United States Senate elections, 1800 and 1801

United States Senate elections, 1800 and 1801

Dates vary by state
10 of the 32 seats in the United States Senate (plus special elections) 17 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Party Federalist Democratic-Republican Last election 23 seats (61.9%) 9 seats (28.1%) Seats before 22 (68.8%) 10 (31.2%) Seats won 17 (54.5%) 15 (45.5%) Seat change 5 5 Seats up 7 3
Majority party before election Federalist Elected Majority party Federalist

The United States Senate election of 1800 and 1801 were elections for the United States Senate that, coinciding with their takeover of the White House, led to the Democratic-Republican Party take control of the United States Senate. Although the Federalists began the next (7th) Congress with a slim majority, they lost their majority shortly thereafter due to mid-year special elections.

As these elections were prior to ratification of the seventeenth amendment, Senators were chosen by State legislatures.

Change in Senate composition

Before the elections

After the November 6, 1800 special election in New York.

DR6	DR5	DR4	DR3	DR2	DR1
DR7	DR8	DR9 Ran	DR10 Unknown	DR11 Unknown	F21 Retired	F20 Unknown	F19 Unknown	F18 Ran	F17 Ran
Majority →									F16 Ran
F7	F8	F9	F10	F11	F12	F13	F14	F15 Ran
F6	F5	F4	F3	F2	F1

Result of the elections

DR6	DR5	DR4	DR3	DR2	DR1
DR7	DR8	DR9 Re-elected	DR10 Hold	DR11 Gain	DR12 Gain	DR13 Gain	DR14 Gain	V1 Fed loss	F16 Gain
Majority →									F17 Re-elected
F7	F8	F9	F10	F11	F12	F13	F14	F15 Re-elected
F6	F5	F4	F3	F2	F1

Beginning of the 7th Congress

DR6	DR5	DR4	DR3	DR2	DR1
DR7	DR8	DR9	DR10	DR11	DR12	DR13	DR14	DR15*	F17
Majority →
F7	F8	F9	F10	F11	F12	F13	F14	F15	F16
F6	F5	F4	F3	F2	F1

Later in the 7th Congress (end of 1801)

DR6	DR5	DR4	DR3	DR2	DR1
DR7	DR8	DR9	DR10	DR11	DR12	DR13	DR14 Hold	DR15 Hold	DR16 Gain
Majority →									DR17 Gain
F7	F8	F9	F10	F11	F12	F13	F14 Hold	DR18 Gain
F6	F5	F4	F3	F2	F1

Key:	DR# Democratic-Republican F# Federalist V# Vacant

Race summaries

Special elections during the preceding Congress

In these special elections, the winner was seated before March 4, 1801; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	Electoral history
New York (Class 1)	James Watson	Federalist	1798 (Special)	Incumbent resigned March 19, 1800, to become Naval Officer of the Port of New York. Winner elected April 3, 1800. Federalist hold.	√ Gouverneur Morris (Federalist) Peter Gansevoort (Democratic-Republican)
Massachusetts (Class 2)	Samuel Dexter	Federalist	1799 1796	Incumbent resigned May 30, 1800 to become U.S. Secretary of War. Winner elected June 6, 1800. Federalist hold.	√ Dwight Foster (Federalist) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
New York (Class 3)	John Laurance	Federalist	1796 (Special)	Incumbent resigned August 1800. Winner elected November 6, 1800. Democratic-Republican gain.	√ John Armstrong (Democratic-Republican) Peter Gansevoort (Democratic-Republican)
Massachusetts (Class 1)	Benjamin Goodhue	Federalist	1796 (Special) 1796	Incumbent resigned November 8, 1800. Winner elected November 14, 1800. Federalist hold.	√ Jonathan Mason (Federalist) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Maryland (Class 3)	James Lloyd	Federalist	1797 (Special)	Incumbent resigned December 1, 1800. Winner elected December 12, 1800. Federalist hold.	√ William Hindman (Federalist) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
New Jersey (Class 1)	James Schureman	Federalist	1799 (Special)	Incumbent resigned February 16, 1801. Winner elected February 28, 1801. Federalist hold.	√ Aaron Ogden (Federalist) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]

Races leading to the next Congress

In these general elections, the winner was seated on March 4, 1801; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 3 seats.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	Electoral history
Connecticut	Uriah Tracy	Federalist	1796 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1801.	√ Uriah Tracy (Federalist) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Georgia	James Gunn	Federalist	1789 1795	Unknown if incumbent ran or retired. Democratic-Republican gain.	√ James Jackson (Democratic-Republican) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Kentucky	Humphrey Marshall	Federalist	1794	Incumbent lost re-election Winner elected November 20, 1800. Democratic-Republican gain.	√ John Breckinridge (Democratic-Republican) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Maryland	William Hindman	Federalist	1797 (Special)	Legislature failed to elect. Incumbent was then appointed.	None
New Hampshire	John Langdon	Democratic- Republican	1795	Unknown if incumbent ran or retired. Winner elected in 1801. Federalist gain.	√ James Sheafe (Federalist) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
New York	John Armstrong	Democratic- Republican	1800 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected April 8, 1801.	√ John Armstrong (Democratic-Republican) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
North Carolina	Timothy Bloodworth	Democratic- Republican	1795	Unknown if incumbent ran or retired. Winner elected November 27, 1800. Democratic-Republican hold.	√ David Stone (Democratic-Republican) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Pennsylvania	William Bingham	Federalist	1795	Incumbent retired. Winner elected February 18, 1801. Democratic-Republican gain.	√ Peter Muhlenberg (Democratic-Republican) 50.0% George Logan (Democratic-Republican) 48.9% William Jones (Democratic-Republican) 1.0%
South Carolina	Jacob Read	Federalist	1795	Incumbent lost re-election. Winner elected in 1801. Democratic-Republican gain.	√ John E. Colhoun (Democratic-Republican) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Vermont	Elijah Paine	Federalist	1795	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Elijah Paine (Federalist) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]

Special elections during the next Congress

In these special elections, the winner was seated after March 4, 1801; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	Electoral history
Rhode Island (Class 2)	Ray Greene	Federalist	1797 (Special) 1799	Incumbent resigned March 5, 1801. Winner elected May 6, 1801. Democratic-Republican gain.	√ Christopher Ellery (Democratic-Republican) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
New Hampshire (Class 2)	Samuel Livermore	Federalist	1798 (Special)	Incumbent resigned June 12, 1801. Winner elected June 17, 1801. Federalist hold.	√ Simeon Olcott (Federalist) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Vermont (Class 3)	Elijah Paine	Federalist	1795 1801	Incumbent resigned September 1, 1801. Winner elected October 15, 1801. Democratic-Republican gain.	√ Stephen R. Bradley (Democratic-Republican) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Maryland (Class 3)	William Hindman	Federalist	1800 (Appointed)	Incumbent appointee did not run to finish the term Winner elected November 19, 1801. Democratic-Republican gain.	√ Robert Wright (Democratic-Republican) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
South Carolina (Class 2)	Charles Pinckney	Democratic- Republican	1798 (Special) 1798	Incumbent resigned June 6, 1801. Winner elected December 15, 1801. Democratic-Republican hold.	√ Thomas Sumter (Democratic-Republican) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Pennsylvania (Class 3)	Peter Muhlenberg	Democratic- Republican	1801	Incumbent resigned June 30, 1801. Winner elected December 17, 1801. Democratic-Republican hold.	√ George Logan (Democratic-Republican) 63.6% Joseph Hiester (Federalist) 28.0% Other 8.4%

See also

• United States presidential election, 1800
• United States House of Representatives elections, 1800
• 7th United States Congress

References

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