1881 United States Senate special elections in New York

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1881 United States Senate elections in New York
← Class I (1881)
←Class III (1879)		 May 31—July 22, 1881 Class I (1887) →
Class III (1885) →
 
Nominee Warner Miller
Class I
Elbridge Lapham

Class III
Party Republican Republican
U.S. Senators before election

Thomas C. Platt (Class I)
Roscoe Conkling (Class III)
Republican

Elected U.S. Senators

Elbridge Lapham
(Class III)
Republican

The 1881 United States Senate special elections in New York was held from May 31 to July 22 by the

Elbridge Lapham in their place. During the balloting, President Garfield was shot
; he died two months after balloting concluded.

On July 1, Platt withdrew from the election after 41 inconclusive joint ballots, most of them led by

Elbridge Lapham after Depew withdrew. Two weeks later, Warner Miller
was elected to Platt's seat. Conkling's supporters held out for another week before acquiescing to the unanimous nomination of Lapham on July 22, ending the election.

President Garfield died on September 19. With the Stalwart faction effectively eliminated by Conkling's removal from office, Congress passed the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, which was signed into law by Chester A. Arthur, a former Conkling protégé.

Background

The Republican boss, and leader of the

Stalwart faction, Roscoe Conkling had been elected to a third term (Class 3) in January 1879. Thomas C. Platt
had been elected on Conkling's advice in January 1881 and had just taken his seat (Class 1) on March 4.

Conkling and Platt resignations

Thomas Collier Platt

On May 16, 1881, both U.S. senators from New York resigned in protest against the distribution of federal patronage in New York by President

Edwin Merritt continue on the post until his term would expire in 1882, and then give it to one of his Stalwart friends, but Garfield was set on showing his gratitude to Robertson who had been instrumental in Garfield's nomination at the 1880 Republican National Convention. On March 28, Conkling, Platt, Vice President Chester A. Arthur and Postmaster General Thomas L. James sent a letter to Garfield urging him to withdraw the nomination. Garfield resented this intrusion and did not budge. Conkling and Platt took exception to the fact that Robertson and the New York delegates to the National Convention had been pledged by the State Convention to vote for the nomination of former President Ulysses S. Grant
, but had broken his pledge and orchestrated the nomination of another candidate.

Conkling and Platt then stood for re-election thus trying to rebuke the President and be vindicated by the State Legislature.

Legislative composition

Main article: 104th New York State Legislature
See also: 1879 New York state election and 1880 New York state election

At the 1879 state election, 25 Republicans and 7 Democrats were elected for a two-year term (1880–1881) in the State Senate.

At the 1880 state election, 81 Republicans and 47 Democrats were elected for the session of 1881 to the Assembly.

The 104th New York State Legislature met from January 4 to July 23, 1881, at Albany, New York.

Nominations

Republican caucus

When the first surprise about the resignations subsided, a majority of the Republican State legislators were determined to be rid of Conkling. Intense canvassing followed, many names were speculated about as candidates, but it proved difficult to call a caucus, since no majority of legislators or of the caucus committee agreed.

A caucus of

Andrew S. Draper
presided, and secretaries were appointed. Only 8 State senators and 27 assemblymen were present, and the caucus adjourned for lack of quorum until the next day, but nobody was nominated.

Democratic caucus

The caucus of the

Democratic State legislators met on May 30, Assemblyman Michael C. Murphy, of New York City, presided. They nominated Ex-U.S. Senator Francis Kernan and State Senator John C. Jacobs
, both on the first ballot.

May 1881 Democratic caucus for United States Senator result
Office Candidate First ballot Office Candidate First ballot
U.S. Senator
(Class 1) 		Francis Kernan 34
U.S. Senator
(Class 3) 		John C. Jacobs 39
Clarkson N. Potter 7
Abram S. Hewitt
 8
Rufus W. Peckham
 5 Horatio Seymour 4
Erastus Corning[1] 3 Clarkson N. Potter 1
Horatio Seymour 1

Elections

On May 31, the legally prescribed day for the election, the Assembly and the State Senate took a ballot, but no candidate received a majority. On June 1, both Houses met in joint session, compared the result of the ballot, and finding that nobody had received a majority in either House, proceeded to a joint ballot

Chauncey M. Depew
was the frontrunner for the long term (Class 1), but the anti-Conkling men were split into a handful of factions, unable to compromise. From June 2 on, joint ballots were taken every day, Monday through Saturday at noon.

After almost three weeks of deadlock, it was believed that Governor Cornell would consider the votes cast for State Senator Jacobs as void,[3] and to accept as elected any Republican candidate who would receive a simple majority of a quorum, meaning that if at least 81 votes were cast for all candidates except Jacobs, the frontrunner would be elected with 42. On this day, 155 legislators present, and 52 voting for Jacobs, somebody could claim to be elected with a vote of 52, and get his credentials issued by the governor. Thus, when Ex-Vice President Wheeler had received 50 votes in the 23rd ballot, State Senator Charles A. Fowler (Dem., 14th D.) withdrew Jacobs's name before the end of the roll call, and the Democratic members who had voted already (the roll was called in alphabetical order of surnames, first Senate, then Assembly) asked to change their votes, which was granted by Lt. Gov. George G. Hoskins.

After Jacobs's withdrawal during the 23rd ballot, a Democratic caucus was held in the afternoon of June 22, Assemblyman Michael C. Murphy presided. Ex-Congressman Clarkson N. Potter was nominated after an informal ballot, in which votes were scattered about 11 candidates, and a formal ballot in which Potter received a majority.

President James A. Garfield, on whom Conkling's opposition was centered, was shot in Washington on July 2; news arrived in Albany just after Platt withdrew and just before the 33rd ballot.

After a month of deadlock and 31 ballots, Thomas C. Platt withdrew from the contest on July 1, and most of the Platt men then switched to Richard Crowley. On the morning of the next day, President Garfield was shot and the news arrived in Albany just before the State Legislature met for the 33rd ballot.

On July 6, after the 37th ballot, the Anti-Conkling men met in conference. 59 legislators attended, and State Senator

Dennis McCarthy
refused to issue a call.

On July 16, after seven weeks of deadlock, Warner Miller was elected on the 48th ballot to succeed Platt. Conkling held out for another week. On July 22, after the 55th ballot, the Republican legislators met in conference. 76 legislators attended, State Senator Dennis McCarthy presided, and this conference issued the call for a caucus to meet at 3 p.m. The caucus was attended by Stalwarts and Administration men, all Republican legislators who had voted on the previous ballot being present. They nominated Elbridge G. Lapham on the first ballot (vote: Lapham 61, Conkling 28, Stewart L. Woodford 1, William M. Evarts 1), and the nomination was then "made unanimous." At 5 p.m. another ballot, the 56th and last, was taken by the State Legislature, and Lapham was elected to succeed Conkling.

Class 1 summary

1881 United States Senator (Class 1) special election result
Candidate S A J1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 J9 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48
▌ Miller 2 3 8 8 1 10 8 9 68 61 70 71 73 74 76
▌ Platt 8 21 29 28 28 30 26 23 28 29 29 28 28 22 21 26 27 27 23 17 21 27 27 26 25 27 27 27 20 21 27 28 28 2 1 1 1 1
▌ Kernan 7 47 53 53 53 51 31 26 46 51 50 48 48 29 27 51 50 52 48 34 25 51 51 53 53 53 53 45 31 32 49 52 53 48 31 24 47 47 53 51 52 50 50 50 48 52 51 54 53 47
▌
Depew
 7 14 25 28 30 30 23 21 42 51 53 54 54 38 36 55 54 54 53 44 37 52 50 52 50 53 52 45 34 35 50 50 51 48 35 32 48 48 53 51 49 51 51
▌ Cornell 12 11 11 13 13 8 9 14 10 8 9 9 7 6 10 10 12 10 5 6 11 9 8 8 8 7 7 5 4 9 9 11 15 10 11 15 15 18 18 17 20 19 1
▌ Lapham 2 6 8 8 9 2 2 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 3 4 4 3 3 2 1 3 2 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
▌ Crowley 3 4 4 4 3 3 3 4 4 5 4 4 2 3 4 3 5 5 3 3 6 5 7 8 8 6 5 4 5 6 7 7 20 9 10 19 19 19 18 18 18 18
▌ Folger 6 5 3 4 3 3 3 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 1 1 1
▌ Wheeler 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 3 4 3 2 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 19 18 21 23 12 7 4
▌ Evarts 5 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1
▌ Davis 2 2
▌
Wadsworth
 2 2 2 2
▌ Tremain[4] 2 1 1 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
▌ Morton 2 1
▌ Rogers 1 1 1 1 1 1 4 3
▌ Choate 1 1
▌ Sharpe 1
▌ Francis 1
▌ Pomeroy 1
▌
Ward
 3 3 4 2
▌
Dutcher
 2 2 2 2 2
▌ Van Cott 1 1 1 1 1 1
▌
Rumsey
 1 1
▌ Sloan 1
▌ Wilber 1
▌
Fenton
 1 1 1
▌ Tracy 1 1 1
▌ Bliss[5] 1 1 1 1
▌
Hoskins
 5 4 3 1 1 1 1 1 1
▌ Chapman 4 1 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
▌ North[6] 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
▌ Adams 1 1 3 2 2 1 2 2 1
▌ Daniels 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 2 3 3 1
▌ Talcott[7] 2 1 1
▌ Fish 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 7 11 9
▌ Starin 1 1 1 1 1 2 2
▌
Tenney
 1 1

Class 3 summary

1881 United States Senator (Class 3) special election result
Candidate S A J1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56
▌Lapham 1 1 7 4 3 8 9 9 8 11 7 6 8 10 12 16 13 16 25 25 26 16 17 17 13 10 8 17 18 17 13 7 6 9 9 11 11 11 12 12 67 60 68 69 70 70 68 54 54 68 72 72 67 63 92
▌Conkling 9 26 35 34 33 34 30 26 34 34 34 33 33 23 24 31 31 32 27 20 23 33 32 32 32 32 32 30 22 24 31 32 32 28 20 16 31 31 32 31 30 32 32 31 28 32 32 32 32 29 27 27 28 28 28 28 28
▌Jacobs 6 47 52 52 52 49 30 25 45 50 49 47 47 29 26 50 49 51 47 34 24 50 50 52 12
▌Potter 7 53 53 44 34 31 49 52 53 48 31 27 47 47 53 51 52 50 50 50 48 52 52 54 53 47 34 34 45 49 49 45 40 42
▌Wheeler 4 15 22 19 17 17 13 14 22 21 23 20 21 19 16 23 25 38 36 29 24 38 35 40 50 50 50 45 32 32 42 41 43 38 26 22 36 36 42 43 43 38 42 1
▌Cornell 3 6 10 21 23 19 18 16 15 19 16 15 12 8 8 9 10 11 8 5 3 3 1 2 2 1 1 1 2 3 3 2 6 5 6 8 8 6 5 3 8 5 1
▌Rogers 5 8 15 14 14 14 13 13 15 15 14 18 16 14 12 21 18 1 1 1 1 4 4 1 3 3 4 5 5 6 6
▌Crowley 5 3 2 2 3 2 1 1 1 3 1 2 1 2 3 4 6 6 6 4 4 3 2
▌Folger 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 3 3 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
▌Pomeroy 2 1 3 1
▌Tremain 2 3 3 2 1 4 2 3 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 1
▌Evarts 2 2 1 1 1 1 1
▌Alvord 2 2
▌
Wadsworth
 2 1
▌
White
 2 1
▌
Fenton
 1 3 2 4 2
▌Edick 1 1 1 2
▌Bradley 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3
▌Fish 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
▌Chapman 1 1 1 1 1
▌
Dutcher
 1 1 1 1 1
▌
Ward
 1
▌Miller 1
▌Beecher 1
▌Woodin 1
▌Harris 1 1 1 1
▌Marvin 2
▌Crowley 1 2 4 1 2 1
▌
Peckham
 4
▌
Hewitt
 3
▌Kelly 3
▌Seymour 3
▌Parker 2
▌Bliss 2
▌Cox 2
▌Corning 2
▌Daniels 1
▌Tilden 1
▌Hoffman 1
▌
Slocum
 1
▌
Grace
 1
▌Westbrook 1
▌Scoville 1
▌Beach 1
▌Thompson 1
▌Kingsley 1
▌Babcock 1
▌
Hoskins
 1 2 2 2 1 1 1
▌Roach 1 1 1 1
▌Stoughton 1
▌Woodford 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Aftermath

Lapham and Miller took their seats on October 11, 1881, and served single terms. Lapham remained in office until March 3, 1885; Miller until March 3, 1887.

Conkling's political career effectively ended after this episode, the longest deadlock in New York State legislative history until 1911.[8]

Platt returned to the U.S. Senate in 1897, and served two terms until 1909.

Notes

  1. ^ Erastus Corning (1827-1897), of Albany, son of Erastus Corning (1794-1872)
  2. 1839
    ; previously in case of no choice by either House no joint ballot could be taken.
  3. United States Constitution when votes were cast for State Senator Daniel E. Sickles
    .
  4. ^ Gen. Henry Edwin Tremain (1840-1910), lawyer, Columbia Law School graduate 1867
  5. ^ William B. Bliss, of Rome, Oneida County judge 1875-80, Oneida County Surrogate 1884-1889
  6. ^ Charles North, Mayor of Oswego 1868, assemblyman 1878
  7. ^ James Talcott (1835-1916), of New York City, merchant and philanthropist, Obit in NYT on August 22, 1916
  8. 1911
    it took 74 days and 63 joint ballots to elect a U.S. Senator.

Sources

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