Dates vary by state
(And other dates for special elections) 1868 / 1869 → 37 10 39 10 Start date November 11, 1866 | 33 seats 9 seats 15 2 13 2 | |
The United States Senate elections of 1866 and 1867 were elections that saw the Republican Party gain eighteen seats in the United States Senate as several of the Southern States were readmitted during Reconstruction, enlarging their already overwhelming majority. This was the single largest gain by any party in the history of the U.S. Senate.
Contents
- Results summary
- Before the elections
- Special elections during the 39th Congress
- Races leading to the 40th Congress
- New York
- Pennsylvania
- References
As these elections were prior to ratification of the seventeenth amendment, Senators were chosen by state legislatures.
Results summary
Senate Party Division, 40th Congress (1867–1869)
Before the elections
After August 31, 1866 appointment in New Hampshire.
Special elections during the 39th Congress
In these special elections, the winners were seated during 1866 or in 1867 before March 4; ordered by election date.
Races leading to the 40th Congress
In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1867; ordered by state.
All of the elections involved the Class 3 seats.
New York
The New York election was held on January 15, 1867, by the New York State Legislature. Republican Ira Harris had been elected in February 1861 to this seat, and his term would expire on March 3, 1867.
At the State election in November 1865, 27 Republicans and 5 Democrats were elected for a two-year term (1866-1867) in the State Senate. At the State election in November 1866, 82 Republicans and 46 Democrats were elected for the session of 1867 to the Assembly. The 90th State Legislature met from January 1 to April 20, 1867, at Albany, New York.
The caucus of Republican State legislators met on January 10, State Senator Charles J. Folger presided. State Senator Thomas Parsons (28th D.) was absent, but had his vote cast by proxy. They nominated Congressman Roscoe Conkling for the U.S. Senate. The incumbent Senator Ira Harris was voted down.
Notes:
The caucus of the Democratic State legislators met also on January 10. State Senator Henry C. Murphy was nominated on the first ballot with 25 votes against 21 for Ex-D.A. of New York A. Oakey Hall. Roscoe Conkling was the choice of both the Assembly and the State Senate, and was declared elected.
Notes:
Conkling was re-elected in 1873 and 1879, and remained in office until May 17, 1881, when he resigned in protest against the distribution of federal patronage in New York by President James A. Garfield without being consulted. The crisis between the Stalwart and the Half-Breed factions of the Republican party arose when the leader of the New Yorker Half-Breeds William H. Robertson was appointed Collector of the Port of New York, a position Conkling wanted to give to one of his Stalwart friends.
Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania election was held on January 15, 1867. Simon Cameron was elected by the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
Incumbent Republican Edgar Cowan, who was elected in 1861, was a candidate for re-election to another term, but was defeated by former Democratic Senator and former United States Secretary of War Simon Cameron, who had previously switched to the Republican Party. The Pennsylvania General Assembly, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate, convened on January 15, 1867, to elect a Senator to fill the term beginning on March 4, 1867. The results of the vote of both houses combined are as follows: