1860 United States Senate special election in Oregon

1860 United States Senate special election in Oregon
October 2, 1860
50 members of the Oregon Legislative Assembly
Majority of voting members needed to win
 
Nominee Edward D. Baker George H. Williams George L. Curry
Party Republican Douglas Democratic Breckinridge Democratic
1st ballot — 11 (22.4%) 8 (16.3%)
14th ballot 26 (52.0%) 20 (40.0%) 2 (4.0%)
 
Nominee La Fayette Grover Amory Holbrook
Party Douglas Democratic Republican
1st ballot 16 (32.6%) 11 (22.4%)
14th ballot — —
Senator before election

None (vacant from March 4, 1859)

 Elected Senator

Edward D. Baker
Republican

The 1860 United States Senate special election in Oregon was held on October 2, 1860, as part of the 1860–61 United States Senate elections. The Republican former U.S. representative from Illinois's 6th congressional district Edward D. Baker defeated the Douglas Democratic former chief justice of the Oregon Supreme Court George H. Williams on the 14th ballot.

Delazon Smith won the 1858 election for the term ending March 4, 1859, in anticipation the admission of Oregon to the Union. After the expiration of Smith's term, but before the 36th United States Congress convened, the governor of Oregon John Whiteaker called a special session of the Oregon Legislative Assembly in May 1859 to hold an election for the succeeding term. The Oregon Democratic Party was divided between partisans of U.S. senator Joseph Lane and Asahel Bush, who were identified with support or opposition to the Buchanan administration's policy on slavery in the U.S. territories, respectively. In the Democratic caucus, Smith, a Lane Democrat, was narrowly renominated with 22 out of 43 votes. The Bush Democrats subsequently refused to support Smith's re-election in the legislative joint session, and the legislature adjourned on July 4 without having elected a senator.[1]

In the 1860 United States presidential election, Lane was nominated for vice president by supporters of John C. Breckinridge, the Southern Democratic candidate for president; the Lane faction became identified with Breckinridge's candidacy in Oregon, while the Anti-Lane forces supported Stephen A. Douglas. In state elections held in June 1860, an ad-hoc Anti-Lane coalition of Republicans and Douglas Democrats handed a decisive defeat to the Lane faction, which was reduced to a minority in the legislature. Besides their shared hatred of Lane, both groups opposed the United States Supreme Court's ruling in Dred Scott v. Sandford and supported popular sovereignty in the territories. The election of an Anti-Lane majority cleared the way for a cooperation between Republicans and Douglas Democrats in the upcoming senatorial elections.[2]

The legislature met again in joint session on September 21, 1860, to hold concurrent elections for the vacant Class 2 seat and the Class 3 seat held by Lane.[3] The elected legislature included 19 Lane Democrats, 18 Douglas Democrats, and 13 Republicans. In an attempt to prevent a quorum in the Senate, six Lane Democrats absented themselves from the proceedings; during their absence, the House of Representatives attempted to conduct the election, but no candidate for either seat gained a majority over twenty ballots.[4]

At length, the absent senators were persuaded to return, and balloting resumed on October 1. Republican Amory Holbrook, Douglas Democrats George H. Williams and La Fayette Grover, and Breckinridge Democrat George L. Curry were the major candidates on the first ballot.[5] A coalition between the Republicans and Douglas Democrats remained elusive until the following day. On October 2, the Republican members switched their votes from Holbrook to Baker, who had withdrawn his candidacy for the Class 3 seat. Fifteen Douglas Democrats joined the Republicans to elect Baker, in exchange for Republicans vote to elect the Douglas Democratic candidate for the Class 3 seat, James Nesmith.[6] Holbrook, who thought fusion ill-advised and mistrusted Baker's Republican credentials, cast a blank ballot all through the voting on October 2.[7]

General election

Ballots 1–10 (October 1)

1860 United States Senate special election in Oregon[5]
Party Candidate Legislative ballot
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
Douglas Democratic La Fayette Grover 16 9 15 14 21 — 21 7 —
Republican Amory Holbrook 11 11 13 11 11 12 12 10 11 11
Douglas Democratic George H. Williams 11 12 — 13 7 7 24 4 10 21
Breckinridge Democratic George L. Curry 8 12 9 5 5 21 6 8 3 7
Douglas Democratic Joseph W. Drew 2 2 2 — 4 2 4 5 2 —
Breckinridge Democratic Delazon Smith 1 —
Douglas Democratic James Nesmith — 10 —
Breckinridge Democratic J. H. Reed — 5 4
Scattering — 4 4 2 2 2 — 7
Total votes 49 49 43 47 50 46 48 48 48 50
Votes needed to win 25 25 22 24 26 24 25 25 25 26

Ballots 11–14 (October 2)

1860 United States Senate special election in Oregon[8]
Party Candidate Legislative ballot
11th 12th 13th 14th
Republican Edward D. Baker 23 24 21 26
Douglas Democratic George H. Williams 1 — 2 20
Breckinridge Democratic George L. Curry 23 24 25 2
Breckinridge Democratic Lansing Stout — 1
Republican Amory Holbrook 2 1 —
Blank 1 1 1 1
Total votes 50 50 50 50
Votes needed to win 26 26 26 26

Notes

  1. ^ Johannsen 1955, pp. 81–82, 67, 72–73.
  2. ^ Johannsen 1955, pp. 117–21.
  3. ^ Oregon 1860, p. 45.
  4. ^ Johannsen 1955, pp. 118, 122–24.
  5. ^ a b Oregon 1860, pp. 45–50.
  6. ^ Carey 1922, p. 644.
  7. ^ Johannsen 1955, p. 125.
  8. ^ Oregon 1860, p. 51–53.

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Oregon (1860). Journal of the Proceedings of the Senate of the Legislative Assembly of Oregon [...]. Salem, OR.

Secondary sources

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