1897 United States Senate election in Wisconsin

For related races, see 1896–97 United States Senate elections.

1897 United States Senate election in Wisconsin

←  1891 January 27, 1897 1903  →

Nominee John C. Spooner Willis C. Silverthorn Edward S. Bragg Party Republican Democratic National Democratic Legislative vote 117 8 2 Percentage 92.13% 6.30% 1.57%

U.S. senator before election William F. Vilas Democratic Elected U.S. Senator John C. Spooner Republican

The 1897 United States Senate election in Wisconsin was held in the 43rd Wisconsin Legislature on January 27, 1897. Incumbent Democratic U.S. senator William F. Vilas did not run for a second term. His predecessor, Republican former U.S. senator John Coit Spooner was elected to succeed him on the first ballot. ^[1]

In the 1897 term, Republicans held overwhelming majorities in both chambers of the Wisconsin Legislature, so had more than enough votes to elect a Republican United States senator.

Major candidates

Democratic

• Willis C. Silverthorn, 1896 Democratic gubernatorial nominee, former state legislator from Wausau, Wisconsin.

Republican

• John Coit Spooner, former U.S. senator.

National Democratic (Gold Democrats)

• Edward S. Bragg, former U.S. representative, former U.S. ambassador, former Union Army general.

Results

1st Vote of the 43rd Wisconsin Legislature, January 27, 1897 ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Coit Spooner	117	92.13%
	Democratic	Willis C. Silverthorn	8	6.30%
	National Democratic	Edward S. Bragg	2 [a]	1.57%
		Absent or not voting	6
Majority			64	50.39%
Total votes			127	95.49%
	Republican gain from Democratic

Notes

1. Democratic senators Stephen F. Mayer and Albert Solliday voted for Bragg.

References

1. "January 27, 1897". State of Wisconsin Assembly Journal (Report). Wisconsin Legislature. 1897. pp. 118–120. Retrieved March 21, 2025– via HathiTrust.