1854–55 United States Senate elections

The 1854–55 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 1854 and 1855, 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.

1854–55 United States Senate elections

← 1852 & 1853 Various dates 1856 & 1857 →
21 of the 62 seats in the United States Senate (with special elections) 32 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party Third party   Party Democratic Whig Republican Last election 34 seats 20 seats New party Seats before 36 18 Seats won 8 3 3 Seats after 33 14 3 Seat change 3 4 3 Seats up 11 7   Fourth party Fifth party   Party Free Soil Know Nothing Last election 2 seats 1 seat Seats before 4 1 Seats won 1 0 Seats after 2 1 Seat change 2 Seats up 3 0
Results:      Democratic gain      Democratic hold      Whig hold      Free Soil Gain      Know Nothing Gain      Republican Gain      Legislature failed to elect
Majority party before election Democratic Elected Majority party Democratic

These elections saw the final decline of the Whig Party and the maintained majority of the Democrats. Those Whigs in the South who were opposed to secession ran on the "Opposition Party" ticket, and were elected to a minority. Along with the Whigs, the Senate roster also included Free Soilers, Know Nothings, and a new party: the Republicans. Only five of the twenty-one senators up for election were re-elected.

Results summary

Senate party division, 34th Congress (1855–1857)

• Majority party: Democratic (35)
• Minority party: Opposition (20) (Whigs, Republicans, Know Nothings, Free Soilers)
• Vacant: 7
• Total seats: 62

Change in Senate composition

Before the elections

After the October 14, 1854 special election in Vermont.

D1
D2	D3	D4	D5	D6	D7	D8	D9	D10	D11
D21	D20	D19	D18	D17	D16	D15	D14	D13	D12
D22	D23	D24	D25	D26 Ran	D27 Ran	D28 Ran	D29 Ran	D30 Ran	D31 Ran
Majority →									D32 Ran
FS4 Retired	KN1	V1	V2	V3	D36 Retired	D35 Unknown	D34 Unknown	D33 Ran
FS3 Retired	FS2 Retired	FS1	W18 Retired	W17 Retired	W16 Retired	W15 Unknown	W14 Unknown	W13 Ran	W12 Ran
W2	W3	W4	W5	W6	W7	W8	W9	W10	W11
W1

As a result of the elections

D1
D2	D3	D4	D5	D6	D7	D8	D9	D10	D11
D21	D20	D19	D18	D17	D16	D15	D14	D13	D12
D22	D23	D24	D25	D26 Re-elected	D27 Re-elected	D28 Re-elected	D29 Hold	D30 Gain	D31 Gain
Majority →									D32 Gain
V2	V3	V4	V5 D Loss	V6 D Loss	V7 D Loss	V8 D Loss	V9 D Loss	D33 Gain
V1 W Loss	KN1	FS2 Gain	FS1	R3 Gain	R2 Gain	R1 Gain	W14 Hold	W13 Re-elected	W12 Re-elected
W2	W3	W4	W5	W6	W7	W8	W9	W10	W11
W1

Beginning of the next Congress

D1
D2	D3	D4	D5	D6	D7	D8	D9	D10	D11
D21	D20	D19	D18	D17	D16	D15	D14	D13	D12
D22	D23	D24	D25	D26	D27	D28	D29	D30	D31
Majority →									D32
V2	V3	V4	V5	V6	V7	D35 Gain	D34 Gain	D33
V1	KN2 Changed	KN1	FS2	FS1	R7 Gain	R6 Changed	R5 Changed	R4 Changed	R3
W2	W3	W4	W5	W6	W7	W8	W9	R1	R2
W1

Beginning of the first session, December 3, 1855

D1
D2	D3	D4	D5	D6	D7	D8	D9	D10	D11
D21	D20	D19	D18	D17	D16	D15	D14	D13	D12
D22	D23	D24	D25	D26	D27	D28	D29	D30	D31
Majority →									D32
KN2	V1	V2	V3	V4	D36 Gain	D35	D34	D33
KN1	FS2	FS1	R9 Gain	R8 Gain	R7	R6	R5	R4	R3
W2	W3	W4	W5	W6	W7	W8	W9	R1	R2
W1

Key:	D# Democratic FS# Free Soil KN# Know Nothing R# Republican W# Whig V# Vacant

Race summaries

Special elections during the 33rd Congress

In these special elections, the winners were seated during 1854 or in 1855 before March 4; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	Electoral history
Mississippi (Class 2)	Vacant			Legislature had failed to elect in 1853. New senator elected January 7, 1854. Democratic gain.	▌Y Albert G. Brown (Democratic) [data missing]
Connecticut (Class 3)	Truman Smith	Whig	1848 or 1849	Incumbent resigned May 24, 1854. New senator elected May 24, 1854. Free Soil gain. Successor did not run for the next term, see below.	▌Y Francis Gillette (Free Soil) [data missing]
Vermont (Class 3)	Samuel S. Phelps	Whig	1853 (appointed)	Incumbent lost entitlement to sit on March 16, 1854.[2] New senator elected October 14, 1854. Free Soil gain. Successor did not run for the next term, see below.	▌Y Lawrence Brainerd (Free Soil) [data missing]
Arkansas (Class 3)	Robert W. Johnson	Democratic	1853 (appointed)	Interim appointee elected November 10, 1854.[3] Winner was later elected to the next term; see below.	▌Y Robert W. Johnson (Democratic) [data missing]
North Carolina (Class 2)	Vacant			Legislature had failed to elect in 1853. New senator elected December 6, 1854. Democratic gain.	▌Y David Settle Reid (Democratic) [data missing]
Massachusetts (Class 2)	Julius Rockwell	Whig	1854 (appointed)	Interim appointee lost election. Successor elected January 31, 1855. Know Nothing gain.	▌Y Henry Wilson (Know Nothing) ▌Nahum F. Bryant (Know Nothing) ▌Ephraim M. Wright (Whig) ▌Julius Rockwell (Whig)

Elections leading to the 34th Congress

In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1855; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 3 seats.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	Electoral history
Alabama	Benjamin Fitzpatrick	Democratic	1848 (appointed) 1849 (successor elected) 1853 (appointed) 1853 (special)	Incumbent retired or lost re-election. Legislature failed to elect. Democratic loss. Seat would remain vacant until November 26, 1855; see below.	[data missing]
Arkansas	Robert W. Johnson	Democratic	1853 (appointed) 1854 (special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1855.	▌Y Robert W. Johnson (Democratic) [data missing]
California	William M. Gwin	Democratic	1850	Legislature failed to elect. Democratic loss. Seat would remain vacant until 1857.	▌William M. Gwin (Democratic)
Connecticut	Francis Gillette	Free Soil	1854 (special)	Incumbent retired. Successor elected in 1854. Republican gain.	▌Y Lafayette S. Foster (Republican) [data missing]
Florida	Jackson Morton	Whig	1848	Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1854. Democratic gain.	▌Y David Levy Yulee (Democratic) [data missing]
Georgia	William Crosby Dawson	Whig	1847[4]	Incumbent retired or lost re-election. New senator elected in 1854 or 1855. Democratic gain.	▌Y Alfred Iverson Sr. (Democratic) [data missing]
Illinois	James Shields	Democratic	1849	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected February 8, 1855.[5] Democratic hold.	▌Y Lyman Trumbull (Democratic) 51 ▌Joel A. Matteson (Democratic) 47 ▌Archibald Williams (Whig) 1
Indiana	John Pettit	Democratic	1853 (special)	Incumbent lost re-election. Legislature failed to elect. Democratic loss. Seat would remain vacant util 1857.	▌John Pettit (Democratic) [data missing]
Iowa	Augustus C. Dodge	Democratic	1848 1849	Incumbent lost re-election. Incumbent then resigned February 22, 1855 to become U.S. Minister to Spain. Successor elected in 1855. Free Soil gain.	▌Y James Harlan (Free Soil) ▌Augustus C. Dodge (Democratic) [data missing]
Kentucky	Archibald Dixon	Whig	1851 (special)	Incumbent retired. Successor elected in 1854. Whig hold.	▌Y John J. Crittenden (Whig): 78 ▌Lazarus W. Powell (Democratic): 59[6]
Louisiana	John Slidell	Democratic	1853 (special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1854 or 1855.	▌Y John Slidell (Democratic) [data missing]
Maryland	James Pearce	Whig	1843 1849	Incumbent re-elected in 1855.	▌Y James Pearce (Whig) [data missing]
Missouri	David Rice Atchison	Democratic	1843 (appointed) 1843 (special) 1849	Incumbent lost re-election. Legislature failed to elect. Democratic loss. Seat would remain vacant until 1857.	▌David Rice Atchison (Democratic) ▌Thomas Hart Benton (Democratic) ▌ [?] (Whig)
New Hampshire	John S. Wells	Democratic	1855 (appointed)	Incumbent retired or lost re-election. Legislature failed to elect. Democratic loss. Seat would remain vacant until July 30, 1855, see below.	[data missing]
New York	William H. Seward	Whig	1849	Incumbent re-elected February 6, 1855. Winner became a Republican shortly thereafter.	▌Y William H. Seward (Whig) ▌Daniel S. Dickinson (Dem./Hard) ▌Horatio Seymour (Dem./Soft) ▌Washington Hunt (Whig) ▌John Adams Dix (Dem./Soft) ▌Millard Fillmore (Whig) ▌William F. Allen (Democratic) Others, see below
North Carolina	George Badger	Whig	1846 (special) 1849	Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1855. Democratic gain.	▌Y Asa Biggs (Democratic) [data missing]
Ohio	Salmon P. Chase	Free Soil	1849	Incumbent retired. Successor elected March 4, 1854.[7] Democratic gain.	▌Y George E. Pugh (Democratic) 80 votes ▌Ephraim R. Eckley (Whig) 15 votes ▌Salmon P. Chase (Whig) 10 votes ▌Robert C. Schenck (Whig) 1 vote[7]
Pennsylvania	James Cooper	Whig	1849	Unknown if incumbent retired or lost re-election. Legislature failed to elect. Whig loss. Seat would remain vacant until 1856.	▌Simon Cameron (Know Nothing) ▌Charles R. Buckalew (Democratic)
South Carolina	Andrew Butler	Democratic	1852 (appointed) ? (special) 1848	Incumbent re-elected in 1854.	▌Y Andrew Butler (Democratic) [data missing]
Vermont	Lawrence Brainerd	Free Soil	1854	Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1855. Republican gain.	▌Y Jacob Collamer (Republican) [data missing]
Wisconsin	Isaac P. Walker	Democratic	1848 1849	Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1854. Republican gain.	▌Y Charles Durkee (Republican) [data missing]

Elections during the 34th Congress

In these elections, the winners were elected in 1855 after March 4.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	Electoral history
New Hampshire (Class 2)	Vacant			Charles G. Atherton (D) died November 15, 1853. Jared W. Williams (D) was appointed to continue Atherton's term. Williams's appointment expired July 15, 1854 when the legislature then failed to elect a successor. New senator elected July 30, 1855. Republican gain.	▌Y John P. Hale (Republican) [data missing]
New Hampshire (Class 3)	Vacant			John S. Wells's (D) term expired March 3, 1855. Legislature had failed to elect. New senator elected late July 30, 1855. Republican gain.	▌Y James Bell (Republican) [data missing]
Alabama (Class 3)	Vacant			Benjamin Fitzpatrick's (D) term expired March 3, 1855. Legislature had failed to elect. Incumbent was then elected late November 26, 1855. Democratic gain.	▌Y Benjamin Fitzpatrick (Democratic) [data missing]

Kentucky

Senator John J. Crittenden

On January 10, 1854, the Kentucky legislature elected Whig U.S. Attorney General (and former-senator and former-Governor of Kentucky) John J. Crittenden to succeed Dixon, beating the then-incumbent Governor of Kentucky, Lazarus W. Powell.

• John J. Crittenden (Whig) 78 votes
• Lazarus W. Powell (Democratic) 59 votes^[6]

Maryland

See also: List of United States senators from Maryland

1855 United States Senate election in Maryland

← 1849 January 1855 1861 →
80 members of the Maryland General Assembly
Candidate James Pearce Party Whig Legislative vote - Percentage -%

James Pearce won re-election by an unknown margin of votes, for the Class 3 seat.^[8]

New York

Main article: 1855 United States Senate election in New York

The election was held on February 6, 1855. William H. Seward had been elected in 1849 to this seat and his term would expire on March 3, 1855. At the time the Democratic Party was split into two opposing factions: the "Hards" and the "Softs". After most of the "Barnburners" had left the party, joining the Whigs, the majority of "Hunkers" split over the question of reconciliation with the minority of Barnburners who had remained Democrats. The Hard faction (led by Daniel S. Dickinson) was against it, in true Hunker fashion claiming all patronage for themselves; the Soft faction (led by William L. Marcy, which included the former Barnburners, advocated party unity as a necessity to defeat the Whigs.

In 1854, the Republican Party was founded as a national party, but in New York the Whigs and the Anti-Nebraska Party ran concurrently at the State election. The unification of these occurred in New York only during the nomination convention for the State election in November 1855. Also running in the 1854 election were the American Party and nominees of the Temperance movement. In a general way, party lines were blurred until the re-alignment during the late 1850s after the disbanding of the American Party.

At the State election in November 1853, 23 Whigs, 7 Hards and 2 Softs were elected for a two-year term (1854–1855) in the State Senate. At the State election in November 1854, Whig State Senator Myron H. Clark was elected Governor of New York, and 82 Whigs, 26 Softs, 16 Hards and 3 Temperance men were elected for the session of 1855 to the New York State Assembly. "Know Nothings are sprinkled miscellaneously among Whigs, Hards and Softs; and exactly how many there are of these gentry in the Assembly Nobody Knows."^[9] The 78th New York State Legislature met from January 2 to April 14, 1855, at Albany, New York.

In the Assembly, Seward received 69 votes, given by 65 Whigs; 1 Democrat; 1 Temperance man; 1 Republican and 1 Whig-Republican. Dickinson received 14 votes, given by 13 Democrats and 1 American. Horatio Seymour received the votes of 12 Democrats. Dix received 7 votes, given by 5 Democrats; 1 Independent Democrat and 1 Temperance man. Fillmore received 4 votes, given by 2 Whigs; 1 Democrat and 1 Temperance-American. Horatio Seymour Jr., received the votes of 2 Americans. King, Butler, Lester, Wait and Bronson received 1 Democratic vote each. Campbell received 1 Temperance-American vote. Howell received 1 American vote. Hoffman and Haven received 1 Whig vote each.

In the State Senate, Seward received 18 Whig votes, Dickinson 5 Hard votes, and Allen 2 Whig votes. Preston and Church received 1 Soft vote each. Hoffman, Babcock, Ullmann and Fillmore received 1 American vote each.

Seward was the choice of both the Assembly and the Senate, and was declared elected.

Candidate	Party	Senate (32 members)	Assembly (128 members)
√ William H. Seward	Whig	√ 18	√ 69
Daniel S. Dickinson	Dem./Hard	5	14
Horatio Seymour	Dem./Soft		12
Washington Hunt	Whig		9
John Adams Dix	Dem./Soft		7
Millard Fillmore	Whig	1	4
William F. Allen	Democratic	2
Horatio Seymour Jr.			2
Preston King		1	1
Ogden Hoffman	Whig	1	1
Daniel Ullmann	American	1
Sanford E. Church	Democratic	1
George R. Babcock	Whig	1
William W. Campbell	American		1
Benjamin F. Butler	Democratic		1
Albert Lester	Democratic		1
Greene C. Bronson	Democratic		1
Solomon G. Haven	Opposition		1
John D. Howell			1
L. or J. Wait			1

See also

• 1854 United States elections
  • 1854–55 United States House of Representatives elections
• 33rd United States Congress
• 34th United States Congress

Notes

1. "17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Direct Election of U.S. Senators (1913)". National Archives and Records Administration. February 8, 2022.
2. Samuel S. Phelps (W-VT) had been appointed by the governor during a recess of the state legislature, and the legislature later convened and adjourned a session without electing a senator to replace fill the vacancy. The Senate ruled that Phelps had lost his entitlement to sit when the legislature adjourned. See Currie, David P. (May 10, 2005). The Constitution in Congress. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226129006.
3. Byrd, Robert C.; Wolff, Wendy (October 1, 1993). The Senate, 1789-1989: Historical Statistics, 1789-1992 (volume 4 Bicentennial ed.). U.S. Government Printing Office. ISBN 9780160632563., page 80
4. "Stryker's American Register and Magazine". 1849.
5. Journal of the House of Representatives of the General Assembly of the State of Illinois, 1855. Springfield, IL: Lanphier & Walker, Printers. 1855.
6. Journal of the Senate of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, December 31, 1853 - March 10, 1854. Frankfort, Kentucky: Albert G. Hodges. 1853. p. 67.
7. Taylor & Taylor, p. 30, vol II.
8. "Our Campaigns - MD US Senate Race - Jan 00, 1855". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 2022-11-05.
9. Result and comment in The Whig Almanac 1855 compiled by Horace Greeley of the New York Tribune

References

• Party Division in the Senate, 1789-Present, via Senate.gov
• The New York Civil List compiled in 1858 (see: pg. 63 for U.S. Senators; pg. 137 for State Senators 1855; pg. 248ff for Members of Assembly 1855)
• Members of the 34th United States Congress
• STATE AFFAIRS; Election of a U.S. Senator for Six Years in NYT on February 7, 1855
• Taylor, William Alexander; Taylor, Aubrey Clarence (1899). Ohio statesmen and annals of progress: from the year 1788 to the year 1900. State of Ohio.
• Result Senate: Journal of the Senate (78th Session) (1855; pg. 198)