The 1861 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania was held on January 8, 1861. Edgar Cowan was elected by the Pennsylvania General Assembly to the United States Senate.[1]
Incumbent Democrat William Bigler, who was elected in 1856, was not a candidate for re-election to another term. The Pennsylvania General Assembly, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate, convened on January 8, 1861, to elect a new Senator to fill the term beginning on March 4, 1861. The results of the vote of both houses combined are as follows:
|-|-bgcolor="#EEEEEE"| colspan="3" align="right" | Totals| align="right" | 133| align="right" | 100.00%|}