1888–89 United States Senate elections

1888–89 United States Senate elections

Dates vary by state

26 of the 76 seats in the United States Senate (as well as special elections)
39 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party Third party
 
Leader George F. Edmunds James B. Beck
(retired)
Harrison H. Riddleberger
(retired)
Party Republican Democratic Readjuster
Leader since March 4, 1885 March 4, 1885 March 4, 1887
Leader's seat Vermont Kentucky Virginia
Seats before 38 37 1
Seats after 38 37 0
Seat change 1
Seats up 12 13 1
Races won 12 13 0

Results of the elections:
     Democratic gain      Democratic hold
     Republican gain      Republican hold
     Legislature failed to elect

Majority Party before election


Republican

Elected Majority Party


Republican

The 1888–89 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states, coinciding with Benjamin Harrison's victory over incumbent President Grover Cleveland. 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 1888 and 1889, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock. In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 2.

Both parties were unchanged in the regular elections, but later special elections would give Republicans an eightseat majority, mostly from newly admitted states.