1808–09 United States Senate elections

← 1806 & 1807 Dates vary by state 1810 & 1811 →
12 of the 34 seats in the United States Senate (plus special elections) 18 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic-Republican Federalist Last election 27 seats 7 seats Seats before 28 6 Seats won 8 4 Seats after 27 7 Seat change 1 1 Seats up 9 3
Results:      Federalist hold      Federalist gain      Dem-Republican hold
Majority Party before election Democratic-Republican Elected Majority Party Democratic-Republican

The 1808–09 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states, coinciding with the 1808 presidential election. As these U.S. Senate 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 1808 and 1809, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock.^[1] In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 1.

The Federalist Party gained one seat in these elections. The Federalists had gone into the elections with such a small share of Senate seats (6 out of 34, or 18%) that even if they had won every election, they would have still remained a minority caucus.

Results summary

Senate party division, 11th Congress (1809–1811)

• Majority party: Democratic-Republican (26)
• Minority party: Federalist (7–8)
• Other parties: 0
• Total seats: 34

Change in composition

Before the regular elections

Result of the regular elections