A special election was held in on August 1, 1796, and September 12, 1796, to fill a vacancy left by the resignation of Benjamin Goodhue (F) in June, 1796. Goodhue had resigned upon being elected to the Senate.[1]
Two elections were held due to a majority not being achieved on the first vote.
| Candidate | Party | First ballot[2] | Second ballot[3] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | Percent | Votes | Percent | ||||
| Samuel Sewall | Federalist | 183 | 31.9% | 417 | 61.7% | ||
| Loammi Baldwin | Federalist | 259 | 38.3% | ||||
| Jonathan Ingersoll | Unknown | 129 | 22.5% | ||||
| John Morris | Unknown | 121 | 21.2% | ||||
| John Cabot | Unknown | 60 | 10.5% | ||||
| Samuel Holten | Federalist | 39 | 6.8% | ||||
| Elias H. Dooly | Unknown | 23 | 4.0% | ||||
| Scattering | 18 | 3.1% | |||||
Sewall took his seat on December 7, 1796[1]