| Election Name: | 1900–01 United States Senate elections |
| Country: | United States |
| Flag Year: | 1896 |
| Type: | legislative |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1898–99 United States Senate elections |
| Next Election: | 1902–03 United States Senate elections |
| Seats For Election: | 30 of the 90 seats in the United States Senate (as well as special elections) |
| Majority Seats: | 46 |
| Election Date: | January 16, 1900 – March 28, 1901 |
| 1Blank: | Seats up |
| 2Blank: | Races won |
| Party1: | Republican Party (US) |
| Image1: | William B. Allison - Brady-Handy.jpg |
| Leader1: | William B. Allison |
| Leader Since1: | March 4, 1897 |
| Leaders Seat1: | Iowa |
| Seats Before1: | 53 |
| Seats After1: | 55 |
| Seat Change1: | 2 |
| 1Data1: | 17 |
| 2Data1: | 14 |
| Party2: | Democratic Party (US) |
| Leader2: | James K. Jones |
| Leader Since2: | March 4, 1899 |
| Leaders Seat2: | Arkansas |
| Seats Before2: | 27 |
| Seats After2: | 29 |
| Seat Change2: | 2 |
| 1Data2: | 11 |
| 2Data2: | 13 |
| Party4: | Populist Party (US) |
| Seats Before4: | 4 |
| Seats After4: | 2 |
| Seat Change4: | 2 |
| 1Data4: | 1 |
| 2Data4: | 0 |
| Party5: | Silver Republican Party |
| Seats Before5: | 2 |
| Seats After5: | 2 |
| 1Data5: | 1 |
| 2Data5: | 1 |
| Party7: | Silver Party |
| Seats Before7: | 2 |
| Seats After7: | 2 |
| 1Data7: | 0 |
| 2Data7: | 0 |
| Majority Party | |
| Before Party: | Republican Party (US) |
| After Party: | Republican Party (US) |
| Map Size: | 320px |
The 1900–01 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states, coinciding with President William McKinley's re-election as well as the 1900 House of Representatives elections. 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 1900 and 1901, 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 2.
Both the Republicans and the Democrats gained two seats at the expense of various third parties and vacancies. Special elections were held to fill vacant seats in Pennsylvania, Utah, and Montana (of which the Republicans won the two former and Democrats the latter) as well as to replace appointees in Minnesota, Nebraska, and Vermont (all of which were carried by the Republicans). Republicans flipped Democratic-held seats in Minnesota, as well as a Populist seat in Nebraska and a Silver Republican held seat in South Dakota. The Silver Republican party kept itself to net neutral gain by flipping a Republican held seat in Idaho. The Democratic party, meanwhile, flipped Republican held seats in Montana and Colorado as well as a Populist held seat in North Carolina.
In Nebraska and Montana's special election, senators were elected shortly after the beginning of the 57th Congress on March 4. In Delaware, the legislature again failed to elect a candidate, leaving both senate seats vacant– the only time a state has gone without representation in the Senate since the first Congress.
Senate party division, 57th Congress (1901–1903)
At the beginning of 1900.
| D | D | D | D | D | |||||||||||||||
| width=50px | D | width=50px | D | width=50px | D | width=50px | D | width=50px | D | width=50px | D | width=50px | D | width=50px | D | width=50px | D | width=50px | D |
| D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | ||||||||||
| SR | SR | S | S | P | P | P | P | P | D | ||||||||||
| SR | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | V | ||||||||||
| Majority → | V | ||||||||||||||||||
| R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | V | |||||||||||
| R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | ||||||||||
| R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | ||||||||||
| R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | ||||||||||
| R | R | R | R | R | |||||||||||||||
| D | D | D | D | D | |||||||||||||||
| width=50px | D | width=50px | D | width=50px | D | width=50px | D | width=50px | D | width=50px | D | width=50px | D | width=50px | D | width=50px | D | width=50px | D |
| D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | ||||||||||
| SR | S | S | P | P | P | P | D | D | D | ||||||||||
| SR | SR | R | R | R | R | R | R | V | V | ||||||||||
| Majority → | V | V | |||||||||||||||||
| R | R | R | R | R | R | R | V | ||||||||||||
| R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | ||||||||||
| R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | ||||||||||
| R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | ||||||||||
| R | R | R | R | R | |||||||||||||||
| D | D | D | D | D | |||||||||||||||
| width=50px | D | width=50px | D | width=50px | D | width=50px | D | width=50px | D | width=50px | D | width=50px | D | width=50px | D | width=50px | D | width=50px | D |
| D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | ||||||||||
| R | R | SR | SR | P | P | P | D | D | D | ||||||||||
| R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | V | V | ||||||||||
| Majority → | |||||||||||||||||||
| R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | V | V | ||||||||||
| R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | ||||||||||
| R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | ||||||||||
| R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | ||||||||||
| R | R | R | R | R | |||||||||||||||
| Key: |
|
|---|
In these elections, the winner was seated in the current (56th) Congress during 1900 or in 1901 before March 4; ordered by election date.
| State | Incumbent | Results | Candidates | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senator | Party | Electoral history | ||||||
| Mississippi (Class 2) | William V. Sullivan | Democratic | 1898 | Interim appointee elected January 16, 1900. Winner was not a candidate in the election for the next term, see below. | nowrap | |||
| California (Class 1) | Vacant | Legislature had failed to elect. New senator elected February 7, 1900. Republican gain. | nowrap | |||||
| Vermont (Class 3) | Jonathan Ross | Republican | 1899 | Interim appointee retired. New senator elected October 18, 1900. Republican hold. | nowrap | |||
| Pennsylvania (Class 1) | Vacant | Legislature had failed to elect. Predecessor appointed, but declared not entitled to the seat. Predecessor re-elected January 16, 1901. Republican gain. | nowrap | |||||
| Minnesota (Class 1) | Charles A. Towne | Democratic | 1900 | Interim appointee lost election. New senator elected January 23, 1901. Republican gain. | nowrap | |||
| Utah (Class 1) | Vacant | Legislature had failed to elect. New senator elected January 23, 1901. Republican gain. | nowrap | |||||
| Delaware (Class 1) | Vacant | Legislature had failed to elect to begin the term. Legislature again failed to elect to finish the term. | nowrap | |||||
In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1901; ordered by state.
All of the elections involved the Class 2 seats.
| State | Incumbent | Results | Candidates | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senator | Party | Electoral history | ||||||
| Alabama | John Tyler Morgan | Democratic | 1876 1882 1888 1894 | Incumbent re-elected November 27, 1900.[2] | nowrap | |||
| Arkansas | James Berry | Democratic | 1885 1889 1895 | Incumbent re-elected January 22, 1901.[3] | nowrap | |||
| Colorado | Edward O. Wolcott | Republican | 1889 1895 | Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected January 15, 1901.[4] Democratic gain. | nowrap | |||
| Delaware | Richard R. Kenney | Democratic | 1897 | Incumbent lost re-election. Legislature failed to elect. Democratic loss. | nowrap | |||
| Georgia | Augustus Bacon | Democratic | 1894 | Incumbent re-elected November 6, 1900. | nowrap | |||
| Idaho | George Shoup | Republican | 1890 1895 | Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected January 16, 1901.[5] [6] Silver Republican gain. New senator changed party to Democratic. | nowrap | |||
| Illinois | Shelby M. Cullom | Republican | 1882 1888 1894 | Incumbent re-elected January 22, 1901.[7] | nowrap | |||
| Iowa | John H. Gear | Republican | 1894 | Incumbent re-elected January 17, 1900. Incumbent died July 14, 1900. A new senator was appointed to finish the term and to the next term. | nowrap | |||
| Kansas | Lucien Baker | Republican | 1895 | Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected January 22, 1901.[8] Republican hold. | nowrap | |||
| Kentucky | William Lindsay | Democratic | 1882 | Incumbent retired. New senator elected January 16, 1900, after an election January 10, 1900 was cast in doubt.[9] Democratic hold. | nowrap | |||
| Louisiana | Donelson Caffery | Democratic | 1894 1894 1894 | Incumbent retired. New senator elected May 22, 1900.[10] Democratic hold. | nowrap | |||
| Maine | William P. Frye | Republican | 1881 1883 1889 1895 | Incumbent re-elected January 15, 1901.[11] | nowrap | |||
| Massachusetts | George Frisbie Hoar | Republican | 1877 1883 1889 1895 | Incumbent re-elected January 15, 1901.[12] | nowrap | |||
| Michigan | James McMillan | Republican | 1889 1895 | Incumbent re-elected January 15, 1901.[13] | nowrap | |||
| Minnesota | Knute Nelson | Republican | 1895 | Incumbent re-elected January 22, 1901. | nowrap | |||
| Mississippi | William V. Sullivan | Democratic | 1898 | Incumbent retired. New senator elected January 16, 1900. Democratic hold. Winner was not a candidate to finish the term, see above. | nowrap | |||
| Montana | Thomas H. Carter | Republican | 1895 | Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected January 16, 1901. Democratic gain. The election was later challenged. | nowrap | |||
| Nebraska | John Mellen Thurston | Republican | 1895 | Legislature failed to elect. Republican loss. | ||||
| New Hampshire | William E. Chandler | Republican | 1889 1895 | Incumbent lost remomination. New senator elected January 15, 1901.[14] Republican hold. | nowrap | |||
| New Jersey | William Sewell | Republican | 1895 | Incumbent re-elected January 22, 1901.[15] | nowrap | |||
| North Carolina | Marion Butler | Populist | 1894 | Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected January 22, 1901.[16] Democratic gain. | nowrap | |||
| Oregon | George W. McBride | Republican | 1895 | Incumbent lost renomination. New senator elected February 24, 1901.[17] Republican hold. | nowrap | |||
| Rhode Island | George P. Wetmore | Republican | 1894 | Incumbent re-elected June 12, 1900.[18] | nowrap | |||
| South Carolina | Benjamin Tillman | Democratic | 1894 | Incumbent re-elected January 15, 1901.[19] | nowrap | |||
| South Dakota | Richard F. Pettigrew | Silver Republican | 1889 1894 | Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected January 22, 1901.[20] Republican gain. | nowrap | |||
| Tennessee | Thomas B. Turley | Democratic | 1883 | Incumbent retired. New senator elected January 16, 1901.[21] Democratic hold. | nowrap | |||
| Texas | Horace Chilton | Democratic | 1882 | Incumbent retired. New senator elected January 22, 1901.[22] Democratic hold. | nowrap | |||
| Virginia | Thomas S. Martin | Democratic | 1893 | Incumbent had already been re-elected early December 19, 1899. | ||||
| West Virginia | Stephen B. Elkins | Republican | 1895 | Incumbent re-elected January 22, 1901.[23] | nowrap | |||
| Wyoming | Francis E. Warren | Republican | 1890 1893 1895 | Incumbent re-elected January 22, 1901. | nowrap | |||
In this election, the winner was seated in the 58th Congress, starting March 4, 1903.
In these elections, the winners was elected in 1901 after March 4 and seated in the 57th Congress.
| State | Incumbent | Results | Candidates | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senator | Party | Electoral history | ||||||
| Montana (Class 1) | Vacant | William A. Clark had resigned May 15, 1900, and was later elected to the state's other seat, see above. New senator elected March 7, 1901. Democratic gain. | nowrap | |||||
| Nebraska (Class 1) | William V. Allen | Populist | 1893 1899 1899 | Interim appointee lost election as a Fusion candidate.[24] New senator elected March 28, 1901. Republican gain. | nowrap | |||
| Nebraska (Class 2) | Vacant | Legislature had failed to elect, see above. New senator elected March 28, 1901. Republican gain. | nowrap | |||||
See main article: article and 1901 United States Senate special election in Pennsylvania.
The special election in Pennsylvania was held on January 15, 1901, after the regularly scheduled legislative election in January–April 1899 failed to elect a Senator. Former Senator Matthew Quay, who had left the Senate for nearly two years because of the political stalemate, was again elected by the Pennsylvania General Assembly to the United States Senate.[25] [26]
Republican Matthew Quay was re-elected by the Pennsylvania General Assembly, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate, in the 1893 election. With Sen. Quay's term expiring on March 4, 1899, the General Assembly convened on January 18, 1899, to elect a Senator for the next term. Between January 18 and April 19, 1899, seventy-nine ballots were recorded in an attempt to elect a Senator. Instead, the legislature adjourned sine die without electing a Senator due to a dispute between Sen. Quay's political machine and an anti-Quay faction within the Republican Party, along with Democratic Party opposition.[25]
Sen. Quay's term expired on March 4, 1899. Since a Senator had not been elected for the successive term, the seat was vacated. At the time, Quay was under indictment for misuse of funds. He was acquitted, after which Governor William Stone appointed Quay to the vacated Senate seat (a power the Governor did not legally have until the ratification of the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1913). The Senate refused to recognize Quay's appointment, and the seat remained vacant until a Senator could be officially elected (which would ultimately be Quay himself, after a nearly two-year hiatus). This incident, among others, would later be cited by supporters of the 17th Amendment, which mandated the direct election of U.S. Senators.[25]
The Pennsylvania General Assembly convened on January 15, 1901, for a special election to elect a Senator to serve out the remainder of the term that began on March 4, 1899. The results of the vote of both houses combined are as follows:
|- style="background:#eee; text-align:right"| colspan=3 | Totals| 254| 100.00%|}