1794–95 United States Senate elections

The 1794–95 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 1794 and 1795, 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.

1794–95 United States Senate elections

← 1792 & 1793 Dates vary by state 1796 & 1797 →
1800 & 1801 →
10 of the 30 seats in the United States Senate (plus special elections) 16 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Party Federalist Democratic-Republican Seats before 16 (as Pro-Administration) 13 (as Anti-Administration) Seats after 19 10 Seat change 3 3 Seats up 5 (as Pro-Administration) 5 (as Anti-Administration) Races won 8 2
Federalist hold      Federalist gain      Democratic-Republican hold
Majority Faction before election Pro-Administration Elected Majority Faction Federalist

This was the first election cycle with organized political parties in the United States, with the Federalist Party emerging from the Pro Administration coalition, and the Democratic-Republican Party emerging from the Anti-Administration coalition.

Results summary

Senate party division, 4th Congress (1795–1797)

• Majority party: Federalist (20)
• Minority party: Democratic-Republican (10)
• Other parties: 0
• Total seats: 30

Change in composition

Before the elections

Note: There were no political parties in the 3rd Congress. Members are informally grouped here into factions of similar interest, based on an analysis of their voting record.^[2]

After the March 31, 1794 special election in Pennsylvania.

A5	A4	A3	A2	A1
A6	A7	A8	A9 Ga. Ran	A10 Ky. Unknown	A11 N.H. Ran	A12 N.C. Unknown	A13 Vt. Ran	V1 Del.	P16 S.C. Retired
Majority →
P6	P7	P8	P9	P10	P11	P12 Conn. Retired	P13 Md. Ran	P14 N.Y. Ran	P15 Pa. Retired
P5	P4	P3	P2	P1

Results of the elections

A5	A4	A3	A2	A1
A6	A7	A8	DR1 N.H. Gain from A	DR2 N.C. Gain from A	V1 Del.	F8 Vt. Gain from A	F7 S.C. Gain from P	F6 Pa. Gain from P	F5 N.Y. Gain from P
									F4 Md. Gain from P
P6	P7	P8	P9	P10	P11	F1 Conn. Gain from P	F2 Ga. Gain from A	F3 Ky. Gain from A
P5	P4	P3	P2	P1

Beginning of the next Congress

See also: 4th United States Congress

Seven senators who were considered "Anti-Administration" became Democratic-Republicans and eleven "Pro-Administration" became Federalists.

DR5 Changed	DR4 Changed	DR3 Changed	DR2 Changed	DR1 Changed
DR6 Changed	DR7 Changed	DR8 Changed	DR9	DR10	F20 Del. Gain	F19	F18	F17	F16
Majority →
F6 Changed	F7 Changed	F8 Changed	F9 Changed	F10 Changed	F11 Changed	F12	F13	F14	F15
F5 Changed	F4 Changed	F3 Changed	F2 Changed	F1 Changed

Key:	A# Anti-Administration DR# Democratic-Republican F# Federalist P# Pro-Administration V# Vacant

Race summaries

Except if/when noted, the number following candidates is the whole number vote(s), not a percentage.

Special elections during the 3rd Congress

In these special elections, the winner was seated before March 4, 1795; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	First elected
Pennsylvania (Class 1)	Albert Gallatin	Anti-Administration	[[1794 United States Senate special election in Pennsylvania|1793 (special)]]	Incumbent disqualified February 28, 1794. New senator elected March 31, 1794. Pro-Administration gain. Winner became a Federalist in the next Congress.	▌Y James Ross (Pro-Admin.) 51.72% ▌Robert Coleman (Unknown) 40.23% ▌Samuel Sitgreaves (Federalist) 1.15% Not voting 6.7%
Virginia (Class 1)	James Monroe	Anti-Administration	[[1790 United States Senate special election in Virginia|1790 (special)]]	Incumbent resigned May 11, 1794 to become U.S. Minister to France. New senator elected November 18, 1794. Anti-Administration hold. Winner became a Democratic-Republican in the next Congress.	▌Y Stevens Thomson Mason (Anti-Admin.) [data missing]
Virginia (Class 2)	John Taylor	Anti-Administration	[[1792 United States Senate special election in Virginia|1792 (special)]]	Incumbent resigned May 11, 1794. New senator elected November 18, 1794. Anti-Administration hold. Winner became a Democratic-Republican in the next Congress.	▌Y Henry Tazewell (Anti-Admin.) [data missing]
Delaware (Class 1)	Vacant			George Read (P) resigned September 18, 1793 to become Chief Justice of Delaware. New senator elected February 7, 1795. Pro-Administration gain. Winner became a Federalist in the next Congress.	▌Y Henry Latimer (Pro-Admin.) 15 ▌John Dickinson (Anti-Admin.) 14[3]

Races leading to the 4th Congress

In these regular elections, the winner was seated on March 4, 1795; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 3 seats.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	First elected
Connecticut	Stephen Mitchell	Pro-Administration	1793 (appointed)	Incumbent appointee retired. New senator's election date unknown. Federalist gain.	▌Y Jonathan Trumbull, Jr. (Federalist) [data missing]
Georgia	James Gunn	Anti-Administration	1789	Incumbent re-elected November 13, 1794 as a Federalist. Federalist gain.	▌Y James Gunn (Federalist) 36 ▌Edward Telfair (Unknown) 12 ▌William Few (Unknown) 3[4]
Kentucky	John Edwards	Anti-Administration	[[1792 United States Senate elections in Kentucky|1792 (new state)]]	Incumbent retired or lost re-election. New senator elected in 1794 on the second ballot. Federalist gain.	▌Y Humphrey Marshall (Federalist) 28 ▌John Breckinridge (Democratic-Republican) 22[5]
Maryland	John Henry	Pro-Administration	1788	Incumbent re-elected in 1795 as a Federalist. Federalist gain.	▌Y John Henry (Federalist) [data missing]
New Hampshire	John Langdon	Anti-Administration	1788	Incumbent re-elected on an unknown date as a Democratic-Republican. Democratic-Republican gain.	▌Y John Langdon (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
New York	Rufus King	Pro-Administration	1789	Incumbent re-elected January 27, 1795 to a new party. Federalist gain.	▌Y Rufus King (Federalist) 47 ▌Thomas Tillotson (Federalist) 30 ▌John Lawrence (Federalist) 1[6]
North Carolina	Benjamin Hawkins	Anti-Administration	1789	Incumbent retired or lost re-election. New senator elected in 1795 on the fifth ballot. Democratic-Republican gain.	▌Y Timothy Bloodworth (Democratic-Republican) ▌John Leigh (Unknown) ▌Alfred Moore (Federalist) ▌Nathaniel Macon (Democratic-Republican) Withdrew ▌John Skinner (Unknown) Withdrew ▌Charles Johnson (Democratic-Republican) Withdrew ▌William Lenoir (Unknown)[7]
Pennsylvania	Robert Morris	Pro-Administration	1788	Incumbent retired. New senator elected February 26, 1795. Federalist gain.	▌Y William Bingham (Federalist) 58 ▌Peter Muhlenberg (Democratic-Republican) 35[8]
South Carolina	Ralph Izard	Pro-Administration	1789	Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1794 on the second ballot. Federalist gain.	▌Y Jacob Read (Federalist) ▌John Hunter (Democratic-Republican)[9]
Vermont	Stephen R. Bradley	Anti-Administration	[[1791 United States Senate elections in Vermont|1791 (new state)]]	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected in 1794. Federalist gain.	▌Y Elijah Paine (Federalist) [data missing]

Elections during the 4th Congress

There were no elections in 1795 after March 4.

Connecticut

See also: List of United States senators from Connecticut

Delaware (special)

Delaware special election

← 1790 February 7, 1795 1797 →

Class 1 Senator →

Nominee Henry Latimer John Dickinson Party Federalist Democratic-Republican Popular vote 15 14 Percentage 51.72% 48.28%

U.S. senator before election George Read Federalist Elected U.S. Senator Henry Latimer Federalist

Main article: 1795 United States Senate special election in Delaware

See also: List of United States senators from Delaware

The Delaware special election was held February 7, 1795. Incumbent Senator George Read had resigned to take the position of Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court. Henry Latimer defeated the former Governor of Delaware, Governor of Pennsylvania and Continental Congressmen from Delaware and Pennsylvania by one vote.

1795 United States Senate election in Delaware^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Federalist	Henry Latimer	15	51.72%
	Democratic-Republican	John Dickinson	14	48.28%
Total votes			29	100%

Georgia

See also: List of United States senators from Georgia

Kentucky

See also: List of United States senators from Kentucky

Maryland

See also: List of United States senators from Maryland

1795 United States Senate election in Maryland

← 1788 December 16, 1794 1797 →
80 members of the Maryland General Assembly
Candidate John Henry James Lloyd Party Federalist Democratic-Republican Legislative vote - Percentage -% %

John Henry won election over James Lloyd by an unknown number of votes for the Class 3 seat.^[11]

New Hampshire

See also: List of United States senators from New Hampshire

New York

Main article: 1795 United States Senate election in New York

See also: List of United States senators from New York

North Carolina

See also: List of United States senators from North Carolina

Pennsylvania

See also: List of United States senators from Pennsylvania and 1794 United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania (special)

Senator James Ross

Main article: 1794 United States Senate special election in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania special election, March 31, 1794^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Pro-Administration	James Ross	45	51.72%
	Unknown	Robert Coleman	35	40.23%
	Federalist	Samuel Sitgreaves	1	1.15%
	N/A	Not voting	6	6.70%
Total votes			87	100%

Pennsylvania (regular)

Senator William Bingham

Main article: 1795 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania

Incumbent Federalist Robert Morris, who was elected in 1788, was not a candidate for re-election to another term. The Pennsylvania General Assembly convened on February 26, 1795, to elect a senator for the term beginning March 4, 1795.

Pennsylvania general election, February 26, 1795^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Pro-Administration	William Bingham	58	56.86%
	Anti-Administration	Peter Muhlenberg	35	34.31%
	N/A	Not voting	9	8.82%
Total votes			102	100%

South Carolina

See also: List of United States senators from South Carolina

Vermont

See also: List of United States senators from Vermont

Virginia

See also: List of United States senators from Virginia

Even though neither of Virginia's incumbent's terms were up, both resigned in 1794, leading to two special elections.

Future-president James Monroe resigned March 27, 1794 to become U.S. Minister to France.

Stevens Thomson Mason was elected November 18, 1794 and would become a Democratic-Republican in the next Congress.

Virginia (special, class 2)

Senator Henry Tazewell

Incumbent John Taylor of Caroline resigned May 11, 1794.

Henry Tazewell was elected November 18, 1794 and would become a Democratic-Republican in the next Congress.

See also

• 1794 United States elections
  • 1794–95 United States House of Representatives elections
• 3rd United States Congress
• 4th United States Congress