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1842–43 United States Senate elections
17 of the 52 seats in the United States Senate (with special elections); 27 seats needed for a majority
	Results:; Democratic gain Democratic hold ; Whig hold
Majority Party before election; ; Whig	Elected Majority Party ; ; Whig

The 1842–43 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 1842 and 1843, 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 3.

The Whigs lost seats but maintained control of the Senate. Although they lost three seats in the regular elections, they gained two of them back by the start of the first session in special elections.

Results summary

Senate party division, 28th Congress (1843–1845)

Majority party: Whig (27)
Minority party: Democratic (22–23)
Other parties: (0–1)
Total seats: 52–54

Change in Senate composition

Before the elections

After July 1842 appointment in New Jersey.

				D₁	D₂	D₃	D₄	D₅	D₆
D₁₆ Ran	D₁₅ Ran	D₁₄ Ran	D₁₃ Ran	D₁₂ Ran	D₁₁ Ran	D₁₀	D₉	D₈	D₇
D₁₇ Unknown	D₁₈ Unknown	D₁₉ Retired	D₂₀ Retired	V₂	V₁	W₃₀ Resigned	W₂₉ Retired	W₂₈ Unknown	W₂₇ Unknown
Majority →									W₂₆ Ran
W₁₇	W₁₈	W₁₉	W₂₀	W₂₁	W₂₂	W₂₃	W₂₄ Ran	W₂₅ Ran	W₂₆ Ran
W₁₆	W₁₅	W₁₄	W₁₃	W₁₂	W₁₁	W₁₀	W₉	W₈	W₇
				W₁	W₂	W₃	W₄	W₅	W₆

Result of the elections

				D₁	D₂	D₃	D₄	D₅	D₆
D₁₆ Re-elected	D₁₅ Re-elected	D₁₄ Re-elected	D₁₃ Re-elected	D₁₂ Re-elected	D₁₁ Re-elected	D₁₀	D₉	D₈	D₇
D₁₇ Re-elected	D₁₈ Hold	D₁₉ Hold	D₂₀ Hold	D₂₁ Hold	D₂₂ Gain	D₂₃ Gain	V₂	V₁	W₂₇ Hold
Majority →									W₂₆ Hold
W₁₇	W₁₈	W₁₉	W₂₀	W₂₁	W₂₂	W₂₃	W₂₄ Re-elected	W₂₅ Re-elected	W₂₆ Hold
W₁₆	W₁₅	W₁₄	W₁₃	W₁₂	W₁₁	W₁₀	W₉	W₈	W₇
				W₁	W₂	W₃	W₄	W₅	W₆

Beginning of the next Congress

				D₁	D₂	D₃	D₄	D₅	D₆
D₁₆	D₁₅	D₁₄	D₁₃	D₁₂	D₁₁	D₁₀	D₉	D₈	D₇
D₁₇	D₁₈	D₁₉	D₂₀	D₂₁	D₂₂	V₃ D Loss	V₂	V₁	W₂₇
Majority →									W₂₆
W₁₇	W₁₈	W₁₉	W₂₀	W₂₁	W₂₂	W₂₃	W₂₄	W₂₅	W₂₆
W₁₆	W₁₅	W₁₄	W₁₃	W₁₂	W₁₁	W₁₀	W₉	W₈	W₇
				W₁	W₂	W₃	W₄	W₅	W₆

Beginning of the first session of the next Congress (December 4, 1843)

				D₁	D₂	D₃	D₄	D₅	D₆
D₁₆	D₁₅	D₁₄	D₁₃	D₁₂	D₁₁	D₁₀	D₉	D₈	D₇
D₁₇	D₁₈	D₁₉	D₂₀	D₂₁ Hold	D₂₂ Hold	D₂₃ Gain	W₂₉ Gain	W₂₈ Gain	W₂₇
Majority →									W₂₆
W₁₇	W₁₈	W₁₉	W₂₀	W₂₁	W₂₂	W₂₃	W₂₄	W₂₅	W₂₆
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

Bold states link to specific election articles.

Special elections during the 27th Congress

In these elections, the winners were elected during 1842 or in 1843 before March 4; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Rhode Island (Class 1)	Nathan F. Dixon	Whig	Elected in 1838 or 1839.	Incumbent died January 29, 1842. New senator elected February 18, 1842. Whig hold.	▌Y William Sprague (Whig) [data missing]
New Hampshire (Class 3)	Leonard Wilcox	Democratic	1842 (Appointed)	Incumbent had been appointed March 1, 1842, to continue the term of Franklin Pierce (Democratic), who had resigned February 28, 1842, to oppose a bill distributing federal funds to the states — believing that the money should go to the military instead — and to challenge the Whigs to reveal the results of their investigation of the New York Customs House. Incumbent appointee elected in June 1842. Democratic hold.	▌Y Leonard Wilcox (Democratic) [data missing]
Vermont (Class 3)	Samuel C. Crafts	Whig	1842 (Appointed)	Incumbent had been appointed April 23, 1842, to continue the term of Samuel Prentiss (Whig), who had resigned April 11, 1842, to become judge of the U.S. District Court of Vermont. Incumbent appointee elected October 26, 1842. Whig hold.	▌Y Samuel C. Crafts (Whig) [data missing]
South Carolina (Class 3)	William C. Preston	Whig	1833 (special) 1837	Incumbent resigned November 29, 1842. New senator elected December 23, 1842. Democratic gain.	▌Y George McDuffie (Democratic) [data missing]

Races leading to the 28th Congress

In these regular elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1843; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 3 seats.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Alabama	Arthur P. Bagby	Democratic	1841 (special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1842.	▌Y Arthur P. Bagby (Democratic) [data missing]
Arkansas	Ambrose Sevier	Democratic	1836 1837	Incumbent re-elected in 1843.	▌Y Ambrose Sevier (Democratic) [data missing]
Connecticut	Perry Smith	Democratic	1837	Unknown if incumbent retired or lost re-election. New senator elected in 1842, but due to ill-health and a credentials challenge he was unable to serve until May 16, 1844; nevertheless, his term began March 4, 1843. Democratic hold.	▌Y John M. Niles (Democratic) [data missing]
Georgia	Alfred Cuthbert	Democratic	1835 (special) 1837	Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1843. Democratic hold.	▌Y Walter T. Colquitt (Democratic) [data missing]
Illinois	Richard M. Young	Democratic	1837	Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1843. Democratic hold.	▌Y Sidney Breese (Democratic) [data missing]
Indiana	Oliver H. Smith	Whig	1836	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected in 1842. Democratic gain.	▌Y Edward A. Hannegan (Democratic) [data missing]
Kentucky	John J. Crittenden	Whig	1816 1819 (Resigned) 1835 1841 (Retired) 1842 (Appointed) ? (special)	Incumbent re-elected January 7, 1843.	▌Y John J. Crittenden (Whig) 88 votes ▌Richard Mentor Johnson (Democratic) 43 votes^[2]
Louisiana	Charles M. Conrad	Whig	1842 (Appointed)	Incumbent appointee lost election. New senator elected in 1843, although due to ill health did not take his seat. Whig hold.	▌Y Alexander Porter (Whig) ▌Charles M. Conrad (Whig)
Maryland	John L. Kerr	Whig	1841 (special)	Unknown if incumbent retired or lost re-election. New senator elected in 1843. Whig hold.	▌Y James Pearce (Whig) [data missing]
Missouri	Lewis F. Linn	Democratic	1833 (Appointed) ? (special) 1836	Incumbent re-elected in 1842.	▌Y Lewis F. Linn (Democratic) [data missing]
New Hampshire	Leonard Wilcox	Democratic	1842 (Appointed) 1842 (special)	Unknown if incumbent retired or lost re-election. New senator elected in 1843. Democratic hold.	▌Y Charles G. Atherton (Democratic) [data missing]
New York	Silas Wright Jr.	Democratic	1833 (special) 1837	Incumbent re-elected February 7, 1843.	▌Y Silas Wright Jr. (Democratic) ▌Millard Fillmore (Whig) ▌John A. Collier (Whig) ▌Willis Hall (Whig) ▌George W. Patterson (Whig) ▌George A. Simmons (Whig) ▌Luther Bradish (Whig) ▌Gulian C. Verplanck (Whig)
North Carolina	William A. Graham	Whig	1840 (special)	Unknown if incumbent retired or lost re-election. New senator elected in 1843. Democratic gain.	▌Y William H. Haywood Jr. (Democratic) [data missing]
Ohio	William Allen	Democratic	1836	Incumbent re-elected in 1842.	▌Y William Allen (Democratic) [data missing]
Pennsylvania	James Buchanan	Democratic	1834 (special) 1836	Incumbent re-elected in 1843.	▌Y James Buchanan (Democratic) 56.06% ▌John Banks (Whig) 40.91% ▌Richard Brodhead (Democratic) 0.76% ▌John Gibons 0.76%
South Carolina	George McDuffie	Democratic	1842 (special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1842 or 1843.	▌Y George McDuffie (Democratic) [data missing]
Vermont	Samuel C. Crafts	Whig	1842 (special)	Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1843. Whig hold.	▌Y William Upham (Whig) [data missing]

Elections during the 28th Congress

In these special elections, the winners were elected in 1843 after March 4; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
South Carolina (Class 2)	John C. Calhoun	Democratic	1832 (special) 1834 1840	Incumbent resigned March 3, 1843. New senator elected March 4, 1843. Democratic hold.	▌Y Daniel Elliott Huger (Democratic) [data missing]
Tennessee (Class 1)	Alfred O. P. Nicholson	Democratic	1840 (Appointed)	Incumbent resigned February 7, 1842. Winner was elected October 17, 1843. Whig gain.	▌Y Ephraim H. Foster (Whig) [data missing]
Tennessee (Class 2)	Vacant since 1841			Legislature had failed to elect since the 27th Congress. Winner was elected October 17, 1843. Whig gain.	▌Y Spencer Jarnagin (Whig) [data missing]
Maine (Class 1)	Reuel Williams	Democratic	1837 (special)	Incumbent resigned February 15, 1843. Winner was elected December 4, 1843. Democratic hold.	▌Y John Fairfield (Democratic) [data missing]
Missouri (Class 3)	David Rice Atchison	Democratic	1843 (Appointed)	Incumbent had been appointed October 14, 1843, when Lewis F. Linn (D) had died October 3, 1843. Incumbent was subsequently elected sometime in 1843 after October 14. Democratic hold.	▌Y David Rice Atchison (Democratic) [data missing]

Complete list of races

Maryland

James Pearce won election by an unknown margin of votes, for the Class 3 seat.^[3]

New York

The election was held February 7, 1843, by the New York State Legislature. Silas Wright Jr. had been elected in 1833 to this seat after the resignation of William L. Marcy, and had been re-elected in 1837. Wright's term would expire on March 3, 1843. At the State election in November 1842, Democrat William C. Bouck was elected Governor, 92 Democrats and 36 Whigs were elected to the Assembly, and 8 Democrats and 1 Whig were elected to the State Senate. The 66th New York State Legislature met from January 3 to April 18, 1843, at Albany, New York. The incumbent U.S. Senator Silas Wright Jr. was re-nominated unanimously by a Democratic caucus on the eve of the election. Congressman Millard Fillmore was the candidate of the Whig Party. Silas Wright Jr. was the choice of both the Assembly and the Senate, and was declared elected.

Candidate	Party	Senate (32 members)	Assembly (128 members)
Silas Wright Jr.	Democrat	17	77
Millard Fillmore	Whig	6	16
John A. Collier	Whig	1	6
Willis Hall	Whig		4
George W. Patterson	Whig		3
George A. Simmons	Whig		2
Luther Bradish	Whig	1
Gulian C. Verplanck	Whig		1

Wright continued in the U.S. Senate, and remained in office until November 1844 when he resigned after his election as Governor of New York. Henry A. Foster was appointed to fill the vacancy temporarily, but the State Legislature elected John A. Dix for the remainder of Wright's term.

Pennsylvania

The election was held January 10, 1843. Future President of the United States James Buchanan was re-elected by the Pennsylvania General Assembly to the United States Senate.^[4] The Pennsylvania General Assembly, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate, convened on January 10, 1843, to elect a new Senator to fill the term beginning on March 4, 1843. Incumbent Democrat James Buchanan, who was elected in 1834 and re-elected in 1836, was a successful candidate for re-election to another term. The results of the vote of both houses combined are as follows:

State Legislature Results^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	James Buchanan (Incumbent)	74	56.06
	Whig	John Banks	54	40.91
	Democratic	Richard Brodhead	1	0.76
	Unknown	John Gibons	1	0.76
	N/A	Not voting	2	1.52
Totals			132	100.00%

Tennessee

In 1841, Spencer Jarnagin was nominated for U.S. Senator by the Whig caucus in the Tennessee General Assembly. However, some of the Democrats in the legislature decided that no Senator would be preferable to a Whig. Known as the "Immortal Thirteen" by Tennessee Democrats, they refused to allow a quorum on the issue. By the time Jarnagin was eventually elected to the seat and sworn in, over two and half years, almost half of the term, had elapsed. Jarnagin finally assumed office on October 17, 1843.