From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

1844–45 United States Senate elections

none

Field	Value
election_name	1844–45 United States Senate elections
country	United States
flag_year	1837
type	legislative
ongoing	no
previous_election	1842–43 United States Senate elections
previous_year	1842 & 1843
next_election	1846–47 United States Senate elections
next_year	1846 & 1847
seat_class	Class 1
previous_seat_election	1838–39 United States Senate elections
previous_seat_year	1838 & 1839
next_seat_election	1850–51 United States Senate elections
next_seat_year	1850 & 1851
seats_for_election	18 of the 54 seats in the United States Senate (with special elections)
election_date	Various dates
image_size	100px
majority_seats	28
1blank	Seats up
party1	Democratic Party (US)
last_election1	23 seats
seats_before1	23
seats1	8
seats_after1	27
seat_change1	3
1data1	5
party2	Whig Party (US)
last_election2	27 seats
seats_before2	27
seats2	8
seats_after2	24
seat_change2	3
1data2	11
party3	Law and Order Party (US)
last_election3	New party
seats_before3	1
seats3	0
seats_after3	0
seat_change3	1
1data3	1
title	Majority Party
before_party	Whig Party (US)
after_party	Democratic Party (US)
map_image	File:1844senatemap.svg
map_caption	Results:

The 1844–45 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states, coinciding with James K. Polk's election. 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 1844 and 1845, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock.

In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 1. The Democratic Party re-captured control of the Senate, gaining a net total of eleven seats from the Whigs.

Results summary

Senate party division, 29th Congress (1845–1847)

Majority party: Democratic (26–31)
Minority party: Whig (24)
Other parties: (0–1)
Vacant: (4–2)
Total seats: 54–58

Change in Senate composition

Before the elections

	D
Ran		D
Ran		D
Ran		D
Ran		D
Retired		LO
Retired	W
Retired		W
Ran		W
Ran		W
Ran		W
Ran		W
Unknown		W
Unknown		W
Retired		W
Retired		W
Retired		W
Retired
	D		D		D
Majority →
	W		W		W		W		W		W		W	W	W	W
		W		W		W		W		W		W

Result of the elections

	D
Re-elected		D
Re-elected		D
Re-elected		D
Re-elected		D
Gain		D
Gain		D
Gain	D
Gain		W
Re-elected		W
Re-elected		W
Hold		W
Hold		W
Hold		W
Gain		W
Gain		V
W Loss		V
New seat		W
Re-elected
	D		D
Majority →
	V
New seat
	W		W		W		W		W		W		W		W	W
		W		W		W		W		W		W		W

Beginning of the next Congress

V
D Loss
	D
Majority ↑
	W
	W

Beginning of the first session of the next Congress (December 1, 1845)

	D
Hold		D
Hold		D
Hold		D
Gain	D
Gain		W
Hold		W
Hold		D
Gain		D
Gain
	D		D		D		D		D		D
Majority →
	W		W		W		W		W
	W		W		W		W		W		W		W		W	W
		W		W		W		W		W		W		W

V	Vacant

Race summaries

Special elections during the 28th Congress

In these special elections, the winners were seated during 1844 or in 1845 before March 4; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent	Results	Candidates	Senator	Party
(Class 1)	Louisiana
(Class 3)	Arkansas
(Class 2)	New York
(Class 1)	New York
(Class 3)
William Sprague		Whig	1842 (special)		Incumbent resigned January 17, 1844.
New senator elected January 25, 1844.
Law and Order gain.	nowrap	{{Plainlist
Alexander Porter		Whig	1833 (special)
1837 (resigned)
1843		Incumbent died January 13, 1844.
New senator elected February 12, 1844.
Whig hold.	nowrap	{{Plainlist
William S. Fulton		Democratic	1836 (special)
1840		Incumbent died August 15, 1844.
New senator elected November 8, 1844.
Democratic hold.	nowrap	{{Plainlist
Daniel S. Dickinson		Democratic	1844 (appointed)	Appointee elected January 18, 1845.
Winner was later be elected to the next term; see below.	nowrap	{{Plainlist
Henry A. Foster		Democratic	1844 (appointed)		Appointee retired or lost election.
New senator elected January 18, 1845.
Democratic hold.	nowrap	{{Plainlist

Races leading to the 29th Congress

In these regular elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1845; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 1 seats.

State	Incumbent	Results	Candidates	Senator	Party	Electoral history
Jabez W. Huntington		Whig	1840 (special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1844 or 1845.	nowrap	{{Plainlist
Richard H. Bayard		Whig	1836 (special)
1838 or 1839
1839 (resigned)
1841 (special)		Incumbent retired.
New senator elected in 1845.
Whig hold.	nowrap	{{Plainlist
None (new state)		Florida was admitted March 3, 1845, but elected its first Class 1 senator late, during the next Congress.
Seat remained vacant.	None.
Albert White		Whig	1838		Incumbent retired.
New senator elected in 1844.
Democratic gain.	nowrap	{{Plainlist
John Fairfield		Democratic	1843 (special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1844 or 1845.	nowrap	{{Plainlist
William Merrick		Whig	1838 (special)
1839		Incumbent retired.
New senator elected in 1844 or 1845.
Whig hold.	nowrap	{{Plainlist
Rufus Choate		Whig	1841 (special)		Incumbent retired.
New senator elected in 1845.
Whig hold.	nowrap	{{Plainlist
Augustus S. Porter		Whig	1840 (special)		Incumbent retired.
New senator elected in 1844 or 1845.
Democratic gain.	nowrap	{{Plainlist
John Henderson		Whig	1838		Unknown if incumbent retired or lost.
New senator elected in 1844.
Democratic gain.	nowrap	{{Plainlist
Thomas H. Benton		Democratic	1821
1827
1833
1839	Incumbent re-elected in 1845.	nowrap	{{Plainlist
William L. Dayton		Whig	1842 (appointed)
? (special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1845.	nowrap	{{Plainlist
Daniel S. Dickinson		Democratic	1844 (appointed)
1845 (special)	Incumbent re-elected February 4, 1845.	nowrap	{{Plainlist
Benjamin Tappan		Democratic	1838		Incumbent retired.
New senator elected December 5, 1844.
Whig gain.	nowrap	{{Plainlist
Daniel Sturgeon		Democratic	1840	Incumbent re-elected January 14, 1845.	nowrap	{{Plainlist
John B. Francis		Law and Order	1844 (special)		Incumbent retired.
New senator elected in 1844 or 1845.
Whig gain.	nowrap	{{Plainlist
Ephraim H. Foster		Whig	1838 (special)
1839 (re-elected, but resigned)
1843 (special)		Incumbent retired or lost re-election.
New senator elected in 1844.
Democratic gain.	nowrap	{{Plainlist
Samuel S. Phelps		Whig	1839	Incumbent re-elected in 1845.	nowrap	{{Plainlist
William C. Rives		Whig	1832 (special)
1834 (resigned)
1836 (special)
1839 (failure to elect)
1841 (special)		Legislature failed to elect.
Whig loss.

Special elections during the 29th Congress

In these special elections, the winners were elected in 1845 after March 4; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent	Results	Candidates
(Class 3)	Massachusetts
(Class 2)	Florida
(Class 1)	Florida
(Class 3)	Georgia
(Class 2)	South Carolina
(Class 2)	Virginia
(Class 1)
James Buchanan		Democratic	1834 (special)
1836
1843		Incumbent resigned March 5, 1845, to become U.S. Secretary of State.
New senator elected March 13, 1845.
Democratic hold.	nowrap	{{Plainlist
Isaac C. Bates		Whig	1841 (special)
1841		Incumbent died March 16, 1845.
New senator elected March 24, 1845.
Whig hold.	nowrap	{{Plainlist
None (new state)		Florida was admitted March 3, 1845.
Its first senators were elected July 1, 1845.
Democratic gain.	nowrap	{{Plainlist
	Florida was admitted March 3, 1845.
Its first senators were elected July 1, 1845.
Democratic gain.	nowrap	{{Plainlist
John M. Berrien		Whig	1825
1829 (resigned)
1840		Incumbent resigned in May 1845 to become judge of the Supreme Court of Georgia.
He did not remain on the court, and was re-elected November 13, 1845.
Whig hold.	nowrap	{{Plainlist
Vacant		Incumbent Daniel E. Huger (D) had resigned in the previous Congress.
New senator was elected November 26, 1845.
Democratic hold.	nowrap	{{Plainlist
Vacant		Legislature had failed to elect.
New senator elected late December 3, 1845.
Democratic gain.	nowrap	{{Plainlist

Arkansas (special)

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Florida (regular)

Florida (special)

Georgia (special)

Indiana

Louisiana (special)

Maine

Maryland

Reverdy Johnson won election by an unknown margin of votes, for the Class 1 seat.

Massachusetts

Massachusetts (regular)

Massachusetts (special)

Michigan

Mississippi

Missouri

New Jersey

New York

Main article: 1845 United States Senate elections in New York

There were three elections: Two special elections were held on January 18, 1845, and one regular election was held on February 4, 1845.

The 68th New York State Legislature met from January 7 to May 14, 1845.

New York (special, class 1)

Nathaniel P. Tallmadge had been re-elected in 1840 to the Class 1 seat (term 1839–1845), but resigned June 17, 1844, to become Governor of Wisconsin Territory. On November 30, Governor of New York William C. Bouck appointed his Democratic Lieutenant Governor Daniel S. Dickinson to fill the vacancy temporarily, and Dickinson was seated December 9, 1844.

House	Democratic	Whig	American
Republican
State Senate (32 members)	Daniel S. Dickinson	27	Millard Fillmore
State Assembly (128 members)	Daniel S. Dickinson

New York (special, class 3)

Silas Wright Jr. had been re-elected in 1843 to the Class 3 seat (term 1843–1849), but resigned November 26, 1844, when elected Governor of New York. On November 30, Governor Bouck appointed Democratic State Senator Henry A. Foster to fill the vacancy temporarily, and Foster took his seat on December 9, 1844.

House	Democratic	Whig	American
Republican
State Senate (32 members)	John Adams Dix	27	Willis Hall
State Assembly (128 members)	John Adams Dix

Dix took his seat on January 27, 1845, and remained in office until March 3, 1849, when his term expired.

New York (regular)

House	Democratic	Whig
State Senate (32 members)	Daniel S. Dickinson	25
State Assembly (128 members)	Daniel S. Dickinson

Dickinson re-took his seat under the new credentials on January 27, 1845, and re-elected, remained in office until March 3, 1851, when his term expired.

Ohio

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania (regular)

Main article: 1845 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania

The regular election was held January 14, 1845. Incumbent Daniel Sturgeon was re-elected by the Pennsylvania General Assembly to the United States Senate. The Pennsylvania General Assembly, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate, convened on January 14, 1845, to elect a Senator to serve the term beginning on March 4, 1845. The results of the vote of both houses combined are as follows:

|- |-bgcolor="#EEEEEE" |}

Pennsylvania (special)

Main article: 1845 United States Senate special election in Pennsylvania

A special election was held March 13, 1845. Simon Cameron was elected by the Pennsylvania General Assembly to the United States Senate. Democratic future-U.S. president James Buchanan was elected in an 1834 special election and was re-elected in 1836 and 1843.

Senator Buchanan resigned on March 5, 1845, after being appointed U.S. Secretary of State by President James K. Polk.

Following the resignation of senator Buchanan, the Pennsylvania General Assembly convened on March 13, 1845, to elect a new senator to fill the vacancy and serve the remainder of the term set to expire on March 4, 1849. Five ballots were recorded. The results of the fifth and final ballot of both houses combined are as follows: |- |-bgcolor="#EEEEEE" |}

Rhode Island

Rhode Island (regular)

Rhode Island (special)

South Carolina (special)

Tennessee

Vermont

Virginia

Virginia (regular)

Virginia (special)

References

(February 8, 2022). "17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Direct Election of U.S. Senators (1913)".
J. Fred Parker, Secretary of State. (1914). "Manual, with Rules and Orders, for the use of the General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island, 1914". E. L. Freeman Company, State Printers.
. (January 29, 1844). ["Rhode Island"](https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82016317/1844-01-29/ed-1/seq-2/). *The Whig standard*.
"Our Campaigns - MD US Senate Race - Feb 00, 1845".
"U.S. Senate Election - 14 January 1845". Wilkes University.
"PA US Senate". OurCampaigns.
"U.S. Senate Election - 13 March 1845". Wilkes University.
"BUCHANAN, James, (1791 - 1868)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

1844-united-states-senate-elections 1845-united-states-senate-elections

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 1844–45 United States Senate elections — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report