1863 United States Senate election in Massachusetts
January 15, 1863
40 Members of the Massachusetts Senate
235 Members of the Massachusetts House
Majority vote of each house needed to win
 
Nominee Charles Sumner Josiah Abbott
Party Republican Democratic
Senate 33 5
Percentage 82.5% 12.5%
House 194 38
Percentage 82.55% 16.17%
Senator before election

Charles Sumner
Republican

 Elected Senator

Charles Sumner
Republican

The 1863 United States Senate election in Massachusetts was held on January 9, 1863. Incumbent Charles Sumner was re-elected to a third term in office.

At the time, Massachusetts elected United States senators by a majority vote of each separate house of the Massachusetts General Court: the House and the Senate.

Background

In the 1862 state legislative elections, supporters of the Lincoln administration who nonetheless opposed the emancipation of Southern slaves and Senator Sumner's re-election organized a "People's Convention," hoping to consolidate opposition and gain enough seats in the legislature to deny Sumner election. However, the legislature remained largely Republican, ensuring Sumner's victory in the January election.[1]

House

1863 Senate election in the House[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Charles Sumner (incumbent) 194 82.55%
Democratic Josiah G. Abbott 38 16.17%
Democratic Caleb Cushing 2 0.85%
Republican Charles Francis Adams 1 0.43%
Total votes 235 100.00%

Senate

1863 Senate election in the Senate[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Charles Sumner (incumbent) 33 82.5%
Democratic Josiah G. Abbott 5 12.5%
Republican Charles Francis Adams 1 2.5%
None No vote 1 2.5%
Total votes 40 100.00%

The lone vote for Adams was cast by Senator Whitney of Hampden. Senator Crane of Worcester County did not vote.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "THE ELECTIONS". Philadelphia Saturday Evening Post. November 15, 1862.
  2. 1 2 3 "CHARLES SUMNER". The Independent. 15 (738): 4. January 22, 1863.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.