1820–21 United States Senate elections

United States Senate elections, 1820 and 1821
15 of the 46 seats in the United States Senate (plus special elections); 24 seats needed for a majority
Majority party before election; Democratic-Republican;	Elected Majority party ; Democratic-Republican;

The United States Senate elections of 1820 and 1821 were elections for the United States Senate that, corresponding with James Monroe's landslide re-election, had the Democratic-Republican Party gain seven seats, assuming almost complete control of the Senate.

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

Results summary

Senate Party Division, 17th Congress (1821–1823)

Majority Party: Democratic-Republican (39–43)
Minority Party: Federalist (4)
Vacant: (3–1)
Total Seats: 46–48

Change in Senate composition

Before the elections

Composition after the June 13 & 14, 1820 elections in Maine.

							DR₁	DR₂	DR₃
DR₁₃	DR₁₂	DR₁₁	DR₁₀	DR₉	DR₈	DR₇	DR₆	DR₅	DR₄
DR₁₄	DR₁₅	DR₁₆	DR₁₇	DR₁₈	DR₁₉	DR₂₀	DR₂₁	DR₂₂	DR₂₃
Majority →									DR₂₄
DR₃₁ Ran	DR₃₀ Ran	DR₂₉ Ran	DR₂₈ Ran	DR₂₇ Ran	V₁*	V₂*	DR₂₆	DR₂₅	DR₂₄
DR₃₂ Ran	DR₃₃ Unknown	DR₃₄ Unknown	DR₃₅ Retired	F₉ Retired	F₈ Retired	F₇ Unknown	F₆ Ran	F₅ Ran	F₄
							F₁	F₂	F₃

Notes:

V₁ (Mississippi seat): Incumbent Democratic-Republican had resigned May 15, 1820. A Democratic-Republican successor would be elected August 30, 1820 to finish the term and would also be elected to the next term.
V₂ (Kentucky class 3 seat): Democratic-Republican Senator had resigned May 28, 1820. A Democratic-Republican successor would be elected October 19, 1820.

Beginning of the next Congress

							DR₁	DR₂	DR₃
DR₁₃	DR₁₂	DR₁₁	DR₁₀	DR₉	DR₈	DR₇	DR₆	DR₅	DR₄
DR₁₄	DR₁₅	DR₁₆	DR₁₇	DR₁₈	DR₁₉	DR₂₀	DR₂₁	DR₂₂	DR₂₃
Majority →									DR₂₄
DR₃₃ Hold	DR₃₂ Re-elected	DR₃₁ Re-elected	DR₃₀ Re-elected	DR₂₉ Re-elected	DR₂₈ Re-elected	DR₂₇	DR₂₆	DR₂₅	DR₂₄
DR₃₄ Hold	DR₃₅ Hold	DR₃₆ Gain	DR₃₇ Gain	DR₃₈ Gain	DR₃₉* Gain	V₁*	V₂*	V₃*	F₄ Re-elected
							F₁	F₂	F₃

Notes:

DR₃₉ (Rhode Island class 2 seat): Federalist Senator died December 25, 1820, after the elections. A Democratic-Republican successor was elected January 9, 1821.
V₁ (Delaware seat): Incumbent Federalist retired and a replacement wasn't elected until late in 1822.
V₂ (Pennsylvania seat): Legislature failed to elect and a replacement wasn't elected until late in 1821.
V₃ (Tennessee seat): Incumbent Democratic-Republican was re-elected, but not until September 1821. That was after the next Congress started, but before the Senate first convened.

Key:

DR_#	Democratic-Republican
F_#	Federalist
V_#	Vacant

Race summaries

Bold states link to specific election articles.

Special elections during the preceding Congress

In these special elections, the winner was elected during 1820 or before March 4, 1821; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
New York Class 3	Vacant			Legislature had failed to elect in 1818/1819. Previous incumbent was elected January 8, 1820. Federalist gain.	√ Rufus King (Federalist) Unanimous
Massachusetts Class 1	Prentiss Mellen	Federalist	1820 (Special)	Incumbent resigned to become Chief Justice of Maine. Winner elected June 12, 1820. Winner was also elected to the next term. Federalist hold.	√ Elijah H. Mills (Federalist) [data missing]
Maine Class 1	New state			Winner elected June 13, 1820. Winner was also elected to the next term. Democratic-Republican gain.	√ John Holmes (Federalist) [data missing]
Maine Class 2	New state			Winner elected June 14, 1820. Democratic-Republican gain.	√ John Chandler (Federalist) [data missing]
Mississippi Class 1	Walter Leake	Democratic- Republican	1817	Incumbent resigned May 15, 1820. Winner elected August 30, 1820. Winner was also elected to the next term. Democratic-Republican hold.	√ David Holmes (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
Kentucky Class 3	William Logan	Democratic- Republican	1818 or 1819	Incumbent resigned May 28, 1820 to run for Governor of Kentucky. Winner elected October 19, 1820. Democratic-Republican hold.	√ Isham Talbot (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
Rhode Island Class 2	James Burrill, Jr.	Federalist	1816 or 1817	Incumbent died December 25, 1820. Winner elected January 9, 1821. Democratic-Republican gain.	√ Nehemiah R. Knight (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]

Races leading to the next Congress

In these general elections, the winner was seated on March 4, 1821; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 1 seats.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Connecticut	Samuel Dana	Federalist	1810 (Special) 1814	Unknown if incumbent retired or lost re-election. New senator elected March 4, 1821. Democratic-Republican gain.	√ Elijah Boardman (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
Delaware	Outerbridge Horsey	Federalist	1810 (Special) 1815	Incumbent retired. Legislature failed to elect. Federalist loss. A Democratic-Republican was later elected in 1822.	[data missing]
Indiana	James Noble	Democratic- Republican	1816	Incumbent re-elected in 1821.	√ James Noble (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
Maine	John Holmes	Democratic- Republican	1820	Incumbent re-elected in 1820.	√ John Holmes (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
Maryland	William Pinkney	Democratic- Republican	1819 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1820 or 1821.	√ William Pinkney (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
Massachusetts	Elijah H. Mills	Federalist	1820 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1820 or 1821.	√ Elijah H. Mills (Federalist) [data missing]
Mississippi	David Holmes	Democratic- Republican	1820 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1820 or 1821.	√ David Holmes (Federalist) [data missing]
New Jersey	James J. Wilson	Democratic- Republican	1814 or 1815	Incumbent lost re-election, then resigned January 8, 1821. New senator elected November 11, 1820.^[1] Democratic-Republican hold.	√ Samuel L. Southard (Democratic-Republican) 30^[1] James J. Wilson (Democratic-Republican) 24^[1]
New York	Nathan Sanford	Democratic- Republican	1809	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected February 6, 1821. Democratic-Republican hold.	√ Martin Van Buren (Democratic-Republican) Nathan Sanford (Democratic-Republican)
Ohio	Benjamin Ruggles	Democratic- Republican	1815	Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1821. Democratic-Republican hold.	√ Benjamin Ruggles (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
Pennsylvania	Jonathan Roberts	Democratic- Republican	1814 (Special) 1814	Legislature failed to elect. Democratic-Republican loss. New senator would later be elected in 1821.	[data missing]
Rhode Island	William Hunter	Federalist	1811 (Special) 1814	Unknown if incumbent retired or lost re-election. New senator elected in 1820 or 1821. Democratic-Republican gain.	√ James DeWolf (Federalist) [data missing]
Tennessee	John H. Eaton	Democratic- Republican	1818 (Appointed) 1819 (Special)	Legislature failed to elect Democratic-Republican loss. New senator would later be elected September 27, 1821, see below.^[2]	[data missing]
Vermont	Isaac Tichenor	Federalist	1796 1796 1797 (Resigned) 1814 or 1815	Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1821. Democratic-Republican gain.	√ Horatio Seymour (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
Virginia	James Barbour	Democratic- Republican	1815 (Special) 1814	Incumbent re-elected in 1821.	√ James Barbour (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]

Special elections during the next Congress

In this special election, the winner was elected in 1821 after March 4; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Missouri Class 1	New state			Winner elected August 10, 1821. Democratic-Republican gain.	√ Thomas H. Benton (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
Missouri Class 3	New state			Winner elected August 10, 1821. Democratic-Republican gain.	√ David Barton (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
Tennessee Class 1	Vacant			Legislature had failed to elect. Winner re-elected late September 27, 1821.^[2] Democratic-Republican gain.	√ John H. Eaton (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
Georgia Class 1	Freeman Walker	Democratic- Republican	1819 (Special)	Incumbent resigned August 6, 1821. Winner elected November 10, 1821. Democratic-Republican hold.	√ Nicholas Ware (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
Pennsylvania Class 1	Vacant			Legislature had failed to elect. Winner elected December 10, 1821. Democratic-Republican gain.	√ William Findlay (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "New Jersey 1820 U.S. Senate". A New Nation Votes. Tufts University Digital Collections and Archives. November 11, 1820. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
^ ^a ^b "EATON, John Henry, (1790 - 1856)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved June 9, 2015.

Party Division in the Senate, 1789-Present, via Senate.gov
Byrd, Robert C. (October 1, 1993). Wolff, Wendy (ed.). "The Senate, 1789-1989: Historical Statistics, 1789-1992". United States Senate Historical Office (volume 4 Bicentennial ed.). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)

[New_Jersey-1] "New Jersey 1820 U.S. Senate". A New Nation Votes. Tufts University Digital Collections and Archives. November 11, 1820. Retrieved June 9, 2015.

[bioguide.congress.gov-2] "EATON, John Henry, (1790 - 1856)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved June 9, 2015.

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