Contents

1882–83 United States Senate elections

1882–83 United States Senate elections

← 1880 & 1881 Dates vary by state[a] 1884 & 1885 →
26 of the 76 seats in the United States Senate (with special elections) 39 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Henry B. Anthony[b] (retired) George H. Pendleton[c] Party Republican Democratic Leader since March 4, 1863 March 4, 1881 Leader's seat Rhode Island Ohio Seats before 37 37 Seats won 11 13 Seats after 37 36 Seat change 1 Seats up 11 14   Third party Fourth party   Party Readjuster Independent Seats before 1 1 Seats won 1 0 Seats after 2 0 Seat change 1 1 Seats up 0 1
Results of the elections:      Democratic gain      Democratic hold      Republican gain      Republican hold      Readjuster gain      Legislature failed to elect
Majority Party before election Republican[1] Elected Majority Party Republican[1]

The 1882–83 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 1882 and 1883, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock.^[2] In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 2.

The Republicans retained a narrow majority — 39 (and later 40) out of 76 seats — with the Readjusters in their caucus.

Results summary[edit]

Colored shading indicates party with largest share of that row.

Parties						Total
		Democratic	Independent	Readjuster	Republican
Before these elections		37	1	1	37	76
Not up		23	0	1	26	50
	Class 1 (1880/81 → 1886/87)	9	0	1	15	25
	Class 3 (1878/79 → 1884/85)	14	0	0	11	25
Up		15	1	0	13	29
	Regular: Class 2	14	1	0	11	26
	Special: Class 1	0	0	0	0	0
	Special: Class 2	1	0	0	2	3
	Special: Class 3	0	0	0	0	0
Regular election
Incumbent retired		3	1	0	3	7
	Held by same party	2	0	—	2	4
	Replaced by other party	1 Independent replaced by 1 Republican 1 Republican replaced by 1 Democrat 1 Democrat replaced by 1 Republican				3
	Result	3	0	0	4	7
Incumbent ran		11	0	0	8	19
	Won re-election	10	0	0	4	14
	Lost re-election and gained by other party	1 Democrat replaced by 1 Readjuster				1
	Lost re-election without an elected successor	1 Republican lost and legislature failed to elect				1
	Lost renomination but held by same party	0	0	0	3	3
	Result	10	0	1	7	18
Total elected		13	0	1	11	25
Net change		1	1	1		3
Result		36	0	2	37	75

Change in Senate composition[edit]

Before the elections[edit]

After the November 15, 1882 special election in Georgia.

After the elections[edit]

Race summaries[edit]

Special elections during the 47th Congress[edit]

In these elections, the winners were seated during 1882 or in 1883 before March 4; ordered by election date.

Races leading to the 48th Congress[edit]

In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1883; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 2 seats.

Elections during the 48th Congress[edit]

In this election, the winner was elected in 1883 after March 4.

Iowa[edit]

On January 25, 1882, the Iowa General Assembly elected James W. McDill (Republican) to finish the term over Moses M. Ham and Daniel Campbell.^[3] James F. Wilson (Republican) was elected to the full six-year term on January 25, 1882, over La Vega G. Kinne and Daniel P. Stubbs.^[3]

West Virginia[edit]

1883 United States Senate election in West Virginia

← 1877 January 23, 1883 1889 →
Needed to win: Majority of votes cast in each House of the Legislature 62 votes cast in the House, 32 needed 26 votes cast in the Senate, 14 needed
Candidate John E. Kenna George Loomis Party Democratic Republican House vote 37 votes 59.7% 22 votes 35.5% Senate vote 17 votes 65.4% 7 votes 26.9%
U.S. senator before election Henry G. Davis Democratic Elected U.S. Senator John E. Kenna Democratic

On January 23, 1883, each House of the West Virginia Legislature chose a senator to replace retiring incumbent, Henry G. Davis. In both chambers, the ballot was a three-way race between John E. Kenna, a Democratic congressman, George Loomis, a state judge and former state senator, and Berkeley County resident John Tabb Janney.^[7] In the House, the final count was 37 votes for Kenna, 22 votes for Loomis, and 3 votes for Janney. In the Senate, the final count was 17 votes for Kenna, 7 votes for Loomis, and 2 votes for Janney.^[8] Kenna, having received the majority of votes in both chambers, was declared duly elected as senator.

See also[edit]

• 1882 United States elections
  • 1882 United States House of Representatives elections
• 47th United States Congress
• 48th United States Congress

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

• Party Division in the Senate, 1789-Present, via Senate.gov
• Clark, Dan Elbert (1912). History of Senatorial Elections in Iowa. Iowa City, Iowa: State Historical Society of Iowa.