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The 1804–05 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 1804 and 1805, 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 2.
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11 of the 34 seats in the United States Senate (plus special elections) 18 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Results: Dem-Republican hold Dem-Republican gain Federalist hold | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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These elections expanded the Democratic-Republican Party's overwhelming control over the Senate. The Federalists went into the elections with such a small share of Senate seats (9 out of 34, or 27%) that even if they had won every election, they would have still remained a minority caucus.
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Senate party division, 9th Congress (1805–1807)
- Majority party: Democratic-Republican (27)
- Minority party: Federalist (7)
- Other parties: 0
- Total seats: 34
Only reflects results of regular elections.
Before the regular elections
| DR7 | DR6 | DR5 | DR4 | DR3 | DR2 | DR1 | |||
| DR8 | DR9 | DR10 | DR11 | DR12 | DR13 | DR14 | DR15 | DR16 | DR17 |
| Majority → | DR18 | ||||||||
| F8 N.J. Ran |
F9 N.H. Unknown |
DR25 Tenn. Retired |
DR24 Va. Ran |
DR23 S.C. Ran |
DR22 R.I. Ran |
DR21 N.C. Ran |
DR20 Ky. Ran |
DR19 Ga. Ran | |
| F7 Mass. Ran |
F6 Del. Ran |
F5 | F4 | F3 | F2 | F1 | |||
Result of the regular elections
| DR7 | DR6 | DR5 | DR4 | DR3 | DR2 | DR1 | |||
| DR8 | DR9 | DR10 | DR11 | DR12 | DR13 | DR14 | DR15 | DR16 | DR17 |
| Majority → | DR18 | ||||||||
| DR27 N.J. Gain |
DR26 N.H. Gain |
DR25 Tenn. Hold |
DR24 R.I. Hold |
DR23 N.C. Hold |
DR22 Ky. Hold |
DR21 Va. Re-elected |
DR20 S.C. Re-elected |
DR19 Ga. Re-elected | |
| F7 Mass. Re-elected |
F6 Del. Re-elected |
F5 | F4 | F3 | F2 | F1 | |||
| Key: |
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|---|
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Except if/when noted, the number following candidates is the whole number vote(s), not a percentage.
Special elections during the 8th Congress
In these special elections, the winner was seated during 1804 or before March 4, 1805; ordered by election date.
| State | Incumbent | Results | Candidates | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senator | Party | Electoral history | |||
| New York (Class 3) |
John Armstrong Jr. | Democratic- Republican |
1800 (special) 1801 1802 (resigned) 1803 (appointed) |
Interim appointee resigned December 3, 1804, to become U.S. Senator from Class 1 seat. New senator elected February 3, 1804. Democratic-Republican hold. |
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| New York (Class 1) |
Theodorus Bailey | Democratic- Republican |
1803 | Incumbent resigned January 16, 1804, to become Postmaster of New York City. New senator elected February 3, 1804. Democratic-Republican hold. |
|
| Rhode Island (Class 1) |
Samuel J. Potter | Democratic- Republican |
1802 | Incumbent died October 14, 1804. New senator elected October 29, 1804. Democratic-Republican hold. |
|
| New York (Class 1) |
John Armstrong Jr. | Democratic- Republican |
1804 (special) | Incumbent resigned to become U.S. Minister to France. New senator elected November 9, 1804. Democratic-Republican hold. |
|
| Delaware (Class 2) |
William H. Wells | Federalist | 1799 (special) 1799 |
Incumbent resigned November 6, 1804. New senator elected November 13, 1804. Winner also elected to the next term; see below. Federalist hold. |
|
| Virginia (Class 1) |
Andrew Moore | Democratic- Republican |
1804 (appointed) | Interim appointee resigned December 3, 1804, to become U.S. Senator from Class 1 seat. New senator elected December 4, 1804. Democratic-Republican hold. |
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| Virginia (Class 2) |
William B. Giles | Democratic- Republican |
1804 (appointed) | Interim appointee resigned December 3, 1804, to become U.S. Senator from Class 2 seat. New senator elected December 4, 1804. Winner also elected to the next term; see below. Democratic-Republican hold. |
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| South Carolina (Class 3) |
Pierce Butler | Democratic- Republican |
1802 (special) | Resigned November 21, 1804. New senator elected December 6, 1804. Democratic-Republican hold. |
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Races leading to the 9th Congress
In these regular elections, the winner was seated on March 4, 1805; ordered by state.
All of the elections involved the Class 2 seats.
| State | Incumbent | Results | Candidates | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senator | Party | Electoral history | |||
| Delaware | James A. Bayard | Federalist | 1804 (special) | Incumbent re-elected January 24, 1805. |
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| Georgia | Abraham Baldwin | Democratic- Republican |
1799 | Incumbent re-elected November 14, 1804. |
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| Kentucky | John Brown | Democratic- Republican |
1792 (new state) 1792 1798 |
Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected in 1804 on the seventh ballot. Democratic-Republican hold. |
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| Massachusetts | Timothy Pickering | Federalist | 1803 (special) | Incumbent re-elected February 6, 1805, on the third ballot. |
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| New Hampshire | Simeon Olcott | Federalist | 1801 (special) | Incumbent retired or lost re-election. New senator elected November 28, 1804. Democratic-Republican gain. |
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| New Jersey | Jonathan Dayton | Federalist | 1798 | Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected in 1804. Democratic-Republican gain. |
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| North Carolina | Jesse Franklin | Democratic- Republican |
1798 | Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected in 1804 on the fifth ballot. Democratic-Republican hold. Winner would later reject his election and never take the seat. A new election was held the next year; see below. |
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| Rhode Island | Christopher Ellery | Democratic- Republican |
1801 (special) | Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected in 1804. Democratic-Republican hold. |
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| South Carolina | Thomas Sumter | Democratic- Republican |
1801 | Incumbent elected December 6, 1804. |
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| Tennessee | William Cocke | Democratic- Republican |
1799 (special) | Incumbent retired. New senator elected early September 23, 1803. Democratic-Republican hold. |
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| Virginia | William B. Giles | Democratic- Republican |
1804 (appointed) 1804 (resigned) 1804 (special) |
Incumbent re-elected December 7, 1804. |
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Special elections during the 9th Congress
In this special election, the winner was seated in 1805 after March 4.
| State | Incumbent | Results | Candidates | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senator | Party | Electoral history | |||
| Kentucky (Class 3) |
John Breckinridge | Democratic- Republican |
1800 | Resigned August 7, 1805, to become U.S. Attorney General. New senator elected November 8, 1805. Democratic-Republican hold. |
|
| North Carolina (Class 2) |
Vacant | Montfort Stokes (DR) had been elected in 1804 (see above) but rejected the position. New senator elected November 22, 1805. Democratic-Republican gain. |
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There were two elections this cycle to the same seat, because Federalist William H. Wells, who had first been elected in 1799, resigned November 6, 1804.
Delaware (regular)
Federalist James A. Bayard was elected November 13, 1804, to finish the term ending the following March.
![[icon]](#/media/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2020) |
Delaware (special)
Federalist James A. Bayard also elected in 1805, to the next term.
| This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2020) |
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In February 1804 two senators were elected to finish vacant terms. The winner of the class 1 seat later resigned, leading to a November special election.
Theodorus Bailey had been elected to the Class 1 seat (term 1803–1809) but resigned on January 16, 1804, after his appointment as Postmaster of New York City.
John Armstrong had been re-elected to the class 3 seat to the term that would end March 3, 1807. He resigned February 5, 1802, and DeWitt Clinton was elected February 9, 1802 to finish the term.
Clinton then resigned on November 4, 1803, after his appointment as Mayor of New York City, and Governor George Clinton appointed Armstrong to his old seat to continue the term temporarily until another special election.
Armstrong was then elected to the class 1 seat and so resigned from the class 3 seat.
New York (February: special, classes 1 and 3)
The first special election was held February 3, 1804, by the New York State Legislature to elect both senators. The class 1 term ended March 3, 1809, and the class 3 term ended March 3, 1813.
U.S. Senator (Class 1) Incumbent: Theodorus Bailey
| House | Democratic-Republican | Federalist | Federalist | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State Senate (32 members) |
 John Armstrong |
|||||
| State Assembly (99 members) |
John Armstrong |
83 | Jacob Radcliff | 4 | Egbert Benson | 3 |
U.S. Senator (Class 3) Incumbent: John Armstrong
| House | Democratic-Republican | Federalist | Federalist | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State Senate (32 members) |
John Smith |
|||||
| State Assembly (99 members) |
John Smith |
Smith was nominated unanimously by the Assembly, but the exact number of votes given is unclear. | ||||
John Smith was seated February 23, 1804. John Armstrong was seated February 25, 1804.
New York (November: special, class 1)
Once again, John Armstrong resigned from the Senate on June 30, 1804 (a third time in three years) when appointed U.S. Minister to France. To fill the vacancy, the legislature held a special election November 9, 1804, and elected Samuel L. Mitchill.
| House | Democratic-Republican | Federalist | Democratic-Republican | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State Senate (30 members) |
Samuel L. Mitchill |
|||||
| State Assembly (100 members) |
Samuel L. Mitchill |
75 | Rufus King | 14 | David Thomas | 1 |
Mitchill was seated November 23, 1804.
Rhode Island (regular)
Democratic-Republican James Fenner beat incumbent Democratic-Republican Christopher Ellery in 1804.
| This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2020) |
Rhode Island (special)
Democratic-Republican Samuel J. Potter died October 14, 1804, Democratic-Republican Benjamin Howland was elected October 29, 1804, to finish the term.
| This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2020) |
South Carolina (regular)
Democratic-Republican Thomas Sumter was re-elected December 6, 1804.
| This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2020) |
South Carolina (special)
Democratic-Republican Pierce Butler resigned November 21, 1804, and Democratic-Republican John Gaillard was elected December 6, 1804.
| This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2020) |
The incumbent senators effectively switched seats due to appointments and special elections.
Class 2
Virginia's class 2 senators
Wilson C. Nicholas,
until May 22, 1804
until May 22, 1804
Andrew Moore,
August 11, 1804 – December 3, 1804
August 11, 1804 – December 3, 1804
William B. Giles,
from December 4, 1804
from December 4, 1804
Virginia (special, class 2)
Democratic-Republican Wilson C. Nicholas resigned May 22, 1804, and Democratic-Republican Andrew Moore was appointed August 11, 1804, to continue the term. Moore was elected to the other seat, so he resigned and Democratic-Republican William B. Giles, who had already been elected to this seat's next term, was elected December 4, 1804, to finish the term.
| This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2020) |
Virginia (regular, class 2)
Democratic-Republican William B. Giles was elected December 4, 1804, to the next term.
| This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2020) |
Virginia (special, class 1)
Virginia's class 1 senators
Abraham B. Venable,
until June 7, 1804
until June 7, 1804
William B. Giles,
August 11, 1804 – December 3, 1804
August 11, 1804 – December 3, 1804
Andrew Moore,
from December 4, 1804
from December 4, 1804
Democratic-Republican Abraham B. Venable resigned June 7, 1804, and Democratic-Republican William B. Giles was appointed August 11, 1804, to continue the term. Giles was elected to the other seat, so he resigned and Democratic-Republican Andrew Moore was elected December 4, 1804, to finish the term.
| This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2020) |
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