1806–07 United States Senate elections

The 1806–07 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 1806 and 1807, 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.

1806–07 United States Senate elections

← 1804 & 1805 Dates vary by state 1808 & 1809 →
11 of the 34 seats in the United States Senate (plus special elections) 18 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic-Republican Federalist Last election 27 seats 7 seats Seats before 27 7 Seats won 10 1 Seats after 28 6 Seat change 1 1 Seats up 9 2
Results:      Dem-Republican hold      Dem-Republican gain      Federalist hold
Majority Party before election Democratic-Republican Elected Majority Party Democratic-Republican

The Democratic-Republican Party increased its overwhelming control of the Senate by one additional seat. The Federalists went into the elections with such a small share of Senate seats (7 out of 34, or 21%) that even if they had won every election, they would still have remained a minority caucus. As it was, however, they lost one of the two seats they were defending and picked up no gains from their opponents.

Results summary

Senate party division, 10th Congress (1807–1809)

• Majority party: Democratic-Republican (28)
• Minority party: Federalist (6)
• Other parties: 0
• Total seats: 34

Change in composition

Before the elections

DR7	DR6	DR5	DR4	DR3	DR2	DR1
DR8	DR9	DR10	DR11	DR12	DR13	DR14	DR15	DR16	DR17
Majority →									DR18
DR27 Pa. Retired	DR26 N.C. Retired	DR25 Ohio Unknown	DR24 Vt. Ran	DR23 S.C. Ran	DR22 N.Y. Ran	DR21 Md. Ran	DR20 Ky. Ran	DR19 Ga. Ran
F7 N.H. Retired	F6 Conn. Ran	F5	F4	F3	F2	F1

Beginning of the next Congress

DR7	DR6	DR5	DR4	DR3	DR2	DR1
DR8	DR9	DR10	DR11	DR12	DR13	DR14	DR15	DR16	DR17
Majority →									DR18
DR27 Pa. Hold	DR26 Ohio Hold	DR25 N.C. Hold	DR24 Md. Hold	DR23 Ky. Hold	DR22 Vt. Re-elected	DR21 S.C. Re-elected	DR20 N.Y. Re-elected	DR19 Ga. Re-elected
DR28 N.H. Gain	F6 Conn. Re-elected	F5	F4	F3	F2	F1

Key:	DR# Democratic-Republican F# Federalist V# Vacant

Race summaries

Except if/when noted, the number following candidates is the whole number vote(s), not a percentage.

Special elections during the preceding Congress

In these special elections, the winner was seated during 1806 or before March 4, 1807; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	Electoral history
Georgia (Class 3)	James Jackson	Democratic- Republican	1793 1795 (resigned) 1800	Incumbent died March 19, 1806. New senator elected June 19, 1806. Democratic-Republican hold.	▌Y John Milledge (Democratic-Republican) 41 ▌[FNU] Barnot (Unknown) 24 ▌[FNU] Telfair[a] (Unknown) 13[2]
Kentucky (Class 3)	John Adair	Democratic- Republican	1805 (special)	Incumbent resigned November 18, 1806 after losing re-election; see below. New senator elected November 19, 1806, despite being younger than the constitutional minimum. Democratic-Republican hold.	▌Y Henry Clay (Democratic-Republican) 58 ▌George M. Bibb (Democratic-Republican) 10 ▌John Pope (Federalist) 1[3]
Maryland (Class 3)	Robert Wright	Democratic- Republican	1801 (special)	Incumbent resigned November 12, 1806 to become Governor of Maryland. New senator elected November 25, 1806. Democratic-Republican hold. Winner also elected to the next term; see below.	▌Y Philip Reed (Democratic-Republican) 47 ▌William Hayward (Federalist) 33[4]

Races leading to the next Congress

In these regular elections, the winner was seated on March 4, 1807; ordered by state.

All the elections involved the Class 3 seats.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	Electoral history
Connecticut	Uriah Tracy	Federalist	1796 (special) 1801	Incumbent re-elected in 1807.	▌Y Uriah Tracy (Federalist) [data missing]
Georgia	John Milledge	Democratic- Republican	1806 (special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1806.	▌Y John Milledge (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
Kentucky	John Adair	Democratic- Republican	1805 (special)	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected November 13, 1806 on the fourth ballot. Democratic-Republican hold. Incumbent immediately resigned and a new senator was elected to finish the term; see above.	▌Y John Pope (Democratic-Republican) 45 ▌John Adair (Democratic-Republican) 37 ▌Samuel Hopkins (Democratic-Republican) Eliminated[5]
Maryland	Robert Wright	Democratic- Republican	1801 (special)	Incumbent resigned November 12, 1806 to become Governor of Maryland. New senator elected in 1806 or 1807. Democratic-Republican hold. Winner also elected to finish the current term, see above.	▌Y Philip Reed (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
New Hampshire	William Plumer	Federalist	1802 (special)	Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1807. Democratic-Republican gain.	▌Y Nahum Parker (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
New York	John Smith	Democratic- Republican	1804 (special)	Incumbent re-elected February 3, 1807.	▌Y John Smith (Democratic-Republican) 112 ▌John Jay (Federalist) 14[6]
North Carolina	David Stone	Democratic- Republican	1800	Incumbent retired to return to the State Superior Court, and then resigned early (February 17, 1807). New senator elected in 1806 on the seventh ballot. Democratic-Republican hold.	▌Y Jesse Franklin (Democratic-Republican) 102 ▌Thomas Blount (Democratic-Republican) 56 ▌Benjamin Smith (Democratic-Republican) 9 ▌Thomas Davis (Unknown) Eliminated ▌John H. Binford (Unknown) Eliminated ▌David Stone (Democratic-Republican) Eliminated ▌[FNU] Capoe (Unknown) 1 Blank 1[7]
Ohio	Thomas Worthington	Democratic- Republican	1803	Incumbent retired or lost re-election. New senator elected January 1, 1807. Democratic-Republican hold.	▌Y Edward Tiffin (Democratic-Republican) 25 ▌Philemon Beecher (Federalist) 12 ▌John Bigger (Federalist) 2 ▌Return J. Meigs Jr. (Democratic-Republican) 2 ▌Tom Kinkey[b] (Unknown) 1 ▌Tom Tuff[b] (Unknown) 1[8]
Pennsylvania	George Logan	Democratic- Republican	1801 (appointed) 1801 (special)	Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1806. Democratic-Republican hold.	▌Y Andrew Gregg (Democratic-Republican) 49.11% ▌Nathaniel Boileau (Democratic-Republican) 35.71% ▌John Steele (Democratic-Republican) 12.5% Not voting 2.68%
South Carolina	John Gaillard	Democratic- Republican	1804 (special)	Incumbent re-elected December 9, 1806 on the second ballot.	▌Y John Gaillard (Democratic-Republican) 75 ▌Samuel Farrow (Democratic-Republican) 64 ▌Joseph Blythe Eliminated[9]
Vermont	Stephen R. Bradley	Democratic- Republican	1791 1795 (lost) 1801 (special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1806.	▌Y Stephen R. Bradley (Democratic-Republican) 120 Others 60[10]

Special elections during the next Congress

In this special election, the winner was seated in 1807 after March 4; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	Electoral history
Vermont (Class 1)	Israel Smith	Democratic- Republican	1802	Incumbent resigned October 1, 1807. New senator elected October 10, 1807. Democratic-Republican hold.	▌Y Jonathan Robinson (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
Connecticut (Class 3)	Uriah Tracy	Federalist	1796 (special) 1801 1807	Incumbent died July 19, 1807. Samuel W. Dana (Federalist) was elected to finish the term,[c] but declined the election.[11] New senator elected October 25, 1807 on the second ballot. Federalist hold.	▌Y Chauncey Goodrich (Federalist) 80 ▌A. Spalding (Democratic-Republican) 74 ▌Roger Griswold (Federalist) 17 ▌D. Humphrey (Federalist) 10 ▌J. C. Smith (Federalist) 2 ▌E. Boardman (Democratic-Republican) 1 ▌J. Davenport (Democratic-Republican) 1[12]
Rhode Island (Class 2)	James Fenner	Democratic- Republican	1804	Incumbent resigned September 1807 to become Governor of Rhode Island. New senator elected October 26, 1807. Democratic-Republican hold.	▌Y Elisha Mathewson (Democratic-Republican) 57 ▌Jonathan Russell (Democratic-Republican) 18 ▌James Burrill Jr. (Federalist) 2[13]
Georgia (Class 2)	George Jones	Democratic- Republican	1807 (appointed)	Predecessor Abraham Baldwin (DR) died March 4, 1807. Incumbent appointee lost re-election. New senator elected November 7, 1807. Democratic-Republican hold.	▌Y William H. Crawford (Democratic-Republican) 59 ▌George Jones (Democratic-Republican) 27[14]

Connecticut

See also: List of United States senators from Connecticut and 1806 United States House of Representatives election in Connecticut

Connecticut (regular)

Connecticut (special)

Georgia

See also: List of United States senators from Georgia and 1806 United States House of Representatives election in Georgia

Georgia (special, class 2)

Senator William H. Crawford

Democratic-Republican Abraham Baldwin died March 4, 1807. Democratic-Republican George Jones was appointed August 27. 1807 to continue the term, pending a special election. Jones ran in the November 7, 1807 special election, but lost to Democratic-Republican William H. Crawford.

Class 3

Senator John Milledge

Democratic-Republican James Jackson, who had served since 1793 died March 19, 1806.

Georgia (special, class 3)

Democratic-Republican John Milledge was elected June 19, 1806.

Georgia (regular)

Milledge was later re-elected to the next term.

Kentucky

See also: List of United States senators from Kentucky and 1806 United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky

Kentucky (regular)

Kentucky (special)

Maryland

See also: List of United States senators from Maryland

1806 United States Senate elections in Maryland

← 1801 November 25, 1806 1813 →
80 members of the Maryland General Assembly
Candidate Philip Reed William Hayward Party Democratic-Republican Legislative vote 47 33 Percentage 58.75% 41.25%

The Maryland General Assembly convened to both fill the unexpired term of Robert Wright who resigned to become Governor of Maryland, and to fill the next term. This election was therefore both the regular and special.

Philip Reed won election over William Hayward by a margin of 17.50%, or 33 votes, for the Class 3 seat.^[15]

New Hampshire

See also: List of United States senators from New Hampshire and 1806 United States House of Representatives election in New Hampshire

New Hampshire (regular)

New Hampshire (special)

New York

Main article: 1807 United States Senate election in New York

See also: List of United States senators from New York

North Carolina

See also: List of United States senators from North Carolina

Ohio

See also: List of United States senators from Ohio

Pennsylvania

See also: List of United States senators from Pennsylvania

Rhode Island (special)

See also: List of United States senators from Rhode Island

South Carolina

See also: List of United States senators from South Carolina

Vermont

See also: List of United States senators from Vermont and 1806 United States House of Representatives elections in Vermont

Vermont (regular)

Vermont (special)

See also

• 1806 United States elections
  • 1806–07 United States House of Representatives elections
• 9th United States Congress
• 10th United States Congress

Notes

1. Possibly Thomas Telfair
2. 'more than likely…fictional characters'
3. Dana 96, Asa Spalding (Democratic-Republican) 50, David Humphrey (Federalist) 8

References

1. "17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Direct Election of U.S. Senators (1913)". National Archives and Records Administration. 8 February 2022.
2. "Georgia 1806 U.S. Senate, Special". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved 11 February 2018., citing Georgia Republican (Savannah, GA). June 27, 1806.
3. "Kentucky 1806 U.S. Senate, Special". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved 11 February 2018., citing The Western World (Frankfort, KY). November 22, 1806. Aurora. General Advertiser (Philadelphia, PA). December 19, 1806.
4. "Maryland 1806 U.S. Senate, Special". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved 11 February 2018., citing Votes and Proceedings of the Maryland State Senate, 1806. 11–12.
5. "Kentucky 1806 U.S. Senate, Ballot 4". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved 12 February 2018., citing The Western World (Frankfort, KY). November 22, 1806. Aurora. General Advertiser (Philadelphia, PA). December 19, 1806.
6. "New York 1807 U.S. Senate". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved 13 February 2018., citing Journal of the New York Assembly, 1807. 38–39. Journal of the New York State Senate, 1807. 13–14.
7. "North Carolina 1806 U.S. Senate, Ballot 7". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved 13 February 2018., citing Legislative Papers for 1806. State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh.
8. "Ohio 1807 U.S. Senate". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved 13 February 2018., citing Taylor, William A. (1900). Ohio in Congress from 1803 to 1901. Columbus, Ohio: Century Publishing Co. p. 96 – via Internet Archive.
9. "South Carolina 1806 U.S. Senate, Ballot 2". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved 14 February 2018., citing The Times (Charleston, SC). December 13, 1806. Charleston Courier (Charleston, SC). December 16, 1806.
10. "Vermont 1806 U.S. Senate". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved 14 February 2018., citing American Mercury (Hartford, CT). November 6, 1806. Weekly Wanderer (Randolph, VT). October 29, 1806.
11. "Connecticut 1807 U.S. Senate, Special". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved 12 February 2018., citing Connecticut Herald (New Haven, CT). October 13, 1807.
12. "Connecticut 1807 U.S. Senate". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Archived from the original on 18 March 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2018., citing American Mercury (Hartford, CT). November 5, 1807.
13. "Rhode Island 1807 U.S. Senate, Special". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved 14 February 2018., citing Newport Mercury (Newport, RI). November 7, 1807.
14. "Georgia 1807 U.S. Senate, Special". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved 12 February 2018., citing Augusta Chronicle (Augusta, GA). November 14, 1807.
15. "Our Campaigns - MD US Senate Race - Nov 25, 1806". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 5 November 2022.

External links

• "Party Division in the Senate, 1789-Present" – via Senate.gov.