The 1854–55 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 1854 and 1855, 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 3.
These elections saw the final decline of the Whig Party and the maintained majority of the Democrats. Those Whigs in the South who were opposed to secession ran on the "Opposition Party" ticket, and were elected to a minority. Along with the Whigs, the Senate roster also included Free Soilers, Know Nothings, and a new party: the Republicans. Only five of the twenty-one senators up for election were re-elected.
Incumbent lost entitlement to sit on March 16, 1854.[2] Successor elected October 14, 1854. Free Soil gain. Successor did not run for the next term, see below.
Unknown if incumbent retired or lost re-election. Legislature failed to elect. Democratic loss. Seat would remain vacant until November 26, 1855, see below.
Unknown if incumbent retired or lost re-election. Legislature failed to elect. Democratic loss. Seat would remain vacant until July 30, 1855, see below.
Democrat Charles G. Atherton had died November 15, 1853. Democrat Jared W. Williams was appointed to continue Atherton's term. Williams's appointment expired July 15, 1854 when the legislature then failed to elect a successor. Winner was electedJuly 30, 1855. Republican gain.
Democrat Benjamin Fitzpatrick's term had expired March 3, 1855. Legislature had failed to elect. Incumbent was then elected lateNovember 26, 1855. Democratic gain.
The election was held on February 6, 1855. William H. Seward had been elected in 1849 to this seat and his term would expire on March 3, 1855. At the time the Democratic Party was split into two opposing factions: the "Hards" and the "Softs". After most of the "Barnburners" had left the party, joining the Whigs, the majority of "Hunkers" split over the question of reconciliation with the minority of Barnburners who had remained Democrats. The Hard faction (led by Daniel S. Dickinson) was against it, in true Hunker fashion claiming all patronage for themselves; the Soft faction (led by William L. Marcy, which included the former Barnburners, advocated party unity as a necessity to defeat the Whigs.
In 1854, the Republican Party was founded as a national party, but in New York the Whigs and the Anti-Nebraska Party ran concurrently at the State election. The unification of these occurred in New York only during the nomination convention for the State election in November 1855. Also running in the 1854 election were the American Party and nominees of the Temperance movement. In a general way, party lines were blurred until the re-alignment during the late 1850s after the disbanding of the American Party.
In the Assembly, Seward received 69 votes, given by 65 Whigs; 1 Democrat; 1 Temperance man; 1 Republican and 1 Whig-Republican. Dickinson received 14 votes, given by 13 Democrats and 1 American. Horatio Seymour received the votes of 12 Democrats. Dix received 7 votes, given by 5 Democrats; 1 Independent Democrat and 1 Temperance man. Fillmore received 4 votes, given by 2 Whigs; 1 Democrat and 1 Temperance-American. Horatio Seymour Jr., received the votes of 2 Americans. King, Butler, Lester, Wait and Bronson received 1 Democratic vote each. Campbell received 1 Temperance-American vote. Howell received 1 American vote. Hoffman and Haven received 1 Whig vote each.
In the State Senate, Seward received 18 Whig votes, Dickinson 5 Hard votes, and Allen 2 Whig votes. Preston and Church received 1 Soft vote each. Hoffman, Babcock, Ullmann and Fillmore received 1 American vote each.
Seward was the choice of both the Assembly and the Senate, and was declared elected.
^Samuel S. Phelps (W-VT) had been appointed by the governor during a recess of the state legislature, and the legislature later convened and adjourned a session without electing a senator to replace fill the vacancy. The Senate ruled that Phelps had lost his entitlement to sit when the legislature adjourned. See Currie, David P. (May 10, 2005). The Constitution in Congress. University of Chicago Press. ISBN9780226129006.