1846–47 United States Senate elections

The 1846–47 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 1846 and 1847, 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.

1846–47 United States Senate elections

← 1844 & 1845 Various dates 1848 & 1849 →
19 of the 58 seats in the United States Senate (with special elections) 30 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic Whig Last election 35 seats 24 seats Seats before 33 23 Seats won 10 7 Seats after 35 19 Seat change 2 4 Seats up 8 10   Third party Fourth party   Party Liberty Independent Democratic Last election New party 0 Seats before 1 0 Seats won 0 1 Seats after 0 1 Seat change 1 1 Seats up 1 0
Results:      Democratic gain      Democratic hold      Independent Democratic gain      Whig hold      Legislature failed to elect
Majority Party before election Democratic Elected Majority Party Democratic

The Democratic Party gained four seats in the United States Senate.

Results

Senate party division, 30th Congress (1847–1849)

• Majority party: Democratic (34–38)
• Minority party: Whig (20–21)
• Other parties: Independent Democratic (1)
• Total seats: 58–60

Change in composition

Before the elections

After the February 1846 elections in Texas.

		D1	D2	D3	D4	D5	D6	D7	D8
D18	D17	D16	D15	D14	D13	D12	D11	D10	D9
D19	D20	D21	D22	D23	D24	D25 Ala. Ran	D26 Ark. Ran	D27 S.C. Ran	D28 Tex. Ran
Majority →									D29 N.H. Ran
W19 Va. Ran	W20 Del. Unknown	W21 Ky. Unknown	W22 Mich. Retired	W23 Tenn. Retired	W24 La. Died	V1	D31 Ill. Retired	D30 Miss. Unknown
W18 R.I. Ran	W17 N.C. Ran	W16 N.J. Ran	W15 Mass. Ran	W14 Maine. Ran	W13 Ga. Ran	W12	W11	W10	W9
		W1	W2	W3	W4	W5	W6	W7	W8

As a result of the regular elections

	V3 Iowa New state	D1	D2	D3	D4	D5	D6	D7	D8
D18	D17	D16	D15	D14	D13	D12	D11	D10	D9
D19	D20	D21	D22	D23	D24	D25 Ala. Appointee elected	D26 Ark. Re-elected	D27 S.C. Re-elected	D28 Tex. Re-elected
Majority →									D29 Ill. Hold
W19 R.I. Hold	V1 Tenn. W Loss	V2	ID1 N.H. Gain	D34 Va. Gain	D33 Mich. Gain	D32 Maine. Hold	D31 Miss. Hold	D30 La. Hold
W18 Ky. Hold	W17 Del. Hold	W16 N.C. Re-elected	W15 N.J. Re-elected	W14 Mass. Re-elected	W13 Ga. Re-elected	W12	W11	W10	W9
	V4 Iowa New state	W1	W2	W3	W4	W5	W6	W7	W8

As a result of the regular elections

	V2 Iowa	D1	D2	D3	D4	D5	D6	D7	D8
D18	D17	D16	D15	D14	D13	D12	D11	D10	D9
D19	D20	D21	D22	D23	D24 Va. (sp) Hold	D25	D26	D27	D28
Majority →									D29
W19	W20 Tenn. Gain	W21 N.C. (sp) Gain	ID1	D34	D33	D32	D31	D30
W18	W17	W16	W15	W14	W13	W12	W11	W10	W9
	V3 Iowa	W1	W2	W3	W4	W5	W6	W7	W8

Key:	D# Democratic ID# Independent Democratic W# Whig V# Vacant

Race summaries

Special elections during the 29th Congress

In these special elections, the winners were seated during 1846 or in 1847 before March 4; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	Electoral history
Mississippi (Class 2)	Joseph W. Chalmers	Democratic	1845 (appointed)	Interim appointee elected January 10, 1846.	▌Y Joseph W. Chalmers (Democratic) [data missing]
Texas (Class 1)	None (new state)			Texas was admitted to the Union December 29, 1845. Senator elected February 21, 1846. Democratic gain.	▌Y Thomas Rusk (Democratic) [data missing]
Texas (Class 2)				Texas was admitted to the Union December 29, 1845. Senator elected February 21, 1846. Democratic gain.	▌Y Sam Houston (Democratic) [data missing]
New Hampshire (Class 2)	Benning W. Jenness	Democratic	1845 (appointed)	Appointee lost election to finish the term. New senator elected June 13, 1846. Liberty gain. Winner was not elected to the next term; see below.	▌Y Joseph Cilley (Liberty) ▌Benning W. Jenness (Democratic) [data missing]
North Carolina (Class 3)	William H. Haywood Jr.	Democratic	1843	Incumbent resigned July 25, 1846 rather than disobey instructions from the N.C. General Assembly. New senator elected November 25, 1846. Whig gain.	▌Y George E. Badger (Whig) [data missing]
Louisiana (Class 2)	Alexander Barrow	Whig	1840	Incumbent died December 29, 1846. New senator elected January 21, 1847. Democratic gain. Winner was not elected to the next term; see below.	▌Y Pierre Soulé (Democratic) [data missing]
Virginia (Class 1)	Isaac S. Pennybacker	Democratic	1845 (special)	Incumbent died January 12, 1847. New senator elected January 21, 1847. Democratic hold.	▌Y James M. Mason (Democratic) [data missing]
Iowa (Class 2)	None (new state)			Iowa was admitted to the Union December 28, 1846. Legislature failed to elect due to a three-way split preventing any candidate from earning the required number of 30 legislators' votes.[2] Seats remained vacant until December 7, 1848.	[data missing]
Iowa (Class 3)					[data missing]

Races leading to the 30th Congress

In these regular elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1847; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 2 seats.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	Electoral history
Alabama	Dixon Hall Lewis	Democratic	1844 (appointed)	Incumbent elected to full term in 1847.	▌Y Dixon Hall Lewis (Democratic) [data missing]
Arkansas	Chester Ashley	Democratic	1844 (special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1846.	▌Y Chester Ashley (Democratic) [data missing]
Delaware	Thomas Clayton	Whig	1837 (special) 1841	Incumbent lost re-election or retired. Winner elected in 1846 or 1847. Whig hold.	▌Y Presley Spruance (Whig) [data missing]
Georgia	John M. Berrien	Whig	1825 1829 (resigned) 1840 1845 (resigned) 1845 (special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1846.	▌Y John M. Berrien (Whig) [data missing]
Illinois	James Semple	Democratic	1843 (appointed) ? (special)	Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1846. Democratic hold.	▌Y Stephen A. Douglas (Democratic) [data missing]
Kentucky	James T. Morehead	Whig	1841	Incumbent retired or lost re-election. New senator elected in 1846 or 1847. Whig hold.	▌Y Joseph R. Underwood (Whig) [data missing]
Louisiana	Pierre Soulé	Democratic	1847 (special)	Incumbent retired or lost re-election. New senator elected in 1847. Democratic hold.	▌Y Solomon W. Downs (Democratic) [data missing]
Maine	George Evans	Whig	1840	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected in 1846.[3] Democratic gain.	▌Y James W. Bradbury (Democratic) ▌George Evans (Whig) [data missing]
Massachusetts	John Davis	Whig	1835 1841 (resigned) 1845 (special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1847.	▌Y John Davis (Whig) [data missing]
Michigan	William Woodbridge	Whig	1841	Incumbent retired. New senator elected in February 1847. Democratic gain.	▌Y Alpheus Felch (Democratic) [data missing]
Mississippi	Joseph W. Chalmers	Democratic	1845 (appointed) ? (special)	Incumbent lost re-election or retired. New senator elected in 1846 or 1847. Democratic hold.	▌Y Henry S. Foote (Democratic) [data missing]
New Hampshire	Joseph Cilley	Liberty	1846	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected in 1846. Independent Democratic gain.	▌Y John P. Hale (Independent Democratic) ▌Joseph Cilley (Liberty) [data missing]
New Jersey	Jacob W. Miller	Whig	1841	Incumbent re-elected in 1846.	▌Y Jacob W. Miller (Whig) [data missing]
North Carolina	Willie Mangum	Whig	1840 (special) 1841	Incumbent re-elected in 1847.	▌Y Willie Mangum (Whig) [data missing]
Rhode Island	James F. Simmons	Whig	1841	Incumbent lost re-election. New member elected in 1846 or 1847. Whig hold.	▌Y John Hopkins Clarke (Whig) ▌James F. Simmons (Whig) [data missing]
South Carolina	John C. Calhoun	Democratic	1832 (special) 1834 1840 1843 (resigned) 1845 (special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1846.	▌Y John C. Calhoun (Democratic) [data missing]
Tennessee	Spencer Jarnagin	Whig	1843 (special)	Incumbent retired. Legislature failed to elect. Whig loss.	[data missing]
Texas	Sam Houston	Democratic	1846	Incumbent re-elected in 1847	▌Y Sam Houston (Democratic) [data missing]
Virginia	William S. Archer	Whig	1840	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected in 1846. Democratic gain.	▌Y Robert M. T. Hunter (Democratic) ▌William S. Archer (Whig) [data missing]

Special elections during the 30th Congress

In this special election, the winner was elected in 1847 after March 4.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	Electoral history
Tennessee (Class 2)	Vacant			Legislature had earlier failed to elect. New senator elected November 22, 1847. Whig gain.	▌Y John Bell (Whig) [data missing]

Iowa

See also: List of United States senators from Iowa

Iowa became a state in December 1846, but did not elect its senators until December 1848.

Louisiana

See also: List of United States senators from Louisiana

Alexander Barrow (W) died December 29, 1846. Pierre Soulé (D) was elected January 21, 1847 just to finish the term. Solomon W. Downs (D) was elected to the next term.

New Hampshire

Democratic appointee Benning W. Jenness lost the June 13, 1846 election to finish the term and the election the same day to the next term. Joseph Cilley (Liberty) was elected to finish the term, but lost the election to the next term. John P. Hale was (Independent Democratic) was elected to the next term and would later become a Free Soiler.

Virginia

See also: List of United States senators from Virginia

William S. Archer (W) lost re-election to Democrat Robert M. T. Hunter.

Virginia (special)

See also: List of United States senators from Virginia

Isaac S. Pennybacker (D), who was not up for election, died January 12, 1847. James Murray Mason (D) was elected January 21, 1847.

See also

• 1846 United States elections
  • 1846–47 United States House of Representatives elections
• 29th United States Congress
• 30th United States Congress

References

1. "17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Direct Election of U.S. Senators (1913)". National Archives and Records Administration. February 8, 2022.
2. Clark, Dan Elbert (1913). "History of Senatorial Elections in Iowa". Iowa. pp. 17–46, 72–79.
3. "Bio of James W. Bradbury". Archived from the original on January 13, 2018. Retrieved March 8, 2016.

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