| Election Name: | 1802–03 United States Senate elections |
| Country: | United States |
| Flag Year: | 1795 |
| Type: | legislative |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1800–01 United States Senate elections |
| Next Election: | 1804–05 United States Senate elections |
| Seats For Election: | 11 of the 32 seats in the United States Senate (plus special elections) |
| Majority Seats: | 17 |
| Election Date: | Dates vary by state |
| 1Blank: | Seats up |
| 2Blank: | Races won |
| Party1: | Democratic-Republican Party |
| Seats Before1: | 17 |
| Seats After1: | 22 |
| Seat Change1: | 5 |
| 1Data1: | 2 |
| 2Data1: | 7 |
| Party2: | Federalist Party |
| Seats Before2: | 15 |
| Seats After2: | 9 |
| Seat Change2: | 6 |
| 1Data2: | 9 |
| 2Data2: | 3 |
| Majority Party | |
| Before Party: | Democratic-Republican Party |
| After Party: | Democratic-Republican Party |
The 1802–03 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 1802 and 1803, 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 1.
The Democratic-Republican Party maintained and greatly expanded their majority of seats to over two-thirds of the Senate.
Accounting for the 1802 special elections in New York, Rhode Island, and South Carolina.
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| Key: |
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Unless noted, the number following candidates is the whole number vote(s), not a percentage.
In these special elections, the winner was seated before March 4, 1803; ordered by election date.
| State | Incumbent | Results | Candidates | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senator | Party | Electoral history | |||||||
| New York (Class 3) | John Armstrong, Jr. | Democratic-Republican | 1800 | Incumbent resigned February 5, 1802. Winner elected February 11, 1802. Democratic-Republican hold. | nowrap | ||||
| New Hampshire (Class 3) | James Sheafe | Federalist | 1800 | Incumbent resigned June 14, 1802. Winner elected June 17, 1802. Federalist hold. | nowrap | ||||
| South Carolina (Class 3) | John E. Colhoun | Democratic-Republican | 1800 | Incumbent died October 26, 1802. Winner elected November 4, 1802. Democratic-Republican hold. | nowrap | ||||
In these regular elections, the winner was seated on March 4, 1803; ordered by state.
All of the elections involved the Class 1 seats.
| State | Incumbent | Results | Candidates | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senator | Party | Electoral history | ||||||
| Connecticut | James Hillhouse | Federalist | 1796 | Incumbent re-elected October 27, 1802. | nowrap | |||
| Delaware | Samuel White | Federalist | 1801 | Incumbent re-elected January 11, 1803. | nowrap | |||
| Maryland | John E. Howard | Federalist | 1796 1796 | Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected November 17, 1802. Democratic-Republican gain. | nowrap | |||
| Massachusetts | Jonathan Mason | Federalist | 1800 | Incumbent retired. New senator elected February 7, 1803, on the fourth ballot. Federalist hold. | nowrap | |||
| New Jersey | Aaron Ogden | Federalist | 1801 | Incumbent lost re-election. Legislature failed to elect. Federalist loss. | nowrap | |||
| New York | Gouverneur Morris | Federalist | 1800 | Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected February 1, 1803, on the 2nd ballot. Democratic-Republican gain. | nowrap | |||
| Pennsylvania | James Ross | Federalist | 1794 1797 | Incumbent retired. New senator elected December 14, 1802. Democratic-Republican gain. | nowrap | |||
| Rhode Island | Theodore Foster | Federalist | 1796 | Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1802. Democratic-Republican gain. | nowrap | |||
| Tennessee | Joseph Anderson | Democratic- Republican | 1799 | Legislature did not elect until September 22, 1803, after the term began, see below. Democratic-Republican loss. | nowrap | None. | ||
| Vermont | Nathaniel Chipman | Federalist | 1797 | Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected in 1802. Democratic-Republican gain. | nowrap | |||
| Virginia | Stevens Mason | Democratic- Republican | 1794 1796 | Incumbent re-elected in 1803. | nowrap | |||
In this special election, the winner was seated in 1803 after March 4.
| State | Incumbent | Results | Candidates | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senator | Party | Electoral history | |||||||
| Ohio (Class 1) | New seat | Ohio joined the Union in 1803. Winner elected April 1, 1803. Democratic-Republican gain. | nowrap | ||||||
| Ohio (Class 3) | New seat | Ohio joined the Union in 1803. Winner elected April 1, 1803. Democratic-Republican gain. | nowrap | ||||||
| Tennessee (Class 1) | Vacant | Legislature had failed to elect. Predecessor re-elected late September 22, 1803 on the 4th ballot. Democratic-Republican gain. | nowrap | ||||||
| New Jersey (Class 1) | John Condit | Democratic-Republican | 1803 | Legislature had failed to elect. Condit was then appointed September 1, 1803, to continue the term. He was then elected November 3, 1803. | nowrap | ||||
| Virginia (Class 1) | John Taylor | Democratic-Republican | 1792 1793 | Predecessor Stevens T. Mason (DR) had died May 10, 1803, having just begun the new term. Interim appointee served from June 4, 1803, and did not seek election to finish the term. Winner elected December 7, 1803. Democratic-Republican hold. | nowrap | ||||
In this regular election, the winner was seated on March 4, 1805; ordered by state.
This election involved a Class 2 seat.
See also: List of United States senators from Connecticut. Federalist incumbent James Hillhouse (originally elected in 1796) was re-elected.
See also: List of United States senators from Delaware.
See also: List of United States senators from Maryland.
| Election Name: | 1802 United States Senate election in Maryland |
| Popular Vote1: | 46 |
| Colour1: | AACC99 |
| Percentage1: | 60.53% |
| Party1: | Democratic-Republican Party |
| Candidate1: | Samuel Smith |
| Image1: | SSmith.jpg |
| Popular Vote2: | 30 |
| Colour2: | F6D6C9 |
| Percentage2: | 39.47% |
| Party2: | Federalist Party |
| Candidate2: | John Eager Howard |
| Next Year: | 1809 |
| Next Election: | 1809 United States Senate election in Maryland |
| Previous Year: | 1796 |
| Previous Election: | 1796 United States Senate election in Maryland |
| Votes For Election: | 80 members of the Maryland General Assembly |
| Vote Type: | Legislative |
| Election Date: | November 17, 1802 |
| Type: | presidential |
Samuel Smith won election over John Eager Howard by a margin of 21.05%, or 16 votes, for the Class 1 seat.[2]
See also: List of United States senators from Massachusetts.
See also: List of United States senators from New Hampshire.
See also: List of United States senators from New Jersey. There were two elections to the class 1 seat.
The New Jersey legislature failed to elect by the March 4, 1803, beginning of the term.
The governor appointed Democratic-Republican John Condit September 1, 1803, to continue the term. Condit was then unanimously elected November 3, 1803, to finish the term. No vote totals were recorded.[3]
See also: List of United States senators from New York.
Democratic-Republican John Armstrong Jr., who had held the class 3 seat since 1801, resigned February 5, 1802, and Democratic-Republican DeWitt Clinton was elected February 23, 1802, to finish the term. Clinton, however, resigned November 4, 1803, and Armstrong was appointed December 8, 1803, to his old seat.
Federalist Gouverneur Morris lost re-election to the class 1 seat to Democratic-Republican Theodorus Bailey in 1803.
See also: List of United States senators from Ohio. Ohio joined the Union in 1803. New Democratic-Republican senators were elected April 1, 1803. Official records indicate that John Smith and Thomas Worthington were elected, and that Smith received the "long" term, while Worthington received the "short" one. They do not indicate if there were other candidates, or what the vote totals were.[4]
See also: List of United States senators from Pennsylvania.
See also: List of United States senators from Rhode Island.
See also: List of United States senators from South Carolina.
See also: List of United States senators from Tennessee.
See also: List of United States senators from Vermont. Federalist Senator Nathaniel Chipman lost re-election to Democratic-Republican Israel Smith. Smith received 102 votes in the Vermont House of Representatives and 9 from the Governor and Council. Spencer received 75 votes from the House and 4 from the Governor and Council.
See also: List of United States senators from Virginia.
There were two elections to the same seat as the newly-re-elected senator died at the beginning of the next term.
Two-term Democratic-Republican Stevens Mason was re-elected in 1803.
Mason died May 10, 1803, having just begun the new term. Democratic-Republican John Taylor was appointed but chose not to run to finish the term. Democratic-Republican Abraham B. Venable was elected December 7, 1803, as the unanimous choice of the Virginia General Assembly. No vote totals were recorded.