The 1873 United States Senate election in New York was held on January 21, 1873, by the New York State Legislature to elect a U.S. Senator (Class 3) to represent the State of New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 in the United States Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

.

Background

Republican Roscoe Conkling

Roscoe Conkling

Roscoe Conkling was a politician from New York who served both as a member of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate. He was the leader of the Stalwart faction of the Republican Party and the last person to refuse a U.S. Supreme Court appointment after he had...

 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

New York state election, 1871

The 1871 New York state election was held on November 7, 1871, to elect the Secretary of State, the State Comptroller, the Attorney General, the State Treasurer, the State Engineer, a Canal Commissioner and an Inspector of State Prisons, as well as all members of the New York State Assembly and the...

, 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

Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...

 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 State Legislature met from January 7, 1873, on at Albany, New York

Albany, New York

Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...

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Republican caucus

The caucus of Republican State legislators met on January 8, State Senator William B. Woodin, of Auburn

Auburn, New York

Auburn is a city in Cayuga County, New York, United States of America. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 27,687...

 (25th D.), presided. 18 state senators and 88 assemblymen were present. They re-nominated the incumbent U.S. Senator Conkling unanimously.

Democratic caucus

The caucus of the Democratic State legislators nominated Ex-First Judge of Dutchess County

Dutchess County, New York

Dutchess County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, in the state's Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley. The 2010 census lists the population as 297,488...

 Charles Wheaton.

Result

Roscoe Conkling was the choice of both the Assembly and the State Senate, and was declared elected.

1873 United States Senator election result

Office	House	Republican		Democrat		Republican		Liberal Republican
U.S. Senator	State Senate New York State Senate The New York State Senate is one of two houses in the New York State Legislature and has members each elected to two-year terms. There are no limits on the number of terms one may serve...   (32 members)	Roscoe Conkling Roscoe Conkling Roscoe Conkling was a politician from New York who served both as a member of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate. He was the leader of the Stalwart faction of the Republican Party and the last person to refuse a U.S. Supreme Court appointment after he had...	20	Charles Wheaton	5	William M. Evarts William M. Evarts William Maxwell Evarts was an American lawyer and statesman who served as U.S. Secretary of State, U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Senator from New York...	1	Henry R. Selden Henry R. Selden Henry Rogers Selden was an American lawyer and politician. He was Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1857 to 1858. He defended Susan B. Anthony in her 1873 trial for unlawfully voting as a woman.-Life:He was the son of Calvin Selden and Phebe Selden...	1
	State Assembly New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature. The Assembly is composed of 150 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 128,652...   (128 members)	Roscoe Conkling Roscoe Conkling Roscoe Conkling was a politician from New York who served both as a member of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate. He was the leader of the Stalwart faction of the Republican Party and the last person to refuse a U.S. Supreme Court appointment after he had...	92	Charles Wheaton	26

Notes:

• The vote for Ex-U.S. Attorney General Evarts was cast by Norman N. Allen (32nd D.), the vote for Ex-Judge of the New York Court of Appeals
  New York Court of Appeals
  The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the U.S. state of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six associate judges who are appointed by the Governor to 14-year terms...
  
   Selden by Gabriel T. Harrower (27th D.). Allen, Harrower and Abiah W. Palmer (11th D.) were the three Liberal Republicans in the State Senate.
• The votes were cast on January 21, but both Houses met in a joint session on January 22 to compare nominations, and declare the result.

Aftermath

Conkling was re-elected in 1879, and remained in office until May 17, 1881, when he resigned in protest against the distribution of federal patronage in New York by President James A. Garfield without being consulted. The crisis between the Stalwart and the Half-Breed

Half-Breed (politics)

The "Half-Breeds" were a political faction of the United States Republican Party that existed in the late 19th century. The Half-Breeds were a moderate-wing group, and they were the opponents of the Stalwarts, the other main faction of the Republican Party. The main issue that separated the...

 factions of the Republican party arose when the leader of the New Yorker Half-Breeds William H. Robertson

William H. Robertson

William Henry Robertson was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He was a United States Representative from 1867 to 1869, and President pro tempore of the New York State Senate.-Life:He was the son of Henry Robertson...

 was appointed Collector of the Port of New York

Collector of the Port of New York

The Collector of Customs at the Port of New York, most often referred to as Collector of the Port of New York, sometimes also as Collector of Customs for the Port of New York or Collector of Customs for the District of New York, was a federal officer who was in charge of the collection of import...

, a position Conkling wanted to give to one of his Stalwart friends.

Sources

• Members of the 43rd United States Congress
• ALBANY.; Unanimous Nomination of Roscoe Conkling for U.S. Senator in NYT on January 9, 1873
• ALBANY.; Nomination of Roscoe Conkling as United States Senator in NYT on January 22, 1873
• The Life and Letters of Roscoe Conkling: Orator, Statesman and Advocate by Alfred R. Conkling (page 449) [gives wrong date for governor's inauguration "January 6", the inauguration happens invariably on January 1; and adds non-existent middle initial "G."]