 As a result of the 1824 elections, the Relief faction gained a 22 – 16 majority in the state Senate and a 61 – 39 majority in the House. The pro-Relief majority in the state Senate subsequently elected Rowan to the U.S. Senate, which had the inadvertent effect of weakening the faction's cause in the House by removing its leader there. Rowan served in the Senate from March 4, 1825 to March 3, 1831. During the Twenty-first Congress, he was chairman of the Judiciary Committee.
