1858 and 1859 United States Senate elections
(Redirected from United States Senate elections, 1858)
For related races, see United States elections, 1858.
The United States Senate elections of 1858 and 1859 were elections which had the Republican Party gain five additional seats in the United States 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."
United States Senate elections, 1858 and 1859
← 1856/57 Various dates 1860/61 →
22 of the 66 seats in the United States Senate (with special elections)
34 seats needed for a majority
Majority party
Minority party
Democratic Republican
Last election
34 seats 15 seats
Seats before
Seats won
Seats after
Seat change
Seats up
Fourth party
Know Nothing Other
2 seats 4 seats
Majority Party before election
Elected Majority Party
U.S. Postage, 1958 issue, commemorating the Lincoln and Douglas debates.
As this election was prior to ratification of the seventeenth amendment, Senators were chosen by State legislatures.
Results summaryEdit
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 compositionEdit
Before the electionsEdit
D4 D5 D6 D7 D8 D9 D10 D11 D12 D13
D23 D22 D21 D20 D19 D18 D17 D16 D15 D14
D24 D25
Majority →
KN4
KN2 KN1
R17 R16 R15 R14
R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R13
As a result of the electionsEdit
Re-elected
D Loss
D# Democratic
KN# Know Nothing
R# Republican
V# Vacant
Special elections during the 35th CongressEdit
In these elections, the winners were seated during 1858 or in 1859 before March 4; ordered by election date.
(Class 1) New state Minnesota's first Senators were elected May 11, 1858.
Democratic gain.
Y Henry M. Rice (Democratic)
[Data unknown/missing.]
Y James Shields (Democratic)
(Class 3) Thomas Clingman Democratic 1858 (Appointed) Interim appointee elected November 23, 1858 to finish the term.[1]
Y Thomas Clingman (Democratic)
(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)
(Class 2) New state Oregon's first Senators were elected February 14, 1859.
Y Delazon Smith (Democratic)
Y Joseph Lane (Democratic)
Races leading to the 36th CongressEdit
In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1859; ordered by state.
All of the elections involved the Class 2 seats.
Alabama Clement Claiborne Clay Democratic 1853 (Special) Incumbent re-elected in 1858.
Y Clement Claiborne Clay (Democratic)
Arkansas William K. Sebastian Democratic 1848 (Appointed)
1848 (Special)
1853 Incumbent re-elected in 1859.
Y William K. Sebastian (Democratic)
Delaware Martin W. Bates Democratic 1857 (Special) Incumbent lost re-election.
Winner elected in 1858.
Y Willard Saulsbury, Sr. (Democratic)
Georgia Robert Toombs Democratic 1852 Incumbent re-elected in 1858.
Y Robert Toombs (Democratic)
Illinois Stephen A. Douglas Democratic 1846
1852 Incumbent re-elected January 5, 1859.
Y Stephen A. Douglas (Democratic) 54
Abraham Lincoln (Republican)) 46[2]
Iowa George Wallace Jones Democratic 1848
1852 Incumbent lost renomination.
Winner elected January 26, 1858.[3]
Republican gain.
Y James W. Grimes (Republican)
Benjamin M. Samuels (Democratic)
Kentucky John B. Thompson Know Nothing 1852 or 1853 Unknown if incumbent retired or lost re-election.
Winner elected in January 1858.
Y Lazarus W. Powell (Democratic)
Louisiana Judah P. Benjamin Democratic 1852 Incumbent re-elected in 1859.
Y Judah P. Benjamin (Whig)
Maine William P. Fessenden Republican 1854 (Special) Incumbent re-elected in 1859.
Y William P. Fessenden (Republican)
Massachusetts Henry Wilson Republican 1855 (Special) Incumbent re-elected in 1859.
Y Henry Wilson (Republican)
Michigan Charles E. Stuart Democratic 1853 Incumbent retired.
Y Kinsley S. Bingham (Republican)
Minnesota James Shields Democratic 1848 or 1849 (Illinois)
1849 (Illinois: Election voided)
1849 (Illinois: Special)
1855 (Illinois: Lost)
1858 (Minnesota) Incumbent lost re-election.
Winner elected in 1858 or 1859.
Y Morton S. Wilkinson (Republican)
James Shields (Democratic)
Mississippi Albert G. Brown Democratic 1854 (Special) Incumbent re-elected in 1859.
Y Albert G. Brown (Democratic)
New Hampshire John P. Hale Republican 1846
1853 (Retired)
Y John P. Hale (Republican)
New Jersey William Wright Democratic 1852 or 1853 Incumbent lost re-election.
Y John C. Ten Eyck (Republican)
North Carolina David Reid Democratic 1854 Incumbent lost re-election.
Y Thomas Bragg (Democratic)
Oregon Delazon Smith Democratic 1859 Incumbent lost re-election.
Legislature failed to elect.
Democratic loss.
Seat would remain vacant until 1860. Delazon Smith (Democratic)
Rhode Island Philip Allen Democratic 1853 Incumbent retired.
Y Henry B. Anthony (Republican)
South Carolina Arthur P. Hayne Democratic 1858 (Appointed) Interim appointee retired.
Winner was also elected to finish the current term, see above.
Tennessee John Bell Know Nothing 1847
1853 Unknown if incumbent retired or lost re-election.
Y Alfred O. P. Nicholson (Democratic)
Texas Sam Houston Democratic 1846
1853 Incumbent retired.
Y John Hemphill (Democratic)
Virginia Robert M. T. Hunter Democratic 1846
Y Robert M. T. Hunter (Democratic)
Race leading to the 37th CongressEdit
In this general election, the winner was elected for the term beginning March 4, 1861.
This election involved a Class 3 seat.
(Class 3) John J. Crittenden Know Nothing 1817
1819 (Resigned)
1842 (Appointed)
1842 or 1843 (Special)
Winner elected December 12, 1859, far in advance of the term.
Winner wasn't seated until term began March 4, 1861.
Y John C. Breckinridge (Democratic)
Elections during the 36th CongressEdit
In this election, the winner was elected in 1859 on or after March 4; ordered by date.
(Class 1) Matthias Ward Democratic 1858 (Appointed) Interim appointee lost nomination to finish the term.
Winner was elected December 5, 1859.
Y Louis Wigfall (Democratic)
IllinoisEdit
1859 United States Senate election in Illinois
← 1852 January 5, 1859 1864 →
Stephen Douglas Abraham Lincoln
Electoral vote
211,124[4] 244,242[4]
Main article: 1859 United States Senate election in Illinois
See also: Lincoln–Douglas debate format
The October surprise of the election was the endorsement of the Democrat Douglas by former Whig John J. Crittenden. Non-Republican former Whigs comprised the biggest block of swing voters, and Crittenden's endorsement of Douglas rather than Lincoln, also a former Whig, reduced Lincoln's chances of winning.[5]
On election day, as the districts were drawn to favor Douglas' party, the Democrats won 40 seats in the state house of Representatives, and the Republicans won 35. In the state senate, Republicans held 11 seats, and Democrats held 14. Stephen A. Douglas was reelected by the legislature, 54–46, even though Lincoln's Republicans won the popular vote with a percentage of 50.6%, or by 3,402 votes.[6] However, the widespread media coverage of the debates greatly raised Lincoln's national profile, making him a viable candidate for nomination as the Republican candidate in the upcoming 1860 presidential election. He would go on to secure both the nomination and the presidency, beating Douglas (as the Northern Democratic candidate), among others, in the process.
Lincoln also went on to be in contact with editors looking to publish the debate texts. 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, and titled the book, 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.[7]
1858 United States elections
1858 and 1859 United States House of Representatives elections
35th United States Congress
Lincoln–Douglas debates
^ 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. , page 150
^ 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. History of Senatorial Elections in Iowa: A Study in American Politics. p. 119.
^ a b "IL US Senate 1858". OurCampaigns.com. OurCampaigns. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
^ Guelzo, Allen C. (2008). Lincoln and Douglas: The Debates That Defined America. Pages 273–277, 282.
^ Guelzo, Allen C. (2008). Lincoln and Douglas: The Debates that Defined America. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster. pp. 284–285.
Party Division in the Senate, 1789-Present, via Senate.gov
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