The 1840–41 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states. As these U.S. Senate 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 1840 and 1841, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock.^[1] In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 2.

Quick Facts 18 of the 52 seats in the United States Senate (with special elections) 27 seats needed for a majority, Majority party ...

1840–41 United States Senate elections

← 1838 & 1839 Various dates 1842 & 1843 →
18 of the 52 seats in the United States Senate (with special elections) 27 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Party Whig Democratic Last election 20 seats 28 seats Seats before 21 29 Seats won 11 6 Seats after 27 22 Seat change 6 7 Seats up 5 13
Results:      Democratic hold      Whig gain      Whig hold      Legislature failed to elect
Majority Party before election Democratic Elected Majority Party Whig

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Corresponding with their party's success in the 1840 presidential election, the Whig Party took control of the Senate.

Senate party division, 27th Congress (1841–1843)

• Majority party: Whig (29)
• Minority party: Democratic (22–20)
• Other parties: (0)
• Vacant: (1–3)
• Total seats: 52

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (November 2022)

John Leeds Kerr won election to a full term an unknown margin of votes, for the Class 3 seat.^[7]

There were three elections due to the February 22, 1841, resignation of Whig Daniel Webster to become U.S. Secretary of State and the January 5, 1841, resignation of Whig John Davis to become Governor of Massachusetts.

Nathaniel P. Tallmadge had been elected as a Jacksonian Democrat in 1833 to this seat, and his term expired March 3, 1839. An election was held February 5, 1839. Although Tallmadge received the most votes, no candidate received a majority and the seat was declared vacant due to the legislature's failure to elect.

At the State election in November 1839, 7 Whigs and 3 Democrats were elected to the State Senate, which gave the Whigs a majority, the first anti-Bucktails/Jacksonian/Democratic majority in 20 years. The 63rd New York State Legislature met from January 7 to May 14, 1840, at Albany, New York. The strength of the parties in the Assembly, as shown by the vote for Speaker, was: 68 for Whig George Washington Patterson and 56 for Democrat Levi S. Chatfield.

On January 14, 1840, Nathaniel P. Tallmadge received a majority in both the Assembly and the Senate, and was declared elected.

Tallmadge re-took his seat on January 27, 1840,^[8] and remained in office until June 17, 1844, when he resigned to be appointed Governor of Wisconsin Territory. Daniel S. Dickinson was appointed to fill the vacancy temporarily, and subsequently elected by the State Legislature to succeed Tallmadge.

There were three elections due to the November 16, 1840, resignations of Democrats Bedford Brown and Robert Strange.

North Carolina (special, class 2)

Whig Willie Mangum was elected November 25, 1840, to finish Brown's term that would end in March 1841.

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North Carolina (regular)

Mangum was later re-elected in 1841 to the next term.

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North Carolina (special, class 3)

Whig William Alexander Graham was elected November 25, 1840, to finish Strange's term that would end in 1843.

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2020)

The election was held on January 14, 1840, after the regularly scheduled election in December 1838 was postponed due to the Buckshot War. Daniel Sturgeon was elected by the Pennsylvania General Assembly to the United States Senate.^[9][10]

Democrat Samuel McKean was elected by the Pennsylvania General Assembly, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate, in the 1832–1833 Senate election. Sen. McKean's term was to expire on March 4, 1839, and an election would have occurred during the winter of 1838–1839 elect a senator for the successive term. The election did not occur, however, due to significant political unrest in Harrisburg, the state capital, over disputed election returns during the Buckshot War. McKean's seat was vacated when his term expired in March 1839 and remained vacant until the General Assembly elected a new senator in 1840.^[9]

The Pennsylvania General Assembly convened on January 14, 1840, to elect a senator to serve out the remainder of the term that began on March 4, 1839. The results of the vote of both houses combined are as follows:

• 1840 United States elections
  • 1840 United States presidential election
  • 1840–41 United States House of Representatives elections
• 26th United States Congress
• 27th United States Congress