United States Senate special election in West Virginia, 1877

United States Senate elections, 1876 and 1877

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

26 of the 76 seats in the United States Senate (with special elections)
39 seats needed for a majority

	Majority party	Minority party

Party	Republican	Democratic
Seats before	45	30
Seats won	11	14
Seats after	39	35
Seat change	6	5
Seats up	17	9

	Third party	Fourth party

Party	Anti-Monopoly	Independent
Seats before	1	0
Seats won	0	1
Seats after	1	1
Seat change		1
Seats up	0	0

Majority Party before election

Republican

Elected Majority Party

Republican

The United States Senate elections of 1876 and 1877 had the Democratic Party gain five seats in the United States Senate, and coincided with Rutherford B. Hayes's narrow election as President. Republicans remained in the majority, however.

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

Senate Party Division, 45th Congress (1877–1879)

After the November 15, 1876 elections in the new state of Colorado.

In these elections, the winners were seated during 1876 or in 1877 before March 4; ordered by election date.

In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1877; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 2 seats.

In these elections, the winners were elected in 1877 after March 4.

The special election in Pennsylvania was held March 20, 1877.

Republican Senator Simon Cameron had been elected to the United States Senate by the Pennsylvania General Assembly, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate, in 1867 and was re-elected in 1873. Sen. Cameron resigned on March 12, 1877.

Following the resignation of Simon Cameron, the Pennsylvania General Assembly convened on March 20, 1877, to elect a new Senator to fill the vacancy. Former United States Secretary of War J. Donald Cameron, Simon Cameron's son, was elected to complete his father's term, set to expire on March 4, 1879. The results of the vote of both houses combined are as follows:

...
Wikipedia