United States Senate elections, 1790

United States Senate elections, 1790

1788 ← Chosen by state legislatures until 1912 → 1792

9 of the 26 seats in the United States Senate 14 seats needed for a majority   Majority party Minority party   Party Pro-Administration Anti-Administration Last election 19 7 Seats won 17 8 Seat change -2 +1

Majority Party before election Pro-Administration Party (United States) Elected Majority Party Pro-Administration Party (United States)

The United States Senate elections of 1790 was the second election of Senators in the United States. In this election, terms were up for the nine Senators in Class 1. As of this election, formal organized political parties had yet to form in the United States, but two political factions were present: The coalition of Senators who supported President George Washington's administration were known as the Pro-Administration Party, and the Senators against him as the Anti-Administration Party.

As this election was prior to the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, Senators were chosen by State legislatures.

Change in Senate composition

Note: There were no political parties in this Congress. Members are informally grouped into factions of similar interest, based on an analysis of their voting record.

End of the 1st Congress

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9 of the 26 Senators were up for re-election.

Results of the election

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Vacant: Anti-Administration incumbent William Maclay of Pennsylvania was not re-elected. The seat remained vacant for three years, until late in 1793.

Beginning of the 2nd Congress

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The grouping of three Senators (who were not up for election this year) changed parties, leading to a net gain of one seat from Pro-Administration to Anti-Administration:

• Richard Bassett (Delaware class 2) changed from Anti-Administration to Pro-Administration.
• Benjamin Hawkins (North Carolina class 3) changed from Pro-Administration to Anti-Administration.
• Pierce Butler (South Carolina class 2) changed from Pro-Administration to Anti-Administration.

Key:	A = Anti-Administration P = Pro-Administration V = Vacant	Majority divider

Complete list of races

All were general elections to the Class 1 seats, except where noted.

1790 elections

State	Incumbent	Party	Result	Candidates
Connecticut	Oliver Ellsworth	Pro-Administration	Re-elected	Oliver Ellsworth (Pro-Administration)
Massachusetts	Tristram Dalton	Pro-Administration	Lost re-election Pro-Administration hold	George Cabot (Pro-Administration) Tristram Dalton (Pro-Administration)
New Jersey	Jonathan Elmer	Pro-Administration	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!] Pro-Administration hold	John Rutherfurd (Pro-Administration)
New Jersey Special (Class 2)	William Paterson	Pro-Administration	Resigned November 13, 1790 to become Governor of New Jersey. Winner was elected November 13, 1790 to finish the term ending March 3, 1793 Pro-Administration hold	Philemon Dickinson (Pro-Administration)
Pennsylvania	William Maclay	Anti-Administration	The Pennsylvania General Assembly failed to elect a Senator until 1793, half-way through the term Anti-Administration loss	Vacant
Rhode Island General (Class 1) Current term	New seat		Rhode Island ratified the Constitution May 29, 1790 Winner was elected June 7, 1790 to the term ending March 3, 1791 Pro-Administration gain	Theodore Foster (Pro-Administration)
Rhode Island General (Class 1) Next term			Rhode Island ratified the Constitution May 29, 1790 Winner was elected June 7, 1790 to the next term Pro-Administration gain	Theodore Foster (Pro-Administration)
Rhode Island General (Class 2)	New seat		Rhode Island ratified the Constitution May 29, 1790 Winner was elected June 7, 1790 to the term ending March 3, 1793 Pro-Administration gain	Joseph Stanton, Jr. (Pro-Administration)
Virginia Special	John Walker	Pro-Administration	Interim appointee retired Winner was elected November 9, 1790 to the term ending March 3, 1791 Anti-Administration gain	James Monroe (Anti-Administration)
Virginia General			Interim appointee retired Winner was elected November 9, 1790 to the next term Anti-Administration gain	James Monroe (Anti-Administration)

1791 elections

State	Incumbent	Party	Result	Candidates
Delaware	George Read	Pro-Administration	Re-elected in 1791	George Read (Pro-Administration)
Maryland	Charles Carroll	Pro-Administration	Re-elected in 1791	Charles Carroll (Pro-Administration)
New York	Philip Schuyler	Pro-Administration	Lost re-election on January 19, 1791 Anti-Administration gain	Aaron Burr (Anti-Administration) Philip Schuyler (Pro-Administration)

See also

• United States House of Representatives elections, 1790

External links

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