United States Senate elections, 1896 and 1897

United States Senate elections, 1896 and 1897

Dates vary by state
30 of the 90 seats in the U.S. Senate (as well as special elections) 46 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Party Republican Democratic Seats before 44 39 Seats won 15 7 Seats after 46 32 Seat change 2 7 Seats up 13 14   Third party Fourth party Fifth party   Party Populist Silver Republican Silver Seats before 4 0 2 Seats won 3 2 1 Seats after 5 2 2 Seat change 1 2 Seats up 2 0 1
Majority Party before election Republican Elected Majority Party Republican

Senate composition by State, 55th Congress

The United States Senate elections of 1896 and 1897 were elections in which the Democratic Party lost seven seats in the United States Senate, mostly to smaller third parties.

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

Results summary

Senate Party Division, 55th Congress (1897–1899)

• Majority Party: Republican (43)
• Minority Party: Democratic (33)
• Other Parties: Populist (5); Silver (5); Silver Republican (2)
• Total Seats: 90
• Vacant: 2, later filled by 1 Republican and 1 Democrat.

Change in Senate composition

Before the elections

Result of the general elections

Beginning of the next Congress

Race summaries

Elections during the 54th Congress

In these elections, the winners were seated during 1896 or in 1897 before March 4; ordered by election date.

Elections leading to the 55th Congress

In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1897; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 3 seats.

Elections during the 55th Congress

In these elections, the winners were elected in 1897 after March 4; ordered by date.

Complete list of races

New York

The election in New York was held on January 19, 1897 by the New York State Legislature. Democrat David B. Hill had been elected to this seat in 1891, and his term would expire on March 3, 1897. At the State election in November 1895, 36 Republicans and 14 Democrats were elected for a three-year term (1896-1898) in the State Senate. At the State election in November 1896, 114 Republicans and 36 Democrats were elected for the session of 1897 to the Assembly. The 120th New York State Legislature met from January 6 to April 24, 1897, at Albany, New York.

The Republican caucus met on January 14. 149 State legislators attended, and State Senator Cornelius R. Parsons (43rd D.), Ex-Mayor of Rochester, presided. The caucus nominated the Republican boss Thomas C. Platt, who had been briefly a U.S. Senator in 1881, on the first ballot.

The Democratic caucus met on January 18. 46 State legislators attended, but 5 walked out before the roll was called, after making speeches against Hill. The incumbent U.S. Senator David B. Hill was re-nominated.

Thomas C. Platt was the choice of both the Assembly and the State Senate, and was declared elected. Four anti-Hill Democrats voted for Labor leader Henry George who later the same year ran for Mayor of New York as a "Jefferson Democrat" but died a few days before the election.

Note: The votes were cast on January 19, but both Houses met in a joint session on January 20 to compare nominations, and declare the result.

Pennsylvania

The election in Pennsylvania was held January 19, 1897. Boies Penrose was elected by the Pennsylvania General Assembly.^[23] Incumbent Republican J. Donald Cameron, who was elected in an 1877 special election and subsequently re-elected in 1879, 1885, and 1891, was not a candidate for re-election. The Pennsylvania General Assembly, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate, convened on January 19, 1897, to elect a new Senator to fill the term beginning on March 4, 1897. The results of the vote of both houses combined are as follows:

South Carolina

The election in South Carolina was a unanimous election of the Democratic nominee on January 26, 1897. The Democratic primary election was held on August 26, 1896 and September 9. The Democratic Party of South Carolina organized primary elections for the U.S. Senate beginning in 1896 and the General Assembly would confirm the choice of the Democratic voters. Conservative Democratic Joseph H. Earle won the Democratic primary and was elected by the General Assembly for a six-year term.

In 1896, Governor of South Carolina John Gary Evans entered the first ever election in the state of South Carolina for the U.S. Senate. He had the backing of Senator Ben Tillman and much of the farming interests in the state. However, the farmers' movement had largely run its course and the Tillmanite reform movement had angered a considerable number of voters in the state. Conservative Joseph H. Earle and Newberry native John T. Duncan announced their candidacy's in opposition to Governor Evans. In the primary on August 26 Evans emerged as the frontrunner, but did not garner over 50% of the vote and was forced to face Earle in a runoff election. Those who had voted for Duncan threw their support to Earle and it provided him with the margin he needed for victory over Evans.

See also

• United States elections, 1896
  • United States House of Representatives elections, 1896
  • United States presidential election, 1896
• 54th United States Congress
• 55th United States Congress

Notes

References

• Party Division in the Senate, 1789-Present, via Senate.gov
• Clark, Dan Elbert (1913). "History of Senatorial Elections in Iowa". Iowa City, Iowa. 
• Cox, Harold (January 31, 2007). "Pennsylvania Election Statistics: 1682-2006". The Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University. 

• Jordan, Frank E. The Primary State: A History of the Democratic Party in South Carolina, 1876-1962. p. 54. 
• "Evans Makes a Denial". New York Times. June 23, 1896. p. 5. 
• "Hope for South Carolina". New York Times. September 23, 1896. p. 9. 
• Members of the 55th United States Congress
• PROCEEDINGS OF THE CAUCUS, The New York Times, January 15, 1897
• MR. HILL IS RENOMINATED, The New York Times, January 19, 1897
• MANY SENATORS SELECTED; Platt Gets a Big Majority in Each House of New York's Legislature, The New York Times, January 20, 1897