United States Senate elections, 1840 and 1841

United States Senate elections, 1840

Various dates
? seats in the United States Senate
Majority party Minority party   Party Whig Democratic Last election 23 seats 29 seats Seats won 29 22 Seat change 6 7
Majority Party before election Democratic Party Elected Majority Party Whig Party

The United States Senate elections of 1840 and 1841 were elections which, corresponding with their Party's success in the 1840 Presidential election, had the Whig Party take control of the United States Senate.

As these elections were prior to ratification of the seventeenth amendment, Senators were chosen by State legislatures..

Results

27th Congress (1841–1843)

• Majority Party: Whig (29)
• Minority Party: Democratic (22)
• Other Parties: (0)
• Vacant: (1)
• Total Seats: 52

Senate composition before and after elections

Senate composition at the end of the 26th Congress   D7 D17   D27 W16 W6 D8 D18 D28 W15 W5 D9 D19 D29 W14 W4 D10 D20 W23 W13 W3 D1 D11 D21 W22 W12 W2 D2 D12 D22 W21 W11 W1 D3 D13 D23 W20 W10   D4 D14 D24 W19 W9 D5 D15 D25 W18 W8 D6 D16 D26 W17 W7

Senate composition at the beginning of the 27th Congress   D7 D17   W26 W16 W6 D8 D18 W25 W15 W5 D9 D19 W24 W14 W4 D10 D20 W23 W13 W3 D1 D11 D21 W22 W12 W2 D2 D12 D22 W21 W11 W1 D3 D13 V W20 W10   D4 D14 W29 W19 W9 D5 D15 W28 W18 W8 D6 D16 W27 W17 W7

Key:	D = Democratic	[Bracketed] seat changed parties [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
	V = Vacant
	W = Whig

Complete list of races

Massachusetts

Main articles: United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, January 1841 and United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, February 1841

Whig Isaac C. Bates was elected January 13, 1841 to finish the class 2 term of his Whig predecessor, John Davis, who had resigned to become Governor of Massachusetts. Bates was also elected, on the same day, to the next term. He would only serve, however, until he died March 16, 1845.

Whig Rufus Choate was elected February 23, 1841, to finish the class 1 term of his Whig predecessor, Daniel Webster, who had resigned to become U.S. Secretary of State.

New York

Main article: United States Senate election in New York, 1839/1840

See also: United States Senate elections, 1838 and 1839 § New York

Nathaniel P. Tallmadge had been elected as a Jacksonian Democrat in 1833 to this seat, and his term expired March 3, 1839. An election was held February 5, 1839. Although Tallmadge received the most votes, no candidate received a majority and the seat was declared vacant due to the legislature's failure to elect.

At the State election in November 1839, 7 Whigs and 3 Democrats were elected to the State Senate, which gave the Whigs a majority, the first anti-Bucktails/Jacksonian/Democratic majority in 20 years. The 63rd New York State Legislature met from January 7 to May 14, 1840, at Albany, New York. The strength of the parties in the Assembly, as shown by the vote for Speaker, was: 68 for Whig George Washington Patterson and 56 for Democrat Levi S. Chatfield.

On January 14, 1840, Nathaniel P. Tallmadge received a majority in both the Assembly and the Senate, and was declared elected.

1840 United States Senator election result

Office	Candidate	Party	Senate (32 members)	Assembly (128 members)
U.S. Senator	Nathaniel P. Tallmadge	Whig	19
	Samuel Beardsley	Democrat	2
	Levi Beardsley	Democrat	1
	William C. Bouck	Democrat	1
	Benjamin F. Butler	Democrat	1
	Churchill C. Cambreleng	Democrat	1
	Hiram Denio	Democrat	1
	John A. Dix	Democrat	1
	Azariah C. Flagg	Democrat	1
	John Savage	Democrat	1
	John Tracy	Democrat	1

Tallmadge re-took his seat on January 27, 1840, and remained in office until June 17, 1844, when he resigned to be appointed Governor of Wisconsin Territory. Daniel S. Dickinson was appointed to fill the vacancy temporarily, and subsequently elected by the State Legislature to succeed Tallmadge.

Pennsylvania

Main article: United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, 1840

The election was held on January 14, 1840, after the regularly scheduled election in December 1838 was postponed due to the Buckshot War. Daniel Sturgeon was elected by the Pennsylvania General Assembly to the United States Senate.

Democrat Samuel McKean was elected by the Pennsylvania General Assembly, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate, in the 1832-1833 Senate election. Sen. McKean's term was to expire on March 4, 1839, and an election would have occurred during the winter of 1838-1839 elect a Senator for the successive term. The election did not occur, however, due to significant political unrest in Harrisburg, the state capital, over disputed election returns during the Buckshot War. McKean's seat was vacated when his term expired in March 1839 and remained vacant until the General Assembly elected a new Senator in 1840.

The Pennsylvania General Assembly convened on January 14, 1840, to elect a Senator to serve out the remainder of the term that began on March 4, 1839. The results of the vote of both houses combined are as follows:

State Legislature Results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Daniel Sturgeon	87	65.41
	Whig	Charles Ogle	26	19.55
	Anti-Masonic	Richard Biddle	17	12.78
	N/A	Not voting	3	2.26
Totals			133	100.00%

See also

• United States presidential election, 1840
• United States House of Representatives elections, 1840
• 27th United States Congress

References

• Party Division in the Senate, 1789-Present, via Senate.gov
• Pennsylvania Election Statistics: 1682-2006 from the Wilkes University Election Statistics Project