1867 United States Senate election in Wisconsin

For related races, see 1866–67 United States Senate elections.

1867 United States Senate election in Wisconsin

←  1861 January 23, 1867 1873  →

Nominee Timothy O. Howe Charles A. Eldredge others Party Republican Democratic Legislative vote 95 31 2 Percentage 74.22% 24.22% 1.56%

U.S. senator before election Timothy O. Howe Republican Elected U.S. Senator Timothy O. Howe Republican

The 1867 United States Senate election in Wisconsin was held in the 20th Wisconsin Legislature on January 23, 1867. Incumbent Republican U.S. senator Timothy O. Howe was re-elected on the first ballot. ^[1]

At the start of the 1867 term, Republicans held large majorities in both chambers of the Wisconsin Legislature, bolstered by the National Union Party coalition, and were easily able to re-elect their incumbent U.S. senator. His re-election was considered a foregone conclusion in newspapers, and there doesn't appear to have been any other candidates for the Republican nomination.

Major candidates

Democratic

• Charles A. Eldredge, incumbent U.S. representative of Wisconsin's 4th congressional district.

Republican

• Timothy O. Howe, incumbent U.S. senator, former Wisconsin circuit court judge from Green Bay.

Results

The 20th Wisconsin Legislature met in joint session on January 23, 1867, to elect a U.S. senator. The voting was almost entirely along party lines, with one Republican and four Democratic members absent. Of the 128 in attendance, Timothy O. Howe received the votes of all but one of the Republican and Union legislators, winning the election. ^{[1] [2]}

1st Vote of the 20th Wisconsin Legislature, January 23, 1867 ^{[1] [2]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Timothy O. Howe (incumbent)	95 [a]	74.22%
	Democratic	Charles A. Eldredge	31 [b]	24.22%
	Democratic	Edward S. Bragg	1 [c]	0.78%
	Democratic	Joshua J. Guppey	1 [d]	0.78%
		Absent	5
Majority			65	50.78%
Total votes			128	96.24%
	Republican hold

Notes

1. Howe received the votes of all National Union (Republican) members except representatives Joseph A. Frost (who was absent) and Joseph Wedig (who voted for Eldredge); he also received one cross-over vote from Democratic senator Matthew J. Meade.
2. Eldredge received the votes of all Democrats except senators Matthew J. Meade and Gerrit T. Thorn and representative Harrison Carroll Hobart (who voted for others), and representatives George W. Clason, Charles D. Gage, Charles H. Miller, and Thomas Robinson (who were absent); he also received one cross-over vote from Republican representative Joseph Wedig.
3. Democratic senator Gerrit T. Thorn voted for Edward S. Bragg.
4. Democratic representative Harrison Carroll Hobart voted for Joshua J. Guppey.

References

1. "January 23, 1867". Journal of the Assembly of Wisconsin (Report). Wisconsin Legislature. 1867. pp. 100–101. Retrieved March 8, 2025– via HathiTrust.
2. Journal of the Senate of Wisconsin (Report). Wisconsin Legislature. 1867. pp. 107–108, 118–119. Retrieved March 8, 2025– via HathiTrust.