The United States Senate election of 1860 was an election corresponding with Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

's election

United States presidential election, 1864

In the United States Presidential election of 1864, Abraham Lincoln was re-elected as president. The election was held during the Civil War. Lincoln ran under the National Union ticket against Democratic candidate George B. McClellan, his former top general. McClellan ran as the "peace candidate",...

 to the presidency, with the Republican Party

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 gaining control of 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...

. As many Southern States seceded following the election, and members left the Senate to join the Confederacy, or were expelled for supporting the rebellion, seats were declared vacant. To establish a quorum with fewer members, a lower total seat number was taken into account.

As this election was prior to ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment

Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

The Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution established direct election of United States Senators by popular vote. The amendment supersedes Article I, § 3, Clauses 1 and 2 of the Constitution, under which senators were elected by state legislatures...

, Senators were chosen by State legislatures.

Results

37th Congress

37th United States Congress

The Thirty-seventh United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1861 to March 4, 1863, during the first two...

 (1861–1863)

• Majority Party: Republican (29), later rose to 30
• Minority Party: Democratic (23), later dropped to 13
• Other Parties: Unionist (1), later rose to 7
• Vacant: (15), later rose to 20
• Total Seats: 68, later rose to 70

Change in Senate composition

End of previous Congress 36th United States Congress The Thirty-sixth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1859 to March 4, 1861, during the third and fourth... V V V V V V V D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D A D D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R V V R R R R R R R R V V V V

Beginning of the next Congress 37th United States Congress The Thirty-seventh United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1861 to March 4, 1863, during the first two... V V V V V V V V D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D R R U D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R V V V R R R R R R R V V V V

End of the next Congress 37th United States Congress The Thirty-seventh United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1861 to March 4, 1863, during the first two... V V V V V V V V V V D D D D D D D D D D D D D U U R R R R R U U U U U R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R V V V V V R R R R R V V V V V

Key:	A = American D = Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous... R = Republican Republican Party (United States) The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S... U = Unionist Unionist Party (United States) The Union Party was a fusion political party conceived by Republicans in 1861 to combine people of all political affiliations into a single movement committed to the preservation of the Union and to war. Republicans wanted to project an image of wartime nonpartisanship and they also expected to... V = Vacant	EWLINE Majority divider

See also

• United States presidential election, 1860
  United States presidential election, 1860
  The United States presidential election of 1860 was a quadrennial election, held on November 6, 1860, for the office of President of the United States and the immediate impetus for the outbreak of the American Civil War. The nation had been divided throughout the 1850s on questions surrounding the...
  
  
• United States House of Representatives elections, 1860
• 37th United States Congress
  37th United States Congress
  The Thirty-seventh United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1861 to March 4, 1863, during the first two...