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1838–39 United States Senate elections
17 of the 52 seats in the United States Senate (plus special elections); 27 seats needed for a majority
	Results:; Democratic hold; Whig gain Whig hold; Legislature failed to elect
Majority Party before election; ; Democratic	Elected Majority Party ; ; Democratic

The 1838–39 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 1838 and 1839, 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 Party lost seven seats, but still retained a majority.

Results summary

Senate party division, 26th Congress (1839–1841)

Majority party: Democratic (28–29)
Minority party: Whig (19–23)
Total seats: 52

Change in composition

Before the elections

After the January 4, 1838 special election in Maryland.

				D₁	D₂	D₃	D₄	D₅	D₆
D₁₆	D₁₅	D₁₄	D₁₃	D₁₂	D₁₁	D₁₀	D₉	D₈	D₇
D₁₇	D₁₈	D₁₉	D₂₀	D₂₁	D₂₂	D₂₃	D₂₄	D₂₅	D₂₆ Maine Ran
Majority →									D₂₇ N.Y. Ran in different party
W₁₇ Vt. Retired	D₃₅ Conn. Retired	D₃₄ Ind. Retired	D₃₃ Ohio Retired	D₃₂ Va. Retired	D₃₁ Pa. Unknown	D₃₀ Miss. Unknown	D₂₉ Mich. Unknown	D₂₈ Mo. Ran	D₂₇ N.Y. Ran in different party
W₁₆ R.I. Unknown	W₁₅ Tenn. (reg) Ran	W₁₄ N.J. Ran	W₁₃ Mass. Ran	W₁₂ Md. Ran	W₁₁ Del. Ran	W₁₀	W₉	W₈	W₇
				W₁	W₂	W₃	W₄	W₅	W₆

Result of the elections

				D₁	D₂	D₃	D₄	D₅	D₆
D₁₆	D₁₅	D₁₄	D₁₃	D₁₂	D₁₁	D₁₀	D₉	D₈	D₇
D₁₇	D₁₈	D₁₉	D₂₀	D₂₁	D₂₂	D₂₃	D₂₄	D₂₅	D₂₆ Maine Re-elected
Majority →									D₂₇ Mo. Re-elected
W₁₇ Vt. Hold	W₁₈ Conn. Gain	W₁₉ Ind. Gain	W₂₀ Miss. Gain	V₄ Va. D Loss	V₃ Pa. D Loss	V₂ N.Y. D Loss	V₁ Mich. D Loss	D₂₈ Ohio Hold	D₂₇ Mo. Re-elected
W₁₆ R.I. Hold	W₁₅ Tenn. (reg) Re-elected	W₁₄ N.J. Re-elected	W₁₃ Mass. Re-elected	W₁₂ Md. Re-elected	W₁₁ Del. Re-elected	W₁₀	W₉	W₈	W₇
				W₁	W₂	W₃	W₄	W₅	W₆

Beginning of the next term

				D₁	D₂	D₃	D₄	D₅	D₆
D₁₆	D₁₅	D₁₄	D₁₃	D₁₂	D₁₁	D₁₀	D₉	D₈	D₇
D₁₇	D₁₈	D₁₉	D₂₀	D₂₁	D₂₂	D₂₃	D₂₄	D₂₅	D₂₆
Majority →									D₂₇
W₁₇	W₁₈	W₁₉	V₅ Tenn. (reg) W Declined	V₄	V₃	V₂	V₁	D₂₈	D₂₇
W₁₆	W₁₅	W₁₄	W₁₃	W₁₂	W₁₁	W₁₀	W₉	W₈	W₇
				W₁	W₂	W₃	W₄	W₅	W₆

Key:

D_#	Democratic
W_#	Whig
V_#	Vacant

Race summaries

Special elections during the 25th Congress

In these special elections, the winners were seated during 1838 or before March 4, 1839; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Maryland (Class 1)	Joseph Kent	Whig	1833	Incumbent died November 24, 1837. New senator elected January 4, 1838. Whig hold. Winner was also elected to the next term, see below.	▌Y William Duhurst Merrick (Whig) [data missing]
Tennessee (Class 1)	Felix Grundy	Democratic	1829 (special) 1833	Incumbent resigned July 4, 1838 to become U.S. Attorney General. New senator elected September 17, 1838. Whig gain. Winner was also elected to the next term (see below), but declined.	▌Y Ephraim H. Foster (Whig) [data missing]
Mississippi (Class 1)	Thomas H. Williams	Democratic	1838 (appointed)	Interim appointee elected January 30, 1839. Democratic hold. Winner was not elected to the next term; see below.	▌Y Thomas H. Williams (Democratic) [data missing]

Races leading to the 26th Congress

In these regular elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1839; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 1 seats.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Connecticut	John Niles	Democratic	1835 (special)	Incumbent retired. Winner elected in 1838 or 1839. Whig gain.	▌Y Thaddeus Betts (Whig) [data missing]
Delaware	Richard H. Bayard	Whig	1836 (special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1838 or 1839.	▌Y Richard H. Bayard (Whig) [data missing]
Indiana	John Tipton	Democratic	1832 (special) 1832	Incumbent retired. Winner elected in 1838. Whig gain.	▌Y Albert White (Whig) [data missing]
Maine	Reuel Williams	Democratic	1837 (special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1838 or 1839.	▌Y Reuel Williams (Democratic) [data missing]
Maryland	William Merrick	Whig	1838 (special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1839.	▌Y William Merrick (Whig) [data missing]
Massachusetts	Daniel Webster	Whig	1827 (special) 1833	Incumbent re-elected in 1839.	▌Y Daniel Webster (Whig) [data missing]
Michigan	Lucius Lyon	Democratic	1835	Incumbent retired. Legislature failed to elect until 1840. Democratic loss.	[data missing]
Mississippi	Thomas H. Williams	Democratic	1838 (appointed) 1839 (special)	Incumbent retired or lost re-election. Winner elected in 1838. Whig gain.	▌Y John Henderson (Whig) [data missing]
Missouri	Thomas H. Benton	Democratic	1821 1827 1833	Incumbent re-elected in 1839.	▌Y Thomas H. Benton (Democratic) [data missing]
New Jersey	Samuel L. Southard	Whig	1821 (appointed) 1820 1823 (resigned) 1833	Incumbent re-elected in 1839.	▌Y Samuel L. Southard (Whig)
New York	Nathaniel P. Tallmadge	Democratic	1833	Incumbent ran for re-election as a Whig. Legislature failed to elect. Democratic loss.	▌Nathaniel P. Tallmadge (Whig) ▌Samuel Nelson (Democratic) ▌Samuel Beardsley (Democratic) Others
Ohio	Thomas Morris	Democratic	1833	Incumbent retired. Winner elected in 1838. Democratic hold.	▌Y Benjamin Tappan (Democratic) [data missing]
Pennsylvania	Samuel McKean	Democratic	1833	Incumbent retired or lost re-election. Legislature failed to elect until 1840 after the December 1838 election was postponed due to the Buckshot War. Democratic loss.	None.
Rhode Island	Asher Robbins	Whig	1835 (special) 1827 1833	Incumbent retired or lost re-election. Winner elected November 3, 1838. Whig hold.	▌Y Nathan F. Dixon (Whig) 54 votes ▌Benjamin Babock Thurston (Democratic) 26 votes ▌Albert C. Greene (Whig) 1 vote ▌Dutee Jerauld Pearce (Democratic) 1 vote^[2]
Tennessee	Ephraim H. Foster	Whig	1838 (special)	Incumbent re-elected. Incumbent then declined the seat.	▌Y Ephraim H. Foster (Whig) [data missing]
Vermont	Benjamin Swift	Whig	1833	Incumbent retired. Winner elected in 1839. Whig hold.	▌Y Samuel S. Phelps (Whig) [data missing]
Virginia	William C. Rives	Democratic	1832 (special) 1834 (resigned) 1836 (special)	Incumbent retired or lost re-election. Legislature failed to elect until 1841. Democratic loss.	[data missing]

Special election during the 26th Congress

In this special election, the winner was seated in 1839 after March 4.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Tennessee (Class 1)	Ephraim H. Foster	Whig	1838 (appointed) 1838 or 1839	Incumbent had been elected to the next term (see above), but declined to serve the next term and left office at the end of the term. Winner elected November 19, 1839. Democratic gain.	▌Y Felix Grundy (Democratic) [data missing]

Connecticut

Delaware

Indiana

Maine

Maryland

Maryland (special)

William Duhurst Merrick won election over to fill the seat vacated by Joseph Kent by an unknown margin of votes, for the Class 1 seat.^[3]

Maryland (regular)

William Duhurst Merrick won election to a full term by an unknown margin of votes, for the Class 1 seat.^[4]

Massachusetts

Michigan

Mississippi

Mississippi (regular)

Mississippi (special)

Missouri

New Jersey

New York

The New York election was held February 5, 1839 by the New York State Legislature. Nathaniel P. Tallmadge had been elected as a Jacksonian Democratic in 1833 to this seat, and his term would expire on March 3, 1839.

On February 4, 1839, the State Legislature elected on joint ballot Spencer, Cooke, Hall and Haight to the offices they were nominated for, but on the next day they could not agree on a U.S. Senator.

The Assembly nominated Nathaniel P. Tallmadge "by the votes of all the Whig members." (see Hammond, page 512)

Although the Democratic State Senate majority did not object to be outvoted on joint ballot for the election of Whigs to State offices, they rejected the idea of electing a renegade Democratic to the U.S. Senate, and took refuge to the only means to defeat Tallmadge: They did not nominate anybody, following the precedents of 1819–1820 and 1825–1826, so that a joint ballot could not be held. On the first ballot, Tallmadge received 13 votes out of 31 cast, all Whigs.^[a] The Democratic vote was scattered among many men, nobody receiving more than 2. Four more ballots were held with a similar result.^[b] On the sixth ballot, all Whigs and two Democrats voted for Samuel Beardsley, who received 16 votes, one short of the necessary number for a nomination. The Democrats then abandoned further balloting, fearing that the Whigs would vote for anybody who received by chance three Democratic votes, just to force any nomination, thus enabling the Legislature to proceed to the joint ballot.

Candidate	Party	New York Senate (32 members)						Assembly (128 members)
Candidate	Party	First ballot	Second ballot	Third ballot	Fourth ballot	Fifth ballot	Sixth ballot	First ballot
Nathaniel P. Tallmadge	Whig	13			13	13		Y 82
Samuel Nelson	Democratic	2
Samuel Beardsley	Democratic	1			2	2	16
William C. Bouck	Democratic	1			1	1	1
Churchill C. Cambreleng	Democratic	1			1	1	1
Hiram Denio	Democratic	1			1	1	1
John A. Dix	Democratic	1			1	1	1
Charles E. Dudley	Democratic	1			1	1	1
Azariah C. Flagg	Democratic	1			1	1	1
Freeborn G. Jewett	Democratic	1			1	1	1
Ebenezer Mack	Democratic	1			1	1	1
Charles McVean	Democratic	1			1	1	1
Joseph D. Monell	Democratic	1			1	1	1
John Savage	Democratic	1			1	1	1
Jacob Sutherland	Democratic	1			1	1	1
John Tracy	Democratic	1			1	1	1
Greene C. Bronson	Democratic	1
Reuben H. Walworth	Democratic	1
Levi Beardsley	Democratic				1	1	1
Benjamin F. Butler	Democratic				1	1	1
Abijah Mann Jr.	Democratic				1	1	1

No further action was taken by this Legislature, and the seat became vacant on March 4, 1839. Tallmadge would later be elected in 1840.

Ohio

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

Tennessee

There were three elections to the same seat due to the July 4, 1838 resignation of Democrat Felix Grundy to become U.S. Attorney General.

Tennessee (special, 1838)

Whig Ephraim H. Foster was elected September 17, 1838 to finish the term.

Tennessee (regular)

Foster was also elected to the next term, but Foster declined the seat, refusing to take the Tennessee General Assembly's instructions on how to vote, so he left office March 3, 1839 and the seat was vacant when the term began.