1810–11 United States Senate elections

1810–11 United States Senate elections

Dates vary by state
11 of the 34 seats in the United States Senate (plus special elections) 18 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic-Republican Federalist Seats before 26 8 Seats after 26 7 Seat change 1 Seats up 8 2 Races won 8 1
Results:      Federalist hold      Dem-Republican hold      Legislature Failed To Elect
Majority Party before election Democratic-Republican Elected Majority Party Democratic-Republican

The 1810–11 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 1810 and 1811, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock.^[1] In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 2.

The Democratic-Republican Party maintained their Senate majority. The minority Federalists had gone into the elections with such a small share of Senate seats (8 out of 34, or 23.5%) that, had they won all of the elections, they would still not have reached a majority.

Change in composition

Senate Composition in 1809

Democratic-Republicans: 28 seats Federalists: 6 seats

Senate Composition in 1811

Democratic-Republicans: 30 seats Federalists: 6 seats

Key Changes

Democratic-Republicans: The Democratic-Republicans gained 2 seats, increasing their majority from 28 to 30 seats. Federalists: The number of Federalist seats remained unchanged at 6.

Context

The Democratic-Republican Party continued to dominate the Senate, reflecting the broader political landscape of the era. The period was marked by the lead-up to the War of 1812, with growing tensions between the United States and Great Britain influencing political discourse and legislative priorities.^[2]

DR7	DR6	DR5	DR4	DR3	DR2	DR1
DR8	DR9	DR10	DR11	DR12	DR13	DR14	DR15	DR16	DR17
Majority →									DR18 Ga. Ran
F8 Mass. Ran	DR26 Va. Ran	DR25 Tenn. Ran	DR24 S.C. Retired	DR23 R.I. Unknown	DR22 N.C. Ran	DR21 N.J. Ran	DR20 N.H. Ran	DR19 Ky. Retired
F7 Del. Ran	F6	F5	F4	F3	F2	F1

Result of the regular elections

DR7	DR6	DR5	DR4	DR3	DR2	DR1
DR8	DR9	DR10	DR11	DR12	DR13	DR14	DR15	DR16	DR17
Majority →									DR18 Ga. Re-elected
V1 Mass. F Loss	DR26 Va. Re-elected	DR25 Tenn. Re-elected	DR24 S.C. Hold	DR23 R.I. Hold	DR22 N.C. Re-elected	DR21 N.J. Re-elected	DR20 N.H. Re-elected	DR19 Ky. Hold
F7 Del. Re-elected	F6	F5	F4	F3	F2	F1

Key	DR# Democratic-Republican F# Federalist V# Vacant

Race summaries

Except if/when noted, number following candidates is whole number votes.

Special elections during the 11th Congress

In these special elections, the winners were seated during 1810 or before March 4, 1811; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	Electoral history
Delaware (Class 1)	Samuel White	Federalist	1796 (special) 1801 (appointed) 1803 1809	Incumbent died November 4, 1809. New senator elected January 12, 1810. Federalist hold.	▌Y Outerbridge Horsey (Federalist) 27 Blank 1[3]
New Hampshire (Class 3)	Nahum Parker	Democratic- Republican	1807	Incumbent resigned June 1, 1810. New senator elected June 21, 1810. Federalist gain.	▌Y Charles Cutts (Federalist)[a] 99 ▌Thomas W. Thompson (Federalist) 73 ▌Jedediah K. Smith (Democratic-Republican) 4 ▌Oliver Peabody (Federalist) 2 ▌Isaac Hill (Democratic-Republican) 1 Nay 5[4]
Connecticut (Class 1)	James Hillhouse	Federalist	1796 (special) 1797 1803 1809	Incumbent resigned June 10, 1810. New senator elected in June 1810. Federalist hold.	▌Y Samuel W. Dana (Federalist) 137 ▌Asa Spalding (Democratic-Republican) 19[5][6]
Ohio (Class 1)	Return J. Meigs Jr.	Democratic- Republican	1808 (special) 1808	Incumbent resigned December 8, 1810, to become Governor of Ohio. New senator elected December 15, 1810 on the sixth ballot. Democratic-Republican hold.	▌Y Thomas Worthington (Democratic-Republican) 35 ▌Samuel Huntington (Democratic-Republican) 31 ▌James Pritchard (Democratic-Republican) 2 ▌George Tod (Unknown) Eliminated ▌John Bigger (Democratic-Republican) Eliminated ▌Thomas Kirker (Democratic-Republican) Eliminated ▌Thomas Morris (Democratic-Republican) Eliminated ▌James Caldwell (Democratic-Republican) Eliminated[7][8]
South Carolina (Class 2)	Thomas Sumter	Democratic- Republican	1801 (special) 1809	Incumbent resigned December 16, 1810. New senator elected December 18, 1810 on the third ballot. Democratic-Republican hold. Winner also elected to the next term; see below.	▌Y John Taylor (Democratic-Republican) 83 ▌Joseph Alston (Democratic-Republican) 74[9]

Races leading to the 12th Congress

In these regular elections, the winner was seated on March 4, 1811 (except where noted due to late election); ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 2 seats.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	Electoral history
Delaware	James A. Bayard	Federalist	1804 (special) 1805	Incumbent re-elected January 8, 1811.	▌Y James A. Bayard (Federalist) 17 ▌James Tilton (Democratic-Republican) 9[10]
Georgia	William H. Crawford	Democratic- Republican	1807 (special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1810 or 1811.	▌Y William H. Crawford (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
Kentucky	Henry Clay	Democratic- Republican	1810 (appointed)	Appointee retired to run for U.S. House of Representatives. New senator elected January 8, 1811. Democratic-Republican hold.	▌Y George M. Bibb (Democratic-Republican) 77 ▌Christopher Greenup (Democratic-Republican) 20 ▌Matthew Lyon (Democratic-Republican) 0[11]
Massachusetts	Timothy Pickering	Federalist	1803 (special) 1805	Incumbent lost re-election. Legislature failed to elect due to partisan deadlock in the Massachusetts Senate. Federalist loss.	▌Timothy Pickering (Federalist) ▌Joseph B. Varnum (Democratic-Republican) ▌William King (Democratic-Republican) ▌Richard Cutts (Democratic-Republican) ▌Perez Morton (Unknown) ▌Josiah Quincy III (Federalist) ▌Joseph Sprague (Unknown)[12][13]
New Hampshire	Nicholas Gilman	Democratic- Republican	1804	Incumbent re-elected June 21, 1810, on the fourth ballot.	▌Y Nicholas Gilman (Democratic-Republican) ▌Jedediah K. Smith (Democratic-Republican) 78 ▌Charles Cutts (Democratic-Republican)[a] 1 ▌Oliver Peabody (Federalist) 1 Nay 1[14]
New Jersey	John Condit	Democratic- Republican	1803 (appointed) 1803 (special) 1809 (lost) 1809 (appointed) 1809 (special)	Incumbent re-elected November 5, 1810.	▌Y John Condit (Democratic-Republican) Unopposed[15]
North Carolina	James Turner	Democratic- Republican	1804	Incumbent re-elected November 28, 1810 on the third vote.	▌Y James Turner (Democratic-Republican) 106 ▌David Stone (Democratic-Republican) 83 Blank 1 ▌Benjamin Smith (Democratic-Republican) Eliminated ▌Thomas Davis (Unknown) Eliminated[16]
Rhode Island	Elisha Mathewson	Democratic- Republican	1807 (special)	Incumbent retired or lost re-election. New senator elected November 2, 1810. Democratic-Republican hold.	▌Y Jeremiah B. Howell (Democratic-Republican) 42 ▌James Burrill Jr. (Federalist) 41[17]
South Carolina	Thomas Sumter	Democratic- Republican	1801 (special) 1809	Incumbent resigned December 16, 1810. New senator elected December 18, 1810 on the third ballot. Democratic-Republican hold. Winner also elected to finish the current term; see above.	▌Y John Taylor (Democratic-Republican) 83 ▌Joseph Alston (Democratic-Republican) 74[9]
Tennessee	Jenkin Whiteside	Democratic- Republican	1809 (special)	Incumbent re-elected early October 28, 1809.	▌Y Jenkin Whiteside (Democratic-Republican) 39 Unopposed[18]
Virginia	William B. Giles	Democratic- Republican	1804 (appointed) 1804 (special) 1804	Incumbent re-elected January 2, 1811.	▌Y William B. Giles (Democratic-Republican) 123 Scattering 15[19]

Special elections during the 12th Congress

In these special elections, the winners were seated in 1811 after March 4; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	Electoral history
Massachusetts (Class 2)	Vacant			Legislature had failed to elect; see above. New senator elected late June 6, 1811 on the second ballot. Democratic-Republican gain.	▌Y Joseph Varnum (Democratic-Republican) 341 ▌Timothy Pickering (Federalist) 267[20]
Tennessee (Class 2)	Jenkin Whiteside	Democratic- Republican	1809 (special)	Incumbent resigned October 8, 1811. New senator elected October 1, 1811. Democratic-Republican hold.	▌Y George W. Campbell (Democratic-Republican) 38 Unopposed[21]
Rhode Island (Class 1)	Christopher G. Champlin	Federalist	1809 (special)	Incumbent resigned October 12, 1811. New senator elected October 28, 1811. Federalist hold.	▌Y William Hunter (Federalist) Unanimous[22]

Connecticut (special)

See also: List of United States senators from Connecticut and 1810 United States House of Representatives election in Connecticut

Delaware

See also: List of United States senators from Delaware and 1810 United States House of Representatives election in Delaware

Delaware (regular)

Delaware (special)

Georgia

See also: List of United States senators from Georgia and 1810 United States House of Representatives election in Georgia

Kentucky

See also: List of United States senators from Kentucky and 1810 United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky

Massachusetts

See also: List of United States senators from Massachusetts and 1810–1811 United States House of Representatives elections in Massachusetts

Massachusetts (regular)

Massachusetts (special)

New Hampshire

See also: List of United States senators from New Hampshire and 1810–1811 United States House of Representatives election in New Hampshire

New Hampshire (regular)

New Hampshire (special)

New Jersey

See also: List of United States senators from New Jersey and 1810 United States House of Representatives election in New Jersey

North Carolina

See also: List of United States senators from North Carolina and 1810 United States House of Representatives elections in North Carolina

Ohio (special)

See also: List of United States senators from Ohio and 1810 United States House of Representatives election in Ohio

Rhode Island

See also: List of United States senators from Rhode Island and 1810 United States House of Representatives election in Rhode Island

Rhode Island (regular)

Rhode Island (special)

South Carolina

See also: List of United States senators from South Carolina and 1810 United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina

South Carolina (regular)

South Carolina (special)

Tennessee

See also: List of United States senators from Tennessee and 1811 United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee

Tennessee (regular)

Tennessee (special)

Virginia

See also: List of United States senators from Virginia and 1811 United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia

See also

• 1810 United States elections
  • 1810–11 United States House of Representatives elections
• 11th United States Congress
• 12th United States Congress

Notes

1. Charles Cutts (NH) has conflicting accounts of whether he was a Democratic-Republican or a Federalist.

References

1. "17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Direct Election of U.S. Senators (1913)". National Archives and Records Administration. February 8, 2022.
2. "U.S. Senate: Party Division". www.senate.gov. Retrieved 2024-07-29.
3. "Delaware 1810 U.S. Senate, Special". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved January 25, 2018., citing Journal of the Delaware House of Representatives, 1810. 26.
4. "New Hampshire 1810 U.S. Senate, Special". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Archived from the original on March 14, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2018., citing Concord Gazette (Concord, NH). June 26, 1810.
5. "Connecticut 1810 U.S. Senate". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved January 26, 2018., citing Connecticut Mirror (Hartford, CT). June 4, 1810.
6. "Connecticut". The enquirer. Richmond, Va. June 12, 1810. p. 3. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
7. Taylor, William A. (1900). Ohio in Congress from 1803 to 1901 with Notes nad Sketches of Senators and Representatives and Other Historical Data and Incidents. Columbus, Ohio: The XX. Century Publishing Co. – via Google Books.
8. "Ohio 1810 U.S. Senate, Special, Ballot 6". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved January 26, 2018., citing Muskingum Messenger (Zanesville, OH). December 8, 1810. Liberty Hall (Cincinnati, OH). December 24, 1810. The Western Spy (Cincinnati, OH). December 29, 1810, Taylor, William A. (1899). Ohio Statesmen and Annals of Progress: From the year 1788 to the year 1900. Columbus, Ohio: Press of the Westbote. p. 68.
9. "South Carolina 1810 U.S. Senate, Special, Ballot 3". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved January 29, 2018., citing The Spirit of 'Seventy-Six (Washington, DC). January 1, 1811.
10. "Delaware 1811 U.S. Senate". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved January 25, 2018., citing American Watchman; and Delaware Republican (Wilmington, DE). January 12, 1811.
11. "Kentucky 1811 U.S. Senate". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved January 29, 2018., citing The Reporter (Lexington, KY). January 12, 1811.
12. "Massachusetts 1810 U.S. Senate, House of Representatives Vote". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved January 29, 2018., citing Columbian Centinel. Massachusetts Federalist (Boston, MA). June 9, 1810.
13. "Massachusetts 1810 U.S. Senate, State Senate Vote, Ballot 4". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved January 29, 2018., citing Columbian Centinel. Massachusetts Federalist (Boston, MA). June 16, 1810.
14. "New Hampshire 1810 U.S. Senate, Ballot 4". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved January 25, 2018., citing Concord Gazette (Concord, NH). June 26, 1810. Farmer's Museum (Walpole, NH). July 2, 1810.
15. "New Jersey 1810 U.S. Senate". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved February 22, 2018., citing The True American and Commercial Advertiser (Philadelphia, PA). November 9, 1810.
16. "North Carolina 1810 U.S. Senate, Ballot 3". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Archived from the original on March 15, 2020. Retrieved February 22, 2018., citing The True Republican, and Newbern Weekly Advertiser (New Bern, NC). December 5, 1810.
17. "Rhode Island 1810 U.S. Senate". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved February 19, 2018., citing The Columbian Phenix (Providence, RI). November 3, 1810.
18. "Tennessee 1809 U.S. Senate". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved January 29, 2018., citing Journal of the Tennessee House of Representatives, 1809. 115.
19. "Virginia 1811 U.S. Senate". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved February 22, 2018., citing Independent American (Georgetown, DC). January 8, 1811.
20. "Massachusetts 1811 U.S. Senate, State Senate Vote, Ballot 2". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved January 29, 2018., citing American Watchman; and Delaware Republican (Wilmington, DE). June 15, 1811. Norfolk Gazette and Publick Ledger (Norfolk, VA). June 17, 1811. Republican Star or Eastern Shore General Advertiser (Easton, MD). June 18, 1811.
21. "Tennessee 1811 U.S. Senate, Special". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved January 29, 2018., citing Wilson's Knoxville Gazette (Knoxville, TN). October 7, 1811.
22. "Rhode Island 1811 U.S. Senate, Special". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved February 19, 2018., citing The True American and Commercial Advertiser (Philadelphia, PA). November 8, 1811.

External links

• Party Division in the Senate, 1789-Present, via Senate.gov