1788–89 United States Senate elections

September 30, 1788-January 22, 1789 1790 & 1791 →
All 26 seats in the United States Senate 14 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Party Pro-Administration Anti-Administration Seats won 13 7
Results of the elections:      Pro-Administration      Anti-Administration      Territories
Elected Majority Faction Pro-Administration

The 1788–1789 United States Senate elections were the first U.S. Senate elections following the adoption of the Constitution of the United States. They coincided with the election of George Washington as the first president of the United States. As these elections were prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were chosen by state legislatures.

Senators were elected over a wide range of time throughout 1788 and 1789. Pennsylvania was the first state to select its senators on September 30, 1788, and South Carolina was the last state on January 22, 1789. New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island elected their senators between July 16, 1789, and June 12, 1790, after the convening of Congress.^[1]

Among the original 13 states, ten of them selected their senators prior to the official start of the 1st United States Congress on March 4, 1789, ranging from Pennsylvania in September 1788 to South Carolina in January 1789. New York failed to elect its senators until July 1789. North Carolina and Rhode Island did not ratify the Constitution until after the 1st Congress began; North Carolina then elected its senators in November 1789, but Rhode Island failed to ratify the Constitution until 1790.

Under Article I, Section 3, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution, the actual division of the Senate's seats into the three classes was not performed until after the 1st Congress convened. Thus, the 20 elected senators from the ten initial states did not know ahead of time whether they would serve Class 1's interim two-year term, Class 2's interim four-year term, or the full six-year term of Class 3. Then starting with New York, a random draw determined which classes each new state's seats would belong to while keeping the three classes as close to the same size as possible.

As of these elections, formal organized political parties had yet to form in the United States, but two political factions were present: The coalition of senators who supported President George Washington's administration were known as the Pro-Administration Party, and the senators against him as the Anti-Administration Party. Among the initial 20 senators elected before the 1st Congress began on March 4, 1789, 13 of them were Pro-Administration.

Resulting composition

Note: There were no political parties in this Congress. Members are informally grouped into factions of similar interest, based on an analysis of their voting record.^[2]

Beginning of the 1st Congress

New York failed to elect its senators until after the Congress began, so its seats are labelled here as "Vacant." North Carolina and Rhode Island did not ratify the Constitution until after the Congress began, so their seats are not included here.

Division into the three classes

Article I, Section 3, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution specified that the actual division of the senate seats into the three classes was to be performed after these initial states elected their senators:

Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year.

The allocation of the classes by lot then took place in May 1789, two months after the first Congress began in March 1789.^[3][4] New York was then the first to be treated as a "new state admitted to the Union" under this process when they elected their senators in July 1789, drawing lots to determine which classes their seats would belong to while keeping the three classes as close to the same size as possible.^[5][6]

Race summaries

Except if/when noted, the number following candidates is the whole number vote(s), not a percentage.

Races leading to the 1st Congress

In these general elections, the winners were elected in advance of March 4, 1789, the date set to be the beginning of the 1st Congress. Ordered by state, then by the class that they were eventually assigned in May 1789.

Elections during the 1st Congress

In these general elections, the winners were elected in 1789 after March 4; ordered by election date.