1854 Iowa Senate election

1854

19 out of 31 seats in the Iowa State Senate
16 seats needed for a majority

	Majority party	Minority party

Party	Democratic	Whig
Last election	20	11
Seats after	17	14
Seat change	3	3

President of the Iowa Senate before election

William E. Leffingwell^[a]
Democratic

Elected President of the Iowa Senate

Maturin L. Fisher^[b]
Democratic

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In the 1854 Iowa State Senate elections, Iowa voters elected state senators to serve in the fifth Iowa General Assembly. Elections were held for 19 of the state senate's 31 seats.^[c] State senators serve four-year terms in the Iowa State Senate.

The general election took place in 1854.^[4]

Following the previous election in 1852, Democrats had control of the Iowa Senate with 20 seats to Whigs' 11 seats.

To claim control of the chamber from Democrats, the Whigs needed to net 5 Senate seats.

Democrats maintained control of the Iowa State Senate following the 1854 general election with the balance of power shifting to Democrats holding 17 seats and Whigs having 14 seats (a net gain of 3 seats for Whigs). Democratic Senator Maturin L. Fisher was chosen as the President of the Iowa Senate for the fifth General Assembly, succeeding Democratic Senator William E. Leffingwell in that leadership position.^[b]^[a]

Summary of Results

Note: The holdover Senators not up for re-election are not listed on this table.

Senate District	Incumbent		Elected Senator		Outcome
1st^[d]	Salmon Cowles	Dem	Exum Sumner McCulloch	Dem	Dem Hold
	James M. Love^[e]	Dem	David Trowbridge Brigham	Dem	Dem Hold
	Vacancy upon Senator Love's resignation.		David Trowbridge Brigham	Dem	Dem Hold
	Calvin J. Price	Dem	William A. Thurston	Dem	Dem Hold
2nd^[f]	George Hepner	Dem	William Findlay Coolbaugh	Dem	Dem Hold
3rd^[g]	John Brice Spees	Whig	Abner Harrison McCrary	Whig	Whig Hold
5th^[h]	Archibald McKinney	Whig	Alvin Saunders	Whig	Whig Hold
6th^[i]	John Wesley Hedrick	Whig	James C. Ramsey	Dem	Dem Gain
7th^[j]	Henry Benham Hendershott	Dem	Daniel A. Anderson	Whig	Whig Gain
9th^[k]	Amos Harris	Dem	Nathan Udell	Dem	Dem Hold
10th^[l]	Hadley Douglas Johnson	Dem	James D. Test	Dem	Dem Hold
12th^[m]	Norman Everson	Whig	Hiram Thomas Cleaver	Dem	Dem Gain
13th^[n]	Joseph Lowe	Dem	James Latimer Hogin	Whig	Whig Gain
16th^[o]	Eli Snow Wing	Dem	Ambrose Cowperthwaite Fulton	Whig	Whig Gain
17th^[p]	Jonathan Emerson Fletcher	Dem	George W. Wilkinson	Whig	Whig Gain
18th^[q]	William E. Leffingwell	Dem	Julius J. Matthews	Whig	Whig Gain
19th^[r]	George D. Crosthwait	Whig	Samuel Workman	Dem	Dem Gain
20th^[s]	Andrew Young Hull	Dem	Theophilus Bryan^[t]	Dem	Dem Hold
20th^[s]	Andrew Young Hull	Dem	James Cunningham Jordan^[u]	Whig	Whig Gain
22nd^[v]	Nathan G. Sales	Dem	Joseph Birge	Dem	Dem Hold
24th^[w]	John G. Shields^[x]	Dem	Vacancy after Shields' death on June 25, 1856.
24th^[w]	Warner Lewis	Dem	William W. Hamilton	Whig	Whig Gain

Source:^[11]

^ ^a ^b Senator William E. Leffingwell of Clinton County was chosen to be the fifth President of the Iowa Senate. He served during the fourth Iowa General Assembly, succeeding Senator Enos Lowe in that leadership position.^[1]
^ ^a ^b Senator Maturin L. Fisher of Clayton County was chosen to be the sixth President of the Iowa Senate. He served during the fifth Iowa General Assembly, succeeding Senator William E. Leffingwell in that leadership position.^[2]
^ At the time, the Iowa Senate had several multi-member districts.^[3]
^ The first district was a 3-member district at the time.
^ Senator Love was a holdover senator not up for re-election. However, on July 1, 1856, during the next term, he resigned, causing a vacancy in this seat that was filled by special election.^[5]
^ The second district was a 2-member district at the time. However, only one of the seats in the district was contested in the election. The other was held by a holdover senator not up for re-election.
^ The third district was a 2-member district at the time. However, only one of the seats in the district was contested in the election. The other was held by a holdover senator not up for re-election.
^ The fifth district was a 1-member district at the time.
^ The sixth district was a 1-member district at the time.
^ The seventh district was a 1-member district at the time.
^ The ninth district was a 1-member district at the time.
^ The tenth district was a 1-member district at the time.
^ The twelfth district was a 1-member district at the time.
^ The thirteenth district was a 1-member district at the time.
^ The sixteenth district was a 1-member district at the time.
^ The seventeenth district was a 1-member district at the time.
^ The eighteenth district was a 1-member district at the time.
^ The nineteenth district was a 1-member district at the time.
^ The twentieth district was a 1-member district at the time.
^ Senator Bryan was originally deemed to be elected to the seat.^[6] However, on January 7, 1855, during the next term, he was removed by a vote of the members of the Iowa Senate and replaced by Senator Jordan of the Whig Party.^[7]
^ Senator Bryan was originally deemed to be elected to the seat.^[8] However, on January 7, 1855, during the next term, he was removed by a vote of the members of the Iowa Senate and replaced by Senator Jordan of the Whig Party.^[9]
^ The twenty-second district was a 1-member district at the time.
^ The twenty-fourth district was a 3-member district at the time. Senator Fisher was a holdover incumbent not up for re-election. Senator Shields was a holdover incumbent not up for re-election; however, on June 25, 1856, during the next term, Shields died, causing a vacancy in his seat. Senator Lewis was up for re-election and was succeeded by Senator Hamilton.
^ Senator Shields was a holdover incumbent not up for re-election; however, on June 25, 1856, during the next term, Shields died, causing a vacancy in his seat.^[10]

Detailed Results

NOTE: The Iowa General Assembly does not provide detailed vote totals for Iowa State Senate elections in 1854.

Summary of Results

Detailed Results

See also

External links

References