The 1892–93 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states, coinciding with former Democratic President

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...

's return to power. As these

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

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 1892 and 1893, 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 1. The Republican Party lost nine seats, losing its majority to the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. The Democratic majority, however, was minimal and did not last past the next Congress.

Results summary

Senate party division, 53rd Congress (1893–1895) * Majority party: Democratic (43) * Minority party: Republican (37) * Other parties: Populist (3); Silver (1) * Vacant: 4 * Total seats: 88

Change in Senate composition

Before the elections

Result of the elections

Beginning of the next Congress

Race summaries

Elections during the 52nd Congress

In these special elections the winners were seated during the 52nd Congress in 1892 or in 1893 before March 4; ordered by election date. In this special election, the winner was seated in the 53rd Congress, starting March 4, 1893. In this early regular election, the winner was seated in the 54th Congress, starting March 4, 1895.

Races leading to the 53rd Congress

In these regular elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning March 4, 1893; ordered by state. All of the elections involved the Class 1 seats.

Elections during the 53rd Congress

In these elections, the winners were elected in 1893 after March 4, and seated in the 53rd Congress. In this election, the winner was seated in the 54th Congress, starting March 4, 1895.

California

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Florida (regular)

Florida (special)

Indiana

Kansas (special)

Kentucky (special)

Maine

Maryland

Maryland (regular)

Arthur Pue Gorman Arthur Pue Gorman (March 11, 1839June 4, 1906) was an American politician. He was leader of the Gorman-Rasin organization with Isaac Freeman Rasin that controlled the Maryland Democratic Party from the late 1870s until his death in 1906. Gorman ...

won re-election against Lloyd Lowndes Jr. by a margin of 86.05%, or 74 votes, for the Class 1 seat.

Maryland (special)

Charles Hopper Gibson Charles Hopper Gibson (January 19, 1842 – March 31, 1900) was a U. S. Senator from Maryland, serving from 1891–1897. He also served as a U.S. Congressman from 1885–1891. Biography Gibson was born near Centreville, Maryland, and attended ...

was elected to fill the seat vacated by Ephraim King Wilson II by a margin of 69.03%, or 78 votes, for the Class 3 seat.

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Mississippi (regular, class 1)

Mississippi (regular, class 2)

Early election for the term beginning in 1895.

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Jersey

New York

The New York election was held on January 18, 1893, by the

New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an officia ...

. Incumbent Senator

Frank Hiscock Frank Hiscock (September 6, 1834June 18, 1914) was a U.S. Representative and Senator from New York. He served in the United States Congress from 1877 to 1893. Hiscock was a native of Pompey, New York, and graduated from Pompey Academy. Af ...

was elected to this seat in

1887 Events January–March * January 11 – Louis Pasteur's anti-rabies treatment is defended in the Académie Nationale de Médecine, by Dr. Joseph Grancher. * January 20 ** The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl ...

, with his term to expire on March 3, 1893. At the controversial State election in November 1891, 17 Democrats, 14 Republicans and 1 Independent were elected for a two-year term (1892-1893) in the State Senate. This was the only time a Democratic majority was seated in the State Senate between 1874 and 1910. At the State election in November 1892, 74 Democrats and 54 Republicans were elected for the session of 1893 to the Assembly. The

116th New York State Legislature The 116th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 3 to April 20, 1893, during the second year of Roswell P. Flower's governorship, in Albany. Background Under the p ...

met from January 3 to April 20, 1893, at

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York C ...

. The Democratic caucus met on January 10. 90 State legislators attended, only Assemblyman John Cooney, of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, was absent due to illness. State Senator Amasa J. Parker Jr. presided.

Edward Murphy Jr. Edward Murphy Jr. (December 15, 1836August 3, 1911) was a businessman and politician from Troy, New York. A Democrat, he served as mayor of Troy, New York (1875–1883), chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee (1888–1894), and a ...

, a wealthy brewer of

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Ç ...

, and Chairman of the Democratic State Committee, was nominated by a large majority. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' had suggested earlier to nominate Carl Schurz, a former Republican U.S. Senator from Missouri and

U.S. Secretary of the Interior The United States secretary of the interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The secretary and the Department of the Interior are responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land along with natural ...

, who lived now in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, but the political machines of upstate boss

David B. Hill David Bennett Hill (August 29, 1843October 20, 1910) was an American politician from New York who was the 29th Governor of New York from 1885 to 1891 and represented New York in the United States Senate from 1892 to 1897. In 1892, he made an u ...

and

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...

chose a loyal party machine man rather than an Ex-Republican advocate of civil service reform. Even President-elect

had voiced his disapproval of Murphy, to no avail. The

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

caucus met on January 11. State Senator Thomas Hunter presided. They re-nominated the incumbent U.S. Senator

by acclamation. Edward Murphy, Jr., was the choice of both the Assembly and the State Senate, and was declared elected. State Senator James T. Edwards (32nd D.), of Randolph, voted for the defeated Republican vice presidential candidate of

1892 Events January–March * January 1 – Ellis Island begins accommodating immigrants to the United States. * February 1 - The historic Enterprise Bar and Grill was established in Rico, Colorado. * February 27 – Rudolf Diesel applies fo ...

, Whitelaw Reid. Note: The votes were cast on January 17, but both Houses met in a joint session on January 18 to compare nominations, and declare the result. When Murphy took his seat, for the first time since 1849 New York was represented by two Democrats in the U.S. Senate. Murphy served a single term, remaining in the U.S. Senate until March 3, 1899. In January 1899, Murphy was defeated for re-election by Republican Chauncey M. Depew.

North Dakota

Ohio

Pennsylvania

The election in Pennsylvania was held January 17, 1893. Incumbent

Matthew Quay Matthew Stanley "Matt" Quay (September 30, 1833May 28, 1904) was an American politician of the Republican Party who represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate from 1887 until 1899 and from 1901 until his death in 1904. Quay's control ...

was re-elected by the Pennsylvania General Assembly. , - bgcolor ="#EEEEEE" , colspan ="3" align="right" , Totals , align ="right" , 254 , align ="right" , 100.00%

Rhode Island

Tennessee

Texas

Texas (regular)

Texas (special)

Vermont

Vermont (regular)

Vermont (special)

Virginia

Virginia (regular, class 1)

Incumbent Senator John W. Daniel (who had been first elected in 1887) was re-elected in 1893.

Virginia (special, class 2)

Democratic incumbent John S. Barbour Jr. died May 14, 1892. Democrat

Eppa Hunton Eppa Hunton II (September 24, 1822October 11, 1908) was a Virginia lawyer and soldier who rose to become a brigadier general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. After the war, he served as a Democrat in both the United States ...

was appointed May 28, 1892, to continue until a special election. Hunton was elected December 20, 1893, to finish the term (ending March 1895).

Washington

West Virginia

West Virginia (regular)

West Virginia (special)

Wisconsin

Two-term Republican

Philetus Sawyer Philetus Sawyer (September 22, 1816March 29, 1900) was a United States senator from Wisconsin for twelve years (1881–1893). He also represented Wisconsin for ten years in the United States House of Representatives (1865–1875), and he ...

retired and two-term Democratic congressman John L. Mitchell was elected to the next term. In the Wisconsin Legislature, Democrats had a majority, but it took 31 ballots for Democrats to pick Mitchell over fellow Democrats John H. Knight and Edward S. Bragg.