1830–31 United States Senate elections explained

Election Name:	1830–31 United States Senate elections
Country:	United States
Flag Year:	1822
Type:	legislative
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	1828–29 United States Senate elections
Next Election:	1832–33 United States Senate elections
Seats For Election:	16 of the 48 seats in the United States Senate (plus special elections)
Majority Seats:	25
Election Date:	Dates vary by state
1Blank:	Seats up
Party1:	Jacksonian Party (US)
Last Election1:	26 seats
Seats Before1:	25
Seats1:	8
Seats After1:	26
Seat Change1:	1
1Data1:	7
Party2:	Anti-Jacksonian Party (US)
Last Election2:	19 seats
Seats Before2:	23
Seats2:	6
Seats After2:	20
Seat Change2:	3
1Data2:	9
Party4:	Nullifier Party
Seats Before4:	New party
Seats4:	1
Seats After4:	1
Seat Change4:	1
1Data4:	0
Majority Party
Before Party:	Jacksonian Party (US)
After Party:	Jacksonian Party (US)

The 1830–31 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 1830 and 1831, 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 Jacksonians gained one seat from the Anti-Jacksonian coalition, but lose one seat to the short-lived Nullifier Party. By the time Congress first met in December 1831, however, the Jacksonians had a net loss of one seat.

Results summary

Senate party division, 22nd Congress (1831–1833)

Majority party: Jacksonian (24–23)
Minority party: Anti-Jackson (21–23)
Other parties: Nullifier (2–1)
Total seats: 48

Change in composition

Before the elections

After the January 7, 1830 special election in Delaware.

							AJ		AJ		AJ		AJ
width=50px	AJ	width=50px	AJ	width=50px	AJ	width=50px	AJ	width=50px	AJ	width=50px	AJ	width=50px	AJ	width=50px	AJ	width=50px	AJ	width=50px	AJ
	AJ		AJ		AJ		AJ		AJ		AJ		AJ		AJ		AJ		J
Majority →	J
	J		J		J		J		J		J		J		J		J
	J		J		J		J		J		J		J		J		J		J
							J		J		J		J

As a result of the elections

							AJ		AJ		AJ		AJ
width=50px	AJ	width=50px	AJ	width=50px	AJ	width=50px	AJ	width=50px	AJ	width=50px	AJ	width=50px	AJ	width=50px	AJ	width=50px	AJ	width=50px	AJ
	AJ		AJ		AJ		AJ		AJ		AJ		V		N		J		J
Majority →	J
	J		J		J		J		J		J		J		J		J
	J		J		J		J		J		J		J		J		J		J
							J		J		J		J

At the beginning of the first session, December 5, 1831

							AJ		AJ		AJ		AJ
width=50px	AJ	width=50px	AJ	width=50px	AJ	width=50px	AJ	width=50px	AJ	width=50px	AJ	width=50px	AJ	width=50px	AJ	width=50px	AJ	width=50px	AJ
	AJ		AJ		AJ		AJ		AJ		AJ		AJ		AJ		N		N
Plurality →	J
	J		J		J		J		J		J		J		J		J
	J		J		J		J		J		J		J		J		J		J
							J		J		J		J

Key:

align=center	AJ	= Anti-Jacksonian
align=center	J	= Jacksonian
align=center	N	= Nullfier
align=center	V	= Vacant

Race summaries

Bold states link to specific election articles.

Special elections during the 21st Congress

In these special elections, the winners were seated during 1830 or before March 4, 1831; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Illinois (Class 2)	David J. Baker		Jacksonian	1830		Incumbent appointee retired when elected successor qualified. Winner elected December 11, 1830. Jacksonian hold.	nowrap
Mississippi (Class 2)	Thomas B. Reed		Jacksonian	1826 1827 1828		Incumbent died November 26, 1829. Winner elected January 6, 1830. Jacksonian hold.	nowrap
Delaware (Class 1)	Louis McLane		Jacksonian	1827		Incumbent resigned April 29, 1829 to become U.S. Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the United Kingdom. Winner elected January 7, 1830. Anti-Jacksonian gain.	nowrap

Races leading to the 22nd Congress

In these regular elections, the winner was seated on March 4, 1831 (except where noted due to late election); ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 3 seats.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Alabama	John McKinley		Jacksonian	1826		Incumbent lost re-election. Winner elected in 1831. Jacksonian hold.	nowrap
Connecticut	Calvin Willey		Anti-Jacksonian	1825		Unknown if incumbent ran for re-election. Winner elected May 20, 1830. Anti-Jacksonian hold.	nowrap
Georgia	John Forsyth		Jacksonian	1829	Incumbent re-elected in 1830 or 1831.	nowrap
Illinois	Elias Kane		Jacksonian	1825	Incumbent re-elected in 1831.	nowrap
Indiana	William Hendricks		Anti-Jacksonian	1824	Incumbent re-elected December 18, 1830 on the fourth ballot.	nowrap
Kentucky	John Rowan		Jacksonian	1824		Legislature elected late. Seat vacant.
Louisiana	Josiah S. Johnston		Anti-Jacksonian	1824 1825	Incumbent re-elected in 1831.	nowrap
Maryland	Ezekiel F. Chambers		Anti-Jacksonian	1826	Incumbent re-elected in 1831.	nowrap
Missouri	David Barton		Anti-Jacksonian	1821 1825		Incumbent lost re-election. Winner elected in 1830. Jacksonian gain.	nowrap
New Hampshire	Levi Woodbury		Jacksonian	1825		Unknown if incumbent ran for re-election. Winner elected in 1831. Jacksonian hold.	nowrap
New York	Nathan Sanford		Anti-Jacksonian	1826		Incumbent lost re-election. Winner elected February 1, 1831. Jacksonian gain.	nowrap
North Carolina	James Iredell Jr.		Jacksonian	1828		Incumbent retired. Winner elected in 1830. Jacksonian hold.	nowrap
Ohio	Jacob Burnet		Anti-Jacksonian	1828		Incumbent retired. Winner elected in 1830. Anti-Jacksonian hold.	nowrap
Pennsylvania	William Marks		Anti-Jacksonian	1825		Incumbent lost re-election. Winner elected in 1830 or 1831. Jacksonian gain.	nowrap
South Carolina	William Smith		Jacksonian	1826		Incumbent lost re-election. Winner elected in 1830 or 1831. Nullifier gain.	nowrap
Vermont	Dudley Chase		Anti-Jacksonian	1825		Unknown if incumbent ran for re-election. Winner elected in 1831. Anti-Jacksonian hold.	nowrap

Elections during the 22nd Congress

In these special elections, the winners were seated in 1831 after March 4; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Kentucky (Class 3)	Vacant				Legislature elected late. New senator elected November 10, 1831. Anti-Jacksonian gain.	nowrap
Louisiana (Class 2)	Edward Livingston		Jacksonian	1828 or 1829		Incumbent resigned May 24, 1831 to become U.S. Secretary of State. Winner elected November 15, 1831. Anti-Jacksonian gain.	nowrap
Pennsylvania (Class 1)	Isaac D. Barnard		Jacksonian	1826		Incumbent resigned December 6, 1831 due to ill health. Winner elected December 13, 1831.^[2] Jacksonian hold.	nowrap

Alabama

Connecticut

Delaware (special)

Georgia

Illinois

See also: List of United States senators from Illinois. Illinois had two elections in this cycle: one for each seat.

Illinois (regular)

For the Class 3 seat, one-term incumbent Jacksonian Elias Kane was re-elected in 1831 for the term beginning March 4, 1831.

Illinois (special)

For the Class 2 seat, Jacksonian incumbent John McLean, who had been elected in 1828 or 1829, died October 14, 1830. Jacksonian David J. Baker was appointed November 12, 1830 to continue the term until a special election. On December 11, 1830, Jacksonian John McCracken Robinson was elected to finish the term and was seated January 4, 1831.

Indiana

Kentucky

Kentucky had two elections in this cycle.

When Jacksonian John Rowan's term ended March 3, 1831, the legislature had not yet voted a replacement. When the legislature resumed for its session in November 1831, Anti-Jacksonian Henry Clay was elected, but still in time to participate when the 22nd Congress convened in December 1831.

Kentucky (special)

Louisiana

Louisiana had two elections in this cycle.

Louisiana (special)

Maryland

Election Name:	1831 United States Senate election in Maryland
Popular Vote1:	53
Colour1:	FFE6B0
Percentage1:	72.60%
Party1:	National Republican
Candidate1:	Ezekiel F. Chambers
Image1:	Ezekiel Forman Chambers (1788–1867).jpg
Popular Vote2:	20
Percentage2:	27.40%
Candidate2:	No votes
Next Year:	1835
Next Election:	1835 United States Senate special election in Maryland
Previous Year:	1826
Previous Election:	1826 United States Senate special election in Maryland
Votes For Election:	80 members of the Maryland General Assembly
Vote Type:	Legislative
Election Date:	February 24, 1831
Type:	presidential

Ezekiel F. Chambers won election over non-voters by a margin of 45.21%, or 33 votes, for the Class 3 seat.^[3]

Mississippi (special)

Missouri

New Hampshire

New York

See main article: 1831 United States Senate election in New York.

See also: List of United States senators from New York. The Senate election in New York was held on February 1, 1831, by the New York State Legislature. Nathan Sanford had been elected in 1826 to this seat, and his term would expire on March 3, 1831. At the state election in November 1830, the Jacksonians managed to defeat the combined Anti-Masons and Anti-Jacksonians. Enos T. Throop was narrowly re-elected Governor, a large Jacksonian majority was elected to the Assembly, and five of the nine State Senators elected were Jacksonian Democrats. The 54th New York State Legislature met from January 4 to April 26, 1831, at Albany, New York. The Jacksonian State legislators held a caucus before the election, and n The Jacksonian State legislators held a caucus before the electionominated New York Supreme Court Justice William L. Marcy. The vote was 77 for Marcy, 15 for Erastus Root, 6 for the incumbent Nathan Sanford and 6 scattering votes. William L. Marcy was the choice of both the Assembly and the Senate, and was declared elected.

House	Jacksonian	Anti-Mason	Anti-Jacksonian
State Senate (32 members)	William L. Marcy	20	Samuel Works	5
State Assembly (128 members)	William L. Marcy	86	Samuel Works	27	Nathan Sanford	1

North Carolina

Ohio

See also: List of United States senators from Ohio. The two houses of the Ohio General Assembly met during the winter of 1830–1831 in joint assembly to elect a Senator (Class 3). After seven ballots, on various dates, Thomas Ewing was elected on a majority of the ballots. The balloting was as follows:^[4]

Ballot		Thomas Ewing (Anti-Jacksonian)		Micajah T. Williams (Jacksonian)	Edward King (Anti-Jacksonian)
1	33	49	21
2	37	50	21
3	42	49	16
4	46	52	9
5	51	51	5
6	54	53	2
7	54	51	2

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania had two election in this cycle.

Pennsylvania (regular)

See main article: 1830 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania. -

Pennsylvania (special)

See main article: 1831 United States Senate special election in Pennsylvania.

Following the December 6, 1831 resignation of Senator Isaac Barnard due to ill health, the Pennsylvania General Assembly convened on December 13, 1831, to elect a new Senator to fill the vacancy. Eleven ballots were recorded. The results of the eleventh and final ballot of both houses combined are as follows:

| - ! colspan=3 align=right | Totals ! align=right | 133 ! align=right | 100.00%|}

Vermont

Sources

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

Notes and References

Web site: 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Direct Election of U.S. Senators (1913). National Archives and Records Administration. February 8, 2022.
Web site: U.S. Senate Election - 13 December 1831 . Wilkes University . December 21, 2012.
Web site: Our Campaigns - MD US Senate Race - Feb 24, 1831. 2022-11-05. www.ourcampaigns.com.
Book: Ohio statesmen and annals of progress: from the year 1788 to the year 1900… . William Alexander . Taylor . Aubrey Clarence . Taylor . 1899 . State of Ohio . 151 .