# 1856–57 United States Senate elections

The 1856–57 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 1856 and 1857, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock. In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 1.
The young Republican Party assumed its position as one of the United States's two main political parties. The Whigs and Free Soilers were gone by the time the next Congress began.

## Results summary

Senate party division, 35th Congress (1857–1859)
* Majority party: Democratic (37–42)
* Minority party: Republican (20)
* Other party: American (4)
* Vacant: 1–0
* Total seats: 62–66

## Change in composition
### Before the elections

After the January 14, 1856 special election in Pennsylvania.
| D$_1$ | | | | | | | | | |
| D$_2$ | D$_3$ | D$_4$ | D$_5$ | D$_6$ | D$_7$ | D$_8$ | D$_9$ | D$_{10}$ | D$_{11}$ |
| D$_{21}$ | D$_{20}$ | D$_{19}$ | D$_{18}$ | D$_{17}$ | D$_{16}$ | D$_{15}$ | D$_{14}$ | D$_{13}$ | D$_{12}$ |
| D$_{22}$ | D$_{23}$ | D$_{24}$ | D$_{25}$ | D$_{26}$ Ran | D$_{27}$ Ran | D$_{28}$ Ran | D$_{29}$ Ran | D$_{30}$ Ran | D$_{31}$ Ran |
| Majority → | Majority → | Majority → | Majority → | Majority → | Majority → | Majority → | Majority → | Majority → | D$_{32}$ Ran |
| KN$_1$ | V$_1$ | V$_2$ | V$_3$ | D$_{37}$ Retired | D$_{36}$ Retired | D$_{35}$ Unknown | D$_{34}$ Unknown | D$_{33}$ Unknown | D$_{32}$ Ran |
| FS$_2$ Ran | FS$_1$ | R$_{11}$ Unknown | R$_{10}$ Ran | R$_9$ Ran | R$_8$ | R$_7$ | R$_6$ | R$_5$ | R$_4$ |
| W$_2$ | W$_3$ | W$_4$ Unknown | W$_5$ Retired | W$_6$ Retired | W$_7$ Retired | W$_8$ Retired | R$_1$ | R$_2$ | R$_3$ |
| W$_1$ | | | | | | | | | |

### As a result of the elections

| D$_1$ | | | | | | | | | |
| D$_2$ | D$_3$ | D$_4$ | D$_5$ | D$_6$ | D$_7$ | D$_8$ | D$_9$ | D$_{10}$ | D$_{11}$ |
| D$_{21}$ | D$_{20}$ | D$_{19}$ | D$_{18}$ | D$_{17}$ | D$_{16}$ | D$_{15}$ | D$_{14}$ | D$_{13}$ | D$_{12}$ |
| D$_{22}$ | D$_{23}$ | D$_{24}$ | D$_{25}$ | D$_{26}$ Re-elected | D$_{27}$ Re-elected | D$_{28}$ Re-elected | D$_{29}$ Re-elected | D$_{30}$ Re-elected | D$_{31}$ Re-elected |
| Majority → | Majority → | Majority → | Majority → | Majority → | Majority → | Majority → | Majority → | Majority → | D$_{32}$ Hold |
| FS$_1$ | KN$_1$ | KN$_2$ Gain | V$_1$ W Loss | V$_2$ | V$_3$ | V$_4$ | D$_{34}$ Gain | D$_{33}$ Hold | D$_{32}$ Hold |
| R$_{18}$ Gain | R$_{17}$ Re-elected Diff. party | R$_{16}$ Hold | R$_{15}$ Re-elected | R$_{14}$ Re-elected | R$_{13}$ | R$_{12}$ | R$_{11}$ | R$_{10}$ | R$_9$ |
| W$_2$ | W$_3$ | R$_1$ Gain | R$_2$ Gain | R$_3$ Gain | R$_4$ Gain | R$_5$ Gain | R$_6$ | R$_7$ | R$_8$ |
| W$_1$ | | | | | | | | | |

### Beginning of the next Congress

| D$_1$ | | | | | | | | | |
| D$_2$ | D$_3$ | D$_4$ | D$_5$ | D$_6$ | D$_7$ | D$_8$ | D$_9$ | D$_{10}$ | D$_{11}$ |
| D$_{21}$ | D$_{20}$ | D$_{19}$ | D$_{18}$ | D$_{17}$ | D$_{16}$ | D$_{15}$ | D$_{14}$ | D$_{13}$ | D$_{12}$ |
| D$_{22}$ | D$_{23}$ | D$_{24}$ | D$_{25}$ | D$_{26}$ | D$_{27}$ | D$_{28}$ | D$_{29}$ | D$_{30}$ | D$_{31}$ |
| Majority → | Majority → | Majority → | Majority → | Majority → | Majority → | Majority → | Majority → | Majority → | D$_{32}$ |
| KN$_2$ | KN$_3$ Changed | KN$_4$ Changed | V$_1$ | D$_{37}$ Gain | D$_{36}$ Gain | D$_{35}$ Gain | D$_{34}$ Changed | D$_{33}$ Changed | D$_{32}$ |
| KN$_1$ | R$_{20}$ | R$_{19}$ | R$_{18}$ | R$_{17}$ | R$_{16}$ | R$_{15}$ | R$_{14}$ | R$_{13}$ | R$_{12}$ |
| R$_2$ Changed | R$_3$ Changed | R$_4$ | R$_5$ | R$_6$ | R$_7$ | R$_8$ | R$_9$ | R$_{10}$ | R$_{11}$ |
| R$_1$ Changed | | | | | | | | | |
| Key: | D$_#$ Democratic FS$_#$ Free Soil KN$_#$ Know Nothing R$_#$ Republican W$_#$ Whig V$_#$ Vacant |

## Race summaries
### Elections during the 34th Congress

In these elections, the winners were seated during 1856 or in 1857 before March 4; ordered by election date.
| State | Incumbent | Incumbent | Incumbent | Results | Candidates |
| State | Senator | Party | Electoral history | Results | Candidates |
| Pennsylvania (Class 3) | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | Legislature had failed to elect. New senator elected January 14, 1856. Democratic gain. | ▌Y William Bigler (Democratic) 61.65% ▌Edward Joy Morris (Republican) 32.33% ▌John C. Flenniken (Unknown) 0.75% |
| Missouri (Class 3) | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | Legislature had failed to elect. New senator elected January 12, 1857. Democratic gain. | ▌Y James S. Green (Democratic) [data missing] |
| California (Class 3) | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | Legislature had failed to elect. Incumbent was then elected January 13, 1857. Democratic gain. | ▌Y William M. Gwin (Democratic) [data missing] |
| Delaware (Class 2) | Joseph P. Comegys | Whig | 1856 (appointed) | Interim appointee retired. New senator elected January 14, 1857. Democratic gain. | ▌Y Martin W. Bates (Democratic) [data missing] |
| Maine (Class 1) | Hannibal Hamlin | Democratic | 1856 (appointed) | Incumbent resigned to become Governor of Maine. New senator elected January 16, 1857. Republican gain. Winner was not elected to the next term, see below. | ▌Y Amos Nourse (Republican) [data missing] |
| Iowa (Class 3) | James Harlan | Free Soil | 1855 | Election invalidated January 5, 1857. Incumbent re-elected January 29, 1857 as a Republican. Republican gain. | ▌Y James Harlan (Republican) [data missing] |
| Indiana (Class 3) | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | Legislature had failed to elect. New senator elected February 4, 1857. Democratic gain. | ▌Y Graham N. Fitch (Democratic) [data missing] |

### Races leading to the 35th Congress

In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1857; ordered by state.
All of the elections involved the Class 1 seats.
| State | Incumbent | Incumbent | Incumbent | Results | Candidates |
| State | Senator | Party | Electoral history | Results | Candidates |
| California | John B. Weller | Democratic | 1852 (special) | Incumbent lost re-election. Winner elected in 1856. Democratic hold. | ▌Y David C. Broderick (Democratic) [data missing] |
| Connecticut | Isaac Toucey | Democratic | 1852 | Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1856. Republican gain. | ▌Y James Dixon (Republican) [data missing] |
| Delaware | James A. Bayard Jr. | Democratic | 1851 | Incumbent re-elected in 1857. | ▌Y James A. Bayard Jr. (Democratic) [data missing] |
| Florida | Stephen Mallory | Democratic | 1851 | Incumbent re-elected in 1857. | ▌Y Stephen Mallory (Democratic) [data missing] |
| Indiana | Jesse D. Bright | Democratic | 1844 1850 | Incumbent re-elected in 1856. | ▌Y Jesse D. Bright (Democratic) [data missing] |
| Maine | Amos Nourse | Republican | 1857 (special) | Incumbent lost re-election or retired. New senator elected in 1857. Republican hold. | ▌Y Hannibal Hamlin (Republican) [data missing] |
| Maryland | Thomas Pratt | Whig | 1850 (special) 1851 | Incumbent lost re-election or retired. New senator elected in 1856 or 1857. Know Nothing gain. | ▌Y Anthony Kennedy (Know Nothing) [data missing] |
| Massachusetts | Charles Sumner | Free Soil | 1851 (special) | Incumbent re-elected in 1857 as a Republican. Republican gain. | ▌Y Charles Sumner (Republican) [data missing] |
| Michigan | Lewis Cass | Democratic | 1844 or 1845 1848 (resigned) 1849 (special) | Incumbent lost re-election or retired. New senator elected in January 1857. Republican gain. | ▌Y Zachariah Chandler (Republican) [data missing] |
| Mississippi | Stephen Adams | Democratic | 1852 (special) | Incumbent lost re-election or retired. New senator elected in 1856 or 1857. Democratic hold. | ▌Y Jefferson Davis (Democratic) [data missing] |
| Missouri | Henry S. Geyer | Whig | 1851 | Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1857. Democratic gain. | ▌Y Trusten Polk (Democratic) [data missing] |
| New Jersey | John Renshaw Thomson | Democratic | 1853 (special) | Incumbent re-elected in 1857. | ▌Y John Renshaw Thomson (Democratic) [data missing] |
| New York | Hamilton Fish | Whig | 1851 | Incumbent retired. New senator elected February 3, 1857. Republican gain. | ▌Y Preston King (Republican) 91 ▌Daniel E. Sickles (Democratic) 34 ▌Joel T. Headley (Know Nothing) 15 |
| Ohio | Benjamin Wade | Republican | 1851 | Incumbent re-elected in 1856. | ▌Y Benjamin Wade (Republican) [data missing] |
| Pennsylvania | Richard Brodhead | Democratic | 1851 | Incumbent lost re-election or retired. New senator elected January 13, 1857. Republican gain. | ▌Y Simon Cameron (Republican) 50.38% ▌John W. Forney (Democratic) 43.61% ▌Henry D. Foster (Democratic) 5.26% ▌William Wilkins (Democratic) 0.75% |
| Rhode Island | Charles T. James | Democratic | 1850 or 1851 | Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1856. Republican gain. | ▌Y James F. Simmons (Republican) [data missing] |
| Tennessee | James C. Jones | Whig | 1851 | Incumbent retired. Legislature failed to elect. Whig loss. Seat would remain vacant until October 8, 1857; see below. | [data missing] |
| Texas | Thomas J. Rusk | Democratic | 1846 1851 | Incumbent re-elected in 1857. | ▌Y Thomas J. Rusk (Democratic) [data missing] |
| Vermont | Solomon Foot | Republican | 1850 | Incumbent re-elected in 1856. | ▌Y Solomon Foot (Republican) [data missing] |
| Virginia | James M. Mason | Democratic | 1847 (special) 1850 | Incumbent re-elected in 1856. | ▌Y James M. Mason (Democratic) [data missing] |
| Wisconsin | Henry Dodge | Democratic | 1848 1851 | Incumbent retired. New senator elected January 23, 1857. Republican gain. | ▌Y James R. Doolittle (Republican) 67.52% ▌ Charles Dunn (Democratic) 30.77% ▌ David Taylor (Republican) 0.85% "Jack Frost" 0.85% |

### Elections during the 35th Congress

In these elections, the winners were elected in 1857 after March 4; ordered by election date.
| State | Incumbent | Incumbent | Incumbent | Results | Candidates |
| State | Senator | Party | Electoral history | Results | Candidates |
| New Hampshire (Class 3) | James Bell | Republican | 1855 | Incumbent died May 25, 1857. New senator elected June 27, 1857. Republican hold. | ▌Y Daniel Clark (Republican) [data missing] |
| Tennessee (Class 1) | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | Legislature had failed to elect. New senator elected October 8, 1857. Democratic gain. | ▌Y Andrew Johnson (Democratic) [data missing] |
| South Carolina (Class 3) | Andrew Butler | Democratic | 1846 (appointed) ? (special) 1848 1854 | Incumbent died May 25, 1857. New senator elected December 7, 1857. Democratic hold. | ▌Y James H. Hammond (Democratic) [data missing] |

## Complete list of states
### Maryland

Anthony Kennedy won election by an unknown margin of votes, for the Class 1 seat.

### New York

The New York election was held February 3, 1857, by the New York State Legislature. Whig Hamilton Fish had been elected in 1851 to this seat, and his term would expire on March 3, 1857.
In 1855, the Whig Party and the Anti-Nebraska Party merged in New York to form the Republican Party.
At the State election in November 1855, 16 Republicans, 11 Americans, 4 Democrats and 1 Temperance man were elected for a two-year term (1856–1857) in the State Senate. At the State election in November 1856, 81 Republicans, 31 Democrats and 8 Americans were elected to the Assembly for the session of 1857. The 80th New York State Legislature met from January 6 to April 18, 1857, at Albany, New York.
Preston King was nominated by a caucus of Republican State legislators. King had been a Democratic congressman from 1843 to 1847, a Free Soil congressman from 1849 to 1853, and had joined the Republican Party upon its foundation at the State convention in September 1855. The convention nominated King for Secretary of State, but he was defeated by Joel T. Headley in a four-way race. Secretary of State Joel T. Headley was the candidate of the American Party. State Senator Daniel E. Sickles was the candidate of the Democratic Party.
In the Assembly the vote confirmed the party caucus selections. When State Senator Sickles received votes, the same objection to his eligibility was raised as was in 1833 regarding Nathaniel P. Tallmadge. This time, Speaker DeWitt C. Littlejohn ruled that the objection was "partially tenable and partially not so." However, the Speaker held that any member could vote for anybody, and only if the candidate received sufficient votes to win the election, a decision would be required. Otherwise, like in this case, the eligibility of an also-ran was irrelevant.
In the State Senate, only 24 votes were given. Zenas Clark (Rep.) and John B. Halsted (Rep.) were sick at home. Eaton J. Richardson (Rep.) paired with Sidney Sweet (Am.). Joseph H. Petty (Am.) was absent. William Kelly (Dem.), Mark Spencer (Dem.), and the Democratic candidate Sickles himself, declined to vote.
State Senator Justin A. Smith (Am.) raised the question if the vote for Sickles could be counted. A new State Constitution had been adopted in 1846, which had clarified the question of eligibility of State legislators. Smith quoted from the State Constitution: "No member of the Legislature shall receive any civil appointment within this State, or to the Senate of the United States, from the Governor, the Governor and Senate, or from the Legislature, during the term for which he shall have been elected; and all votes given for any such member, for any such office or appointment, shall be void." Lt. Gov. Henry R. Selden (later a judge of the New York Court of Appeals) decided to count the vote, holding that the United States Constitution described the eligibility for the office and devolved on the State legislatures only the power to prescribe the "times, places and manners of holding the elections for that office", thus not implying a right for the State governments to exclude any person who would be eligible under the U.S. Constitution.
Preston King was the choice of both the Assembly and the Senate, and was declared elected.
| House | Republican | Republican | Democrat | Democrat | American | American |
| State Senate (32 members) | Preston King | 14 | Daniel E. Sickles | 1 | Joel T. Headley | 9 |
| State Assembly (128 members) | Preston King | 77 | Daniel E. Sickles | 33 | Joel T. Headley | 6 |

### Pennsylvania
#### Pennsylvania (special)

The Class 3 election was held on January 14, 1856. William Bigler was elected by the Pennsylvania General Assembly to the United States Senate.
The Pennsylvania General Assembly had previously convened on February 13, 1855, for the regularly scheduled Senate election for the term beginning on March 4, 1855. Two ballots were recorded on February 13, followed by three on February 27, 1855. On the fifth and final ballot during this convention, former Senator Simon Cameron had led with 55 votes to future Senator Charles R. Buckalew's 23. No candidate was elected, however, and the hung election convention adjourned by a vote of 66 to 65. Upon the expiration of incumbent James Cooper's term on March 4, 1855, the seat was vacated and would remain vacant until William Bigler's election in January 1856.
On January 14, 1856, the election convention of the General Assembly re-convened and elected Democratic former Governor of Pennsylvania William Bigler on the first ballot to serve the remainder of the term that began on March 4, 1855, and would expire on March 4, 1861. The results of the vote of both houses combined are as follows:
State legislature results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | William Bigler | 82 | 61.65 |
| | Republican | Edward Joy Morris | 43 | 32.33 |
| | Unknown | John C. Flenniken | 1 | 0.75 |
| | N/A | Not voting | 7 | 5.26 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | 133 | 100.00% |

#### Pennsylvania (regular)

The Class 1 election in Pennsylvania was held on January 13, 1857. Simon Cameron was elected by the Pennsylvania General Assembly to the United States Senate.
The Pennsylvania General Assembly convened on January 13, 1857, to elect a Senator to serve the term beginning on March 4, 1857. The results of the vote of both houses combined are as follows:
State legislature results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Simon Cameron | 67 | 50.38 |
| | Democratic | John W. Forney | 58 | 43.61 |
| | Democratic | Henry D. Foster | 7 | 5.26 |
| | Democratic | William Wilkins | 1 | 0.75 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | 133 | 100.00% |