The
1848?49 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 1848 and 1849, 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 3
.
The
Democratic Party
lost seats but maintained control of the Senate.
Results
[
edit
]
Senate party division,
31st Congress
(1849?1851)
- Majority party: Democratic (33?36)
- Minority party: Whig Party (25?24)
- Other parties: Free Soil (2)
- Total seats: 60?62
Change in Senate composition
[
edit
]
Before the elections
[
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]
D
1
|
D
2
|
D
3
|
D
4
|
D
5
|
D
6
|
D
7
|
D
8
|
D
9
|
D
10
|
D
20
|
D
19
|
D
18
|
D
17
|
D
16
|
D
15
|
D
14
|
D
13
|
D
12
|
D
11
|
D
21
|
D
22
|
D
23
|
D
24
|
D
25
Ran
|
D
26
Ran
|
D
27
Ran
|
D
28
Ran
|
D
29
Ran
|
D
30
Ran
|
Majority →
|
D
31
Ran
|
W
21
Unknown
|
ID
1
|
D
38
Retired
|
D
37
Retired
|
D
36
Retired
|
D
35
Retired
|
D
34
Unknown
|
D
33
Ran
|
D
32
Ran
|
W
20
Ran
|
W
19
Ran
|
W
18
Ran
|
W
17
Ran
|
W
16
|
W
15
|
W
14
|
W
13
|
W
12
|
W
11
|
W
1
|
W
2
|
W
3
|
W
4
|
W
5
|
W
6
|
W
7
|
W
8
|
W
9
|
W
10
|
As a result of the elections
[
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]
D
1
|
D
2
|
D
3
|
D
4
|
D
5
|
D
6
|
D
7
|
D
8
|
D
9
|
D
10
|
D
20
|
D
19
|
D
18
|
D
17
|
D
16
|
D
15
|
D
14
|
D
13
|
D
12
|
D
11
|
D
21
|
D
22
|
D
23
|
D
24
|
D
25
Re-elected
|
D
26
Re-elected
|
D
27
Re-elected
|
D
28
Re-elected
|
D
29
Re-elected
|
D
30
Hold
|
Majority →
|
D
31
Hold
|
W
21
Gain
|
W
22
Gain
|
W
23
Gain
|
W
24
Gain
|
W
25
Gain
|
ID
1
|
FS
1
Gain
|
D
33
Gain
|
D
32
Hold
|
W
20
Hold
|
W
19
Re-elected
|
W
18
Re-elected
|
W
17
Re-elected
|
W
16
|
W
15
|
W
14
|
W
13
|
W
12
|
W
11
|
W
1
|
W
2
|
W
3
|
W
4
|
W
5
|
W
6
|
W
7
|
W
8
|
W
9
|
W
10
|
Note: "Re-elected" includes incumbent appointee elected to the next term.
Beginning of the next Congress
[
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]
D
1
|
D
2
|
D
3
|
D
4
|
D
5
|
D
6
|
D
7
|
D
8
|
D
9
|
D
10
|
D
20
|
D
19
|
D
18
|
D
17
|
D
16
|
D
15
|
D
14
|
D
13
|
D
12
|
D
11
|
D
21
|
D
22
|
D
23
|
D
24
|
D
25
|
D
26
|
D
27
|
D
28
|
D
29
|
D
30
|
Majority →
|
D
31
|
W
21
|
W
22
|
W
23
|
W
24
|
W
25
|
FS
2
|
FS
1
|
D
33
|
D
32
|
W
20
|
W
19
|
W
18
|
W
17
|
W
16
|
W
15
|
W
14
|
W
13
|
W
12
|
W
11
|
W
1
|
W
2
|
W
3
|
W
4
|
W
5
|
W
6
|
W
7
|
W
8
|
W
9
|
W
10
|
Race summaries
[
edit
]
Special elections during the 30th Congress
[
edit
]
In these special elections, the winners were seated during 1848 or in 1849 before March 4; ordered by election date.
State
|
Incumbent
|
Results
|
Candidates
|
Senator
|
Party
|
Electoral history
|
Mississippi
(Class 1)
|
Jefferson Davis
|
Democratic
|
1847
(Appointed)
|
Interim appointee
elected
January 11, 1848
.
|
|
Connecticut
(Class 1)
|
Roger S. Baldwin
|
Whig
|
1847
(Appointed)
|
Interim appointee
elected
May 1848
.
|
|
Maine
(Class 1)
|
Wyman B. S. Moor
|
Democratic
|
1848
(Appointed)
|
Interim appointee retired when successor
elected
June 7, 1848
.
Democratic hold.
|
|
Wisconsin
(Class 1)
|
New state
|
Wisconsin admitted to the Union May 29, 1848.
First senators
elected
June 8, 1848
.
Democratic gain
.
|
|
Wisconsin
(Class 3)
|
Wisconsin admitted to the Union May 29, 1848.
First senators
elected
June 8, 1848
.
Democratic gain
.
|
|
Alabama
(Class 3)
|
Arthur P. Bagby
|
Democratic
|
1841
(special)
1842
|
Incumbent resigned June 16, 1848 to become
U.S. Minister to Russia
.
Successor
elected
July 1, 1848
.
Democratic hold.
|
|
Arkansas
(Class 2)
|
William K. Sebastian
|
Democratic
|
1848
(Appointed)
|
Interim appointee
elected
November 17, 1848
.
|
|
Iowa
(Class 2)
|
New state
|
Iowa was admitted to the Union December 28, 1846.
Legislature had failed to elect due to a three-way split that prevented any candidate from earning the required number of 30 legislators' votes.
First senators
elected
December 7, 1848
.
Democratic gain
.
|
|
Iowa
(Class 3)
|
Iowa was admitted to the Union December 28, 1846.
Legislature had failed to elect due to a three-way split that prevented any candidate from earning the required number of 30 legislators' votes.
First senators
elected
December 7, 1848
.
Democratic gain
.
|
|
Kentucky
(Class 3)
|
Thomas Metcalfe
|
Whig
|
1848
(Appointed)
|
Interim appointee
elected
January 3, 1849
.
|
|
Michigan
(Class 1)
|
Thomas Fitzgerald
|
Democratic
|
1848
(Appointed)
|
Interim appointee retired.
Successor
elected
January 20, 1849
, but did not take his seat until March 4, 1849.
Democratic hold.
|
|
Delaware
(Class 1)
|
John M. Clayton
|
Whig
|
1829
1835
|
Incumbent resigned February 23, 1849 to become
U.S. Secretary of State
.
Successor
elected
February 23, 1849
.
Whig hold.
|
|
Races leading to the 31st Congress
[
edit
]
In these regular elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1849; ordered by state.
All of the elections involved the Class 3 seats.
Elections during the 31st Congress
[
edit
]
In these elections, the winners were elected in 1849 after March 4.
State
|
Incumbent
|
Results
|
Candidates
|
Senator
|
Party
|
Electoral history
|
Illinois
(Class 3)
|
James Shields
|
Democratic
|
1848 or 1849
|
Senate voided election March 15, 1849 as incumbent was not to a U.S. citizen long enough as required by the
U.S. Constitution
.
Incumbent was
re-elected
October 27, 1849
, having by then qualified.
Democratic hold.
|
|
Alabama
(Class 2)
|
Benjamin Fitzpatrick
|
Democratic
|
1848
(Appointed)
|
Unknown if interim appointee retired when successor elected or lost election to finish the term.
Winner
elected
November 30, 1849
.
Democratic hold.
|
|
California
(Class 1)
|
New state
|
California admitted as a new state on September 9, 1850.
New senator
elected
December 20, 1849
and later seated upon statehood.
Democratic gain
.
|
|
California
(Class 3)
|
California admitted as a new state on September 9, 1850.
New senator
elected
December 20, 1849
and later seated upon statehood.
Democratic gain
.
|
|
Individual elections
[
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]
Maryland
[
edit
]
![[icon]](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg/20px-Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg.png) | This section
needs expansion
. You can help by
adding to it
.
(
November 2022
)
|
1849 United States Senate election in Maryland
|
|
|
1849 United States Senate election in Maryland
|
|
|
Reverdy Johnson
won election in
1844
but retired to become the
United States Attorney General
. In order to fill his seat,
David Stewart
was elected by an unknown margin of votes, for the Class 1 seat.
[10]
James Pearce
won re-election by an unknown margin of votes, for the Class 3 seat.
[11]
New York
[
edit
]
The New York election was held February 6, 1849. Barnburner
John Adams Dix
had been elected in 1845 to this seat after the resignation of
Silas Wright
, and Dix's term would expire on March 3, 1849. In November 1848, Dix was the Barnburners/Free-Soilers candidate for Governor of New York, but was defeated by Whig
Hamilton Fish
.
At this time
New York Democratic Party
was split in two fiercely opposing factions: the
Barnburners" and the "Hunkers"
. The Barnburners organized the
Free Soil Party
in 1848 and nominated
Martin Van Buren
for
U.S. President
. Due to the split, the
Whig Party
won most of the elective offices by pluralities.
At the
State election in November 1847
, 24 Whigs and 8 Democrats were elected for a two-year term (1848?1849) in the State Senate. At the
State election in November 1848
, 106 Whigs, 15 Free Soilers and 7 Hunkers were elected to the Assembly for the session of 1849. The
72nd New York State Legislature
met from January 2 to April 11, 1849, at
Albany, New York
.
Ex-
Governor of New York
William H. Seward was nominated by a caucus of
Whig
State legislators on February 1, 1849. The vote was 88 for Seward, 12 for
John A. Collier
, 18 scattering and 4 blanks. The incumbent U.S. Senator John Adams Dix ran for re-election supported by the Free Soilers. Ex-
Chancellor
Reuben H. Walworth was the candidate of the Hunkers. Walworth had been third place in the last gubernatorial election, behind Fish and Dix. Ex-Congressman Daniel D. Barnard (Whig) received 2 scattering votes in the Senate. William H. Seward was the choice of both the Assembly and the Senate, and was declared elected.
Ohio
[
edit
]
The two houses of the
Ohio General Assembly
met in joint session February 22, 1849, with 72 representatives and 35 senators present to elect a Senator (Class 3) to succeed incumbent
William Allen
. On the fourth ballot,
Salmon P. Chase
was elected with a majority of the votes cast, as follows:
[12]
The second ballot was declared a nullity by Speaker of the Senate
Brewster Randall
, because there were one more ballots cast than members present.
Pennsylvania
[
edit
]
The Pennsylvania election was held January 10, 1849.
James Cooper
was elected by the
Pennsylvania General Assembly
.
[13]
Incumbent
Democrat
Simon Cameron
, who was elected in
1845
, was not a candidate for re-election to another term. The Pennsylvania General Assembly, consisting of the
House of Representatives
and the
Senate
, convened on January 10, 1849, to elect a new Senator to fill the term beginning on March 4, 1849. Three ballots were recorded. The results of the third and final ballot of both houses combined are as follows:
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
"17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Direct Election of U.S. Senators (1913)"
.
National Archives and Records Administration
. 8 February 2022.
- ^
Journal of the Senate of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, begun and held in the Town of Frankfort, on Saturday 30th December 1848
. Frankfort, KY: A. G. Hodges & Co, State Printers. 1848. p. 26.
- ^
a
b
"Encyclopedia of Arkansas"
.
- ^
"Stryker's American Register and Magazine"
. 1849.
- ^
Journal of the Senate of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, begun and held in the Town of Frankfort, on Saturday 30th December 1848
. Frankfort, KY: A. G. Hodges & Co, State Printers. 1848. p. 170.
- ^
"Our Campaigns - MD US Senate Race - Dec 00, 1849"
.
www.ourcampaigns.com
. Retrieved
5 November
2022
.
- ^
"Our Campaigns - MD US Senate Race - Jan 00, 1849"
.
www.ourcampaigns.com
. Retrieved
5 November
2022
.
- ^
Taylor, William Alexander; Taylor, Aubrey Clarence (1899).
Ohio statesmen and annals of progress: from the year 1788 to the year 1900 ...
State of Ohio. p. 232.
- ^
a
b
"U.S. Senate Election - 10 January 1849"
(PDF)
. Wilkes University
. Retrieved
22 December
2013
.
References
[
edit
]
- "Party Division in the Senate, 1789-Present"
. via Senate.gov.
- Clark, Dan Elbert (1913).
History of Senatorial Elections in Iowa
.
Iowa City, Iowa
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
- Byrd, Robert C.
(1 October 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
.
- The New York Civil List
compiled in 1858 (see: pg. 63 for U.S. Senators; pg. 136 for State Senators 1849; pg. 236ff for Members of Assembly 1849)
- Members of the 31st United States Congress
- Result State election, 1847:
The Whig Almanac and United States Register for 1848
- Result Whig caucus:
The American Whig Review, Vol. 11
by George Hooker Colton &
James Davenport Whelpley
(page 638)
- Result U.S. Senate election, State Senate:
Journal of the Senate
(72nd Session)
(1849; pg. 167)
- Result U.S. Senate election, State Assembly:
Journal of the Assembly
(72nd Session)
(1849; pg. 355f)
- Pennsylvania Election Statistics: 1682-2006
from the
Wilkes University Election Statistics Project