List of Speaker of the United States House of Representatives elections
December 1859 – February 1860
An election for speaker took place over the course of eight weeks, December 5, 1859 through February 1, 1860, at the start of the 36th Congress, following the 1858–59 elections in which the Republicans won a plurality of the seats.

List of Speaker of the United States House of Representatives elections

Section Title: December 1859 – February 1860
Table Section Text: An election for speaker took place over the course of eight weeks, December 5, 1859 through February 1, 1860, at the start of the 36th Congress, following the 1858–59 elections in which the Republicans won a plurality of the seats.

1859–60 election for speaker

December 5, 1859 – 1st ballot

Candidate	Votes	Percent

Thomas S. Bocock (D–Virginia)	86	37.40%

John Sherman (R–Ohio)	66	28.70%

Galusha A. Grow (R–Pennsylvania)	43	18.70%

Alexander Boteler (O–Virginia)	14	6.08%

Thomas A. R. Nelson (O–Tennessee)	5	2.17%

John A. Gilmer (O–North Carolina)	3	1.30%

Garnett Adrain (ALD–New Jersey)	2	0.87%

John G. Davis (ALD–Indiana)	2	0.87%

John B. Haskin (ALD–New York)	2	0.87%

Others	7	3.04%

Total votes:	230

Votes necessary:	116

February 1, 1860 – 44th ballot

Candidate	Votes	Percent

William Pennington (R–New Jersey)	117	50.22%

John A. McClernand (D–Illinois)	85	36.48%

John A. Gilmer (O–North Carolina)	16	6.86%

Martin J. Crawford (D–Georgia)	4	1.72%

William N. H. Smith (O–North Carolina)	4	1.72%

John McQueen (D–South Carolina)	2	0.86%

Others	5	2.14%

Total votes:	233

Votes necessary:	117

Sentence(s)

Following an election for speaker of the House of Representatives for 44 ballots from December 5, 1859 to February 1, 1860, William Pennington was elected to the post.

final_sentence: Following an election for speaker of the House of Representatives for 44 ballots from December 5, 1859 to February 1, 1860, William Pennington was elected to the post.