1840 United States Senate special election in Pennsylvania

The 1840 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania 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.[1][2]

Background

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 to 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.[1]

Results

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:

State Legislature Results[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Daniel Sturgeon	87	65.41
	Whig	Charles Ogle	26	19.55
	Anti-Masonic	Richard Biddle	17	12.78
	N/A	Not voting	3	2.26
Totals			133	100.00%

See also

• United States Senate elections, 1838 and 1839
• United States Senate elections, 1840 and 1841

References

1. "U.S. Senate Election - 1838-1839 - No election" (PDF). Wilkes University. Retrieved December 22, 2012.
2. "U.S. Senate Election - 14 January 1840" (PDF). Wilkes University. Retrieved December 22, 2012.

External links

• Pennsylvania Election Statistics: 1682-2006 from the Wilkes University Election Statistics Project