1869 Texas Senate election

1869 Texas Senate election
← 1866 November 30, 1869 1872 →
All 30 seats in the Texas Senate ; 16 seats needed for a majority
	Republican win Democratic win; Independent win; Non-district territory
	Elected President Pro Tempore ; Donald Campbell ; Republican

Last updated March 03, 2026

The 1869 Texas Senate elections took place in tandem with the 1869 Texas gubernatorial election and the election for the ratification of a new state constitution as a part of Texas's readmission to the United States following the Civil War. Texas voters elected state senators in all 30 State Senate districts. The winners of this election served in the 12th Texas Legislature, holding staggered six-year terms. This was the first time the Republican Party had ever won a majority in the Texas Senate, and it would be the only time they would do so until 1996.

Background

Texas underwent military occupation as a part of Reconstruction following the defeat of the Confederate States of America in the Civil War. The state adopted a new constitution in 1866 and held legislative elections, which were won primarily by conservative White Democrats. The legislature refused to adopt the Thirteenth Amendment and instead passed laws establishing "black codes" to attempt to maintain a system of white supremacy. This legislature was declared provisional after the passage of the First Reconstruction Act by Congress in 1867 as the state government underwent a full military takeover. Any elected official who had failed to take a "Test Oath" had been removed by April 1869.

A new constitutional convention was called in June 1868, but it did not adjourn until February 1869. A new election was initially planned for the Spring, but it was not held until the end of the year. Elections for governor and the legislature were held concurrently with the election to ratify the state's new constitution.^[1]

Results

Republicans won a majority of seats, securing nineteen while Democrats won nine.^[1] Two conservative independents also won seats.^[2] Two African Americans, George Ruby and Matthew Gaines, were among the Republicans elected, the first to do so in the state's history.^[3]^[4] Every elected Republican was considered a Radical Republican except for Andrew Evans, who was unseated in an election contest shortly after taking office and replaced by Radical Republican S.W. Ford.^[5]

Detailed results by district

Candidates are not listed with political parties in the results. The parties of all victorious candidates are known, and the parties of others may be assumed by the presence of candidates running in the concurrent House election in the same district.^[6]

District 1

District 1 election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward Bradford Pickett	1,339	55.22%
	Republican	J. H. Thomas	653	26.19%
	Independent	William Chambers	235	9.69%
	Independent	A. J. Harrison	197	8.12%
	Independent	C. H. Jones	1	0.04%
Total votes			2,425	100.0%
	Democratic win

District 2

District 2 election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Amos Clark	1,022	36.40%
	Republican	D. S. Carnahan	685	24.39%
	Independent	W. A. Reeves	629	22.40%
	Independent	R. Waterhouse	472	16.81%
Total votes			2,808	100.0%
	Democratic win

District 3

District 3 election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mijamin Priest	1,259	51.49%
	Democratic	James Eldrage Dillard	1,186	48.51%
Total votes			2,445	100.0%
	Republican win

District 4

District 4 election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Elisha Pettit	1,201	50.63%
	Democratic	W. H. Tucker	1,171	49.37%
Total votes			2,372	100.0%
	Republican win

District 5

District 5 election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Webster Flanagan	1,263	50.80%
	Democratic	W. B. Ector	1,223	49.20%
Total votes			2,486	100.0%
	Republican win

District 6

District 6 election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	James Postell Douglas	1,274	47.10%
	Republican	Z. Norton	997	36.86%
	Republican	L. P. Harris	433	16.01%
	Independent	Van Hamilton	1	0.04%
Total votes			2,705	100.0%
	Democratic win

District 7 election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Henry Rawson	1,830	75.62%
	Democratic	J. M. Nascomb	590	24.38%
Total votes			2,420	100.0%
	Republican win

District 8

District 8 election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Donald Campbell	1,490	52.91%
	Democratic	W. L. Crawford	1,326	47.09%
Total votes			2,816	100.0%
	Republican win

District 9

District 9 election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Henry R. Latimer	1,078	52.97%
	Republican	W. H. Fleming	953	46.83%
	Independent	A. J. Harrison	3	0.15%
	Independent	C. H. Jones	1	0.05%
Total votes			2,035	100.0%
	Democratic win

District 10

District 10 election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	David W. Cole	882	54.44%
	Republican	B. A. VanSickle	734	45.31%
	Write-in		4	0.25%
Total votes			1,620	100.0%
	Democratic win

District 11

District 11 election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ebenezer L. Dohoney	618	29.16%
	Republican	R. Peterson	563	26.57%
	Republican	J. M. Long	457	21.57%
	Democratic	S. J. Spotts	299	14.11%
	Write-in		182	8.59%
Total votes			2,119	100.0%
	Democratic win

District 12

District 12 election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	George Ruby	1,955	54.47%
	Democratic	A. P. McCormick	1,634	45.53%
Total votes			3,589	100.0%
	Republican win

District 13

District 13 election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John G. Bell	1,405	45.54%
	Republican	R. K. Smith	1,161	37.63%
	Democratic	T. S. McDade	410	13.29%
	Democratic	W. E. Kendall	74	2.40%
	Write-in		35	1.13%
Total votes			3,085	100.0%
	Republican win

District 14

District 14 election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William H. Parsons	1,898	60.79%
	Democratic	D. J. Baldwin	1,224	39.21%
Total votes			3,122	100.0%
	Republican win

District 15

District 15 election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John S. Mills	2,690	72.35%
	Democratic	C. Caldwell	1,021	27.46%
	Write-in		7	0.19%
Total votes			3,718	100.0%
	Republican win

District 16

District 16 election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Matthew Gaines	1,857	69.16%
	Democratic	B. O. Watrous	808	30.09%
	Independent	J. T. Swearinger	18	0.67%
	Independent	William T. Clark	2	0.07%
Total votes			2,685	100.0%
	Republican win

District 17

District 17 election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William A. Saylor	1,193	58.62%
	Democratic	A. B. Cunningham	588	28.89%
	Democratic	James Shaw	251	12.33%
	Independent	A. Anderson	3	0.15%
Total votes			2,035	100.0%
	Republican win

District 18

District 18 election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Phidello W. Hall	1,610	51.24%
	Democratic	William Keigwin	1,532	48.76%
Total votes			3,142	100.0%
	Republican win

District 19

District 19 election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Andrew Jackson Evans	1,498	48.79%
	Republican	S. W. Ford	1,330	43.32%
	Democratic	C. R. Waters	242	7.88%
Total votes			3,070	100.0%
	Republican win

District 20

District 20 election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	William H. Pyle	1,140	71.56%
	Republican	J. H. Lippard	441	27.68%
	Independent	Robert Hodge	12	0.75%
Total votes			1,593	100.0%
	Democratic win

District 21

District 21 election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Samuel Evans	1,355	61.31%
	Independent	James K. Polk Record (incumbent)	769	34.80%
	Independent	B. F. Barkley	86	3.89%
Total votes			2,210	100.0%
	Independent win

District 22

District 22 election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Edward T. Broughton	746	43.52%
	Independent	Thomas Kealey	572	33.37%
	Independent	T. C. Bass	394	22.99%
	Independent	Conner	2	0.12%
Total votes			1,714	100.0%
	Independent win

District 23

District 23 election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	George R. Shannon	696	40.61%
	Independent	B. F. Welcher	455	26.55%
	Independent	A. L. Kirk	249	14.53%
	Republican	W. F. Carter	232	13.56%
	Independent	J. G. Thomas	43	2.51%
Total votes			1,714	100.0%
	Democratic win

District 24

District 24 election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bolivar Jackson Pridgen	1,174	51.83%
	Democratic	F. M. White	1,076	47.50%
	Write-in		15	0.66%
Total votes			2,265	100.0%
	Republican win

District 25

District 25 election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Abner K. Foster	1,689	62.63%
	Democratic	J. D. Gilmore	935	34.67%
	Independent	A. J. Vaughan	73	2.71%
Total votes			2,697	100.0%
	Republican win

District 26

District 26 election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Enoch Leach Alford	1,804	58.51%
	Democratic	J. D. Sayers	968	31.40%
	Independent	H. Ledbetter	311	10.09%
Total votes			3,083	100.0%
	Republican win

District 27

District 27 election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Thomas H. Baker	1,318	50.69%
	Democratic	Jeptha Warren Stell (incumbent)	1,265	48.65%
	Write-in		17	0.65%
Total votes			2,600	100.0%
	Republican win

Notes

↑ One moderate Republican was elected but was quickly replaced by a radical.
↑ Both Independents are listed as Democrats in some sources

References

1 2 Association, Texas State Historical. "Reconstruction Era in Texas: Political, Social, and Economic Changes". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved October 8, 2025.
↑ Spaw, Patsy McDonald (February 1, 1999). The Texas Senate: Volume II, Civil War to the Eve of Reform, 1861-1889. Texas A&M University Press. p. 91. ISBN 978-0-89096-857-4.
↑ The Texas Almanac for 1870, and Emigrants Guide to Texas (PDF).
↑ Association, Texas State Historical. "The Evolution of the Texas Legislature: A Historical Overview". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved October 9, 2025.
↑ Spaw, Patsy McDonald (February 1, 1999). The Texas Senate: Volume II, Civil War to the Eve of Reform, 1861-1889. Texas A&M University Press. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-89096-857-4.
↑ Certified copy of a letter from J. J. Reynolds, Brevet Major General U.S.A. (1870), pp. 43–54

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] One moderate Republican was elected but was quickly replaced by a radical.

[2] Both Independents are listed as Democrats in some sources

[:0-3] 1 2 Association, Texas State Historical. "Reconstruction Era in Texas: Political, Social, and Economic Changes". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved October 8, 2025.

[4] Spaw, Patsy McDonald (February 1, 1999). The Texas Senate: Volume II, Civil War to the Eve of Reform, 1861-1889. Texas A&M University Press. p. 91. ISBN 978-0-89096-857-4.

[5] The Texas Almanac for 1870, and Emigrants Guide to Texas (PDF).

[6] Association, Texas State Historical. "The Evolution of the Texas Legislature: A Historical Overview". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved October 9, 2025.

[7] Spaw, Patsy McDonald (February 1, 1999). The Texas Senate: Volume II, Civil War to the Eve of Reform, 1861-1889. Texas A&M University Press. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-89096-857-4.

[8] Certified copy of a letter from J. J. Reynolds, Brevet Major General U.S.A. (1870), pp. 43–54

[a]

[b]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]