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Contested Senate Elections |
The U.S. Constitution gives each house of Congress the power to be the judge of the "elections, returns, and qualifications of its members." Since 1789, the Senate has closely guarded this prerogative, and has developed its own procedures for judging the qualifications of its members in contested elections.
Originally, senators were elected by the state legislatures. The 17th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1913, established direct popular election of senators. Under both the new and the old system, the Constitution permits state governors to make temporary appointments to fill Senate vacancies.
Election disputes reviewed by the Senate have fallen into several general categories. During the sectional conflicts prior to the Civil War, and in the war's aftermath as former Confederate states rejoined the Union, questions arose regarding the state legislatures' legal authority to elect. Later in the 19th century and into the early 20th century, corrupt use of money in elections became an issue. Since 1913, campaign expenditures, demands for recounts in close elections, and complaints of election irregularities or fraud have constituted the dominant issues.
Election Laws
Senate Procedure in Contested Elections
Types of Election Cases
Vacancies
Election
Year | State | Contestants | Date Resolved |
1826 | NJ | Ephraim Bateman* | May 22, 1828 |
1833 | RI | Asher Robbins* v. Elisha R. Potter | May 27, 1834 |
1851 | FL | Stephen R. Mallory* v. David L. Yulee | Aug 27, 1852 |
1855 | IA | James Harlan1 | Jan. 12, 1857 |
1856 | PA | Simon Cameron* | Mar 13, 1857 |
1857 | IN | Graham Fitch* v. William M. McCarty; Jesse Bright* v. Henry S. Lane | Feb 14, 1859 |
1865 | NJ | John P. Stockton | Mar 27, 1865 |
1867 | KS | Samuel Pomeroy* | Mar 24, 1873 |
1870/
1872 | NC | Matt W. Ransom* v. Joseph C. Abbott | Apr 24, 1872 |
1871 | AL | George Goldthwaite* | Jan 15, 1872 |
1871 | KS | Alexander Caldwell2 | Mar 24, 1873 |
1873 | MO | Lewis V. Bogy* | Mar 25, 1873 |
1877 | OR | La Fayette Grover* | June 15, 1878 |
1879 | KS | John J. Ingalls* | Feb 17, 1880 |
1881 | NY | Warner Miller*; Elbridge G. Lapham | Dec 13, 1881 |
1884 | OH | Henry B. Payne* | July 23, 1886 |
1887 | IN | David Turpie* | May 15, 1888 |
1890/
1891 | ID | Fred T. Dubois* v. William H. Clagett | Mar 3, 1892 |
1891 | FL | Wilkinson Call* v. R. H. M. Davidson | Feb 4, 1892 |
1893 | KS | John Martin* v. Joseph W. Ady | Jan 31, 1895 |
1895 | DE | Henry A. du Pont | Mar 1, 1897 |
1897 | DE | Richard R. Kenney* v. John E. Addicks | Feb 5, 1897 |
1897 | OH | Marcus A. Hanna* | Feb 28, 1899 |
1899 | WV | Nathan B. Scott* v. John T. McGraw et al. | Mar 20, 1900 |
1899/
1901 | MT | William A. Clark3 | Mar 4,1901 |
1908 | MD | John W. Smith* | Mar 26, 1908 |
1909 | IL | William Lorimer | July 13,1912 |
1907 | WI | Isaac Stephenson* | Mar 27, 1912 |
1911 | WV | Clarence Watson*; William E. Chilton* | Feb 11,1913 |
Direct Election |
1913 | MD | Blair Lee* v. William P. Jackson | Jan 28, 1914 |
1916 | WV | Howard Sutherland* v. William E. Chilton | June 29, 1918 |
1918 | MI | Truman H. Newberry* v. Henry Ford | Jan 12, 1922 |
1922 | TX | Earle B. Mayfield* v. George E.B. Peddy | Feb 3, 1925 |
1924 | MN | Thomas D. Schall* v. Magnus Johnson | Mar 4, 1925 |
1924 | NM | Sam G. Bratton* v. Holm O. Bursum | Mar 4, 1925 |
1924 | IA | Daniel F. Steck* v. Smith W. Brookhart3 | Apr 12, 1926 |
1926 | PA | [William S. Vare v. William B. Wilson] | Dec 6, 1929 |
1926 | IL | [Frank L. Smith] | Jan 19, 1928 |
1930 | AL | John H. Bankhead* v. J. Thomas Heflin | Apr 28, 1932 |
1930 | MN | Thomas D. Schall* v. Einar Hoidale | Jan 17, 1933 |
1930 | NC | Josiah W. Bailey* v. George M. Pritchard | Feb 3, 1933 |
1934 | NM | Bronson Cutting v. Dennis Chavez4 | June 4, 1935 |
1938 | TN | Tom Stewart* | Mar 31, 1939 |
1938 | IN | Frederick Van Nuys* v. Raymond E. Willis | Apr 13, 1939 |
1942 | TN | Tom Stewart* | Feb 25, 1943 |
1946 | MS | [Theodore G. Bilbo] | ---6 |
1946 | MD | Herbert R. O'Conor* v. D. John Markey | May 20, 1948 |
1946 | WV | Harley M. Kilgore* v. Tom Sweeney | July 28, 1949 |
1948 | MI | Homer Ferguson* v. Frank E. Hook | July 28, 1949 |
1950 | MD | John M Butler* v. Millard E. Tydings | Aug 20, 1951 |
1952 | NM | Dennis Chavez#* v. Patrick J. Hurley | Mar 23, 1954 |
1970 | IN | R. Vance Hartke#* v. Richard L. Roudebush | July 24, 1972 |
1974 | NH | [John Durkin v. Louis C. Wyman]7 | Sep 16, 1975 |
1974 | OK | Henry L. Bellmon#* v. Edmond A. Edmondson | Mar 4, 1976 |
1996 | LA | Mary Landrieu#* v. Louis "Woody" Jenkins | Oct 1, 1997 |
1. Seat was declared vacant, but Harlan was immediately reelected and seated.
2. Resigned before Senate could vote to void election.
3. Resigned; reelected the next year and seated.
4. Brookhart was initially seated but was later unseated by the Senate and Steck seated in his place. This is the only occasion to date in which the Senate has actually reversed the results of an election, unseated a senator, and seated the challenger.
5. Cutting died May 6, 1935; on June 4, 1935, the Senate agreed with a committee recommendation to dismiss the contest. Chavez was appointed to fill the vacancy.
6. Bilbo died on August 21, 1947, before the Senate reached a decision.
7. This contest ended in deadlock; a new election was held.
Key:
[ ] Claimants in brackets were not seated.
# Seated "without prejudice" until case resolved.
* Seated or kept seat.
Source: U.S., Congress, Senate, Senate Election, Expulsion, and Censure Cases from 1793 to 1972, S. Doc. 92-7, 92d Cong., 1st sess., 1972.
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