1858–59 United States Senate elections

1859 United States Senate election in Illinois
<img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/01/Flag_of_Illinois.svg/50px-Flag_of_Illinois.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="30" class="mw-file-element" data-file-width="500" data-file-height="300">
	<img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/58/1859_United_States_Senate_election_in_Illinois_state_senate_results.svg/168px-1859_United_States_Senate_election_in_Illinois_state_senate_results.svg.png" decoding="async" width="168" height="300" class="mw-file-element" data-file-width="455" data-file-height="810"> State Senate results; Douglas Lincoln

1858–59 United States Senate elections
22 of the 66 seats in the United States Senate (with special elections); 34 seats needed for a majority
	Results of the elections:; Democratic gain Democratic hold; Republican gain Republican hold; Legislature failed to elect
Majority Party before election; ; Democratic	Elected Majority Party ; ; Democratic

The 1858–59 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 1858 and 1859, 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.

The Republican Party gained five additional seats in the Senate, but the Democrats retained their majority. That majority would erode in 1860 with the secession of the southern states leading up to the Civil War.

In Illinois, incumbent Stephen A. Douglas (D) and challenger Abraham Lincoln (R) held a series of seven debates, known as the "Lincoln–Douglas debates."

Results summary

Senate party division, 36th Congress (1859–1861)

Majority party: Democratic (38–25)
Minority party: Republican (25–26)
Other parties: American (2)
Total seats: 66–68

Change in Senate composition

Before the elections

KN₄ Unknown	D₄₂ Retired	D₄₁ Retired	D₄₀ Retired	D₃₉ Retired	D₃₈ Retired	D₃₇ Ran	D₃₆ Ran	D₃₅ Ran	D₃₄ Ran
D₃	D₂	D₁
D₄	D₅	D₆	D₇	D₈	D₉	D₁₀	D₁₁	D₁₂	D₁₃
D₂₃	D₂₂	D₂₁	D₂₀	D₁₉	D₁₈	D₁₇	D₁₆	D₁₅	D₁₄
D₂₄	D₂₅	D₂₆ Ran	D₂₇ Ran	D₂₈ Ran	D₂₉ Ran	D₃₀ Ran	D₃₁ Ran	D₃₂ Ran	D₃₃ Ran
Majority →									D₃₄ Ran
KN₃ Unknown	KN₂	KN₁	R₂₀ Ran	R₁₉ Ran	R₁₈ Ran	R₁₇	R₁₆	R₁₅	R₁₄
R₄	R₅	R₆	R₇	R₈	R₉	R₁₀	R₁₁	R₁₂	R₁₃
R₃	R₂	R₁

As a result of the elections

D₃	D₂	D₁
D₄	D₅	D₆	D₇	D₈	D₉	D₁₀	D₁₁	D₁₂	D₁₃
D₂₃	D₂₂	D₂₁	D₂₀	D₁₉	D₁₈	D₁₇	D₁₆	D₁₅	D₁₄
D₂₄	D₂₅	D₂₆ Re-elected	D₂₇ Re-elected	D₂₈ Re-elected	D₂₉ Re-elected	D₃₀ Re-elected	D₃₁ Re-elected	D₃₂ Re-elected	D₃₃ Hold
Majority →									D₃₄ Hold
R₂₄ Gain	R₂₅ Gain	KN₁	KN₂	V₁ D Loss	D₃₈ Gain	D₃₇ Gain	D₃₆ Hold	D₃₅ Hold	D₃₄ Hold
R₂₃ Gain	R₂₂ Gain	R₂₁ Gain	R₂₀ Re-elected	R₁₉ Re-elected	R₁₈ Re-elected	R₁₇	R₁₆	R₁₅	R₁₄
R₄	R₅	R₆	R₇	R₈	R₉	R₁₀	R₁₁	R₁₂	R₁₃
R₃	R₂	R₁

Key:

D_#	Democratic
KN_#	Know Nothing
R_#	Republican
V_#	Vacant

Race summaries

Special elections during the 35th Congress

In these elections, the winners were seated during 1858 or in 1859 before March 4; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Minnesota (Class 1)	New state			Minnesota's first senators were elected May 11, 1858. Democratic gain.	▌ Y Henry M. Rice (Democratic) [data missing]
Minnesota (Class 2)	New state			Minnesota's first senators were elected May 11, 1858. Democratic gain.	▌ Y James Shields (Democratic) [data missing]
Oregon (Class 2)	New state			Oregon's first senators were elected in 1858 in advance of statehood.^[2] Democratic gain.	▌ Y Delazon Smith (Democratic) [data missing]
Oregon (Class 3)	New state			Oregon's first senators were elected in 1858 in advance of statehood.^[2] Democratic gain.	▌ Y Joseph Lane (Democratic) [data missing]
North Carolina (Class 3)	Thomas Clingman	Democratic	1858 (Appointed)	Interim appointee elected November 23, 1858 to finish the term.^[3]^[4]	▌ Y Thomas Clingman (Democratic) [data missing]
South Carolina (Class 2)	Arthur P. Hayne	Democratic	1858 (Appointed)	Interim appointee retired when successor elected. Winner elected December 3, 1858. Democratic hold. Winner was also elected to the next term; see below.	▌ Y James Chesnut Jr. (Democratic) [data missing]

Races leading to the 36th Congress

In these regular elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1859; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 2 seats.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Alabama	Clement Claiborne Clay	Democratic	1853 (special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1858.	▌ Y Clement Claiborne Clay (Democratic) [data missing]
Arkansas	William K. Sebastian	Democratic	1848 (Appointed) 1848 (special) 1853	Incumbent re-elected in 1859.	▌ Y William K. Sebastian (Democratic) [data missing]
Delaware	Martin W. Bates	Democratic	1857 (special)	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected in 1858. Democratic hold.	▌ Y Willard Saulsbury Sr. (Democratic) [data missing]
Georgia	Robert Toombs	Democratic	1852	Incumbent re-elected in 1858.	▌ Y Robert Toombs (Democratic) [data missing]
Illinois	Stephen A. Douglas	Democratic	1846 1852	Incumbent re-elected January 5, 1859.	▌ Y Stephen A. Douglas (Democratic) 54 ▌Abraham Lincoln (Republican) 46^[5]
Iowa	George Wallace Jones	Democratic	1848 1852	Incumbent lost renomination. New senator elected January 26, 1858.^[6] Republican gain.	▌ Y James W. Grimes (Republican) 64 ▌Benjamin M. Samuels (Democratic) 41^[7]
Kentucky	John B. Thompson	Know Nothing	1851 (Early)	Unknown if incumbent retired or lost re-election. New senator elected in January 1858. Democratic gain.	▌ Y Lazarus W. Powell (Democratic) [data missing]
Louisiana	Judah P. Benjamin	Democratic	1852	Incumbent re-elected in 1859.	▌ Y Judah P. Benjamin (Democratic) [data missing]
Maine	William P. Fessenden	Republican	1854 (special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1859.	▌ Y William P. Fessenden (Republican) [data missing]
Massachusetts	Henry Wilson	Republican	1855 (special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1859.	▌ Y Henry Wilson (Republican) [data missing]
Michigan	Charles E. Stuart	Democratic	1853	Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1858. Republican gain.	▌ Y Kinsley S. Bingham (Republican) [data missing]
Minnesota	James Shields	Democratic	1849 (Illinois) 1849 (Illinois: Election voided) 1849 (Illinois: Special) 1855 (Illinois: Lost) 1858 (Minnesota)	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected December 15, 1859.^[8] Republican gain.	▌ Y Morton S. Wilkinson (Republican) 79 votes ▌James Shields (Democratic) 33 votes ▌W. A. Gorman (Democratic) 1 vote^[8]
Mississippi	Albert G. Brown	Democratic	1854 (special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1859.	▌ Y Albert G. Brown (Democratic) [data missing]
New Hampshire	John P. Hale	Republican	1846 1853 (Retired) 1855	Incumbent re-elected in 1859.	▌ Y John P. Hale (Republican) [data missing]
New Jersey	William Wright	Democratic	1852 or 1853	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected in 1858. Republican gain.	▌ Y John C. Ten Eyck (Republican) [data missing]
North Carolina	David Reid	Democratic	1854	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected in 1858 or 1859. Democratic hold.	▌ Y Thomas Bragg (Democratic) [data missing]
Oregon	Delazon Smith	Democratic	1859	Incumbent lost re-election. Legislature failed to elect. Democratic loss. Seat would remain vacant until 1860.	▌Delazon Smith (Democratic) [data missing]
Rhode Island	Philip Allen	Democratic	1853	Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1858. Republican gain.	▌ Y Henry B. Anthony (Republican) [data missing]
South Carolina	Arthur P. Hayne	Democratic	1858 (Appointed)	Interim appointee retired. New senator elected December 3, 1858. Democratic hold. Winner was also elected to finish the current term, see above.	▌ Y James Chesnut Jr. (Democratic) [data missing]
Tennessee	John Bell	Know Nothing	1847 1853	Unknown if incumbent retired or lost re-election. New senator elected in 1858. Democratic gain.	▌ Y Alfred O. P. Nicholson (Democratic) [data missing]
Texas	Sam Houston	Democratic	1846 1847 1853	Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1859. Democratic hold.	▌ Y John Hemphill (Democratic) [data missing]
Virginia	Robert M. T. Hunter	Democratic	1846 1852	Incumbent re-elected in 1858.	▌ Y Robert M. T. Hunter (Democratic) [data missing]

Elections during the 36th Congress

In this election, the winner was elected in 1859 on or after March 4; ordered by date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Texas (Class 1)	Matthias Ward	Democratic	1858 (Appointed)	Interim appointee lost nomination to finish the term. Winner was elected December 5, 1859. Democratic hold.	Y Louis Wigfall (Democratic) [data missing]

Race leading to the 37th Congress

In this regular election, the winner was elected for the term beginning March 4, 1861.

This election involved a Class 3 seat.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Kentucky (Class 3)	John J. Crittenden	Know Nothing	1816 1819 (Resigned) 1835 1841 (Retired) 1842 (Appointed) 1842 or 1843 (special) 1843 1848 (Resigned) 1854	Incumbent retired. Winner elected December 12, 1859, far in advance of the term. Winner wasn't seated until term began March 4, 1861. Democratic gain.	▌ Y John C. Breckinridge (Democratic) [data missing]

Illinois

Incumbent U.S. Senator Stephen Douglas, a Democrat, defeated a challenge by former U.S. Representative Abraham Lincoln, the Republican nominee. Lincoln, who had been a member of the Whig Party prior to 1856, attacked Douglas for his perceived subservience to the Slave Power, as evidenced by his support for the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the recent Supreme Court ruling in the case of Dred Scott v. Sanford. The election was extremely close, hinging on Douglas' ability to appeal to former Whigs who had resisted joining the Republicans following the decline of the Whig party after 1854. In the finale weeks of the campaign, Douglas received the coveted endorsement of Kentucky's John J. Crittenden, a prominent former Whig and Douglas' colleague in the Senate. Crittenden's support for Douglas considerably diminished Lincoln's chances of winning the election.^[10]

On election day, the statewide Republican ticket took 50.6% of the popular vote, outpolling the Democrats by a margin of 3,402 votes. Further down ballot, Republican candidates for the state legislature collectively received 24,094 more votes than the Douglas Democrats. (Buchanan Democrats received almost 10,000 votes, and there were a scattering of votes for write-in candidates.) Despite this, strategically drawn district boundaries produced Democratic majorities in both houses of the state legislature: 40 Democrats and 35 Republicans were elected to the state House of Representatives, while the Democratic margin in the Senate was 14–11. On the day of the election in the Illinois General Assembly, Douglas received 54 votes to Lincoln's 46. The change of just over 300 votes in three state legislative districts from Democrats to Republicans would have been sufficient to deny Democrats a legislative majority and defeat Douglas.^[11]

In spite of his defeat, Lincoln's debates with Douglas were followed nationally and established Lincoln as a leading contender for the Republican nomination in the 1860 United States presidential election. In the aftermath of the senatorial election, Lincoln contacted editors looking to publish the texts of the debates. George Parsons, the Ohio Republican committee chairman, got Lincoln in touch with Ohio's main political publisher, Follett and Foster, of Columbus. They published copies of the text under the title, Political Debates Between Hon. Abraham Lincoln and Hon. Stephen A. Douglas in the Celebrated Campaign of 1858, in Illinois. Four printings were made, and the fourth sold 16,000 copies.^[12]

References

^ "17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Direct Election of U.S. Senators (1913)". National Archives and Records Administration. February 8, 2022.
^ ^a ^b "Two New Senators". The New York Times.
^ 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 978-0-16-063256-3., page 150
^ "Hon. Thomas L. Clingman--The new Senator from North Carolina". The New York Times.
^ Journal of the House of Representatives of the General Assembly of the State of Illinois, 1859. Springfield, IL: Bailache & Baker, Printers. 1859.
^ Clark, Dan Elbert (1913). History of Senatorial Elections in Iowa: A Study in American Politics. p. 119.
^ Journal of the House of Representatives of the Seventh General Assembly of the State of Iowa. Des Moines: J. Teesdale, State Printer. 1858. p. 131.
^ ^a ^b "From Minnesota.; ELECTION OF A UNITED STATES SENATOR--THREATENED IMPEACHMENT OF THE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR". The New York Times.
^ ^a ^b Guelzo, Allen C. (2008). Lincoln and Douglas: the Debates That Defined America. New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 285.
^ Guelzo, Allen C. (2008). Lincoln and Douglas: The Debates that Defined America. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster. pp. 273-77, 282.
^ Guelzo, Allen C. (2008). Lincoln and Douglas: The Debates that Defined America. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster. pp. 284–285.
^ Guelzo, Allen C. (2008). Lincoln and Douglas: The Debates that Defined America. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster. pp. 305-6.

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

[1] "17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Direct Election of U.S. Senators (1913)". National Archives and Records Administration. February 8, 2022.

[OregonSpec-2] "Two New Senators". The New York Times.

[Byrd150-3] 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 978-0-16-063256-3., page 150

[4] "Hon. Thomas L. Clingman--The new Senator from North Carolina". The New York Times.

[5] Journal of the House of Representatives of the General Assembly of the State of Illinois, 1859. Springfield, IL: Bailache & Baker, Printers. 1859.

[6] Clark, Dan Elbert (1913). History of Senatorial Elections in Iowa: A Study in American Politics. p. 119.

[7] Journal of the House of Representatives of the Seventh General Assembly of the State of Iowa. Des Moines: J. Teesdale, State Printer. 1858. p. 131.

[NYTMinn-8] "From Minnesota.; ELECTION OF A UNITED STATES SENATOR--THREATENED IMPEACHMENT OF THE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR". The New York Times.

[guelzo_285-9] Guelzo, Allen C. (2008). Lincoln and Douglas: the Debates That Defined America. New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 285.

[10] Guelzo, Allen C. (2008). Lincoln and Douglas: The Debates that Defined America. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster. pp. 273-77, 282.

[11] Guelzo, Allen C. (2008). Lincoln and Douglas: The Debates that Defined America. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster. pp. 284–285.

[12] Guelzo, Allen C. (2008). Lincoln and Douglas: The Debates that Defined America. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster. pp. 305-6.

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