United States Senate elections, 1872 and 1873

Dates vary by state
(And other dates for special elections)

24 of the 74 seats in the United States Senate (with special elections)
38 seats needed for a majority

	Majority party	Minority party

Party	Republican	Democratic
Last election	58 seats	9 seats
Seats before	56	17
Seats won	18	5
Seats after	54	19
Seat change	2	2
Seats up	20	3

	Third party

Party	Liberal Republican
Last election	0 seats
Seats before	1
Seats won	0
Seats after	0
Seat change	1
Seats up	1

Majority Party before election

Republican Party

Elected Majority Party

Republican Party

The United States Senate elections of 1872 and 1873 were elections which had the Republican Party, while still retaining a commanding majority, lose two seats in the United States Senate. By the beginning of the Congress, however, they'd lost three more: two as defections to the Liberal Republican Party, and one a resignation of Henry Wilson to become U.S. Vice President. These elections also coincided with President Ulysses S. Grant's easy re-election.

As these elections were prior to ratification of the seventeenth amendment, Senators were chosen by State legislatures.

Senate Party Division, 43rd Congress (1873–1875)

After the January 30, 1872 special election in North Carolina.

In these elections, the winners were seated during 1872 or in 1873 before March 4; ordered by election date.

In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1873; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 3 seats.

In this election, the winner was elected in 1873 after March 4.

The New York election was held January 21, 1873. Republican Roscoe Conkling had been elected in January 1867 to this seat, and his term would expire on March 3, 1873.

At the State election in November 1871, 21 Republicans and 11 Democrats were elected for a two-year term (1872-1873) in the State Senate. In 1872, a faction of the Republican Party opposed the re-election of President Ulysses S. Grant and the Radical Republicans who supported him, and under the name Liberal Republican Party nominated a joint ticket with the Democratic Party. At the State election in November 1872, 91 Republicans, 35 Democrats and 2 Independents were elected for the session of 1873 to the Assembly. The 96th New York State Legislature met from January 7 to May 30, 1873, at Albany, New York.

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