In the 1845 Iowa Territory Council elections, electors selected councilors to serve in the eighth and finalIowa Territory Council before Iowa attained statehood in 1846.[a] All 13 members of the Territory Council were elected.[b] Councilors served until the organization of the Iowa General Assembly in 1846 as the legislative branch of the new state of Iowa.
The Iowa Territory existed from July 4, 1838, until December 28, 1846, when Iowa was admitted to the Union as a state. At the time, the Iowa Territory had a Legislative Assembly consisting of an upper chamber (i.e., the Territory Council) and a lower chamber (i.e., the Territory House of Representatives). Since statehood in 1846, the General Assembly has served as the legislative branch of Iowa. The Territory Council was the predecessor to the Iowa State Senate, the upper chamber of the Iowa state legislature.
To claim a majority of seats, the Whigs needed to net five seats from Democrats.
The Democrats maintained a majority of seats in the Council following the 1845 general election with the balance of power remaining unchanged with Democrats holding 11 seats and Whigs having two seats. Democratic Councilor Stephen P. Hempstead was chosen as the President of the eighth Territory Council to succeed Democratic Councilor Serranus Clinton Hastings in that leadership position.
^ abOn December 28, 1846, Iowa was granted statehood as the twenty-ninth state in the Union. The 1845 Iowa Territory Council general election was the last held for seats in the Territorial Council. Starting in 1846, the legislative branch of the new state of Iowa would be the Iowa General Assembly, organized with the Iowa Senate as the upper chamber and Iowa House of Representatives as the lower chamber. The Territory Council with its councilors served as the precursor of the Iowa State Senate and its senators. Therefore, the 1846 Iowa Senate election determined the Senators to serve in the first Iowa General Assembly.[1]
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