Various dates 1844 / 1845 → 30 20 3 3 Start date November 12, 1842 | 29 seats 22 seats 27 23 7 10 | |
The United States Senate elections of 1842 and 1843 were elections which had the Whigs lose seats but maintain control of the United States Senate. Although they lost three seats in the general elections, they gained two of them back by the start of the first session in special elections.
Contents
- Results summary
- Before the elections
- Race summaries
- Special elections during the 27th Congress
- Races leading to the 28th Congress
- Elections during the 28th Congress
- New York
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- References
As these elections were prior to ratification of the seventeenth amendment, Senators were chosen by State legislatures.
Results summary
Senate Party Division, 28th Congress (1843–1845)
Before the elections
After July 1842 appointment in New Jersey.
Race summaries
Bold states link to specific election articles.
Special elections during the 27th Congress
In these elections, the winners were elected during 1842 or in 1843 before March 4; ordered by election date.
Races leading to the 28th Congress
In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1843; ordered by state.
All of the elections involved the Class 3 seats.
Elections during the 28th Congress
In these special elections, the winners were elected in 1843 after March 4; ordered by election date.
New York
The election was held February 7, 1843, by the New York State Legislature. Silas Wright, Jr., had been elected in 1833 to this seat after the resignation of William L. Marcy, and had been re-elected in 1837. Wright's term would expire on March 3, 1843. At the State election in November 1842, Democrat William C. Bouck was elected Governor, 92 Democrats and 36 Whigs were elected to the Assembly, and 8 Democrats and 1 Whig were elected to the State Senate. The 66th New York State Legislature met from January 3 to April 18, 1843, at Albany, New York. The incumbent U.S. Senator Silas Wright, Jr. was re-nominated unanimously by a Democratic caucus on the eve of the election. Congressman Millard Fillmore was the candidate of the Whig Party. Silas Wright, Jr., was the choice of both the Assembly and the Senate, and was declared elected.
Wright continued in the U.S. Senate, and remained in office until November 1844 when he resigned after his election as Governor of New York. Henry A. Foster was appointed to fill the vacancy temporarily, but the State Legislature elected John A. Dix for the remainder of Wright's term.
Pennsylvania
The election was held January 10, 1843. Future President of the United States James Buchanan was re-elected by the Pennsylvania General Assembly to the United States Senate. The Pennsylvania General Assembly, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate, convened on January 10, 1843, to elect a new Senator to fill the term beginning on March 4, 1843. Incumbent Democrat James Buchanan, who was elected in 1834 and re-elected in 1836, was a successful candidate for re-election to another term. The results of the vote of both houses combined are as follows:
Tennessee
In 1841, Spencer Jarnagin was nominated for U.S. Senator by the Whig caucus in the Tennessee General Assembly. However, some of the Democrats in the legislature decided that no Senator would be preferable to a Whig. Known as the "Immortal Thirteen" by Tennessee Democrats, they refused to allow a quorum on the issue. By the time Jarnagin was eventually elected to the seat and sworn in, over two and half years, almost half of the term, had elapsed. Jarnagin finally assumed office on October 17, 1843.