1790–91 United States Senate elections
Dates vary by state
9 of the 26 seats in the United States Senate, plus special elections
14 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
Party Pro-Administration Anti-Administration
Last election 19 seats 7 seats
Seats before 18 6
Seats after 17 8
Seat change Increase 1 Steady
Seats up 7 2
Races won 8 2
Results:
     Pro-Administration hold      Anti-Administration gain
     Legislature failed to elect
Majority Faction before election


Pro-Administration

 Elected Majority Faction


Pro-Administration

The 1790–91 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states. These U.S. Senate elections occurred during the first midterm election cycle, which took place in the middle of President George Washington's first term. As these 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 1790 and 1791, 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 nine senators in Class 1.

As of these elections, formal organized political parties had yet to form in the United States, but two political factions were present: The coalition of senators who supported President Washington's administration were known as the Pro-Administration Party, and the senators against him as the Anti-Administration Party.

Change in Senate composition

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

Before the elections

After the June 25, 1790 elections in Rhode Island.

A3 A2 A1
A4 A5 A6
Penn.
Ran		 A7
Va.
Ran		 P19
N.J.
Unknown		 P18
R.I.
Ran		 P17
N.Y.
Ran		 P16
Mass.
Ran		 P15
Md.
Ran		 P14
Del.
Ran
Majority →
P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9 P10 P11 P12 P13
Conn.
Ran
P3 P2 P1

Results of the regular elections

A3 A2 A1
A4 A5 A6
Va.
Re-elected		 A7
N.Y.
Gain		 V1
Penn.
A Loss		 P18
N.J.
Hold		 P17
Mass.
Hold		 P16
R.I.
Re-elected		 P15
Md.
Re-elected		 P14
Del.
Re-elected
Majority →
P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9 P10 P11 P12 P13
Conn.
Re-elected
P3 P2 P1

Results of the special elections

A3 A2 A1
A4 A5
Va.
Gain		 A6 A7 A8 V1 P17 P16 P15 P14
Majority →
P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9 P10 P11 P12
N.J.
Hold		 P13
P3 P2 P1
Key:
A# Anti-Administration
P# Pro-Administration
V# Vacant

Race summaries

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

Regular and special elections during the 1st Congress

In these elections, the winners were seated before March 4, 1791; ordered by election date.

State Incumbent Results Candidates
Senator Party First elected
Rhode Island
(Class 1)		 New seat Rhode Island ratified the Constitution May 29, 1790.
New senator elected June 7, 1790.
Pro-Administration gain.
Rhode Island
(Class 2)		 New seat Rhode Island ratified the Constitution May 29, 1790.
New senator elected June 7, 1790.
Anti-Administration gain.
Virginia
(special: Class 1)		 John Walker Pro-Administration 1790 (Appointed) Interim appointee retired when successor elected.
New senator elected November 9, 1790.
Anti-Administration gain.
New Jersey
(special: Class 2)		 William Paterson Pro-Administration 1788 Incumbent resigned November 13, 1790, to become Governor of New Jersey.
New senator elected November 13, 1790.
Pro-Administration hold.

Races leading to the 2nd Congress

In these regular elections, the winners were seated March 4, 1791; ordered by state.

All of these elections involved the Class 1 seats.

State Incumbent Results Candidates
Senator Party First elected
Connecticut Oliver Ellsworth Pro-Administration 1788 Incumbent re-elected on an unknown date.
Delaware George Read Pro-Administration 1788 Incumbent re-elected October 23, 1790.
Maryland Charles Carroll Pro-Administration 1788 Incumbent re-elected in 1791.
Massachusetts Tristram Dalton Pro-Administration 1788 Incumbent lost re-election.
New senator elected in 1790 on the third ballot.
Pro-Administration hold.
New Jersey Jonathan Elmer Pro-Administration 1788 Unknown if incumbent retired or lost re-election.
New senator elected in 1790.
Pro-Administration hold.
New York Philip Schuyler Pro-Administration 1789 Incumbent lost re-election.
New senator elected January 19, 1791.
Anti-Administration gain.
Pennsylvania William Maclay Anti-Administration 1788 Incumbent lost re-election.
Legislature failed to elect a successor, leaving the seat vacant.
Anti-Administration loss.		 None.
Rhode Island Theodore Foster Pro-Administration 1790 Incumbent re-elected in 1791.
Virginia James Monroe Anti-Administration 1790 (special) Incumbent re-elected in 1791.

Special and regular elections in 1791 during the 2nd Congress

In these elections, the winners were seated after March 4, 1791, the beginning of the next Congress.

State Incumbent Results Candidates
Senator Party First elected
Connecticut
(Class 3)		 William S. Johnson Pro-Administration 1788 Resigned March 4, 1791.
New senator elected June 13, 1791.
Pro-Administration hold.
Vermont
(Class 1)		 New seat Vermont was admitted to the Union March 4, 1791.
New senator elected October 17, 1791.
Anti-Administration gain.
Vermont
(Class 3)		 New seat Vermont was admitted to the Union March 4, 1791.
New senator elected October 17, 1791.
Anti-Administration gain.

Connecticut

All of the senators from Connecticut were Pro-Administration through 1795.

Connecticut (regular)

Oliver Ellsworth was re-elected in 1791.

Connecticut (special)

William Samuel Johnson resigned March 3, 1791, at the end of the 1st Congress and Roger Sherman was elected June 13, 1791, to finish the term.

Delaware

Maryland

1790 United States Senate election in Maryland
November 26, 1790
80 members of the Maryland General Assembly
 
Candidate Charles Carroll Uriah Forrest
Party Federalist Federalist
Legislative vote 45 30
Percentage 60.00% 40.00%

Charles Carroll won re-election over Uriah Forrest by a margin of 20.00%, or 15 votes, for the Class 1 seat.[6]

Massachusetts

Incumbent U.S. Senator, Tristam Dalton sought re-election but was eliminated before the third ballot. The third ballot saw the election of George Cabot, who had been a member of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress. Cabot won 87 votes.[7]

1790 United States Senate election in Massachusetts
June 23, 1790
  Majority party Minority party Third party
 
Candidate George Cabot Nathaniel Gorham Charles Jarvis
Party Federalist Federalist Independent
Legislative vote 87 36 20
Percentage 59.2% 24.5% 13.6%

New Jersey

New Jersey (regular)

New Jersey (special)

New York

The election in New York was held January 19, 1791, by the New York State Legislature.

Incumbent Philip Schuyler's term would expire March 3, 1791.

At the State election in April 1790, nominal Federalist majorities were elected to both houses of the 14th New York State Legislature, but many Federalists were friendly to the Democratic-Republican Governor George Clinton, party lines not being drawn very strictly then.

The incumbent Philip Schuyler ran for re-election as the candidate of the Federalist Party. New York State Attorney General Aaron Burr was the candidate of the Democratic-Republican Party, but was at that time a rather moderate politician, opposing the ultras of both parties.

Burr was the choice of both the State Senate and the State Assembly, and was declared elected. Schuyler was defeated despite the nominal majority of his party. Many of the Federalists took the opportunity to show their disapproval of both Schuyler's haughtiness and the financial policies of Alexander Hamilton, the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and Schuyler's son-in-law. Besides, the Livingston faction of the Federalist Party felt betrayed after the election of Rufus King over their candidate James Duane in 1789, and now allied themselves with Clinton and later became Democratic-Republicans.

Office House Democratic-Republican candidate Federalist candidate
U.S. senator State Senate (23 members)
12 Philip Schuyler 4
State Assembly (65 members)
Philip Schuyler

Obs.: Burr had a majority of 5 votes in the Assembly, but the exact number of votes is unclear.

Pennsylvania

In 1791, the legislature failed to elect due to a disagreement on procedure.[8] The seat would remain vacant until 1793.[8]

Rhode Island

Vermont

Stephen R. Bradley and Moses Robinson were elected by the Vermont House of Representatives and Governor and Council in January 1791, anticipating Vermont's admission to the union.[9] Vermont was admitted as the 14th state on March 4, 1791.[10] The Senate had adjourned on March 3, at the completion of the 1st United States Congress; the 2nd United States Congress held a one-day session on March 4, and was not scheduled to convene again until October 24.[11]

As a result of this congressional schedule Bradley and Robinson had not been seated when the Vermont House of Representatives convened in early October, 1791.[10] At this legislative session, some members suggested that the January election of Bradley and Robinson had been premature, since Vermont had not yet been admitted to the union.[10] Bradley and Robinson volunteered to resign the credentials of their January elections; on October 17, the Governor and Council voted again, and selected Bradley and Robinson.[10] The House of Representatives then voted a second time, and also selected Bradley and Robinson.[10] No vote totals were recorded.[10]

Bradley was selected for the "short term" (Class 3), which expired on March 3, 1795.[12] Robinson received the "long term" (Class 1), which expired on March 3, 1797.[13]

Virginia

Senator James Monroe

William Grayson died March 12, 1790, and John Walker was appointed to continue the term.

Virginia (special)

Future President James Monroe was elected in November 1790 to finish the term.

Virginia (regular)

Monroe was re-elected in 1791 to the next term, as well.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Direct Election of U.S. Senators (1913)". National Archives and Records Administration. February 8, 2022.
  2. ↑ Martis, Kenneth C. The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress.
  3. ↑ "Delaware 1790 U.S. Senate". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved February 6, 2018., citing General Advertiser (Philadelphia). October 30, 1790.
  4. ↑ "Massachusetts 1790 U.S. Senate, Ballot 3". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved February 6, 2018., citing The Massachusetts Centinel (Boston, MA). June 23, 1790.
  5. ↑ "New York 1791 U.S. Senate". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved February 6, 2018., citing Journal of the New York Assembly, 1791. 23-24. Journal of the New York State Senate, 1791. 12. The New-York Journal, and Patriotic Register (New York, NY). January 24, 1791.
  6. ↑ "Our Campaigns - MD US Senate Race - Nov 26, 1790". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  7. ↑ "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
  8. 1 2 Cox, Harold E. "U.S. Senate Election 1791" (PDF). Wilkes University Election Statistics Project.
  9. ↑ Walton, Eliakim Persons (1876). Records of the Governor and Council of the State of Vermont. Vol. IV. Montpelier, VT: J. and J. M. Poland. pp. 4–6.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Records of the Governor and Council of the State of Vermont.
  11. ↑ De Puy, W. H. (1892). American Revisions and Additions to the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Vol. III. Chicago, IL: R. S. Peale Company. pp. 1547–1548.
  12. ↑ Dodge, Prentiss Cutler (1912). Encyclopedia of Vermont Biography. Burlington, VT: Ullery Publishing Company. pp. 28-29.
  13. ↑ Encyclopedia of Vermont Biography.
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