1896–97 United States Senate elections

The 1896–97 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 1896 and 1897, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock. In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 3.

The Democratic Party lost seven seats, mostly to smaller third parties.

Results summary Senate party division, 55th Congress (1897–1899)

Majority party: Republican (43) Minority party: Democratic (33) Other parties: Populist (5); Silver (5); Silver Republican (2) Total seats: 90 Vacant: 2, later filled by 1 Republican and 1 Democrat.

Change in Senate composition

Before the elections

D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D V P P P P S Plurality ↓ S R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R

Result of the general elections

D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D P P P D D D D D D D P P S S SR SR R R R V Majority → V R R R R R R R R V R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R

Beginning of the next Congress

D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D P P D D D D D D D D P P P S S SR SR SR SR V Plurality ↓ SR V R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R Key: D Democratic P Populist R Republican S Silver SR Silver Republican V Vacant

Race summaries

Elections during the 54th Congress In these elections, the winners were seated during 1896 or in 1897 before March 4; ordered by election date.

State Incumbent Results Candidates Utah(Class 1) None (new state) Utah became a state January 4, 1896.First senators elected January 22, 1896.Republican gain. Utah(Class 3) Utah became a state January 4, 1896.First senators elected January 22, 1896.Republican gain.Winner did not run for the next term; see below. Delaware(Class 2) Vacant Legislature had failed to elect.New senator elected January 19, 1897.Democratic gain.

Elections leading to the 55th Congress

In these regular elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1897; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 3 seats.

State Incumbent Results Candidates Senator Party Electoralhistory Alabama James L. Pugh Democratic 1880 18841890 Incumbent lost renomination.New senator elected in 1897.Democratic hold. Arkansas James K. Jones Democratic 18851891 Incumbent re-elected January 20, 1897. California George Perkins Republican 1895 Incumbent re-elected January 13, 1897. Colorado Henry M. Teller Republican 18851891 Incumbent re-elected as a Silver Republican January 20, 1897.Silver Republican gain. Connecticut Orville H. Platt Republican 187918851891 Incumbent re-elected January 20, 1897. Florida Wilkinson Call Democratic 187918851891 Incumbent retired.Legislature failed to elect.Democratic loss.A new senator was later elected; see below. None. Georgia John B. Gordon Democratic 187318791880 1890 Incumbent retired.New senator elected in 1896.Democratic hold. Idaho Fred Dubois Republican 1890 Incumbent lost re-election as a Silver Republican.New senator elected January 28, 1897.Populist gain. Illinois John M. Palmer Democratic 1890 Incumbent retired.New senator elected January 20, 1897.Republican gain. Indiana Daniel W. Voorhees Democratic 1877 1879 1885 Incumbent lost re-election.New senator elected January 20, 1897.Republican gain. Iowa William B. Allison Republican 1872187818841890 Incumbent re-elected January 22, 1896. Kansas William A. Peffer Populist 1891 Incumbent lost re-election.New senator elected January 27, 1897.Populist hold. Kentucky J. C. S. Blackburn Democratic 18841890 Legislature failed to elect.Democratic loss.A new senator was later elected; see below. None. Louisiana Newton C. Blanchard Democratic 1894 1894 Incumbent retired.New senator elected May 28, 1896.Democratic hold. Maryland Charles H. Gibson Democratic 1891 1892 Incumbent retired or lost re-election.New senator elected January 22, 1896.Republican gain. Missouri George G. Vest Democratic 187918851891 Incumbent re-elected January 20, 1897. Nevada John P. Jones Silver 1873187918851891 Incumbent re-elected January 26, 1897. New Hampshire Jacob H. Gallinger Republican 1891 Incumbent re-elected January 20, 1897. New York David B. Hill Democratic 1891 Incumbent lost re-election.New senator elected January 20, 1897.Republican gain. North Carolina Jeter Pritchard Republican 1894 Incumbent re-elected January 20, 1897. North Dakota Henry C. Hansbrough Republican 1891 Incumbent re-elected January 20, 1897. Ohio Calvin S. Brice Democratic 1890 Incumbent lost re-election.New senator elected January 14, 1896.Republican gain. Oregon John H. Mitchell Republican 1885 1890 Legislature failed to elect.Republican loss.A new senator was later elected; see below. John H. Mitchell (Republican) Pennsylvania J. Donald Cameron Republican 1877 187918851891 Incumbent retired.New senator elected January 19, 1897.Republican hold. South Carolina John L. M. Irby Democratic 1884 Incumbent retired.New senator elected January 26, 1897.Democratic hold. South Dakota James H. Kyle Populist 1891 Incumbent re-elected February 18, 1897. Utah Arthur Brown Republican 1896 Incumbent retired.New senator elected February 3, 1897.Democratic gain. Vermont Justin S. Morrill Republican 18661872187818841890 Incumbent re-elected in 1896. Washington Watson C. Squire Republican 18891891 Incumbent lost re-election.New senator elected January 29, 1897.Silver Republican gain. Wisconsin William F. Vilas Democratic 1890 Incumbent lost renomination.New senator elected January 27, 1897.Republican gain.

Elections during the 55th Congress In these elections, the winners were elected in 1897 after March 4; ordered by date.

State Incumbent Results Candidates Senator Party Electoral history Ohio(Class 1) John Sherman Republican 1861 186618721877 188118861892 Incumbent resigned March 4, 1897.New senator elected March 5, 1897.Republican hold. Florida(Class 3) Vacant Legislature had failed to elect; see above.New senator elected May 14, 1897.Democratic gain. Kentucky Vacant Legislature had failed to elect; see above.New senator elected April 28, 1897.Republican gain. Oregon(Class 3) Vacant Legislature had failed to elect; see above.New senator elected May 15, 1897.Republican gain.

Maryland

George L. Wellington was elected by an unknown margin, for the Class 3 seat.

New York

The election in New York was held on January 19, 1897, by the New York State Legislature. Democrat David B. Hill had been elected to this seat in 1891, and his term would expire on March 3, 1897. At the State election in November 1895, 36 Republicans and 14 Democrats were elected for a three-year term (1896–1898) in the state senate. At the State election in November 1896, 114 Republicans and 36 Democrats were elected for the session of 1897 to the Assembly. The 120th New York State Legislature met from January 6 to April 24, 1897, at Albany, New York.

The Republican caucus met on January 14. 149 State legislators attended, and State Senator Cornelius R. Parsons (43rd D.), Ex-Mayor of Rochester, presided. The caucus nominated the Republican boss Thomas C. Platt, who had been briefly a U.S. Senator in 1881, on the first ballot.

+1897 Republican caucus for United States Senator result Candidate First ballot Thomas C. Platt 142Joseph H. Choate 7

The Democratic caucus met on January 18. 46 State legislators attended, but 5 walked out before the roll was called, after making speeches against Hill. The incumbent U.S. Senator David B. Hill was re-nominated.

+1897 Democratic caucus for United States Senator result Candidate First ballot David B. Hill 36Wilbur F. Porter 3Robert C. Titus 2

Thomas C. Platt was the choice of both the Assembly and the state senate, and was declared elected. Four anti-Hill Democrats voted for Labor leader Henry George, who later the same year ran for Mayor of New York as a "Jefferson Democrat" but died a few days before the election.

+1897 United States Senator election result House Republican DemocratState Senate (50 members) Thomas C. Platt 35David B. Hill 11Henry George 2State Assembly (150 members)Thomas C. Platt 112David B. Hill 31Henry George 2

Note: The votes were cast on January 19, but both Houses met in a joint session on January 20 to compare nominations, and declare the result.

Pennsylvania

The election in Pennsylvania was held January 19, 1897. Boies Penrose was elected by the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Incumbent Republican J. Donald Cameron, who was elected in an 1877 special election and subsequently re-elected in 1879, 1885, and 1891, was not a candidate for re-election. The Pennsylvania General Assembly, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate, convened on January 19, 1897, to elect a new senator to fill the term beginning on March 4, 1897. The results of the vote of both houses combined are as follows:

|- bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | colspan="3" align="right" | Totals | align="right" | 253 | align="right" | 100.00%

South Carolina

The election in South Carolina was a unanimous election of the Democratic nominee on January 26, 1897. The Democratic primary election was held on August 26, 1896, and September 9. The Democratic Party of South Carolina organized primary elections for the U.S. Senate beginning in 1896 and the General Assembly would confirm the choice of the Democratic voters. Conservative Democratic Joseph H. Earle won the Democratic primary and was elected by the General Assembly for a six-year term.

In 1896, Governor of South Carolina John Gary Evans entered the first ever election in the state of South Carolina for the U.S. Senate. He had the backing of Senator Ben Tillman and much of the farming interests in the state. However, the farmers' movement had largely run its course and the Tillmanite reform movement had angered a considerable number of voters in the state. Conservative Joseph H. Earle and Newberry native John T. Duncan announced their candidacy's in opposition to Governor Evans. In the primary on August 26 Evans emerged as the frontrunner, but did not garner over 50% of the vote and was forced to face Earle in a runoff election. Those who had voted for Duncan threw their support to Earle and it provided him with the margin he needed for victory over Evans.

See also 1896 United States elections 1896 United States House of Representatives elections 1896 United States presidential election 54th United States Congress 55th United States Congress

Notes

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

Members of the 55th United States Congress PROCEEDINGS OF THE CAUCUS, The New York Times, January 15, 1897 MR. HILL IS RENOMINATED, The New York Times, January 19, 1897 MANY SENATORS SELECTED; Platt Gets a Big Majority in Each House of New York's Legislature, The New York Times, January 20, 1897