1884–85 United States Senate elections

The 1884–85 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states, coinciding with the presidential election of 1884. 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 1884 and 1885, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock.^[2] In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 3.

1884–1885 United States Senate elections

← 1882 & 1883 Dates vary by state 1886 & 1887 →
27 of the 76 seats in the United States Senate (as well as special elections) 39 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader John Sherman[a] George H. Pendleton[b] (Lost re-election) William Mahone[c] Party Republican Democratic Readjuster Leader since March 4, 1883 March 4, 1881 March 4, 1881 Leader's seat Ohio Ohio Virginia Seats before 38 36 2 Seats won 10 12 0 Seats after 37 34 2 Seat change 1 2 Seats up 11 14 0
Results of the elections:      Republican gain      Republican hold      Democratic hold      Legislature failed to elect
Majority Party before election Republican[1] Elected Majority Party Republican[1]

With three state legislatures failing to elect their senators in time, both Republicans and Democrats lost seats. Republicans, nevertheless, retained majority control and the Readjusters joined their caucus. By the beginning of the first session, in December 1885, Republicans had won all three vacant seats, increasing their majority.

Results summary

Senate party division, 49th Congress (1885–1887)

• Majority party: Republican (42)
• Minority party: Democratic (34)
• Other parties: (0)
• Total seats: 76

Change in Senate composition

Before the elections

D8	D7	D6	D5	D4	D3	D2	D1
D9	D10	D11	D12	D13	D14	D15	D16	D17	D18
D28 Ran	D27 Ran	D26 Ran	D25 Ran	D24 Ran	D23 Ran	D22	D21	D20	D19
D29 Ran	D30 Ran	D31 Ran	D32 Ran	D33 Unknown	D34 Retired	D35 Retired	D36 Retired	RA1	RA2
Majority, with Readjusters in caucus →									R38 Retired
R29 Ran	R30 Ran	R31 Ran	R32 Ran	R33 Ran	R34 Ran	R35 Unknown	R36 Unknown	R37 Retired
R28 Ran	R27	R26	R25	R24	R23	R22	R21	R20	R19
R9	R10	R11	R12	R13	R14	R15	R16	R17	R18
R8	R7	R6	R5	R4	R3	R2	R1

After the elections

D8	D7	D6	D5	D4	D3	D2	D1
D9	D10	D11	D12	D13	D14	D15	D16	D17	D18
D28 Re-elected	D27 Re-elected	D26 Re-elected	D25 Re-elected	D24 Re-elected	D23 Re-elected	D22	D21	D20	D19
D29 Re-elected	D30 Hold	D31 Hold	D32 Hold	D33 Hold	D34 Hold	V1 D Loss	V2 R Loss	V3 R Loss	RA1
Majority due to three vacancies ↓									RA2
R29 Re-elected	R30 Re-elected	R31 Re-elected	R32 Re-elected	R33 Re-elected	R34 Hold	R35 Hold	R36 Hold	R37 Gain
R28 Re-elected	R27	R26	R25	R24	R23	R22	R21	R20	R19
R9	R10	R11	R12	R13	R14	R15	R16	R17	R18
R8	R7	R6	R5	R4	R3	R2	R1

Beginning of the first session, December 7, 1885

D8	D7	D6	D5	D4	D3	D2	D1
D9	D10	D11	D12	D13	D14	D15	D16	D17	D18
D28	D27	D26	D25	D24	D23	D22	D21	D20	D19
D29	D30	D31	D32	D33	D34	RA1	RA2	R40 Gain	R39 Gain
Majority →
R29	R30	R31	R32	R33	R34	R35	R36	R37	R38 Gain
R28	R27	R26	R25	R24	R23	R22	R21	R20	R19
R9	R10	R11	R12	R13	R14	R15	R16	R17	R18
R8	R7	R6	R5	R4	R3	R2	R1

Key:	D# Democratic RA# Readjuster R# Republican V# Vacant

Race summaries

Special elections during the 48th Congress

In this election, the winner was seated in 1885 before March 4.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	Electoral history
Rhode Island (Class 2)	William P. Sheffield	Republican	1884 (appointed)	Interim appointee retired when successor elected. New senator elected January 20, 1885. Republican hold.	▌Y Jonathan Chace (Republican) [data missing]

Races leading to the 49th Congress

In these regular elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1885; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 3 seats.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	Electoral history
Alabama	James L. Pugh	Democratic	1880 (special)	Incumbent re-elected in August 1884.	▌Y James L. Pugh (Democratic) [data missing]
Arkansas	James D. Walker	Democratic	1878	Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1885. Democratic hold.	▌Y James K. Jones (Democratic) [data missing]
California	James T. Farley	Democratic	1878	Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1885. Republican gain.	▌Y Leland Stanford (Republican) [data missing]
Colorado	Nathaniel P. Hill	Republican	1879	Incumbent lost renomination. New senator elected in 1885. Republican hold.	▌Y Henry M. Teller (Republican) [data missing]
Connecticut	Orville H. Platt	Republican	1879	Incumbent re-elected in 1885.	▌Y Orville H. Platt (Republican) [data missing]
Florida	Wilkinson Call	Democratic	1879	Incumbent re-elected January 20, 1885.[3]	▌Y Wilkinson Call (Democratic) [data missing]
Georgia	Joseph E. Brown	Democratic	1880 (special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1885.	▌Y Joseph E. Brown (Democratic) [data missing]
Illinois	John A. Logan	Republican	1879	Incumbent retired or lost re-election. Legislature failed to elect. Republican loss. Incumbent was later elected to continue the vacant term; see below.	None.
Indiana	Daniel W. Voorhees	Democratic	1877 (appointed) 1879 (special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1885.	▌Y Daniel W. Voorhees (Democratic) [data missing]
Iowa	William B. Allison	Republican	1872 1878	Incumbent re-elected January 23, 1884.[4]	▌Y William B. Allison (Republican) 90 ▌Benton J. Hall (Democratic) 48 ▌David M. Clark (Greenback) 10 ▌La Vega G. Kinne (Unknown) 1[4]
Kansas	John J. Ingalls	Republican	1873 1879	Incumbent re-elected in 1885.	▌Y John J. Ingalls (Republican) [data missing]
Kentucky	John Stuart Williams	Democratic	1879	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected in 1884. Democratic hold.	▌Y J. C. S. Blackburn (Democratic) [data missing]
Louisiana	Benjamin F. Jonas	Democratic	1879	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected in 1884 or 1885. Democratic hold.	▌Y James B. Eustis (Democratic) [data missing]
Maryland	James Black Groome	Democratic	1878–79	Incumbent retired or lost re-election. New senator elected in 1884. Democratic hold.	▌Y Ephraim K. Wilson II (Democratic) [data missing]
Missouri	George G. Vest	Democratic	1879	Incumbent re-elected in 1885.	▌Y George G. Vest (Democratic) [data missing]
Nevada	John P. Jones	Republican	1873 1879	Incumbent re-elected in 1885.	▌Y John P. Jones (Republican) [data missing]
New Hampshire	Henry W. Blair	Republican	1879	Legislature failed to elect. Republican loss. Incumbent was later appointed, then elected, to continue the vacant term; see below.	[data missing]
New York	Elbridge G. Lapham	Republican	1881 (special)	Incumbent retired. New senator elected January 20, 1885. Republican hold.	▌Y William M. Evarts (Republican) 92 ▌Edward Cooper (Democratic) 65
North Carolina	Zebulon Vance	Democratic	1879	Incumbent re-elected in 1884.	▌Y Zebulon Vance (Democratic)
Ohio	George H. Pendleton	Democratic	1878–79	Incumbent lost renomination. New senator elected January 15, 1884.[5] Democratic hold.	▌Y Henry B. Payne (Democratic) [data missing]
Oregon	James H. Slater	Democratic	1878–79	Incumbent retired. Legislature failed to elect. Democratic loss.	[data missing]
Pennsylvania	J. Donald Cameron	Republican	1877 (special) 1879	Incumbent re-elected January 20, 1885.	▌Y J. Donald Cameron (Republican) 64.94% ▌William A. Wallace (Democratic) 27.49% Others; see below
South Carolina	Wade Hampton III	Democratic	1878	Incumbent re-elected in 1884.	▌Y Wade Hampton III (Democratic) [data missing]
Vermont	Justin S. Morrill	Republican	1866 1872 1878	Incumbent re-elected in 1884.	▌Y Justin S. Morrill (Republican) [data missing]
Wisconsin	Angus Cameron	Republican	1881	Incumbent retired. New senator elected January 27, 1885. Republican hold.	▌Y John C. Spooner (Republican) [data missing]

Elections during the 49th Congress

In these elections, the winners were elected in 1885 after March 4, sorted by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	Electoral history
Delaware (Class 1)	Thomas F. Bayard	Democratic	1869 1875 1881	Incumbent resigned March 6, 1885, to become U.S. Secretary of State. New senator elected March 18, 1885. Democratic hold.	▌Y George Gray (Democratic) [data missing]
Arkansas (Class 2)	Augustus Garland	Democratic	1876 1883	Incumbent resigned March 6, 1885, to become U.S. Attorney General. New senator elected March 20, 1885. Democratic hold.	▌Y James H. Berry (Democratic) [data missing]
Illinois (Class 3)	Vacant			Legislature had failed to elect. New senator elected May 19, 1885. Republican gain.	▌Y John A. Logan (Republican) 50.49% ▌Lambert Tree (Democratic) 47.06% ▌John C. Black (Democratic) 0.98% ▌John R. Hoxie (Democratic) 0.49% ▌William Ralls Morrison (Democratic) 0.49% ▌Charles J. Schofield (Democratic) 0.49%
New Hampshire (Class 3)	Henry W. Blair	Republican	1879 1885 (appointed)	Interim appointee elected June 17, 1885.	▌Y Henry W. Blair (Republican) [data missing]
Oregon (Class 3)	Vacant			Legislature had failed to elect. New senator elected November 18, 1885. Republican gain.	▌Y John H. Mitchell (Republican) [data missing]

Complete list of races

Maryland

See also: List of United States senators from Maryland

1884 United States Senate election in Maryland

← 1878 January 1884 1890 →
80 members of the Maryland General Assembly
Candidate Ephraim King Wilson II Party Democratic Legislative vote - Percentage -%  %

Ephraim King Wilson II was elected by an unknown margin of votes, for the Class 3 seat.^[6]

New York

Main article: United States Senate election in New York, 1885

The New York election was held January 20, 1885, by the New York State Legislature.

Republican Elbridge G. Lapham had been elected to this seat in a special election in 1881 to succeed Roscoe Conkling who had resigned. Lapham's term would expire on March 3, 1885.

At the State election in November 1883, 19 Republicans and 13 Democrats were elected for a two-year term (1884–1885) in the State Senate. At the State election in November 1884, 73 Republicans and 55 Democrats were elected for the session of 1885 to the Assembly. The 108th New York State Legislature met from January 6 to May 22, 1885, at Albany, New York.

The caucus of Republican State legislators met on January 19, President pro tempore of the State Senate Dennis McCarthy presided. 19 State senators and 73 assemblymen attended. The Evarts faction required the nomination to be made by viva voce vote, which was opposed by the Morton faction, but was carried by a vote of 64 to 28. The caucus nominated Ex-U.S. Secretary of State William M. Evarts on the first ballot.

1885 Republican caucus nominee

Candidate	First ballot
William M. Evarts	61
Levi P. Morton	28
Chauncey M. Depew	3

The Democratic caucus nominated Ex-Mayor of New York Edward Cooper.

William M. Evarts was the choice of both the Assembly and the State Senate, and was declared elected.

1885 United States Senator election result

House	Republican		Democratic
State Senate (32 members)	William M. Evarts	19	Edward Cooper	13
State Assembly (128 members)	William M. Evarts	73	Edward Cooper	52

Note: The votes were cast on January 20, but both Houses met in a joint session on January 21 to compare nominations, and declare the result.

Ohio

Main article: United States Senate election in Ohio, 1884

In 1884, the Democrats held a majority in the Ohio legislature. In a caucus meeting to determine the party's choice for United States Senator, many Democratic legislators looked to replace the incumbent Senator, Democrat George H. Pendleton, because they disagreed with his advocacy of civil service reform and low tariffs.^[7] Some of Pendleton's opponents, led by Oliver Payne, promoted Henry B. Payne for the Senate seat, recalling his opposition to both of those positions during his time in the House.^[8] After a secret ballot by the Democratic caucus, Henry B. Payne received 46 out of 80 votes.^[9] Because Oliver was a trustee and treasurer of the Standard Oil company, many of the Pendleton supporters immediately alleged that $100,000 from the oil trust had been used to bribe Democratic legislators, and claimed that an open ballot would not have favored Payne.^[10][11]

When the full legislature met, Henry B. Payne was elected with 78 votes out of 120.^[9] The Democratic legislature initially refused to investigate their members' alleged corruption, but when Republicans regained the majority in the next session, the legislature looked into the allegations and forwarded the results to the federal Senate.^[12] The evidence gathered was voluminous, but the Senate declined to expel Payne, who proclaimed his innocence.^[11] While there was never enough evidence for definitive proof of bribery, biographer Dewayne Burke wrote that the "circumstantial evidence seems to convict Payne" of the charge.^[13]

Pennsylvania

Main article: United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, 1885

The Pennsylvania election was held January 20, 1885. The Pennsylvania General Assembly convened January 20, 1885. Incumbent Republican J. Donald Cameron, who was elected in an 1877 special election and re-elected in 1879, was a successful candidate for re-election to another term.^[14] The results of the vote of both houses combined are as follows:

State Legislature Results^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	J. Donald Cameron (Inc.)	163	64.94
	Democratic	William A. Wallace	69	27.49
	Republican	A. W. Acheson	1	0.40
	Republican	Charles N. Brumm	1	0.40
	Republican	George Shiras Jr.	1	0.40
	N/A	Not voting	14	5.58
Totals			251	100.00%

See also

• 1884 United States elections
  • 1884 United States presidential election
  • 1884 United States House of Representatives elections
• 48th United States Congress
• 49th United States Congress

Notes

1. as Republican Conference Chair
2. as Democratic Caucus Chair
3. as the leader of Readjuster Party

References

1. The Readjusters caucused with the Republicans.
2. "17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Direct Election of U.S. Senators (1913)". National Archives and Records Administration. February 8, 2022.
3. "SELECTING NEW SENATORS". The New York Times. January 20, 1885. p. 1.
4. Clark 1913, p. 209.
5. Burke 1938, p. 28.
6. "Our Campaigns - MD US Senate Race - Jan 00, 1884". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
7. Burke 1938, p. 22.
8. Burke 1938, p. 23.
9. Walker 1886, p. 3.
10. Burke 1938, pp. 23–27.
11. Weisenburger 1934, p. 326.
12. Walker 1886, p. 4.
13. Burke 1938, p. 30.
14. "U.S. Senate Election - 20 January 1885" (PDF). Wilkes University. Retrieved December 22, 2013.

Further reading

• Party Division in the Senate, 1789-Present, via Senate.gov
• Burke, Dewayne (1938). Henry B. Payne: His Congressional Career (M.A. thesis). Ohio State University. Archived from the original on August 26, 2016. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
• Byrd, Robert C. (October 1, 1993). Wolff, Wendy (ed.). The Senate, 1789-1989: Historical Statistics, 1789-1992. United States Senate Historical Office (volume 4 Bicentennial ed.). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. ISBN 9780160632563.
• Clark, Dan Elbert (1913). "History of Senatorial Elections in Iowa". Iowa City, Iowa.
• Cox, Harold (January 31, 2007). "Pennsylvania Election Statistics: 1682-2006". The Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.
• Walker, Albert H. (1886). The Payne Bribery Case and the United States Senate. Hartford, Connecticut: Clark & Smith. OCLC 17693469.
• Weisenburger, Francis Phelps (1934). "Henry B. Payne". Dictionary of American Biography. Vol. XIV. New York, New York: C. Scribner's Sons. pp. 325–326.
• "MR. EVARTS TO BE SENATOR" (PDF). The New York Times. January 20, 1885.
• "EVARTS ELECTED SENATOR" (PDF). The New York Times. January 22, 1885.