1852–53 United States Senate elections

Results summary

Senate party division, 33rd Congress (1853–1855)

• Majority party: Democratic (35–38)
• Minority party: Whig Party (19–17)
• Other parties: Free Soiler (2–5); American (1)
• Vacant: 5–1
• Total seats: 62

Change in composition

Before the elections

As a result of the elections

| | D | | D | | D | | D | | D | | D | | D | | D

|- | | D Ark. Re-elected | | D Calif. (sp) Gain | | D Conn. (sp) Gain | | D Ga. Hold | | D Ill. Re-elected | | D Ind. (sp) Hold | | D Iowa Re-elected | | D La. (sp) Hold | | D Mich. Hold | | D Miss. (sp 1) Hold

|- N.H. Gain

|- | | V

| | V Maine D Loss | | A Ky. Gain | | D Va. Re-elected | | D Texas Re-elected | | D S.C. (sp) Hold S.C. (reg) Hold | | D R.I.

| | D N.J. (sp) Hold | | D N.J. (reg) Gain

|- | | V N.C. W Loss | | FS | | FS | | W Tenn. Re-elected | | W Mass. Hold | | W La. (reg) Gain | | W Del. Hold | | W | | W | | W

|- | | W | | W | | W | | W | | W | | W | | W | | W | | W | | W

|- | | W

|}

|}

Race summaries

Special elections during the 32nd Congress

In these elections, the winners were seated during 1852 or in 1853 before March 4; ordered by election date.

Elections leading to the 33rd Congress

In these regular elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1853; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 2 seats.

Elections during the 33rd Congress

In these elections, the winners were elected in 1853 on or after March 4; ordered by date.

Alabama

Alabama (regular)

Main article: 1853 United States Senate election in Alabama

The legislature had failed to elect a senator for the other seat, previously held by Democrat Jeremiah Clemens. On November 28, 1853, Democrat Clement Claiborne Clay was elected late to the seat.

• Clement Claiborne Clay 85 votes
• R. W. Walker 37 votes
• Jeremiah Clemens 8 votes

Alabama (special, class 3)

On December 20, 1852, Democrat William R. King resigned due to poor health. On January 14, 1853, Democrat Benjamin Fitzpatrick was appointed to continue the term, and he was elected November 28, 1853, to finish the term.

• Benjamin Fitzpatrick 107 votes
• William D. Dunn 14 votes
• Jeremiah Clemens 2 votes
• Francis Strother Lyon 1 vote

Arkansas

Democratic senator William K. Sebastian had been appointed May 12, 1848, to continue the term, to which he was elected later that year to finish.

Sebastian was re-elected to a full term in 1853.

California (special)

The California legislature had failed to elect a successor to Democrat John C. Frémont in time for the 1851 beginning of the class 1 term.

In fact, this time it took eight ballots for Democrat John B. Weller (71 votes, 80.7%) to be elected January 30, 1852, over Whig Pierson B. Reading (17 votes, 19.3%).

Connecticut (special)

The Connecticut legislature had failed to elect a senator for the term beginning in 1851. Democrat Isaac Toucey was elected in May 1852 to finish the term.

Delaware

First-term Whig Presley Spruance retired and Whig former senator John M. Clayton was elected January 12, 1853.

Clayton received 17 votes and there were 13 blank ballots cast.

Georgia

Second-term Whig John M. Berrien resigned May 28, 1852, and Democrat Robert M. Charlton was appointed May 31, 1852, to finish the term.

Democrat Robert Toombs was elected in 1852 and would serve through re-election in 1858 and until he withdrew in 1861.

Illinois

Two-term Democrat Stephen A. Douglas was re-elected January 5, 1853. He would be re-elected in 1859 and serve until his 1861 death.

• Stephen A. Douglas (Democratic) 75 votes
• State senator Joseph Gillespie (Whig) 19 votes
• James H. Collins 1 vote

Indiana (special)

First term Democrat James Whitcomb died December 4, 1852, and Democrat Charles W. Cathcart was appointed December 6, 1852, pending a special election to finish the term that would end in 1855.

Democrat John Pettit won the January 18, 1853, election.

Iowa

First-term Democrat George Wallace Jones was re-elected to a second term.

He received the Democratic nomination on December 20, 1852, by the narrowest of margins: 30 to 29 votes. The general election was held the next day, December 21, in which Jones easily won.

• George Wallace Jones (Democratic) 59 votes
• George G. Wright (Whig) 31 votes
• John F. Kinney (Democratic) 1 vote

Kentucky

Main article: 1851 United States Senate election in Kentucky

One-term Whig Joseph R. Underwood retired from the class 2 seat and the American Party Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky John Burton Thompson had already been elected early, December 13, 1851, far in advance of the 1853 term.

Louisiana

Louisiana (regular)

Democrat Solomon W. Downs lost re-election to Whig businessman Judah P. Benjamin in January 1852. Some Whig newspapers thought Benjamin too young and inexperienced at forty, despite his undoubted talent, but the Whig legislative caucus selected him on the second ballot, and he was elected by the legislature.

Louisiana (special)

First-term Democrat Pierre Soulé was appointed U.S. Minister to Spain and resigned April 11, 1853.

Former-Democratic congressman and diplomat John Slidell was elected April 28, 1853.

• John Slidell (Democratic) 70 votes
• T.G. Hunt 37 votes

Slidell would be re-elected in 1858 and serve until he withdrew in 1861.

Maine

First-term Democrat James W. Bradbury retired and the Maine legislature failed to elect his replacement until long after the new Congress began. It wasn't until 1854 that a new senator would be elected.

Massachusetts

Long-time senator Whig John Davis retired. Whig U.S. Secretary of State and former Governor of Massachusetts Edward Everett was elected in 1853.

Everett would resign just one year into his term due to his distaste dealing with the politics of slavery and abolition.

Michigan

First-term Democrat Alpheus Felch retired. Fellow Democratic congressman Charles E. Stuart was elected January 11, 1853, over Whig Mayor of Detroit Zachariah Chandler.

Stuart only served one term, retiring in 1859. Chandler, meanwhile, would be elected to the other seat and serve for three terms.

Mississippi

Mississippi (special, class 1)

Incumbent Democrat Jefferson Davis resigned in 1851 to run for Governor of Mississippi. Democrat John J. McRae was appointed December 1, 1851, to continue Davis's term, pending a special election. Democrat Stephen Adams won the March 17, 1852, special election to finish the term that would continue until 1857.

Mississippi (special, class 2)

Incumbent Democrat Henry S. Foote resigned January 8, 1852, to become Governor of Mississippi. Whig Walker Brooke was elected February 18, 1852, to finish the term that would end the following year.

Mississippi (regular)

Brooke was not a candidate to the next term.

The Mississippi legislature failed to elect a replacement for Brooke, and the seat remained vacant until early 1854.

New Hampshire

Free Soil senator John P. Hale ran for U.S. President, coming in third place in the popular vote, but failing to win any states. He lost to the Democratic fellow-New Hampshire senator Franklin Pierce. He then lost re-election to his senate seat when Democrats took over the New Hampshire legislature in 1852 state elections.

Democratic former-senator Charles G. Atherton was returned to the Senate in Hale's place on November 25, 1852.

Atherton died from pulmonary tuberculosis in the first year of his term.

After Republicans retook the New Hampshire legislature in 1854, Hale was re-elected to finish the term.

New Jersey

New Jersey (regular)

Two-term Whig Jacob W. Miller lost re-election to Democratic former-Congressman William Wright.

Wright would lose re-election in 1859 but be returned to the Senate in 1863.

New Jersey (special)

First-term Democrat Robert F. Stockton resigned from the Class 1 seat January 10, 1853, to become President of the Delaware and Raritan Canal Company.

Democrat John Renshaw Thomson was elected February 11, 1853, over Whig former-senator William L. Dayton to finish the term.

Thomson would be re-elected in 1857 to a full term and serve until his death in 1862.

North Carolina

Long-time Whig Willie Mangum was a candidate for re-election. Although Democratic former-congressman James C. Dobbin was a top choice of the North Carolina Legislature, no candidate received a majority of votes in either house, so the seat was left unfilled.

The seat would remain vacant until a 1854 special election.

Dobbin would then be appointed U.S. Secretary of the Navy and Magnum retired from public service.

Rhode Island

The Rhode Island General Assembly failed to elect, so first-term Whig John Hopkins Clarke thereby lost re-election.

After the term began, Democrat Philip Allen was elected July 20, 1853, to fill the seat. Allen would serve only one term, retiring in 1859.

South Carolina

Democrat Robert Rhett resigned May 7, 1852, and Democratic judge of the chancery court William F. De Saussure was appointed May 10, 1852, to continue the term, pending a special election. The term would end in March 1853, so there was an election to finish the term and an election to the next term.

South Carolina (special)

De Saussure was elected November 29, 1852, just to finish the term.

South Carolina (regular)

Democrat Josiah J. Evans was elected December 1, 1852, on the fourth ballot to the next term.

Tennessee

First-term Whig John Bell was re-elected October 29, 1853, on the 49th ballot.

• John Bell (Whig) 51 votes
• Thomas A.R. Nelson 18 votes
• Cave Johnson 23 votes
• Neill S. Brown 4 votes
• Aaron V. Brown 1 vote

Bell would fall out of favor with the Tennessee legislature over the sectionalism that was rife in the late 1850s and lost their vote for re-election.

Texas

Two-term Democrat Sam Houston — a Texas founder who had served as senator since statehood — was re-elected January 15, 1853.

• Sam Houston (Democratic) 65 votes
• John Hemphill 14 votes
• George W. Smyth 1 vote

Houston would retire at the end of this term in 1859, and be replaced by John Hemphill.

Virginia

First-term Democrat Robert M. T. Hunter was re-elected January 22, 1852.

• Robert M. T. Hunter (Democratic) 126 votes
• Scattering 63 votes

Hunter would be re-elected again in 1858 and serve until his 1861 expulsion.

Notes

References

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

References

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2. "Journal of the Proceedings of the Assembly".
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4. (1903). "Journal of the Senate of the State of Alabama".
5. Journal of the Senate of the State of Connecticut, May session 1852, pages 41-42.
6. (1852). "Journal of the House of Representatives of the State of Connecticut (May session 1852)".
7. (1853). "Journal of the House of Representatives of the State of Delaware".
8. (1853). "Journal of the Senate of the Eighteenth General Assembly, of the State of Illinois Convened January 3, 1853". Lanphier & Walker, Printers.
9. Butler, Pierce. (1908). "Judah P. Benjamin". George W. Jacobs & Company.
10. (1853). "Journal and Official Documents of the House of Representatives of the State of Louisiana.". Emile La Sere, State Printer.
11. (1853). "Journal of the House of Representatives of the State of Michigan. 1853". Geo. W. Peck, Printer to the State.
12. (1853). "Journal of the Senate of the State of Michigan. 1853". Geo. W. Peck, Printer to the State.
13. (1853). "Journal of the House of Representatives of the State of New Hampshire, November Session, 1852". Butterfield & Hill, State Printers.
14. (1853). "Journal of the Honorable Senate of the State of New Hampshire, November Session, 1852". Butterfield & Hill, State Printers.
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16. (1853). "Journal of the Ninth Senate of the State of New Jersey being the Seventy-seventh Session of The Legislature". Bernard Connolly.
17. "Journals of the Senate and House of Commons of the General Assembly of North-Carolina at its session in 1852".
18. (1852). "Journal of the Senate of the State of South Carolina being the Extra and Annual Sessions of 1852". Johnston & Cavis, Printers to the Senate.
19. (1852). "Journal of the Senate of the State of South Carolina being the Extra and Annual Sessions of 1852". Johnston & Cavis, Printers to the Senate.
20. (1854). "Senate Journal of the First Session of the Thirtitieth General Assembly of the State of Tennessee which convened at Nashville, on the First Monday in October, A.D. 1853". Nashville Union and American Steam Press.
21. (1853). "Journals of the House of Representatives of the State of Texas, Fourth Legislature—Extra Session". J.W. Hampton — State printer.
22. (1852). "Journal of the House of Delegates of the State of Virginia for the Session of 1852.". William F. Ritchie, Public Printer.