1794–95 United States Senate elections

Delaware special election
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Class 1 Senator →
U.S. senator before election; George Read; Federalist	Elected U.S. Senator ; Henry Latimer; Federalist

1794–95 United States Senate elections
10 of the 30 seats in the United States Senate (plus special elections); 16 seats needed for a majority
	; Federalist hold Federalist gain; Democratic-Republican hold
Majority Faction before election; ; Pro-Administration	Elected Majority Faction ; ; Federalist

The 1794–95 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 1794 and 1795, 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 3.

This was the first election cycle with organized political parties in the United States, with the Federalist Party emerging from the Pro Administration coalition, and the Democratic-Republican Party emerging from the Anti-Administration coalition.

Results summary

Senate party division, 4th Congress (1795–1797)

Majority party: Federalist (20)
Minority party: Democratic-Republican (10)
Other parties: 0
Total seats: 30

Change in composition

Before the elections

Note: There were no political parties in the 3rd Congress. Members are informally grouped here into factions of similar interest, based on an analysis of their voting record.^[2]

After the March 31, 1794 special election in Pennsylvania.

A₅	A₄	A₃	A₂	A₁
A₆	A₇	A₈	A₉ Ga. Ran	A₁₀ Ky. Unknown	A₁₁ N.H. Ran	A₁₂ N.C. Unknown	A₁₃ Vt. Ran	V₁ Del.	P₁₆ S.C. Retired
Majority →									P₁₆ S.C. Retired
P₆	P₇	P₈	P₉	P₁₀	P₁₁	P₁₂ Conn. Retired	P₁₃ Md. Ran	P₁₄ N.Y. Ran	P₁₅ Pa. Retired
P₅	P₄	P₃	P₂	P₁

Results of the elections

A₅	A₄	A₃	A₂	A₁
A₆	A₇	A₈	DR₁ N.H. Gain from A	DR₂ N.C. Gain from A	V₁ Del.	F₈ Vt. Gain from A	F₇ S.C. Gain from P	F₆ Pa. Gain from P	F₅ N.Y. Gain from P
									F₄ Md. Gain from P
P₆	P₇	P₈	P₉	P₁₀	P₁₁	F₁ Conn. Gain from P	F₂ Ga. Gain from A	F₃ Ky. Gain from A	F₄ Md. Gain from P
P₅	P₄	P₃	P₂	P₁

Beginning of the next Congress

Seven senators who were considered "Anti-Administration" became Democratic-Republicans and eleven "Pro-Administration" became Federalists.

DR₅ Changed	DR₄ Changed	DR₃ Changed	DR₂ Changed	DR₁ Changed
DR₆ Changed	DR₇ Changed	DR₈ Changed	DR₉	DR₁₀	F₂₀ Del. Gain	F₁₉	F₁₈	F₁₇	F₁₆
Majority →									F₁₆
F₆ Changed	F₇ Changed	F₈ Changed	F₉ Changed	F₁₀ Changed	F₁₁ Changed	F₁₂	F₁₃	F₁₄	F₁₅
F₅ Changed	F₄ Changed	F₃ Changed	F₂ Changed	F₁ Changed

Key:

A_#	Anti-Administration
DR_#	Democratic-Republican
F_#	Federalist
P_#	Pro-Administration
V_#	Vacant

Race summaries

Except if/when noted, the number following candidates is the whole number vote(s), not a percentage.

Special elections during the 3rd Congress

In these special elections, the winner was seated before March 4, 1795; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
Pennsylvania (Class 1)	Albert Gallatin	Anti-Administration	1793 (special)	Incumbent disqualified February 28, 1794. New senator elected March 31, 1794. Pro-Administration gain. Winner would become a Federalist in the next Congress.	▌ Y James Ross (Pro-Administration) 51.72% ▌Robert Coleman (Unknown) 40.23% ▌Samuel Sitgreaves (Federalist) 1.15% Not voting 6.7%
Virginia (Class 1)	James Monroe	Anti-Administration	1790 (special)	Incumbent resigned May 11, 1794 to become U.S. Minister to France. New senator elected November 18, 1794. Anti-Administration hold. Winner would become a Democratic-Republican in the next Congress.	▌ Y Stevens Thomson Mason (Anti-Administration) [data missing]
Virginia (Class 2)	John Taylor	Anti-Administration	1792 (special)	Incumbent resigned May 11, 1794. New senator elected November 18, 1794. Anti-Administration hold. Winner would become a Democratic-Republican in the next Congress.	▌ Y Henry Tazewell (Anti-Administration) [data missing]
Delaware (Class 1)	Vacant			George Read (P) had resigned September 18, 1793 to become Chief Justice of Delaware. New senator elected February 7, 1795. Pro-Administration gain. Winner would become a Federalist in the next Congress.	▌ Y Henry Latimer (Pro-Administration) 15 ▌John Dickinson (Anti-Administration) 14^[3]

Races leading to the 4th Congress

In these regular elections, the winner was seated on March 4, 1795; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 3 seats.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
Connecticut	Stephen Mitchell	Pro-Administration	1793 (Appointed)	Incumbent appointee retired. New senator's election date unknown. Federalist gain.	▌ Y Jonathan Trumbull, Jr. (Federalist) [data missing]
Georgia	James Gunn	Anti-Administration	1789	Incumbent re-elected November 13, 1794 to a new party. Federalist gain.	▌ Y James Gunn (Federalist) 36 ▌Edward Telfair 12 ▌William Few 3^[4]
Kentucky	John Edwards	Anti-Administration	1792 (New state)	Unknown if incumbent retired or lost re-election. New senator elected in 1794 on the second ballot. Federalist gain.	▌ Y Humphrey Marshall (Federalist) 28 ▌John Breckinridge (Democratic-Republican) 22^[5]
Maryland	John Henry	Pro-Administration	1788	Incumbent re-elected in 1795 to a new party. Federalist gain.	▌ Y John Henry (Federalist) [data missing]
New Hampshire	John Langdon	Anti-Administration	1788	Incumbent re-election date to a new party unknown. Democratic-Republican gain.	▌ Y John Langdon (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
New York	Rufus King	Pro-Administration	1789	Incumbent re-elected January 27, 1795 to a new party. Federalist gain.	▌ Y Rufus King (Federalist) 47 ▌Thomas Tillotson (Federalist) 30 ▌John Lawrence (Federalist) 1^[6]
North Carolina	Benjamin Hawkins	Anti-Administration	1789	Unknown if incumbent retired or lost re-election. New senator elected in 1795 on the fifth ballot. Democratic-Republican gain.	▌ Y Timothy Bloodworth (Democratic-Republican) ▌John Leigh ▌Alfred Moore (Federalist) ▌Nathaniel Macon (Democratic-Republican) Withdrew ▌John Skinner Withdrew ▌Charles Johnson (Democratic-Republican) Withdrew ▌William Lenoir^[7]
Pennsylvania	Robert Morris	Pro-Administration	1788	Incumbent retired. New senator elected February 26, 1795. Federalist gain.	▌ Y William Bingham (Federalist) 58 ▌Peter Muhlenberg (Democratic-Republican) 35^[8]
South Carolina	Ralph Izard	Pro-Administration	1789	Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1794 on the second ballot. Federalist gain.	▌ Y Jacob Read (Federalist) ▌John Hunter (Democratic-Republican)^[9]
Vermont	Stephen R. Bradley	Anti-Administration	1791 (New state)	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected in 1794. Federalist gain.	▌ Y Elijah Paine (Federalist) [data missing]

Elections during the 4th Congress

There were no elections in 1795 after March 4.

Connecticut

Delaware (special)

The Delaware special election was held February 7, 1795. Incumbent Senator George Read had resigned to take the position of Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court. Henry Latimer defeated the former Governor of Delaware, Governor of Pennsylvania and Continental Congressmen from Delaware and Pennsylvania by one vote.

1795 United States Senate election in Delaware^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Federalist	Henry Latimer	15	51.72%
	Democratic-Republican	John Dickinson	14	48.28%
Total votes			29	100%

Georgia

Kentucky

Maryland

John Henry won election over James Lloyd by an unknown number of votes for the Class 3 seat.^[11]

New Hampshire

New York

North Carolina

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania (special)

Pennsylvania special election, March 31, 1794^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Pro-Administration	James Ross	45	51.72%
	Unknown	Robert Coleman	35	40.23%
	Federalist	Samuel Sitgreaves	1	1.15%
	N/A	Not voting	6	6.70%
Total votes			87	100%

Pennsylvania (regular)

Incumbent Federalist Robert Morris, who was elected in 1788, was not a candidate for re-election to another term. The Pennsylvania General Assembly convened on February 26, 1795, to elect a senator for the term beginning March 4, 1795.

Pennsylvania general election, February 26, 1795^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Pro-Administration	William Bingham	58	56.86%
	Anti-Administration	Peter Muhlenberg	35	34.31%
	N/A	Not voting	9	8.82%
Total votes			102	100%

South Carolina

Vermont

Virginia

Even though neither of Virginia's incumbent's terms were up, both resigned in 1794, leading to two special elections.

Future-president James Monroe resigned March 27, 1794 to become U.S. Minister to France.

Stevens Thomson Mason was elected November 18, 1794 and would become a Democratic-Republican in the next Congress.

Virginia (special, class 2)

Incumbent John Taylor of Caroline resigned May 11, 1794.

Henry Tazewell was elected November 18, 1794 and would become a Democratic-Republican in the next Congress.

References

External links

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

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