The 1880 81 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states coinciding with the presidential

The 1880–81 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states, coinciding with the presidential election of 1880. 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 1880 and 1881, 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.

1880–81 United States Senate elections

← 1878 & 1879

Dates vary by state
(And other dates for special elections)

1882 & 1883 →

25 of the 76 seats in the United States Senate (with special elections)
39 seats needed for a majority

	Majority party	Minority party

Leader	Henry B. Anthony	William A. Wallace (Lost re-election)
Party	Republican	Democratic
Leader since	March 4, 1863	March 4, 1877
Leader's seat	Rhode Island	Pennsylvania
Seats before	32	42
Seats won	15	9
Seats after	37 + VP	37
Seat change	5	5
Seats up	10	14

	Third party	Fourth party

Party	Readjuster	Independent
Seats before	0	1
Seats won	1	0
Seats after	1	1
Seat change	1
Seats up	0	0

	Fifth party

Party	Anti-Monopoly
Seats before	1
Seats won	0
Seats after	0
Seat change	1
Seats up	1

Results of the elections:
     Democratic gain      Democratic hold
     Republican gain      Republican hold
     Readjuster gain

Majority Party before election

Democratic

Elected Majority Party

Republican

The Democratic Party lost five seats. The newly elected Readjuster senator William Mahone caucused with the Republicans, and the Republican Vice President's tie-breaking vote gave the Republicans the slightest majority. This changed when Vice President Chester Arthur ascended to the Presidency on September 19, 1881: with the Vice Presidency vacant during the remainder of Arthur's term, the Senate became evenly divided for the first of three times in history.

Results summary

Senate party division, 47th Congress (1881–1883)

Majority party: Republican (37)
Minority party: Democratic (37)
Other parties: Independent (1); Readjuster (1)
Total seats: 76

Change in Senate composition

Before the elections

D₂₉ Ran	D₃₀ Ran	D₃₁ Ran	D₃₂ Ran	D₃₃ Ran	D₃₄ Ran	D₃₅ Ran	D₃₆ Ran	D₃₇ Ran	D₃₈ Ran
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
Majority →									D₃₉ Unknown
R₂₉ Unknown	R₃₀ Retired	R₃₁ Retired	R₃₂ Retired	AM₁ Retired	I₁	D₄₂ Retired	D₄₁ Unknown	D₄₀ Unknown	D₃₉ Unknown
R₂₈ Unknown	R₂₇ Ran	R₂₆ Ran	R₂₅ Ran	R₂₄ Ran	R₂₃ Ran	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

R₂₉ Hold	R₃₀ Hold	R₃₁ Gain	R₃₂ Gain	R₃₃ Gain	R₃₄ Gain	R₃₅ Gain	R₃₆ Gain	R₃₇ Gain	RA₁ Gain
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 Re-elected	D₃₀ Re-elected	D₃₁ Re-elected	D₃₃ Re-elected	D₃₃ Hold	D₃₄ Hold	D₃₅ Hold	D₃₆ Gain	D₃₇ Gain	I₁
Plurality ↓									RA₁ Gain
R₂₈ Hold	R₂₇ Hold	R₂₆ Re-elected	R₂₅ Re-elected	R₂₄ Re-elected	R₂₃ Re-elected	R₂₂	R₂₁	R₂₀	R₁₉
R₉	R₁₀	R₁₁	R₁₂	R₁₃	R₁₄	R₁₅	R₁₆	R₁₇	R₁₈
R₈	R₇	R₆	R₅	R₄	R₃	R₂	R₁

Key:

AM_#	Anti-Monopoly Party
D_#	Democratic
I_#	Independent
RA_#	Readjuster
R_#	Republican
V_#	Vacant

Race summaries

Elections during the 46th Congress

In these elections, the winners were seated during 1880 or in 1881 before March 4; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Georgia (Class 3)	John B. Gordon	Democratic	1873 1879	Incumbent resigned to promote a venture for the Georgia Pacific Railway. New senator elected May 26, 1880. Democratic hold.	▌Y Joseph E. Brown (Democratic) [data missing]
Alabama (Class 3)	Luke Pryor	Democratic	1880 (appointed)	Interim appointee retired or lost election. New senator elected November 23, 1880. Democratic hold.	▌Y James L. Pugh (Democratic) [data missing]
Michigan (Class 1)	Henry P. Baldwin	Republican	1879 (appointed)	Interim appointee elected January 19, 1881.	▌Y Henry P. Baldwin (Republican) [data missing]

Races leading to the 47th Congress

In these regular elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1881; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 1 seats.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
California	Newton Booth	Anti-Monopoly	1874	Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1880. Republican gain.	▌Y John F. Miller (Republican) 27 ▌William T. Wallace (Democratic) 11 ▌Henry George (Workingmen's) 2
Connecticut	William W. Eaton	Democratic	1874	Incumbent retired or lost re-election. New senator elected in 1881. Republican gain.	▌Y Joseph R. Hawley (Republican) [data missing]
Delaware	Thomas F. Bayard	Democratic	1869 1875	Incumbent re-elected in 1881.	▌Y Thomas F. Bayard (Democratic) [data missing]
Florida	Charles W. Jones	Democratic	1875	Incumbent re-elected in 1881.	▌Y Charles W. Jones (Democratic) [data missing]
Indiana	Joseph E. McDonald	Democratic	1874–75	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected in 1881. Republican gain.	▌Y Benjamin Harrison (Republican) 81 ▌Joseph E. McDonald (Democratic) 62
Maine	Hannibal Hamlin	Republican	1857 1861 (resigned) 1869 1875	Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1881. Republican hold.	▌Y Eugene Hale (Republican) [data missing]
Maryland	William P. Whyte	Democratic	1868 (appointed) 1869 (retired) 1874	Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1880. Democratic hold.	▌Y Arthur P. Gorman (Democratic) [data missing]
Massachusetts	Henry L. Dawes	Republican	1875	Incumbent re-elected in 1881.	▌Y Henry L. Dawes (Republican) [data missing]
Michigan	Henry P. Baldwin	Republican	1881 (special)	Incumbent retired. Winner elected January 18, 1881. Republican hold.	▌Y Omar D. Conger (Republican) [data missing]
Minnesota	Samuel J. R. McMillan	Republican	1875	Incumbent re-elected in 1881.	▌Y Samuel J. R. McMillan (Republican) [data missing]
Mississippi	Blanche Bruce	Republican	1874	Incumbent retired or lost re-election. New senator elected in 1880. Democratic gain.	▌Y James Z. George (Democratic) [data missing]
Missouri	Francis Cockrell	Democratic	1874	Incumbent re-elected in 1881.	▌Y Francis Cockrell (Democratic) [data missing]
Nebraska	Algernon Paddock	Republican	1875	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected in 1880. Republican hold.	▌Y Charles Van Wyck (Republican) ▌Algernon Paddock (Republican) [data missing]
Nevada	William Sharon	Republican	1875	Incumbent retired or lost re-election. New senator elected January 12, 1881. Democratic gain.	▌Y James G. Fair (Democratic) [data missing]
New Jersey	Theodore F. Randolph	Democratic	1875	Unknown if incumbent retired or lost re-election. New senator elected in 1881. Republican gain.	▌Y William J. Sewell (Republican) ▌Theodore F. Randolph (Democratic) [data missing]
New York	Francis Kernan	Democratic	1875	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected January 20, 1881. Republican gain.	▌Y Thomas C. Platt (Republican) ▌Francis Kernan (Democratic) [data missing]
Ohio	Allen G. Thurman	Democratic	1868 1874	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected in 1880. Republican gain.	▌Y John Sherman (Republican) ▌Allen G. Thurman (Democratic) [data missing]
Pennsylvania	William A. Wallace	Democratic	1875	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected February 23, 1881. Republican gain.	▌Y John I. Mitchell (Republican) 59.76% ▌William A. Wallace (Democratic) 36.65%
Rhode Island	Ambrose Burnside	Republican	1874	Incumbent re-elected in 1880.	▌Y Ambrose Burnside (Republican) [data missing]
Tennessee	James E. Bailey	Democratic	1877 (special)	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected in 1880 or 1881. Democratic hold.	▌Y Howell E. Jackson (Democratic) [data missing]
Texas	Samuel B. Maxey	Democratic	1875	Incumbent re-elected in 1881.	▌Y Samuel B. Maxey (Democratic) [data missing]
Vermont	George F. Edmunds	Republican	1866 (appointed) 1866 (special) 1868 1874	Incumbent re-elected in 1880.	▌Y George F. Edmunds (Republican) [data missing]
Virginia	Robert E. Withers	Democratic	1875	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected in 1881. Readjuster gain. Winner caucused with the Republicans.	▌Y William Mahone (Readjuster) [data missing]
West Virginia	Frank Hereford	Democratic	1877 (special)	Incumbent retired or lost re-election. New senator elected in 1880 or 1881. Democratic hold.	▌Y Johnson N. Camden (Democratic) [data missing]
Wisconsin	Angus Cameron	Republican	1875	Incumbent retired. New senator elected January 26, 1881. Republican hold.	▌Y Philetus Sawyer (Republican) 75.38% ▌James G. Jenkins (Democratic) 22.31% ▌C. C. Washburn (Republican) 1.54% ▌Charles D. Parker (Democratic) 0.77%

Elections during the 47th Congress

In these elections, the winners were elected in 1881 after March 4; ordered by date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Wisconsin (Class 3)	Matthew H. Carpenter	Republican	1869 1875 (lost) 1879	Incumbent died February 24, 1881. New senator elected March 10, 1881. Republican hold.	▌Y Angus Cameron (Republican) 78.23% ▌ William F. Vilas (Democratic) 21.77%
Maine (Class 2)	James G. Blaine	Republican	1876 (appointed) 1877 (special) 1877	Incumbent resigned March 5, 1881 to become U.S. Secretary of State. New senator elected March 18, 1881. Republican hold.	▌Y William P. Frye (Republican) [data missing]
New York (Class 1)	Thomas C. Platt	Republican	1881	Incumbent resigned May 16, 1881 to protest federal appointments in New York. New senator elected July 27, 1881. Republican hold.	▌Y Warner Miller (Republican) [data missing]
New York (Class 3)	Roscoe Conkling	Republican	1867 1873 1879	Incumbent resigned May 16, 1881 to protest federal appointments in New York. New senator elected July 29, 1881. Republican hold.	▌Y Elbridge G. Lapham (Republican) [data missing]
Rhode Island (Class 1)	Ambrose Burnside	Republican	1874 1880	Incumbent died September 13, 1881. New senator elected October 5, 1881. Republican hold.	▌Y Nelson W. Aldrich (Republican) [data missing]
Minnesota (Class 2)	Alonzo J. Edgerton	Republican	1881 (appointed)	Interim appointee replaced by successor elected October 30, 1881. Republican hold.	▌Y William Windom (Republican) [data missing]
Virginia (Class 2)	John W. Johnston	Democratic	1871 1877	Incumbent lost re-election for the term beginning March 4, 1883. Winner elected early December 21, 1881. Readjuster gain. Winner caucused with the Republicans.	▌Y Harrison H. Riddleberger (Readjuster) ▌John W. Johnston (Democratic) [data missing]

Maryland

1880 United States Senate election in Maryland

← 1874

1880

1886 →

80 members of the Maryland General Assembly


Candidate	Arthur Pue Gorman	William Pinkney Whyte
Party	Democratic	Democratic
Legislative vote	-
Percentage	-%	%

Arthur Pue Gorman won election William Pinkney Whyte for an unknown margin of votes for the Class 1 seat.

Nevada

On January 12, 1881, James Graham Fair (Republican) was elected.

New York

The New York election was held January 18, 1881, by the New York State Legislature. Democrat Francis Kernan had been elected in January 1875 to this seat, and his term would expire on March 3, 1881. At the State election in November 1879, 25 Republicans and 7 Democrats were elected for a two-year term (1880–1881) in the State Senate. At the State election in November 1880, 81 Republicans and 47 Democrats were elected for the session of 1881 to the Assembly. The 104th State Legislature met from January 4, 1881, on at Albany, New York.

The caucus of Republican State legislators met on January 13, State Senator Dennis McCarthy presided. All but one of the legislators were present, only State Senator Edward M. Madden (13th D.) was absent. The caucus nominated Ex-Congressman Thomas C. Platt for the U.S. Senate. Platt was a friend of the other U.S. Senator from New York, Roscoe Conkling, and belonged to the Stalwart faction. The opposing Half-Breeds (in the press sometimes referred to as the "anti-machine men") at first wanted to nominate Chauncey M. Depew, but he withdrew before balloting. The majority of the Half-Breeds, led by President pro tempore of the State Senate William H. Robertson, then supported Platt, a minority voted for Sherman S. Rogers, the defeated Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor of New York in 1876. Congressman Richard Crowley was supported by a faction led by Speaker of the State Assembly George H. Sharpe, allied with Governor Alonzo B. Cornell. U.S. Vice President William A. Wheeler, and Congressmen Elbridge G. Lapham and Levi P. Morton also received votes.

**1881 Republican caucus for United States Senator result**
Office	Candidate	First ballot
U.S. Senator	Thomas C. Platt	54
	Richard Crowley	26
	Sherman S. Rogers	10
	William A. Wheeler	10
	Elbridge G. Lapham	4
	Levi P. Morton	1

The caucus of the Democratic State legislators met on January 17, State Senator Charles A. Fowler (14th D.) presided. They re-nominated the incumbent U.S. Senator Francis Kernan by acclamation.

Thomas C. Platt was the choice of both the State Senate and the Assembly, and was declared elected.

**1881 United States Senator election result**
House	Republican		Democrat
State Senate (32 members)	Thomas C. Platt	25	Francis Kernan	6
State Assembly (128 members)	Thomas C. Platt	79	Francis Kernan	44

Notes:

The votes were cast on January 18, but both Houses met in a joint session on January 19 to compare nominations, and declare the result.
State Senator Stevens (Dem., 22nd D.) was absent and did not vote.

Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania election was held on thirty separate dates from January to February 1881. On February 23, 1881, John I. Mitchell was elected by the Pennsylvania General Assembly. The Pennsylvania General Assembly, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate, convened on January 27, 1881, to elect a Senator to serve the term beginning on March 4, 1881. Thirty-five ballots were recorded on thirty separate dates spanning from January 27 to February 23, 1881. The results of the thirty-fifth and final ballot of both houses combined are as follows:

State legislature results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John I. Mitchell	150	59.76
	Democratic	William A. Wallace (Incumbent)	92	36.65%
	N/A	Not voting	7	2.79%
	N/A	Other	2	0.80%
Total votes			251	100%

Notes

as Republican Conference Chair
as Democratic Caucus Chair

References

The Readjuster caucused with the Republicans, and the Republican Vice President's tie-breaking vote gave the Republicans the slightest majority.
"17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Direct Election of U.S. Senators (1913)". National Archives and Records Administration. February 8, 2022.
"Formal Election of General Miller". Santa Barbara Daily Press. Santa Barbara. January 12, 1881. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
Gugin, Linda C.; St. Clair, James E (2006). The governors of Indiana. Indiana Historical Society Press. ISBN 9780871951960. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
"January 26, 1881". Journal of Proceedings of the Wisconsin Legislature (Report). Wisconsin Legislature. 1881. pp. 92–93. Retrieved March 11, 2025 – via HathiTrust.
"Blue Book for the State of Wisconsin". 1883. p. 463.
Jones Salmon, Emily. "Harrison H. Riddleberger (1843–1890)". Encyclopedia Virginia/Dictionary of Virginia Biography. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
"Our Campaigns - MD US Senate Race - Jan 00, 1880". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
The Journal of the Assembly of the Tenth Session of the Legislature of the State of Nevada. Carson City, NV: State Printing Office. 1881. p. 30.
"U.S. Senate Election - 27 January 1881 - 23 February 1881" (PDF). Wilkes University. Retrieved December 23, 2012.
"PA US Senate - 1881". OurCampaigns. Retrieved December 22, 2012.

Party Division in the Senate, 1789-Present, via Senate.gov
Members of the 47th United States Congress
SENATOR THOMAS C. PLATT; SELECTED BY THE CAUCUS UPON THE FIRST BALLOT in NYT on January 14, 1881
COMPLIMENTING MR. KERNAN.; THE DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS RENOMINATES HIM FOR UNITED STATES SENATOR in NYT on January 18, 1881
Election result: BUSY STATE LEGISLATORS in NYT on January 19, 1881
Pennsylvania Election Statistics: 1682-2006 from the Wilkes University Election Statistics Project

[1] s Republican Conference Chair

[3] s Democratic Caucus Chair

[caucus-2] The Readjuster caucused with the Republicans, and the Republican Vice President's tie-breaking vote gave the Republicans the slightest majority.

[4] "17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Direct Election of U.S. Senators (1913)". National Archives and Records Administration. February 8, 2022.

[5] "Formal Election of General Miller". Santa Barbara Daily Press. Santa Barbara. January 12, 1881. Retrieved October 6, 2024.

[Indiana1881-6] Gugin, Linda C.; St. Clair, James E (2006). The governors of Indiana. Indiana Historical Society Press. ISBN 9780871951960. Retrieved February 17, 2020.

[wis1881-7] "January 26, 1881". Journal of Proceedings of the Wisconsin Legislature (Report). Wisconsin Legislature. 1881. pp. 92–93. Retrieved March 11, 2025 – via HathiTrust.

[8] "Blue Book for the State of Wisconsin". 1883. p. 463.

[Riddleberger-9] Jones Salmon, Emily. "Harrison H. Riddleberger (1843–1890)". Encyclopedia Virginia/Dictionary of Virginia Biography. Retrieved March 4, 2015.

[10] "Our Campaigns - MD US Senate Race - Jan 00, 1880". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved November 5, 2022.

[11] The Journal of the Assembly of the Tenth Session of the Legislature of the State of Nevada. Carson City, NV: State Printing Office. 1881. p. 30.

[results-12] "U.S. Senate Election - 27 January 1881 - 23 February 1881" (PDF). Wilkes University. Retrieved December 23, 2012.

[13] "PA US Senate - 1881". OurCampaigns. Retrieved December 22, 2012.