Complex sentence: He successfully contested the election of John Edwards to the Forty-second Congress and again served from February 9,1872 until March 3,1873, but he was not a candidate for renomination in 1872.
Split into simpler sentences: He successfully contested the election of John Edwards to the Forty-second Congress and served from February 9,1872, until March 3,1873. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1872.