1864–65 United States Senate elections

1864–65 United States Senate elections
24 of the 72 seats in the United States Senate (with special elections); 25 seats needed for a majority
	Results of the elections:; Democratic gain Democratic hold; Republican gain Republican hold; Confederacy Barred from being seated
Majority Party before election; ; Republican	Elected Majority Party ; ; Republican

The 1864–65 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states. They occurred during the American Civil War and Abraham Lincoln's re-election. 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 1864 and 1865, 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 two seats. Most of the Southern states were absent because of the Civil War.

Results summary

Senate party division, 39th Congress (1865–1867)

Majority party: Republican (37)
Minority party: Democratic (9)
Other parties: Unconditional Unionist (1); Unionist (1)
Vacant: (24)
Total seats: 72

Change in Senate composition

Before the elections

V₅ Seceded	V₄ Seceded	V₃ Seceded	V₂	V₁
V₆ Seceded	V₇ Seceded	V₈ Seceded	V₉ Seceded	V₁₀ Seceded	V₁₁ Seceded	D₁	D₂	D₃	D₄
UU₅ Ran	U₁	U₂	U₃ Retired	D₁₀ Ran	D₉ Retired	D₈ Unknown	D₇ Retired	D₆	D₅
UU₄	UU₃	UU₂	UU₁	R₃₁ Ran	R₃₀ Ran	R₂₉ Retired	R₂₈ Ran	R₂₇ Ran	R₂₆ Retired
Majority →									R₂₅ Unknown
R₁₆	R₁₇	R₁₈	R₁₉	R₂₀	R₂₁	R₂₂	R₂₃ Ran	R₂₄ Ran	R₂₅ Unknown
R₁₅	R₁₄	R₁₃	R₁₂	R₁₁	R₁₀	R₉	R₈	R₇	R₆
V₁₆	V₁₅	V₁₄	V₁₃	V₁₂	R₁	R₂	R₃	R₄	R₅
V₁₇	V₁₈	V₁₉	V₂₀	V₂₁

As a result of the elections

V₅ Seceded	V₄ Seceded	V₃ Seceded	V₂	V₁
V₆ Seceded	V₇ Seceded	V₈ Seceded	V₉ Seceded	V₁₀ Seceded	V₁₁ Seceded	D₁	D₂	D₃	D₄
UU₂	UU₃	UU₄	U₁	U₂	D₉ Gain	D₈ Hold	D₇ Re-elected	D₆	D₅
UU₁	R₃₃ Gain	R₃₂ Gain	R₃₁ Re-elected new party	R₃₀ Hold	R₂₉ Hold	R₂₈ Hold	R₂₇ Re-elected	R₂₆ Re-elected	R₂₅ Re-elected
Majority →									R₂₅ Re-elected
R₁₅	R₁₆	R₁₇	R₁₈	R₁₉	R₂₀	R₂₁	R₂₂	R₂₃ Re-elected	R₂₄ Re-elected
R₁₄	R₁₃	R₁₂	R₁₁	R₁₀	R₉	R₈	R₇	R₆	R₅
V₁₇	V₁₆	V₁₅	V₁₄	V₁₃	V₁₂ U Loss	R₁	R₂	R₃	R₄
V₁₈	V₁₉	V₂₀	V₂₁	V₂₂

Beginning of the next Congress

V₆	V₅	V₄	V₃	V₂	V₁
V₇	V₈	V₉	V₁₀	V₁₁	D₁	D₂	D₃	D₄	D₅
R₃₆ Changed	R₃₇ Changed	UU₁	V₁₃ UU Loss	U₁	V₁₂ D Loss	D₉ Gain	D₈	D₇	D₆
R₃₅ New state	R₃₄ New state	R₃₃	R₃₂	R₃₁	R₃₀	R₂₉	R₂₈	R₂₇	R₂₆
Majority →									R₂₅
R₁₆	R₁₇	R₁₈	R₁₉	R₂₀	R₂₁	R₂₂	R₂₃	R₂₄	R₂₅
R₁₅	R₁₄	R₁₃	R₁₂	R₁₁	R₁₀	R₉	R₈	R₇	R₆
V₁₈	V₁₇	V₁₆	V₁₅	V₁₄	R₁	R₂	R₃	R₄	R₅
V₁₉	V₂₀	V₂₁	V₂₂	V₂₃	V₂₄

Key:

D_#	Democratic
R_#	Republican
UU_#	Unconditional Unionist
U_#	Unionist
V_#	Vacant

Race summaries

Elections during the 38th Congress

In these elections — some special and some initial — the winners were seated during 1864 or in 1865 before March 4; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Maryland (Class 3)	Thomas Holliday Hicks	Unconditional Unionist	1862 (Appointed)	Interim appointee elected January 11, 1864^[2] to finish the term.	▌ Y Thomas Holliday Hicks (Unconditional Unionist) [data missing]
Delaware (Class 1)	James A. Bayard Jr.	Democratic	1851 1857 1863	Incumbent resigned January 29, 1864 for unknown reason. Winner elected January 29, 1864. Democratic hold.	▌ Y George R. Riddle (Democratic) [data missing]
Nevada (Class 1)	New state			Nevada's first Senators were elected February 1, 1865. Republican gain.	▌ Y William M. Stewart (Republican) [data missing]
Nevada (Class 3)	New state			Nevada's first Senators were elected February 1, 1865. Republican gain.	▌ Y James W. Nye (Republican) [data missing]
Virginia (Class 1)	Lemuel J. Bowden	Unionist	1863	Incumbent died January 2, 1864. Winner elected sometime in 1865. The Senate refused to seat him as it did not want to set a precedent for allowing premature re-entry of Confederate states.^[3] Unionist loss. Seat remained vacant until 1870.	▌ Y Joseph Segar (Unionist) [data missing]

Elections leading to the 39th Congress

In these regular elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1865; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 2 seats.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Alabama	Vacant since January 21, 1861 when Clement Claiborne Clay (D) withdrew.			Legislature failed to elect during Civil War and Reconstruction. Seat remained vacant until 1868.	None.
Arkansas	Vacant since July 11, 1861 when William K. Sebastian (D) was expelled.			Legislature failed to elect during Civil War and Reconstruction. Seat remained vacant until 1868.	None.
Delaware	Willard Saulsbury Sr.	Democratic	1858	Incumbent re-elected in 1864.	▌ Y Willard Saulsbury Sr. (Democratic) [data missing]
Georgia	Vacant since February 4, 1861 when Robert Toombs (D) withdrew.			Legislature failed to elect during Civil War and Reconstruction. Seat remained vacant until 1871.	None.
Illinois	William A. Richardson	Democratic	1863 (special)	Incumbent retired. Winner elected in 1864 or 1865. Republican gain.	▌ Y Richard Yates (Republican) [data missing]
Iowa	James W. Grimes	Republican	1858	Incumbent re-elected January 11, 1864.	▌ Y James W. Grimes (Republican) 128 ▌John D. Jennings 5 ▌"Mr. Love" 1^[4]
Kansas	James H. Lane	Republican	1861	Incumbent re-elected in 1865.	▌ Y James H. Lane (Republican) [data missing]
Kentucky	Lazarus W. Powell	Democratic	1858	Unknown if incumbent retired or lost re-election. Winner elected in 1865. Democratic hold.	▌ Y James Guthrie (Democratic) ▌Lovell H. Rousseau (Unconditional Unionist) [data missing]
Louisiana	Vacant since February 4, 1861 when Judah P. Benjamin (D) withdrew.			Legislature failed to elect during Civil War and Reconstruction. Seat remained vacant until 1868.	None.
Maine	Nathan A. Farwell	Republican	1864 (Appointed)	Interim appointee retired. Winner elected in 1864 or 1865. Republican hold.	▌ Y William P. Fessenden (Republican) [data missing]
Massachusetts	Henry Wilson	Republican	1855 (special) 1859	Incumbent re-elected in 1865.	▌ Y Henry Wilson (Republican) [data missing]
Michigan	Jacob M. Howard	Republican	1862 (special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1865.	▌ Y Jacob M. Howard (Republican) [data missing]
Minnesota	Morton S. Wilkinson	Republican	1858 or 1859	Incumbent retired. Winner elected in 1865. Republican hold.	▌ Y Daniel S. Norton (Republican) 46 votes (77.97%) ▌James George (Democratic) 13 votes (22.03%)^[5]
Mississippi	Vacant since January 12, 1861 when Albert G. Brown (D) withdrew.			Legislature failed to elect during Civil War and Reconstruction. Seat remained vacant until 1870.	None.
New Hampshire	John P. Hale	Republican	1846 1853 (Retired) 1855 (special)	Unknown if incumbent retired or lost re-election. Winner elected in 1864. Republican hold.	▌ Y Aaron H. Cragin (Republican) [data missing]
New Jersey	John C. Ten Eyck	Republican	1858	Incumbent lost re-election. Winner elected in 1864. Democratic gain. Election would later be disputed and seat declared vacant.	▌ Y John P. Stockton (Democratic) ▌John C. Ten Eyck (Republican) [data missing]
North Carolina	Vacant since March 6, 1861 when Thomas Bragg (D) resigned.			Legislature failed to elect during Civil War and Reconstruction. Seat remained vacant until 1868.	None.
Oregon	Benjamin F. Harding	Democratic	1862 (special)	Incumbent retired. Winner elected in 1864. Republican gain.	▌ Y George H. Williams (Republican) [data missing]
Rhode Island	Henry B. Anthony	Republican	1858	Incumbent re-elected in 1864.	▌ Y Henry B. Anthony (Republican) [data missing]
South Carolina	Vacant since November 10, 1860 when James Chesnut Jr. (D) withdrew.			Legislature failed to elect during Civil War and Reconstruction. Seat remained vacant until 1868.	None.
Tennessee	Vacant since March 3, 1861 when Alfred O. P. Nicholson (D) withdrew.			Legislature failed to elect during Civil War and Reconstruction. Seat remained vacant until 1866.	None.
Texas	Vacant since July 11, 1861 when John Hemphill (D) was expelled.			Legislature failed to elect during Civil War and Reconstruction. Seat remained vacant until 1870.	None.
Virginia	John S. Carlile	Unionist	1861	Incumbent retired. Winner elected in 1865. The Senate refused to seat him as it did not want to set a precedent for allowing premature re-entry of Confederate states.^[3] Unionist loss. Seat remained vacant until 1870.	▌ Y John Curtiss Underwood (Unionist) [data missing]
West Virginia	Waitman T. Willey	Unconditional Unionist	1863	Incumbent re-elected in 1865 as a Republican. Republican gain.	▌ Y Waitman T. Willey (Republican) 53 votes ▌Lee Roy Kramer (Republican) 7 votes ▌Daniel Polsley (Republican) 6 votes ▌Archibald Campbell (Republican) 2 votes ▌David Hunter Strother (Unknown) 1 vote

Elections during the 39th Congress

In this election, the winner was elected in 1865 after March 4.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Maryland (Class 3)	Thomas Holliday Hicks	Unconditional Unionist	1862 (Appointed) 1864 (special)	Incumbent died February 14, 1865. Winner elected March 9, 1865. Unconditional Unionist hold.	▌ Y John Creswell (Unconditional Unionist) [data missing]

Maryland

Maryland (1864 special)

James Pearce died, and Thomas Holliday Hicks was appointed to his seat. He then won election to finish the rest of the term by an unknown margin of votes, for the Class 3 seat.^[6]

Maryland (1865 special)

Thomas Holliday Hicks died, and John Creswell was appointed to his seat. He then won election to finish the rest of the term by an unknown margin of votes, for the Class 3 seat.^[7]

West Virginia

Incumbent Waitman T. Willey was re-elected by the legislature to his first full term as United States Senator, with Willey being elected as a Republican. Willey would serve his term until 1871.

1865 United States Senate election in West Virginia

← 1863

January 31, 1865

1871 →

Needed to win: Majority of votes cast jointly by the Legislature
69 votes cast; 35 votes needed


Candidate	Waitman Willey	Others
Party	Republican
Members' vote	53 votes 76.8%	16 votes 23.2%

U.S. senator before election

Waitman Willey
Unconditional Union

Elected U.S. senator

Waitman Willey
Republican

Notes

References

Party Division in the Senate, 1789-Present, via Senate.gov
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 9780160632563.

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