United States Senate elections, 1878 and 1879

Dates vary by state
(And other dates for special elections)

26 of the 76 seats in the United States Senate (with special elections) 39 seats needed for a majority

	Majority party	Minority party

Party	Democratic	Republican
Seats before	36	38
Seats won	14	10
Seats after	42	31
Seat change	6	7
Seats up	8	17

	Third party	Fourth party

Party	Anti-Monopoly	Independent
Seats before	1	1
Seats won	0	0
Seats after	1	1
Seat change
Seats up	0	0

Majority Party before election

Republican

Elected Majority Party

Democratic

The United States Senate elections of 1878 and 1879 were elections which had the Democratic Party retake control of the United States Senate for the first time since before the Civil War.

As these elections were prior to ratification of the seventeenth amendment, Senators were chosen by State legislatures.

Results summary

Senate Party Division, 46th Congress (1879–1881)

Majority Party: Democratic (42)
Minority Party: Republican (31)
Other Parties: Independent (1), Anti-Monopoly (1)
Total Seats: 76

Change in Senate composition

Before the elections

R₂₉ Unknown	R₃₀ Unknown	R₃₁ Retired	R₃₂ Retired	R₃₃ Retired	R₃₄ Retired	R₃₅ Retired	R₃₆ Retired	R₃₇ Retired
D₈	D₇	D₆	D₅	D₄	D₃	D₂	D₁
D₉	D₁₀	D₁₁	D₁₂	D₁₃	D₁₄	D₁₅	D₁₆	D₁₇	D₁₈
D₂₈	D₂₇	D₂₆	D₂₅	D₂₄	D₂₃	D₂₂	D₂₁	D₂₀	D₁₉
D₂₉ Ran	D₃₀ Ran	D₃₁ Ran	D₃₂ Ran	D₃₃ Unknown	D₃₄ Unknown	D₃₅ Retired	D₃₆ Retired	AM₁	I₁
Plurality →									R₃₈ Retired
R₂₈ Ran	R₂₇ Ran	R₂₆ Ran	R₂₅ Ran	R₂₄ Ran	R₂₃ Ran	R₂₂ Ran	R₂₁	R₂₀	R₁₉
R₉	R₁₀	R₁₁	R₁₂	R₁₃	R₁₄	R₁₅	R₁₆	R₁₇	R₁₈
R₈	R₇	R₆	R₅	R₄	R₃	R₂	R₁

After the elections

D₂₉ Re-elected	D₃₀ Re-elected	D₃₁ Hold	D₃₂ Hold	D₃₃ Hold	D₃₄ Hold	D₃₅ Hold	D₃₆ Gain	D₃₇ Gain	D₃₈ Gain
D₈	D₇	D₆	D₅	D₄	D₃	D₂	D₁
D₉	D₁₀	D₁₁	D₁₂	D₁₃	D₁₄	D₁₅	D₁₆	D₁₇	D₁₈
D₂₈	D₂₇	D₂₆	D₂₅	D₂₄	D₂₃	D₂₂	D₂₁	D₂₀	D₁₉
Majority →									D₃₉ Gain
R₂₉ Hold	R₃₀ Hold	R₃₁ Gain	V₁ R loss	AM₁	I₁	D₄₂ Gain	D₄₁ Gain	D₄₀ Gain
R₂₈ Hold	R₂₇ Re-elected	R₂₆ Re-elected	R₂₅ Re-elected	R₂₄ Re-elected	R₂₃ Re-elected	R₂₂ Re-elected	R₂₁	R₂₀	R₁₉
R₉	R₁₀	R₁₁	R₁₂	R₁₃	R₁₄	R₁₅	R₁₆	R₁₇	R₁₈
R₈	R₇	R₆	R₅	R₄	R₃	R₂	R₁

Key:

AM_#	Anti-Monopoly Party
D_#	Democratic
I_#	Independent
R_#	Republican
V_#	Vacant

Race summaries

Special elections during the 45th Congress

In these elections, the winners were seated in 1879 before March 4; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Missouri (Class 3)	David H. Armstrong	Democratic	1877 (Appointed)	Interim appointee retired when successor elected. Winner elected January 27, 1879. Democratic hold. Winner did not run for the next term, see below.	√ James Shields (Democratic) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Indiana (Class 3)	Daniel W. Voorhees	Democratic	1877 (Appointed)	Interim appointee elected January 31, 1879. Winner was also elected to the next term, see below.	√ Daniel W. Voorhees (Democratic) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Michigan (Class 1)	Isaac P. Christiancy	Republican	1874	Incumbent resigned February 10, 1879 due to ill health. Winner elected February 22, 1879. Republican hold.	√ Zachariah Chandler (Republican) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]

Races leading to the 46th Congress

In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1885; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 3 seats.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Alabama	George E. Spencer	Republican	1868 (Special) 1872	Incumbent retired. Winner elected in August 1878. Democratic gain.	√ George S. Houston (Republican) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Arkansas	Stephen W. Dorsey	Republican	1872 or 1873	Incumbent retired. Winner elected in 1878. Democratic gain.	√ James D. Walker (Democratic) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
California	Aaron A. Sargent	Republican	1872 or 1873	Incumbent retired. Winner elected in 1878. Democratic gain.	√ James T. Farley (Democratic) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Colorado	Jerome B. Chaffee	Republican	1876	Incumbent retired. Winner elected in 1879. Republican hold.	√ Nathaniel P. Hill (Republican) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Connecticut	William Henry Barnum	Democratic	1876	Unknown if incumbent retired or lost re-election. Winner elected in 1879. Republican gain.	√ Orville H. Platt (Republican) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Florida	Simon B. Conover	Republican	1872 or 1873	Incumbent retired. Winner elected January 21, 1879.^[1] Democratic gain.	√ Wilkinson Call (Democratic) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Georgia	John Brown Gordon	Democratic	1873	Incumbent re-elected in 1879.	√ John Brown Gordon (Democratic) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Illinois	Richard J. Oglesby	Republican	1872 or 1873	Incumbent retired. Winner elected in 1879. Republican hold.	√ John A. Logan (Republican) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Indiana	Daniel W. Voorhees	Democratic	1877 (Appointed) 1879 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1879.	√ Daniel W. Voorhees (Democratic) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Iowa	William B. Allison	Republican	1872	Incumbent re-elected January 23, 1878.^[2]	√ William B. Allison (Republican) 104 votes Daniel F. Miller (Republican) 35 votes E. N. Gates 3 votes^[2]
Kansas	John Ingalls	Republican	1873	Incumbent re-elected in 1879.	√ John Ingalls (Republican) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Kentucky	Thomas C. McCreery	Democratic	1872	Incumbent retired. Winner elected in 1879. Democratic hold.	√ John Stuart Williams (Democratic) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Louisiana	James B. Eustis	Democratic	1876 (Special)	Incumbent lost re-election. Winner elected in 1879. Democratic hold.	√ Benjamin F. Jonas (Democratic) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Maryland	George R. Dennis	Democratic	1872 or 1873	Unknown if incumbent retired or lost re-election. Winner elected in 1878 or in 1879. Democratic hold.	√ James Black Groome (Democratic) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Missouri	James Shields	Democratic	Illinois: —1848 or 1849 —1849 (Election voided) —1849 (Special) —1855 (Lost) Minnesota: —1858 —1859 (Lost) Missouri: —1879 (Special)	Incumbent retired. Winner elected in 1879. Democratic hold.	√ George G. Vest (Democratic) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Nevada	John P. Jones	Republican	1873	Incumbent re-elected in 1879.	√ John P. Jones (Republican) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
New Hampshire	Bainbridge Wadleigh	Republican	1872	Unknown if incumbent retired or lost re-election. Legislature failed to elect. Republican loss.	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
New York	Roscoe Conkling	Republican	1867 1873	Incumbent re-elected January 22, 1879.	√ Roscoe Conkling (Republican) William Dorsheimer (Democratic) Peter Cooper (Greenback)
North Carolina	Augustus Merrimon	Democratic	1872	Incumbent lost re-election. Winner elected in 1879. Democratic hold.	√ Zebulon Vance (Democratic) Augustus Merrimon (Democratic)
Ohio	Stanley Matthews	Republican	1877 (Special)	Incumbent retired. Winner elected in 1878 or 1879. Democratic gain.	√ George H. Pendleton (Democratic) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Oregon	John H. Mitchell	Republican	1872	Incumbent retired. Winner elected in 1878 or 1879. Democratic gain.	√ James H. Slater (Democratic) John H. Mitchell (Republican) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Pennsylvania	J. Donald Cameron	Republican	1877 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected January 20, 1879.	√ J. Donald Cameron (Republican) 53.78% Hiester Clymer (Democratic) 36.65% Daniel Agnew (Greenback) 6.37% Edward McPherson (Republican) 1.20% Russell Thayer (Republican) 0.40% Galusha A. Grow (Republican) 0.40%
South Carolina	John J. Patterson	Republican	1872 or 1873	Unknown if incumbent retired or lost re-election. Winner elected in 1878. Democratic gain.	√ Wade Hampton III (Democratic) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Vermont	Justin S. Morrill	Republican	1866 1872	Incumbent re-elected in 1878.	√ Justin S. Morrill (Republican) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Wisconsin	Timothy O. Howe	Republican	1861 1866 1872	Incumbent lost re-election. Winner elected January 22, 1879.^[3] Republican hold.	√ Matthew H. Carpenter (Republican) Timothy O. Howe (Republican) Elisha W. Keyes (Republican)

Elections during the 46th Congress

In this election, the winner was elected in 1879 after March 4.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
New Hampshire (Class 3)	Charles H. Bell	Republican	1879 (Appointed)	Legislature had failed to elect, see above. Interim appointee retired when successor elected. Winner elected June 17, 1879. Republican hold.	√ Henry W. Blair (Republican) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]

Complete list of elections

New York

In New York, the election was held on January 21, 1879, by the New York State Legislature. Republican Roscoe Conkling had been re-elected in January 1873 to this seat, and his term would expire on March 3, 1879. At the State election in November 1877, 19 Republicans and 13 Democrats were elected for a two-year term (1878-1879) in the State Senate. At the State election in November 1878, 97 Republicans, 28 Democrats and 3 Greenbackers were elected for the session of 1879 to the Assembly, and Republican Thomas Murphy was elected to fill the vacancy in the State Senate caused by the death of Democrat John Morrissey. The 102nd New York State Legislature met from January 7 to May 22, 1879, at Albany, New York.

The caucus of Republican State legislators met on January 20, Temporary President of the State Senate William H. Robertson presided. Present were all Republican legislators except State Senator Louis S. Goebel^[4] (6th D.) and Assemblyman James W. Wadsworth. They re-nominated the incumbent U.S. Senator Conkling unanimously. The caucus of the Democratic State legislators met also on January 20. State Senator Thomas 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 Governor William Dorsheimer for the U.S. Senate.

**1879 Democratic caucus for United States Senator result**
Candidate	First ballot	Second ballot
William Dorsheimer	11	18
James F. Starbuck	8	8
DeWitt C. West^[5]	8	6
Elijah Ward	2

The two Greenback assemblymen John Banfield (Chemung Co.) and George E. Williams (Oswego Co.) voted for 87-year-old Peter Cooper, a New York City inventor, industrialist and philanthropist who had run 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.

**1879 United States Senator election result**
	Republican		Democrat		Greenback
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.

Pennsylvania

In Pennsylvania, the election was held January 20, 1879. J. Donald Cameron was re-elected by the Pennsylvania General Assembly to the United States Senate.^[6]

After Sen. Simon Cameron resigned from office, his son J. Donald Cameron was elected by the General Assembly, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate, in 1877 to serve the remainder of the unexpired term, which was to expire on March 4, 1879. The Pennsylvania General Assembly convened on January 20, 1879, to elect a Senator to serve the term beginning on March 4, 1879. The results of the vote of both houses combined are as follows:

State Legislature Results^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	J. Donald Cameron (Inc.)	135	53.78
	Democratic	Hiester Clymer	92	36.65
	Greenback	Daniel Agnew	16	6.37
	Republican	Edward McPherson	3	1.20
	Republican	Russell Thayer	1	0.40
	Republican	Galusha A. Grow	1	0.40
	N/A	Not voting	3	1.20
Totals			251	100.00%

Notes

↑ "THE FLORIDA SENATORSHIP.". The New York Times. January 22, 1879. p. 1.
1 2 Clark, p. 185.
↑ Thompson, p. 262.
↑ State Senator Goebel refused to caucus with any of the parties, but voted for Conkling at the election.
↑ DeWitt Clinton West (1824-1880), of Lowville, assemblyman 1853
1 2 "U.S. Senate Election - 20 January 1879" (PDF). Wilkes University. Retrieved December 22, 2013.

References

Clark, Dan Elbert (1913). "History of Senatorial Elections in Iowa". Iowa City, Iowa.
Thompson, E. Bruce (1954). Matthew Hale Carpenter, Webster of the West. Madison, WI: State Historical Society of Wisconsin.
Party Division in the Senate, 1789-Present, via Senate.gov
"VICTORIOUS REPUBLICANS". The New York Times. November 6, 1878. , gives 1 Greenbacker elected, but Williams of Oswego is not in the list; this seems to have been a preliminary result which was later amended
"NEW-YORK'S NEXT SENATOR; ROSCOE CONKLING RENOMINATED". The New York Times. January 21, 1879.
"THE DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS.; A REMARKABLE PROTEST OFFERED AND TABLED; LIEUT.-GOV. DORSHEIMER TENDERED THE EMPTY HONOR OF A NOMINATION". The New York Times. January 21, 1879.
"CONKLING WINS THE SENATORSHIP". The New York Times. January 22, 1879.
"CHOOSING THEIR SENATORS.; ...LIEUT.-GOV. DORSHEIMER FORMALLY ANNOUNCES THE ELECTION". The New York Times. January 23, 1879.
Pennsylvania Election Statistics: 1682-2006. Wilkes University Election Statistics Project.

United States Senate elections

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