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1802–03 United States Senate elections
11 of the 32 seats in the United States Senate (plus special elections); 17 seats needed for a majority
	Results:; Dem-Republican hold Dem-Republican gain; Federalist hold Legislature failed to elect
Majority Party before election; ; Democratic-Republican	Elected Majority Party ; ; Democratic-Republican

The 1802–03 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 1802 and 1803, 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 1.

The Democratic-Republican Party maintained and greatly expanded their majority of seats to over two-thirds of the Senate.

Change in composition

Before the elections

Accounting for the 1802 special elections in New York, Rhode Island, and South Carolina.

DR₆	DR₅	DR₄	DR₃	DR₂ S.C. (sp) Hold	DR₁ N.Y. (sp) Hold
DR₇	DR₈	DR₉	DR₁₀	DR₁₁	DR₁₂	DR₁₃	DR₁₄	DR₁₅	DR₁₆ Va. (reg) Ran
Majority →									DR₁₇ Tenn. Unknown
F₇ Conn. Ran	F₈ Del. Ran	F₉ Md. Ran	F₁₀ N.J. (reg) Ran	F₁₁ N.Y. (reg) Ran	F₁₂ Vt. Ran	F₁₃ R.I. Retired	F₁₄ Pa. Retired	F₁₅ Mass. Retired	DR₁₇ Tenn. Unknown
F₆	F₅	F₄	F₃	F₂	F₁ R.I. (sp) Hold

Result of the regular elections

DR₆	DR₅	DR₄	DR₃	DR₂	DR₁
DR₇	DR₈	DR₉	DR₁₀	DR₁₁	DR₁₂	DR₁₃	DR₁₄	DR₁₅	DR₁₆ Md. Re-elected
Majority →									DR₁₇ N.Y. (reg) Gain
F₇ Conn. Re-elected	F₈ Del. Re-elected	F₉ Mass. Hold	V₁ N.J. (reg) Fed loss	V₂ Tenn. DR loss	DR₂₁ Va. (reg) Gain	DR₂₀ Vt. Gain	DR₁₉ R.I. Gain	DR₁₈ Pa. Gain	DR₁₇ N.Y. (reg) Gain
F₆	F₅	F₄	F₃	F₂	F₁

Beginning of the first session, October 17, 1803

DR₇	DR₆	DR₅	DR₄	DR₃	DR₂	DR₁
DR₈	DR₉	DR₁₀	DR₁₁	DR₁₂	DR₁₃	DR₁₄	DR₁₅	DR₁₆	DR₁₇
Majority →									DR₁₈
F₈	F₉	DR₂₅ Ohio New state	DR₂₄ Ohio New state	DR₂₃ N.J. (reg) Appointee elected	DR₂₂ Tenn. Re-elected	DR₂₁	DR₂₀	DR₁₉	DR₁₈
F₇	F₆	F₅	F₄	F₃	F₂	F₁

Key:

DR_#	Democratic-Republican
F_#	Federalist
V_#	Vacant

Race summaries

Unless noted, the number following candidates is the whole number vote(s), not a percentage.

Special elections during the 7th Congress

In these special elections, the winner was seated before March 4, 1803; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
New York (Class 3)	John Armstrong Jr.	Democratic- Republican	1800 (special)	Incumbent resigned February 5, 1802. Winner elected February 11, 1802. Democratic-Republican hold.	▌Y DeWitt Clinton (Democratic-Republican) 82 ▌Matthew Clarkson (Federalist) 45^[2]
New Hampshire (Class 3)	James Sheafe	Federalist	1800	Incumbent resigned June 14, 1802. Winner elected June 17, 1802. Federalist hold.	▌Y William Plumer (Federalist) 86 ▌Nicholas Gilman (Democratic-Republican) 70 ▌Nahum Parker (Democratic-Republican) 2^[3]
South Carolina (Class 3)	John E. Colhoun	Democratic- Republican	1800	Incumbent died October 26, 1802. Winner elected November 4, 1802. Democratic-Republican hold.	▌Y Pierce Butler (Democratic-Republican) 103 ▌Thomas Edwards (Unknown) 3 ▌R. Anderson (Unknown) 1 ▌John Douglass (Unknown) 1 ▌E. More (Unknown) 1 ▌[FNU] Pickens (Unknown) 1 ▌A. B. Stark (Unknown) 1 ▌[FNU] Tucker (Unknown) 1 ▌B. Waring (Unknown) 1 Nothing 1 Blank 11^[4]

Races leading to the 8th Congress

In these regular elections, the winner was seated on March 4, 1803; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 1 seats.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Connecticut	James Hillhouse	Federalist	1796	Incumbent re-elected October 27, 1802.	▌Y James Hillhouse (Federalist) 117 ▌Ephraim Kirby (Democratic-Republican) 53 ▌Oliver Ellsworth (Federalist) 2 ▌Nathaniel Smith (Federalist) 1^[5]
Delaware	Samuel White	Federalist	1801 (appointed)	Incumbent re-elected January 11, 1803.	▌Y Samuel White (Federalist) 20 ▌George Read (Democratic-Republican) 9^[6]
Maryland	John E. Howard	Federalist	1796 (special) 1796	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected November 17, 1802. Democratic-Republican gain.	▌Y Samuel Smith (Democratic-Republican) 46 ▌John Eager Howard (Federalist) 30^[7]
Massachusetts	Jonathan Mason	Federalist	1800 (special)	Incumbent retired. New senator elected February 7, 1803, on the fourth ballot. Federalist hold.	▌Y John Quincy Adams (Federalist) 105 ▌Thompson J. Skinner (Democratic-Republican) 70 ▌Nicholas Tillinghast (Federalist) 9 ▌Timothy Pickering (Federalist) 6^[8]
New Jersey	Aaron Ogden	Federalist	1801 (special)	Incumbent lost re-election. Legislature failed to elect. Federalist loss.	▌Joseph Bloomfield (Democratic-Republican) 26 ▌Aaron Ogden (Federalist) 26^[9]
New York	Gouverneur Morris	Federalist	1800 (special)	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected February 1, 1803, on the 2nd ballot. Democratic-Republican gain.	▌Y Theodorus Bailey (Democratic-Republican) 59 ▌John Woodworth (Democratic-Republican) 57 ▌Gouverneur Morris (Federalist) eliminated on 1st ballot^[10]
Pennsylvania	James Ross	Federalist	1794 (special) 1797	Incumbent retired. New senator elected December 14, 1802. Democratic-Republican gain.	▌Y Samuel Maclay (Democratic-Republican) 59.46% ▌Isaac Weaver Jr. (Democratic-Republican) 25.23% ▌William Maclay (Democratic-Republican) 9.91% Not voting 5.41%
Rhode Island	Theodore Foster	Federalist	1796	Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1802. Democratic-Republican gain.	▌Y Samuel J. Potter (Democratic-Republican) Unopposed^[11]
Tennessee	Joseph Anderson	Democratic- Republican	1799 (special)	Legislature did not elect until September 22, 1803, after the term began; see below. Democratic-Republican loss.	None.
Vermont	Nathaniel Chipman	Federalist	1797 (special)	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected in 1802. Democratic-Republican gain.	▌Y Israel Smith (Democratic-Republican), 111 ▌Abel Spencer (Federalist), 79 Scattering 6^[12]
Virginia	Stevens Mason	Democratic- Republican	1794 (special) 1796	Incumbent re-elected in 1803.	▌Y Stevens Mason (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]

Special elections during the 8th Congress

In this special election, the winner was seated in 1803 after March 4.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Ohio (Class 1)	None (new state)			Ohio joined the Union in 1803. Winner elected April 1, 1803. Democratic-Republican gain.	▌Y John Smith (Democratic-Republican)
Ohio (Class 3)	None (new state)			Ohio joined the Union in 1803. Winner elected April 1, 1803. Democratic-Republican gain.	▌Y Thomas Worthington (Democratic-Republican)
Tennessee (Class 1)	Vacant			Legislature had failed to elect. Predecessor re-elected late September 22, 1803 on the 4th ballot. Democratic-Republican gain.	▌Y Joseph Anderson (Democratic-Republican) 19 ▌Daniel Smith (Democratic-Republican) 17^[13]
New Jersey (Class 1)	John Condit	Democratic- Republican	1803 (appointed)	Legislature failed to elect. Condit was appointed September 1, 1803, to continue the term. He was then elected November 3, 1803.	▌Y John Condit (Democratic-Republican) Unanimous^[14]^[15]
Virginia (Class 1)	John Taylor	Democratic- Republican	1792 (special) 1793	Predecessor Stevens T. Mason (DR) had died May 10, 1803, having just begun the new term. Interim appointee served from June 4, 1803, and did not seek election to finish the term. Winner elected December 7, 1803. Democratic-Republican hold.	▌Y Abraham B. Venable (Democratic-Republican) Unanimous^[16]

Early race leading to the Congress-after-next

In this regular election, the winner was seated on March 4, 1805; ordered by state.

This election involved a Class 2 seat.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Tennessee	William Cocke	Democratic- Republican	1799 (special)	Incumbent retired. New senator elected early September 23, 1803. Democratic-Republican hold.	▌Y Daniel Smith (Democratic-Republican) 35 ▌Jenkin Whiteside (Democratic-Republican) 1^[17]

Connecticut

Federalist incumbent James Hillhouse (originally elected in 1796) was re-elected.

Delaware

Maryland

Samuel Smith won election over John Eager Howard by a margin of 21.05%, or 16 votes, for the Class 1 seat.^[18]

Massachusetts

New Hampshire (special)

New Jersey

There were two elections to the class 1 seat.

New Jersey (regular)

The New Jersey legislature failed to elect by the March 4, 1803, beginning of the term.

New Jersey (special)

The governor appointed Democratic-Republican John Condit September 1, 1803, to continue the term. Condit was then unanimously elected November 3, 1803, to finish the term. No vote totals were recorded.^[19]

New York

New York (special)

Democratic-Republican John Armstrong Jr., who had held the class 3 seat since 1801, resigned February 5, 1802, and Democratic-Republican DeWitt Clinton was elected February 23, 1802, to finish the term. Clinton, however, resigned November 4, 1803, and Armstrong was appointed December 8, 1803, to his old seat.

New York (regular)

Federalist Gouverneur Morris lost re-election to the class 1 seat to Democratic-Republican Theodorus Bailey in 1803.

Ohio

Ohio joined the Union in 1803. New Democratic-Republican senators were elected April 1, 1803. Official records indicate that John Smith and Thomas Worthington were elected, and that Smith received the "long" term, while Worthington received the "short" one. They do not indicate if there were other candidates, or what the vote totals were.^[20]

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina (special)

Tennessee

Vermont

Federalist Senator Nathaniel Chipman lost re-election to Democratic-Republican Israel Smith. Smith received 102 votes in the Vermont House of Representatives and 9 from the Governor and Council.^[12] Spencer received 75 votes from the House and 4 from the Governor and Council.^[12]

Virginia

There were two elections to the same seat as the newly-re-elected senator died at the beginning of the next term.

Virginia (regular)

Two-term Democratic-Republican Stevens Mason was re-elected in 1803.

Virginia (special)

Mason died May 10, 1803, having just begun the new term. Democratic-Republican John Taylor was appointed but chose not to run to finish the term. Democratic-Republican Abraham B. Venable was elected December 7, 1803, as the unanimous choice of the Virginia General Assembly. No vote totals were recorded.^[16]

References

^ "17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Direct Election of U.S. Senators (1913)". National Archives and Records Administration. February 8, 2022.
^ "New York 1802 U.S. Senate, Special". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved January 30, 2018., citing The Poughkeepsie Journal (Poughkeepsie, NY). February 16, 1802.
^ "New Hampshire 1802 U.S. Senate, Special". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved January 30, 2018., citing Courier of New Hampshire (Concord, NH). June 24, 1802. The Providence Gazette (Providence, RI). July 3, 1802.
^ "South Carolina 1802 U.S. Senate, Special". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved January 30, 2018., citing Original Election Returns. South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia. The Carolina Gazette (Charleston, SC). December 16, 1802. National Intelligencer and Washington Advertiser (Washington, DC). December 22, 1802.
^ "Connecticut 1802 U.S. Senate". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved January 30, 2018., citing American Mercury (Hartford, CT). November 4, 1802.
^ "Delaware 1803 U.S. Senate". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved January 30, 2018., citing Journal of the Delaware State Senate, 1803. 13-14.
^ "Maryland 1802 U.S. Senate". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved January 30, 2018., citing Votes and Proceedings of the Maryland State Senate, 1802. 10.
^ "Massachusetts 1803 U.S. Senate, Ballot 4". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved January 30, 2018., citing Columbian Centinel. Massachusetts Federalist (Boston, MA). February 5, 1803. The Independent Chronicle (Boston, MA). February 7, 1803. Columbian Centinel. Massachusetts Federalist (Boston, MA). February 9, 1803. Hampshire Gazette (Northampton, MA). February 9, 1803. Boston Gazette (Boston, MA). February 10, 1803. Republican Star or Eastern Shore General Advertiser (Easton, MD). March 1, 1803. Frederick-Town Herald (Fredericktown, MD). March 5, 1803.
^ "New Jersey 1802 U.S. Senate, Ballot 2". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved January 30, 2018., citing Middlebury Mercury (Middlebury, VT). December 15, 1802.
^ "New York 1803 U.S. Senate, Ballot 2". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved January 30, 2018., citing Journal of the New York Assembly, 1803. 39-40.
^ "Rhode Island 1802 U.S. Senate". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved January 31, 2018., citing The Providence Phoenix (Providence, RI). November 2, 1802.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Bennington: October 25, 1802". City Gazette. Charleston, South Carolina. November 20, 1802. p. 2 – via GenealogyBank.com.
^ "Tennessee 1803 U.S. Senate, Ballot 4". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved February 1, 2018., citing Journal of the Tennessee House of Representatives, 1803. 21-22.
^ "New Jersey 1803 U.S. Senate". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved January 30, 2018., citing The Centinel of Freedom (Newark, NJ). November 8, 1803.
^ "Our Campaigns - Candidate - John Condit". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved October 5, 2019."Our Campaigns - Candidate - John Condit". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
^ ^a ^b "Richmond: December 10, 1803". Wilmington, North Carolina: Wilmington Gazette. December 27, 1803. p. 4. Mr. Taylor having declined to serve longer, Abraham B. Venable, esq., was on Wednesday last unanimously elected by the General Assembly in the room of Mr. Taylor.
^ "Tennessee 1803 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 October 19, 2019. Retrieved January 30, 2018., citing Journal of the Tennessee House of Representatives, 1803. 27. Gazette of the United States (Philadelphia, PA). October 18, 1803. White, Robert Hiram. Messages of the Governors of Tennessee, 1796-1821. Vol. 1. Nashville: The Tennessee Historical Commission, 1952.
^ "Our Campaigns - MD US Senate Race - Nov 17, 1802". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved November 4, 2022.
^ New Jersey Legislature (1804). Minutes and Proceedings of the Joint Meeting, November 3, 1803. Trenton, NJ: Sherman, Mershon & Thomas. p. 44.
^ Taylor, William A. (1900). Ohio in Congress from 1803 to 1901. Columbus, Ohio: Century Publishing Co. p. 96 – via Internet Archive.