United States Senate election in New York, 1863

The 1863 United States Senate election in New York was held on February 3, 1863, by the New York State Legislature to elect a U.S. Senator (Class 1) to represent the State of New York in the United States Senate.

Background

Republican Preston King had been elected in February 1857 to this seat, and his term would expire on March 3, 1863.

At the State election in November 1861, 22 Republicans and 10 Democrats were elected for a two-year term (1862–1863) in the State Senate. At the State election in November 1862, Democrat Horatio Seymour was elected Governor; and a tied Assembly of 64 Republicans and Democrats each was elected for the session of 1863. In December, in the 15th Senate District, Republican William Clark was elected for the session of 1863 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Democrat John Willard. The 86th New York State Legislature met from January 6 to April 25, 1863, at Albany, New York.

The election of a Speaker proved to be difficult in the stalemated Assembly. The Democrats voted for Gilbert Dean, the Republicans for Henry Sherwood, of Steuben Co. The Republicans, led by Chauncey M. Depew, became worried about the U.S. Senate election, due to occur on the first Tuesday in February. If the Assembly was not organized by then, the seat would become vacant, and could remain so until the next elected Assembly met in 1864.^[1] The Republicans, with a majority of 14 on joint ballot, were anxious to fill the seat, to have a maximum of support for President Abraham Lincoln in the U.S. Senate during the ongoing American Civil War. Theophilus C. Callicot, a Democratic assemblyman from Brooklyn, approached Depew to propose a deal: the Republicans should vote for Callicot as Speaker, and Callicot would help to elect the Republican candidate to the U.S. Senate. Depew put the proposition before the Republican caucus, and they accepted. On January 16, Sherwood and Dean withdrew. The Republicans then voted for Callicot, the Democrats for Eliphaz Trimmer, of Monroe Co.. The Democrats, whose intention it was to prevent the election of a U.S. Senator,^[2] managed to postpone the vote for Speaker by filibustering for another ten days, but on January 26, Callicot was elected Speaker on the 92nd ballot (vote: Callicot 61, Trimmer 59, 3 Democrats were absent and 3 Republicans were paired). Thus the Assembly was organized to begin the session of 1863, three weeks late but in time for the U.S. Senate election.^[3]

Candidates

The caucus of Republican^[4] State legislators met on February 2, State Senator Alexander H. Bailey presided. They nominated Ex-Governor Edwin D. Morgan (in office 1859-1862) for the U.S. Senate. The incumbent Senator Preston King was voted down.

**1863 Republican caucus for United States Senator result**
Office	Candidate	Informal ballot	First ballot	Second ballot
U.S. Senator	Edwin D. Morgan	25	39	50
	Preston King	19	16	11
	Daniel S. Dickinson	15	11	13
	Charles B. Sedgwick	11	7	1
	David Dudley Field	7	5	2
	Henry J. Raymond	6	8	9
	Ward Hunt	4
	Henry R. Selden	1
	blank	1

The caucus of the Democratic State legislators met on the evening of February 2, State Senator John V. L. Pruyn presided. They did not nominate any candidate, instead adopting a resolution that "each Democratic member of the Legislature be requested to name for that office such person as he deems proper." They met again on the morning of February 3, and nominated Congressman Erastus Corning. The vote in an informal ballot stood: 28 for Corning, 21 for Fernando Wood, and 18 scattering. Wood's name was however withdrawn and Cornings nomination was made unanimous.

Election

In the Assembly, Edwin D. Morgan received the votes of the 64 Republicans, and Erastus Corning the votes of 62 Democrats. Bernard Hughes (Dem.), of New York City, voted for Ex-Mayor of New York Fernando Wood, and Speaker Callicot voted for John Adams Dix. Thus the vote was tied, and no choice made. Speaker Callicot, although elected by the Republicans, refused to vote for the Republican caucus nominee, insisting in his vote for Dix who had been U.S. Senator and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury as a Democrat, but was now a Union General in the Civil War. A second ballot was then taken, and the Republicans took Callicot's hint, and voted for Dix who was nominated by the Assembly. Thus Callicot kept his part of the bargain, knowing that, on joint ballot, the Republican State Senate majority will outvote the Democrats, and elect their candidate. It was just necessary that the Assembly nominate somebody, so that it became possible to proceed to a joint ballot.

In the State Senate, Edwin D. Morgan was nominated.

Both Houses of the Legislature then proceeded to a joint ballot.

Result

Edwin D. Morgan was declared elected after a joint ballot of the State Legislature.

**1863 United States Senator election result**
Office	House	Republican		Democrat		Also ran
U.S. Senator	State Senate (32 members)	Edwin D. Morgan	23	Erastus Corning	7
	State Assembly (128 members) first ballot	Edwin D. Morgan	64	Erastus Corning	62	John Adams Dix	1	Fernando Wood	1
	State Assembly (128 members) second ballot			Erastus Corning	63	John Adams Dix	65
	State Legislature (160 members) joint ballot	Edwin D. Morgan	86	Erastus Corning	70	John Adams Dix	1	Daniel S. Dickinson	1

Aftermath

Morgan served one term, and remained in office until March 3, 1869.

Notes

↑ In 1819, 1825 and 1839, no U.S. Senator could be elected because nobody was nominated by either the Assembly or the State Senate due to stalemated votes.
↑ IMPORTANT FROM ALBANY.; A New Phase In the Struggle for the Speakership. Withdrawal of Mr. Sherwood from the Contest. Mr. Callicott, of Kings, Democrat, Nominated by the Republicans. Filibustering by the Democrats to Prevent a Vote in NYT on January 17, 1863
↑ IMPORTANT FROM ALBANY; MR. CALLICOTT ELECTED SPEAKER in NYT on January 27, 1863
↑ The newspapers used at the time the terms "Republican", "Republican Union" and "Union" synonymously. Many, but not all, of these legislators had been elected on a Union ticket nominated by Republicans and War Democrats. The word Union also referred to those who supported the incumbent federal administration during the Civil War as opposed to both the Southern "Confederates", and the Anti-War Democrats, headed by Governor Horatio Seymour.

Sources

The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough, Stephen C. Hutchins and Edgar Albert Werner, 1867 (see pg. 568 for U. S. Senators; pg. 443 for State Senators 1863; pg. 496ff for Members of Assembly 1863)
Members of the 38th United States Congress
Result state election 1861 in The Tribune Almanac for 1862 compiled by Horace Greeley of the New York Tribune
Result state election 1862 in The Tribune Almanac for 1863 compiled by Horace Greeley of the New York Tribune
IMPORTANT FROM ALBANY.; Nomination of Ex-Governor Morgan for United States Senator by the Union Caucus. The Democrats Decline to Make a Nomination in NYT on February 3, 1863
PROCEEDINGS OF THE LEGISLATURE; SENATE; ...The Adjourned Democratic Caucus in NYT on February 4, 1863
IMPORTANT FROM ALBANY.; EX-Governor Morgan Elected U.S. Senator in NYT on February 4, 1863
Result in the Senate: Journal of the Senate (86th Session) (1863; pg. 95f)
Result in the Assembly: Journal of the Assembly (86th Session) (1863; pg. 151f and 154)

Elections in New York

General	1844 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1900 1902 1903 1904 1906 1907 1908 1910 1912 1913 1914 1916 1917 1918 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1926 1927 1928 1930 1932 1933 1934 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1942 1943 1944 1946 1949 1950 1952 1953 1954 1956 1958 1959 1960 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1972 1973 1974 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014

NY State Senate	1984 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014

NY State Assembly	1984 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014

NY Governor	1777 1780 1783 1786 1789 1792 1795 1798 1801 1804 1807 1810 1811 1813 1816 1817 1820 1822 1824 1826 1828 1830 1832 1834 1836 1838 1840 1842 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018

NY Attorney General	1998 2002 2006 2010 2014

NY Comptroller	1998 2002 2006 2010 2014

NY Judicial	1847 S 1870 S 1959 1960 1969

U.S. President	1792 1796 1800 1804 1808 1812 1816 1820 1824 1828 1832 1836 1840 1844 1848 1852 1856 1860 1864 1868 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016

U.S. Senate	Class 1: 1789 1791 1797 1798 S1 1798 S2 1800 S1 1803 1804 S2 1809 1815 1821 1827 1829 S 1833 1839–40 1845 1851 1857 1863 1869 1875 1881 1881 S 1887 1893 1899 1905 1911 1916 1922 1928 1934 1938 S 1940 1946 1952 1958 1964 1970 1976 1982 1988 1994 2000 2006 2010 S 2012 Class 3: 1789 1795 1796 S 1800 S2 1801 1802 S 1804 S1 1807 1813 1819–20 1825–26 1831 1833 S 1837 1843 1845 S 1849 1855 1861 1867 1873 1879 1881 S 1885 1891 1897 1903 1909 1914 1920 1926 1932 1938 1944 1949 S 1950 1956 1962 1968 1974 1980 1986 1992 1998 2004 2010 2016

U.S. House	1789 1790 1793 1794 1796 1798 1800 1802 1804 1806 1808 1810 1812 1814 1816 1818 1821 1822 1824 1826 1828 1830 1832 1834 1836 1838 1840 1842 1844 1846 1848 1850 1852 1854 1856 1858 1860 1862 1864 1866 1868 1870 1872 1874 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 (6th S) 2000 2002 2004 2006 (13th, 20th, 29th) 2008 (19th, 20th, 25th, 26th, 29th) 2009 (20th S, 23rd S) 2010 (29th) 2011 (9th S, 26th S) 2012 2014 2016 Special

'S,' 'S1,' and 'S2' denote special election See also: Political party strength in New York

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/26/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.