United States Senate elections, 1808 and 1809

United States Senate elections, 1808 and 1809

Dates vary by state
12 of the 34 seats in the United States Senate (plus special elections) 18 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic-Republican Federalist Last election 27 seats (79.4%) 7 seats (20.6%) Seats before 28 (82.4%) 6 (17.6%) Seats won 27 (79.4%) 7 (20.6%) Seat change 1 1 Seats up 8 4
Majority party before election Democratic-Republican Elected Majority party Democratic-Republican

The United States Senate election of 1808 and 1809 were elections that had the Federalist Party gain one seat in the United States Senate, and which coincided with the 1808 Presidential election. The Federalists had gone into the elections with such a small share of Senate seats (6 out of 34, or 18%) that even if they had won every election, they would have still remained a minority caucus.

As these elections were prior to ratification of the seventeenth amendment, Senators were chosen by State legislatures.

Senate Party Division, 11th Congress (1809–1811)

• Majority Party: Democratic-Republican (27)

• Minority Party: Federalist (7)

• Other Parties: 0

• Total Seats: 34

Change in Senate composition

Before the elections

DR7	DR6	DR5	DR4	DR3	DR2	DR1
DR8	DR9	DR10	DR11	DR12	DR13	DR14	DR15	DR16	DR17
Majority →									DR18
DR27	DR26	DR25	DR24	DR23	DR22	DR21	DR20	DR19
DR28	F6	F5	F4	F3	F2	F1

Beginning of the next Congress

DR7	DR6	DR5	DR4	DR3	DR2	DR1
DR8	DR9	DR10	DR11	DR12	DR13	DR14	DR15	DR16	DR17
Majority →									DR18
DR27 Hold	DR26 Hold	DR25 Hold	DR24 Re-elected	DR23 Re-elected	DR22 Re-elected	DR21 Re-elected	DR20 Re-elected	DR19
F7 Gain	F6 Hold	F5 Re-elected	F4 Re-elected	F3	F2	F1

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 1808 or before March 4, 1809; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	Electoral history
Massachusetts (Class 1)	John Quincy Adams	Federalist	1802	Incumbent resigned June 8, 1808, having broken with his party and lost re-election to the next term. Winner elected June 9, 1808 to finish the term, having already won election to the next term. Federalist hold	James Lloyd (Federalist)
Ohio (Class 1)	John Smith	Democratic- Republican	1803	Incumbent resigned April 25, 1808, despite surviving an expulsion trial in the Senate. Winner elected December 12, 1808 to finish the term. Democratic-Republican hold	Return J. Meigs, Jr. (Democratic-Republican)
Pennsylvania (Class 1)	Samuel Maclay	Democratic- Republican	1802	Incumbent resigned January 4, 1809, believing he would lose re-election. Winner elected January 9, 1809 to finish the term, having already won election to the next term. Democratic-Republican hold	Michael Leib (Democratic-Republican)

Races leading to the next Congress

In these general elections, the winner was seated on March 4, 1809; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 1 seats.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	Electoral history
Connecticut	James Hillhouse	Federalist	1796 1802	Incumbent re-elected	√ James Hillhouse (Federalist) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Delaware	Samuel White	Federalist	1801 (Special) 1802	Incumbent re-elected	√ Samuel White (Federalist) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Maryland	Samuel Smith	Democratic- Republican	1802	Incumbent re-elected	√ Samuel Smith (Democratic-Republican) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Massachusetts	John Quincy Adams	Federalist	1802	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!] Federalist hold.	√ James Lloyd (Federalist) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
New Jersey	John Condit	Democratic- Republican	1803 (Appointed)	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!] Democratic-Republican hold.	√ John Lambert (Democratic-Republican) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
New York	Samuel L. Mitchill	Democratic- Republican	1804 (Special)	Incumbent lost re-election in 1809. Democratic-Republican hold.	√ Obadiah German (Democratic-Republican) 52.4% David Brooks (Federalist) 34.7% Samuel L. Mitchill (Democratic-Republican) 12.9%
Ohio	Return J. Meigs, Jr.	Democratic- Republican	1808 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected	√ Return J. Meigs, Jr. (Democratic-Republican) Alexander Campbell (Democratic-Republican) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Pennsylvania	Michael Leib	Democratic- Republican	1808 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected	√ Michael Leib (Democratic-Republican) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Rhode Island	Benjamin Howland	Democratic- Republican	1804 (Special)	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!] Federalist gain	√ Francis Malbone (Federalist) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Tennessee	Joseph Anderson	Democratic- Republican	1799 (Special) 1802	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Joseph Anderson (Democratic-Republican) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Vermont	Jonathan Robinson	Democratic- Republican	1807 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Jonathan Robinson (Democratic-Republican) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Virginia	Andrew Moore	Democratic- Republican	1804 (Appointed, Class 2) 1804 (Special)	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!] Democratic-Republican hold.	√ Stevens Mason (Democratic-Republican) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]

Special elections during the next Congress

In this special election, the winner was elected in 1809 after March 4; ordered by election date.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	Electoral history
Tennessee (Class 2)	Daniel Smith	Democratic- Republican	1798 (Special, Class 1) 1799 (Resigned) 1804	Incumbent resigned March 31, 1809. Winner elected April 11, 1809 to finish the term ending March 4, 1811. Democratic-Republican hold.	√ Jenkin Whiteside (Democratic-Republican) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Rhode Island (Class 1)	Francis Malbone	Federalist	1808	Newly seated incumbent died. Winner elected June 26, 1809 to finish the term ending March 4, 1815. Federalist hold.	√ Christopher G. Champlin (Federalist) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Ohio (Class 3)	Stanley Griswold	Democratic- Republican	1809 (Appointed)	Edward Tiffin (DR) had resigned March 3, 1809. Successor was appointed May 18, 1809 to continue the term. Winner elected December 11, 1809 to finish the term ending March 4, 1813. Democratic-Republican hold.	√ Alexander Campbell (Democratic-Republican) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Georgia (Class 3)	John Milledge	Democratic- Republican	1806 (Special) 1806	Incumbent resigned November 14, 1809. Winner elected November 27, 1809 to finish the term ending March 4, 1813. Democratic-Republican hold.	√ Charles Tait (Democratic-Republican) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
New Jersey (Class 2)	John Condit	Democratic- Republican	1803 (Special, Class 1) 1809 (Appointed)	Aaron Kitchell (DR) had resigned March 12, 1809. Successor was appointed March 21, 1809 to continue the term. Appointee was later elected on an unknown date to finish the term ending March 4, 1811. Democratic-Republican hold.	√ John Condit (Democratic-Republican) [Data unknown/missing. You can help!]

See also

• United States House of Representatives elections, 1808
• United States presidential election, 1808
• 10th United States Congress
• 11th United States Congress

References

• Party Division in the Senate, 1789-Present, via Senate.gov