1820–21 United States Senate elections

The 1820–21 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states, corresponding with James Monroe's landslide re-election. 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 1820 and 1821, 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.

1820–21 United States Senate elections

← 1818 & 1819 Dates vary by state 1822 & 1823 →
15 of the 46 seats in the United States Senate (plus special elections) 24 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic-Republican Federalist Last election 30 seats 9 seats Seats before 37 9 Seats won 11 1 Seats after 38 5 Seat change 1 4 Seats up 10 5
Results:      Dem-Republican hold      Dem-Republican gain      Federalist hold      Legislature failed to elect
Majority party before election Democratic-Republican Elected Majority party Democratic-Republican

The Democratic-Republican Party gain one-to-five seats (in the general and special elections), assuming almost complete control of the Senate.

Results summary

Senate party division, 17th Congress (1821–1823)

• Majority party: Democratic-Republican (39–43)
• Minority party: Federalist (4)
• Vacant: (3–1)
• Total seats: 46–48

Change in composition

Before the elections

Composition after the June 13 and 14, 1820 elections in Maine.

							DR1 Maine New seat	DR2	DR3
DR13	DR12	DR11	DR10	DR9	DR8	DR7	DR6	DR5	DR4
DR14	DR15	DR16	DR17	DR18	DR19	DR20	DR21	DR22	DR23
Majority →									DR24
DR33 N.Y. Ran	DR32 N.J. Ran	DR31 Miss. Ran	DR30 Md. Ran	DR29 Maine New seat Ran	DR28 Ind. Ran	DR27	DR26	DR25
DR34 Ohio Ran	DR35 Va. Ran	DR36 Pa. Unknown	DR37 Tenn. Unknown	F9 Vt. Retired	F8 Del. Retired	F7 R.I. Unknown	F6 Mass. Ran	F5 Conn. Ran	F4
							F1	F2	F3

Result of the general elections

							DR1	DR2	DR3
DR13	DR12	DR11	DR10	DR9	DR8	DR7	DR6	DR5	DR4
DR14	DR15	DR16	DR17	DR18	DR19	DR20	DR21	DR22	DR23
Majority →									DR24
DR33 Va. Re-elected	DR32 Ohio Re-elected	DR31 Miss. Re-elected	DR30 Md. Re-elected	DR29 Maine Re-elected	DR28 Ind. Re-elected	DR27	DR26	DR25
DR34 N.J. Hold	DR35 N.Y. Hold	DR36 Conn. Gain	DR37 R.I. Gain	DR38 Vt. Gain	V1 Pa. DR loss	V2 Tenn. DR loss	V3 Del. F loss	F5 Mass. Re-elected	F4
							F1	F2	F3

Result of the special elections in the next Congress

						DR1 Mo. New seat	DR2 Mo. New seat	DR3	DR4 Ga. Hold
DR14	DR13	DR12	DR11	DR10	DR9	DR8	DR7	DR6	DR5
DR15	DR16	DR17	DR18	DR19	DR20	DR21	DR22	DR23	DR24
Majority →									DR25
DR34	DR33	DR32	DR31	DR30	DR29	DR28	DR27	DR26
DR35	DR36	DR37	DR38	DR39	DR40	DR41 Pa. Gain	DR42 Tenn. Gain	V1	F5
						F1	F2	F3	F4

Key:	DR# Democratic-Republican F# Federalist V# Vacant

Race summaries

Bold states link to specific election articles.

Special elections during the preceding Congress

In these special elections, the winner was elected during 1820 or before March 4, 1821; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	Electoral history
New York (Class 3)	Vacant			Legislature had failed to elect in 1818/1819. Previous incumbent was elected January 8, 1820. Federalist gain.	▌Y Rufus King (Federalist) Unanimous
Massachusetts (Class 1)	Prentiss Mellen	Federalist	1820 (special)	Incumbent resigned to become Chief Justice of Maine. New senator elected June 12, 1820. Winner was also elected to the next term. Federalist hold.	▌Y Elijah H. Mills (Federalist) [data missing]
Maine (Class 1)	None (new state)			New senator elected June 13, 1820 on the second ballot. Winner was also elected to the next term. Democratic-Republican gain.	First ballot: ▌Y John Holmes (Democratic-Republican) 110 ▌Y John Chandler (Democratic-Republican) 93 ▌Y Joshua Wingate Jr. (Unknown) 84 ▌A. K. Parris (Democratic-Republican) 35 ▌Ezekiel Whitman (Federalist) 4 ▌James Neal (Unknown) 1 Second ballot: ▌Y John Holmes (Democratic-Republican) 95 ▌Joshua Wingate Jr. (Unknown) 79
Maine (Class 2)				New senator elected June 14, 1820. Democratic-Republican gain.	▌Y John Chandler (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
Mississippi (Class 1)	Walter Leake	Democratic- Republican	1817	Incumbent resigned May 15, 1820. New senator elected August 30, 1820. Winner was also elected to the next term. Democratic-Republican hold.	▌Y David Holmes (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
Kentucky (Class 3)	William Logan	Democratic- Republican	1818	Incumbent resigned May 28, 1820 to run for Governor of Kentucky. New senator elected October 19, 1820. Democratic-Republican hold.	▌Y Isham Talbot (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
Rhode Island (Class 2)	James Burrill Jr.	Federalist	1816	Incumbent died December 25, 1820. New senator elected January 9, 1821. Democratic-Republican gain.	▌Y Nehemiah R. Knight (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]

Races leading to the next Congress

In these general elections, the winner was seated on March 4, 1821; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 1 seats.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	Electoral history
Connecticut	Samuel Dana	Federalist	1810 (special) 1814	Incumbent retired or lost re-election. New senator elected March 4, 1821. Democratic-Republican gain.	▌Y Elijah Boardman (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
Delaware	Outerbridge Horsey	Federalist	1810 (special) 1815	Incumbent retired. Legislature failed to elect. Federalist loss. A Democratic-Republican was later elected in 1822.	[data missing]
Indiana	James Noble	Democratic- Republican	1816	Incumbent re-elected in 1821.	▌Y James Noble (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
Maine	John Holmes	Democratic- Republican	1820	Incumbent re-elected January 31, 1821.	▌Y John Holmes (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
Maryland	William Pinkney	Democratic- Republican	1819 (special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1820 or 1821.	▌Y William Pinkney (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
Massachusetts	Elijah H. Mills	Federalist	1820 (special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1820.[2]	▌Y Elijah H. Mills (Federalist) 65.3% ▌Benjamin W. Crowninshield (Democratic-Republican) 31.3% Scattering 3.3%[2]
Mississippi	David Holmes	Democratic- Republican	1820 (special)	Incumbent re-elected in 1820 or 1821.	▌Y David Holmes (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
New Jersey	James J. Wilson	Democratic- Republican	1815	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected November 11, 1820.[3] Democratic-Republican hold. Incumbent then resigned January 8, 1821, and winner was appointed to finish the term.	▌Y Samuel L. Southard (Democratic-Republican) 55.6% ▌James J. Wilson (Democratic-Republican) 44.4%[3]
New York	Nathan Sanford	Democratic- Republican	1809	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected February 6, 1821. Democratic-Republican hold.	▌Y Martin Van Buren (Democratic-Republican) ▌Nathan Sanford (Democratic-Republican)
Ohio	Benjamin Ruggles	Democratic- Republican	1815	Incumbent re-elected in 1820 or 1821.	▌Y Benjamin Ruggles (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
Pennsylvania	Jonathan Roberts	Democratic- Republican	1814 (special) 1814	Legislature failed to elect. Democratic-Republican loss. New senator would later be elected in 1821.	[data missing]
Rhode Island	William Hunter	Federalist	1811 (special) 1814	Incumbent retired or lost re-election. New senator elected in 1820 or 1821. Democratic-Republican gain.	▌Y James DeWolf (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
Tennessee	John H. Eaton	Democratic- Republican	1818 (appointed) 1819 (special)	Legislature failed to elect. Democratic-Republican loss. New senator would later be elected September 27, 1821; see below.[4]	[data missing]
Vermont	Isaac Tichenor	Federalist	1796 (special) 1796 1797 (resigned) 1814	Incumbent retired. New senator elected in 1821. Democratic-Republican gain.	▌Y Horatio Seymour (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
Virginia	James Barbour	Democratic- Republican	1814 (special) 1814	Incumbent re-elected in 1821.	▌Y James Barbour (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]

Special elections during the next Congress

In this special election, the winner was elected in 1821 after March 4; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	Electoral history
Missouri (Class 1)	None (new state)			New senator elected August 10, 1821. Democratic-Republican gain.	▌Y Thomas H. Benton (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
Missouri (Class 3)				New senator elected August 10, 1821. Democratic-Republican gain.	▌Y David Barton (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
Tennessee (Class 1)	Vacant			Legislature had failed to elect. New senator re-elected late September 27, 1821.[4] Democratic-Republican gain.	▌Y John H. Eaton (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
Georgia (Class 2)	Freeman Walker	Democratic- Republican	1819 (special)	Incumbent resigned August 6, 1821. New senator elected November 10, 1821. Democratic-Republican hold.	▌Y Nicholas Ware (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]
Pennsylvania (Class 1)	Vacant			Legislature had failed to elect. New senator elected December 10, 1821. Democratic-Republican gain.	▌Y William Findlay (Democratic-Republican) [data missing]

Connecticut

See also: List of United States senators from Connecticut

Delaware

See also: List of United States senators from Delaware

Georgia (special)

See also: List of United States senators from Georgia

Indiana

See also: List of United States senators from Indiana

Kentucky (special)

See also: List of United States senators from Kentucky

Maine

See also: List of United States senators from Maine

John Holmes (Democratic-Republican) was elected as one of the new state's first pair of senators, whose terms began with June 13, 1820 statehood. He was elected to the class 1 seat's short term, which ended March 3, 1821, and was re-elected on January 31, 1821, to the term starting March 4, 1821.

John Chandler (Democratic-Republican) was elected to the class 2 seat's long term, and his term would end on March 3, 1823.

Maryland

See also: List of United States senators from Maryland

1821 United States Senate election in Maryland

← 1819 December 7, 1821 1822 →
80 members of the Maryland General Assembly
Candidate William Pinkney Party Democratic-Republican Legislative vote - Percentage -%

William Pinkney won election by an unknown number of votes, for the Class 1 seat.^[5]

Massachusetts

See also: List of United States senators from Massachusetts

Massachusetts (regular)

Massachusetts (special)

Mississippi

See also: List of United States senators from Mississippi

Mississippi (regular)

Mississippi (special)

Missouri

See also: List of United States senators from Missouri

New Jersey

See also: List of United States senators from New Jersey

New York

See also: List of United States senators from New York

New York (regular)

Main article: 1821 United States Senate election in New York

New York (special)

Ohio

See also: List of United States senators from Ohio

Pennsylvania

Main article: 1820–1821 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania

See also: List of United States senators from Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

See also: List of United States senators from Rhode Island

Rhode Island (regular)

Rhode Island (special)

Tennessee

See also: List of United States senators from Tennessee

Tennessee (regular)

Tennessee (special)

Vermont

See also: List of United States senators from Vermont

Virginia

See also: List of United States senators from Virginia

See also

• 1820 United States elections
  • 1820 United States presidential election
  • 1820–21 United States House of Representatives elections
• 16th United States Congress
• 17th United States Congress
• Elections in the United States

Notes