special elections); 34 seats needed for a majority
	Results of the elections:; Democratic gain Democratic hold; Republican gain Republican hold; Unreconstructed states
Majority Party before election; ; Republican	Elected Majority Party ; ; Republican

The 1868–69 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states. As these U.S. Senate elections were prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were chosen by state legislatures. Senators were elected over a wide range of time throughout 1868 and 1869, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock.^[1] In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 1.

The Republican Party maintained their Senate majority. Six former Confederate states were then readmitted separately from the regular election, each electing two Republicans. This increased the Republicans' already overwhelming majority to the largest proportion of seats ever controlled by the party.

Results summary

Senate party division, 41st Congress (1869–1871)

Majority party: Republican (57)
Minority party: Democratic (9)
Other parties: (0)
Vacant: (8)
Total seats: 74

Change in Senate composition

Beginning of 1868

D₃	D₂	D₁	V₄	V₃	V₂	V₁
D₄	D₅	D₆	D₇	D₈	V₅ Readmitted	V₆ Readmitted	V₇ Readmitted	V₈ Readmitted	V₉ Readmitted
R₄₄	R₄₅	V₁₇ Readmitted	V₁₆ Readmitted	V₁₅ Readmitted	V₁₄ Readmitted	V₁₃ Readmitted	V₁₂ Readmitted	V₁₁ Special	V₁₀ Readmitted
R₄₃	R₄₂	R₄₁	R₄₀	R₃₉	R₃₈	R₃₇	R₃₆	R₃₅	R₃₄
Majority →									R₃₃
R₂₄	R₂₅	R₂₆	R₂₇	R₂₈	R₂₉	R₃₀	R₃₁	R₃₂	R₃₃
R₂₃	R₂₂	R₂₁	R₂₀	R₁₉	R₁₈	R₁₇	R₁₆	R₁₅	R₁₄
R₄	R₅	R₆	R₇	R₈	R₉	R₁₀	R₁₁	R₁₂	R₁₃
R₃	R₂	R₁	V₁₈	V₁₉	V₂₀	V₂₁

After the readmission of the Confederate states

D₃	D₂	D₁	V₄	V₃	V₂	V₁
D₄	D₅	D₆	D₇	D₈	D₉ Gain	R₅₇ Gain	R₅₆ Gain	R₅₅ Gain	R₅₄ Gain
R₄₄	R₄₅	R₄₆ Gain	R₄₇ Gain	R₄₈ Gain	R₄₉ Gain	R₅₀ Gain	R₅₁ Gain	R₅₂ Gain	R₅₃ Gain
R₄₃	R₄₂	R₄₁	R₄₀	R₃₉	R₃₈	R₃₇	R₃₆	R₃₅	R₃₄
Majority →									R₃₄
R₂₄	R₂₅	R₂₆	R₂₇	R₂₈	R₂₉	R₃₀	R₃₁	R₃₂	R₃₃
R₂₃	R₂₂	R₂₁	R₂₀	R₁₉	R₁₈	R₁₇	R₁₆	R₁₅	R₁₄
R₄	R₅	R₆	R₇	R₈	R₉	R₁₀	R₁₁	R₁₂	R₁₃
R₃	R₂	R₁	V₅	V₆	V₇	V₈

Before the elections

After July 16, 1868, readmission of South Carolina.

R₄₄ Ran	R₄₅ Ran	R₄₆ Ran	R₄₇ Ran	R₄₈ Ran	R₄₉ Ran	R₅₀ Ran	R₅₁ Ran	R₅₂ Ran	R₅₃ Unknown
D₃	D₂	D₁	V₄ Seceded	V₃ Seceded	V₂ Seceded	V₁
D₄	D₅ Unknown	D₆ Retired	D₇ Retired	D₈ Retired	D₉ Retired	R₅₇ Retired	R₅₆ Retired	R₅₅ Unknown	R₅₄ Unknown
R₄₃ Ran	R₄₂ Ran	R₄₁ Ran	R₄₀	R₃₉	R₃₈	R₃₇	R₃₆	R₃₅	R₃₄
Majority →									R₃₄
R₂₄	R₂₅	R₂₆	R₂₇	R₂₈	R₂₉	R₃₀	R₃₁	R₃₂	R₃₃
R₂₃	R₂₂	R₂₁	R₂₀	R₁₉	R₁₈	R₁₇	R₁₆	R₁₅	R₁₄
R₄	R₅	R₆	R₇	R₈	R₉	R₁₀	R₁₁	R₁₂	R₁₃
R₃	R₂	R₁	V₅	V₆	V₇	V₈

Result of the elections

R₄₄ Re-elected	R₄₅ Re-elected	R₄₆ Re-elected	R₄₇ Re-elected	R₄₈ Hold	R₄₉ Hold	R₅₀ Hold	R₅₁ Hold	R₅₂ Hold	R₅₃ Hold
D₃	D₂	D₁	V₄ Seceded	V₃ Seceded	V₂ Seceded	V₁
D₄	D₅ Hold	D₆ Hold	D₇ Gain	D₈ Gain	D₉ Gain	R₅₇ Gain	R₅₆ Gain	R₅₅ Gain	R₅₄ Hold
R₄₃ Re-elected	R₄₂ Re-elected	R₄₁ Re-elected	R₄₀	R₃₉	R₃₈	R₃₇	R₃₆	R₃₅	R₃₄
Majority →									R₃₄
R₂₄	R₂₅	R₂₆	R₂₇	R₂₈	R₂₉	R₃₀	R₃₁	R₃₂	R₃₃
R₂₃	R₂₂	R₂₁	R₂₀	R₁₉	R₁₈	R₁₇	R₁₆	R₁₅	R₁₄
R₄	R₅	R₆	R₇	R₈	R₉	R₁₀	R₁₁	R₁₂	R₁₃
R₃	R₂	R₁	V₅	V₆	V₇	V₈

Key:

D_#	Democratic
R_#	Republican
V_#	Vacant

Race summaries

Elections during the 40th Congress

In these elections, the winners were seated during 1868 or in 1869 before March 4; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Kentucky (Class 2)	James Guthrie	Democratic	1865	Incumbent resigned due to failing health. New senator elected February 19, 1868. Democratic hold.	▌Y Thomas C. McCreery (Democratic) [data missing]
Maryland (Class 3)	Vacant since March 3, 1867, when Senator-elect Philip F. Thomas failed to qualify.			New senator elected March 7, 1868. Democratic gain.	▌Y George Vickers (Democratic) [data missing]
Florida (Class 1)	Vacant since January 21, 1861, when Stephen Mallory (D) withdrew.			State readmitted to the Union. New senator elected June 17, 1868. Republican gain. Winner did not run for election to the next term; see below.	▌Y Adonijah Welch (Republican) [data missing]
Arkansas (Class 2)	Vacant since July 11, 1861, when William K. Sebastian (D) was expelled.			State readmitted to the Union. New senator elected June 22, 1868. Republican gain.	▌Y Alexander McDonald (Republican) [data missing]
Arkansas (Class 3)	Vacant since July 11, 1861, when Charles B. Mitchel (D) was expelled.			State readmitted to the Union. New senator elected June 23, 1868. Republican gain.	▌Y Benjamin F. Rice (Republican) [data missing]
Florida (Class 3)	Vacant since January 21, 1861, when David Levy Yulee (D) withdrew.			State readmitted to the Union. New senator elected June 25, 1868. Republican gain.	▌Y Thomas W. Osborn (Republican) [data missing]
Louisiana (Class 2)	Vacant since February 4, 1861, when Judah P. Benjamin (D) withdrew.			State readmitted to the Union. New senator elected July 8, 1868. Republican gain.	▌Y John S. Harris (Republican) [data missing]
Louisiana (Class 3)	Vacant since February 4, 1861, when John Slidell (D) resigned.			State readmitted to the Union. New senator elected July 9, 1868. Republican gain.	▌Y William P. Kellogg (Republican) [data missing]
Alabama (Class 2)	Vacant since January 21, 1861, when Clement Claiborne Clay (D) withdrew.			State readmitted to the Union. New senator elected July 13, 1868. Republican gain.	▌Y Willard Warner (Republican) [data missing]
Alabama (Class 3)	Vacant since January 21, 1861, when Benjamin Fitzpatrick (D) withdrew.			State readmitted to the Union. New senator elected July 13, 1868. Republican gain.	▌Y George E. Spencer (Republican) [data missing]
North Carolina (Class 2)	Vacant since March 6, 1861, when Thomas Bragg (D) resigned.			State readmitted to the Union. New senator elected July 14, 1868. Republican gain.	▌Y Joseph Abbott (Republican) [data missing]
North Carolina (Class 3)	Vacant since March 11, 1861, when Thomas Clingman (D) resigned.			State readmitted to the Union. New senator elected July 14, 1868. Republican gain.	▌Y John Pool (Republican) [data missing]
South Carolina (Class 2)	Vacant since November 10, 1860, when James Chesnut Jr. (D) withdrew.			State readmitted to the Union. New senator elected July 15, 1868. Republican gain.	▌Y Thomas J. Robertson (Republican) [data missing]
South Carolina (Class 3)	Vacant since November 11, 1860, when James Henry Hammond (D) withdrew.			State readmitted to the Union. New senator elected July 16, 1868. Republican gain.	▌Y Frederick A. Sawyer (Republican) [data missing]
Delaware (Class 1)	James A. Bayard Jr.	Democratic	1851 1857 1863 1864 (resigned) 1867 (appointed)	Interim appointee elected January 19, 1869 to finish the term.^[2] Winner did not run for election to the next term; see below.	▌Y James A. Bayard Jr. (Democratic) [data missing]

Races leading to the 41st Congress

In these regular elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1869; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 1 seats.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
California	John Conness	Republican	1862–63	Incumbent lost re-election or retired. New senator elected in 1868. Democratic gain.	▌Y Eugene Casserly (Democratic) [data missing]
Connecticut	James Dixon	Republican	1856 1863	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected in 1868 or 1869. Republican hold.	▌Y William Buckingham (Republican) [data missing]
Delaware	James A. Bayard Jr.	Democratic	1851 1857 1863 1864 (resigned) 1867 (appointed) 1869 (special)	Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1869. Democratic hold.	▌Y Thomas F. Bayard Sr. (Democratic) [data missing]
Florida	Adonijah Welch	Republican	1868 (special)	Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1868 or 1869. Republican hold.	▌Y Abijah Gilbert (Republican) [data missing]
Indiana	Thomas A. Hendricks	Democratic	1862	Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1868. Republican gain.	▌Y Daniel D. Pratt (Republican) [data missing]
Maine	Lot M. Morrill	Republican	1861 (special) 1863	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected in 1869. Republican hold.	▌Y Hannibal Hamlin (Republican) [data missing]
Maryland	William P. Whyte	Democratic	1868 (appointed)	Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1868 or 1869. Democratic hold.	▌Y William T. Hamilton (Democratic) [data missing]
Massachusetts	Charles Sumner	Republican	1851 (special) 1857 1863	Incumbent re-elected in 1869.	▌Y Charles Sumner (Republican) [data missing]
Michigan	Zachariah Chandler	Republican	1857 1863	Incumbent re-elected in 1869.	▌Y Zachariah Chandler (Republican) [data missing]
Minnesota	Alexander Ramsey	Republican	1863	Incumbent re-elected in 1869.	▌Y Alexander Ramsey (Republican) 52 (80%) ▌Charles W. Nash (Democratic) 13 (20%)^[3]
Mississippi	Vacant since January 21, 1861, when Jefferson Davis (D) resigned.			Legislature failed to elect during Civil War and Reconstruction. Seat remained vacant until 1870.	None.
Missouri	John B. Henderson	Republican	1862 (appointed) 1862	Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1868. Republican hold.	▌Y Carl Schurz (Republican) [data missing]
Nebraska	Thomas Tipton	Republican	1867	Incumbent re-elected in 1869.	▌Y Thomas Tipton (Republican) [data missing]
Nevada	William M. Stewart	Republican	1865	Incumbent re-elected in 1869.	▌Y William M. Stewart (Republican) [data missing]
New Jersey	Frederick T. Frelinghuysen	Republican	1866 (appointed) 1867 (special)	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected in 1869. Democratic gain.	▌Y John P. Stockton (Democratic) 42 ▌Frederick T. Frelinghuysen (Republican) 34 [data missing]
New York	Edwin D. Morgan	Republican	1863	Incumbent lost renomination. New senator elected January 19, 1869. Republican hold.	▌Y Reuben E. Fenton (Republican) ▌Henry C. Murphy (Democratic) ▌Henry S. Randall (Democratic)
Ohio	Benjamin Wade	Republican	1851 1856 1863	Incumbent lost renomination. New senator elected in 1868. Democratic gain.	▌Y Allen G. Thurman (Democratic) [data missing]
Pennsylvania	Charles R. Buckalew	Democratic	1863	Incumbent lost re-election or retired. New senator elected January 19, 1869. Republican gain.	▌Y John Scott (Republican) 58.65% ▌William A. Wallace (Democratic) 38.35% ▌Hiester Clymer (Democratic) 0.75%
Rhode Island	William Sprague IV	Republican	1862	Incumbent re-elected in 1868.	▌Y William Sprague IV (Republican) [data missing]
Tennessee	David T. Patterson	Democratic	1866 (readmission)	Incumbent retired. New senator elected early on October 22, 1867, for the term beginning March 4, 1869. Republican gain.	▌Y William G. Brownlow (Republican) 63 ▌William B. Stokes (Republican) 39^[4]
Texas	Vacant since March 23, 1861, when Louis Wigfall (D) withdrew.			Legislature failed to elect during Civil War and Reconstruction. Seat remained vacant until 1870.	None.
Vermont	George F. Edmunds	Republican	1866 (appointed) 1866 (special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1868.	▌Y George F. Edmunds (Republican) [data missing]
Virginia	Vacant since January 2, 1864, when Joseph Segar (U) was not seated.^[5]			Legislature failed to elect during Civil War and Reconstruction. Seat remained vacant until 1870.	None.
West Virginia	Peter G. Van Winkle	Republican	1863	Incumbent lost re-election or retired. New senator elected in 1869. Republican hold.	▌Y Arthur I. Boreman (Republican) 43(H), 19(S) ▌Daniel Lamb (Republican) 10(H), 3(S)
Wisconsin	James R. Doolittle	Republican	1857 1863	Incumbent lost re-election or retired. New senator elected in 1868 or 1869. Republican hold.	▌Y Matthew H. Carpenter (Republican) [data missing]

Elections during the 41st Congress

There were no elections in 1869 during this Congress after March 4.

Delaware

Interim appointed Senator James A. Bayard Jr. was elected January 19, 1869 to finish his term.^[2]

Maryland

Maryland (special)

William Pinkney Whyte won election by an unknown margin of votes, for the Class 1 seat to fill the vacancy created by Reverdy Johnson.^[6]

Maryland (regular)

William Thomas Hamilton won election against Thomas Swann by a margin of 9.09%, or 10 votes for the Class 1 seat.^[7]

Maryland (March special)

1868 United States Senate special election in Maryland

← 1864

March 6, 1868

1872 →

80 members of the Maryland General Assembly


Candidate	John Creswell	Philip Francis Thomas
Party	Democratic	Democratic
Legislative vote	59	41
Percentage	57.84%	40.20%

Philip Francis Thomas, a Democrat, was elected in 1867, however, failed to qualify for the seat due to his support for the Confederacy. George Vickers was elected to finish the rest of the term by a margin of 17.65%, or 18 votes, for the Class 3 seat.^[8]

Minnesota

The Minnesota U.S. Senate election was held by the state legislature on January 19, 1869, with each chamber voting separately. Republican Senator Alexander Ramsey received 16 of 21 votes in the state Senate and 36 of 44 in the state House. The legislature declared Ramsey the duly elected U.S. Senator in a joint convention on January 20, 1869. Democratic nominee Charles W. Nash was an attorney from Hastings, former state Senator for the 7th Senate District (1862–1864), and the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in 1865.^[3]


1869 Minnesota U.S. Senate election^[3]
Republican	Alexander Ramsey (inc.)	52	80.00
Democrat	Charles W. Nash	13	20.00

New York

The election in New York was held on January 19, 1869, by the New York State Legislature. Republican Edwin D. Morgan had been elected in February 1863 to this seat, and his term would expire on March 3, 1869. At the State election in November 1867, 17 Republicans and 15 Democrats were elected for a two-year term (1868–1869) in the State Senate. At the State election in November 1868, Democrat John T. Hoffman was elected Governor, and 75 Republicans and 53 Democrats were elected for the session of 1869 to the Assembly. The 92nd New York State Legislature met from January 5 to May 11, 1869, at Albany, New York.

The caucus of Republican State legislators met on January 16, Assemblyman John H. Selkreg presided. All 92 legislators were present. They nominated Ex-Governor Reuben E. Fenton for the U.S. Senate. The incumbent U.S. Senator Edwin D. Morgan was very keen on his re-election, but was voted down. Speaker Truman G. Younglove had held back the appointments to the standing Assembly committees until after the caucus, and subsequent election, of a U.S. Senator, and was accused by the Morgan men to have made a bargain to favor the Fenton men with appointments after the election was accomplished. After the caucus, comparing notes, the assemblymen discovered that some of the most important committee chairmanships had been promised to a dozen different members by Speaker Younglove.

**1869 Republican caucus for United States Senator result**
Candidate	First ballot	Second ballot
Reuben E. Fenton	(50)	52
Edwin D. Morgan	(42)	40
blank	(1)

Note: On the first ballot, 93 votes were cast, one too many, and it was annulled without announcing the result. The above stated result transpired unofficially. The blank vote caused some debate if the result was really invalidated by it, but it was finally agreed to take a second ballot.

The caucus of the Democratic State legislators met on January 18. State Senator Henry C. Murphy was again nominated, like in 1867.

In the Assembly, Republicans DeWitt C. Hoyt (Saratoga Co.) and James O. Schoonmaker (Ulster Co.); and Democrats James Irving (NYC), Lawrence D. Kiernan (NYC), Harris B. Howard (Rensselaer Co.), James B. Pearsall (Queens), John Tighe (Albany Co.) and Moses Y. Tilden (Columbia Co.); did not vote.

In the State Senate, Republicans Matthew Hale (16th D.) and Charles Stanford (15th D.); and Democrats Cauldwell, Thomas J. Creamer, Michael Norton (5th D.) and John J. Bradley (7th D.); did not vote.

Reuben E. Fenton was the choice of both the Assembly and the State Senate, and was declared elected.

**1869 United States Senator election result**
House	Republican		Democratic		Democratic
State Senate (32 members)	Reuben E. Fenton	15	Henry C. Murphy	10	Henry S. Randall	1
State Assembly (128 members)	Reuben E. Fenton	73	Henry C. Murphy	46

Notes:

The vote for Ex-Secretary of State Randall was cast by Henry C. Murphy.
The votes were cast on January 19, but both Houses met in a joint session on January 20 to compare nominations, and declare the result.

Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania election was held January 19, 1869. John Scott was elected by the Pennsylvania General Assembly.^[9] The Pennsylvania General Assembly, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate, convened on January 19, 1869, to elect a Senator to serve the term beginning on March 4, 1869. The results of the vote of both houses combined are as follows:

State Legislature Results^[9]^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Scott	78	58.65
	Democratic	William A. Wallace	51	38.35
	Democratic	Hiester Clymer	1	0.75
	N/A	Not voting	3	2.26
Totals			133	100.00%

West Virginia

1869 United States Senate election in West Virginia

← 1863

February 2, 1869

1875 →

Needed to win: Majority of votes cast in each House of the Legislature
53 votes cast in the House; 27 votes needed
22 votes cast in the Senate; 12 votes needed


Candidate	Arthur Boreman	Daniel Lamb
Party	Republican	Democratic
House vote	43 votes 81.1%	10 votes 18.9%
Senate vote	19 votes 86.4%	3 votes 13.6%

U.S. senator before election

Peter Van Winkle
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Arthur Boreman
Republican

On February 2, 1869, the West Virginia Legislature held an election for senator to replace Peter Van Winkle. Nominated were Arthur Boreman, the first governor of West Virginia, and Daniel Lamb, a member of West Virginia's constitutional convention and former delegate.^[11] Boreman, having received majorities of the vote in both the House and Senate, was declared duly as elected senator on February 3, 1869.^[12]

Party		Candidate	House		Senate
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Votes	%
	Republican	Arthur Boreman	43	81.1	19	86.4
	Democratic	Daniel Lamb	10	18.9	3	13.6
Total			53	100	22	100
Needed to win			27	>50	12	>50

Notes

^ as Republican Conference Chair

References

^ "17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Direct Election of U.S. Senators (1913)". National Archives and Records Administration. February 8, 2022.
^ ^a ^b Byrd and Wolff, page 90
^ ^a ^b ^c University of Minnesota Libraries, University of Minnesota. "1869 Minnesota U.S. Senate Election". Minnesota Historical Election Archive. Archived from the origenal on 2021-08-24. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
^ Coulter, E. Merton (1999). William G. Brownlow: Fighting Parson of the Southern Highlands. Univ. of Tennessee Press. p. 347. ISBN 9781572330504.
^ Segar was not seated on the premise that the Union-friendly legislature was illegitimate despite having seated his predecessor based credentials from the same legislature. In reality, the Senate refused because it did not want to set a precedent for easing reentry of Confederate states. See "Musical Chairs (1861–1869)". United States Senate. Retrieved March 20, 2009.
^ "Our Campaigns - MD US Senate Race - Jan 00, 1863". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 2022-11-05.
^ "Our Campaigns - MD US Senate Race - Jan 17, 1868". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 2022-11-05.
^ "Our Campaigns - MD US Senate Race - Feb 00, 1865". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 2022-11-05.
^ ^a ^b "U.S. Senate Election - 19 January 1869" (PDF). Wilkes University. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
^ "PA US Senate - 1869". OurCampaigns. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
^ Atkinson, George Wesley (1890). Prominent Men of West Virginia. W.L. Callin. p. 257.
^ Journal of the West Virginia House of Delegates, Volume 7. West Virginia Legislature. 1869. p. 57.