The 1840–41 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states. As these U.S. Senate elections were prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were chosen by state legislatures. Senators were elected over a wide range of time throughout 1840 and 1841, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock.[1] In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 2.
Democratic incumbent Samuel McKean's term had expired and no successor was elected due to the legislature's failure to elect. New senator electedJanuary 14, 1840. Democratic gain.
Democratic incumbent Lucius Lyon had retired, his term expired, and no successor was elected due to the legislature's failure to elect. New senator elected January 20, 1840. Whig gain.
Democratic incumbent Nathaniel P. Tallmadge's term had expired and no successor was elected due to the legislature's failure to elect. Incumbent re-electedJanuary 27, 1840 to his former position in a different party. Whig gain.
Incumbent resigned January 13, 1840, after refusing to vote for the Subtreasury Bill as demanded by the Tennessee legislature[2] New senator elected February 26, 1840. Democratic gain. Successor would not be elected to the next term, see below.
Incumbent resigned November 16, 1840, because he could not obey instructions of the North Carolina General Assembly. New senator elected November 25, 1840. Whig gain. Successor would also be elected to the next term, see below.
Incumbent resigned November 16, 1840, because he could not obey instructions of the North Carolina General Assembly. New senator elected November 25, 1840. Whig gain.
Incumbent resigned September 19, 1839, to become Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court. New senator elected January 12, 1841 to his former position. Whig hold.
Incumbent resigned January 5, 1841, after being elected Governor of Massachusetts. New senator elected January 13, 1841. Whig hold. Successor also elected to the next term, see below.
Democratic incumbent William C. Rives's term had expired and no successor was elected due to the legislature's failure to elect. Incumbent re-elected January 18, 1841 to his former position in a different party. Whig gain.
Incumbent resigned January 5, 1841, after being elected Governor of Massachusetts. New senator elected January 13, 1841. Whig hold. Successor also elected to finish the current term, see above.
Nathaniel P. Tallmadge had been elected as a Jacksonian Democrat in 1833 to this seat, and his term expired March 3, 1839. An election was held February 5, 1839. Although Tallmadge received the most votes, no candidate received a majority and the seat was declared vacant due to the legislature's failure to elect.
At the State election in November 1839, 7 Whigs and 3 Democrats were elected to the State Senate, which gave the Whigs a majority, the first anti-Bucktails/Jacksonian/Democratic majority in 20 years. The 63rd New York State Legislature met from January 7 to May 14, 1840, at Albany, New York. The strength of the parties in the Assembly, as shown by the vote for Speaker, was: 68 for Whig George Washington Patterson and 56 for Democrat Levi S. Chatfield.
On January 14, 1840, Nathaniel P. Tallmadge received a majority in both the Assembly and the Senate, and was declared elected.
Tallmadge re-took his seat on January 27, 1840,[8] and remained in office until June 17, 1844, when he resigned to be appointed Governor of Wisconsin Territory. Daniel S. Dickinson was appointed to fill the vacancy temporarily, and subsequently elected by the State Legislature to succeed Tallmadge.
DemocratSamuel McKean was elected by the Pennsylvania General Assembly, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate, in the 1832–1833 Senate election. Sen. McKean's term was to expire on March 4, 1839, and an election would have occurred during the winter of 1838–1839 elect a senator for the successive term. The election did not occur, however, due to significant political unrest in Harrisburg, the state capital, over disputed election returns during the Buckshot War. McKean's seat was vacated when his term expired in March 1839 and remained vacant until the General Assembly elected a new senator in 1840.[9]
The Pennsylvania General Assembly convened on January 14, 1840, to elect a senator to serve out the remainder of the term that began on March 4, 1839. The results of the vote of both houses combined are as follows:
^Rothrock, Mary (1972). The French Broad-Holston Country: A History of Knox County, Tennessee. Knoxville, Tennessee: East Tennessee Historical Society. pp. 501–02.