1880–81 United States Senate elections

← 1878 & 1879 Dates vary by state (And other dates for special elections) 1882 & 1883 →
25 of the 76 seats in the United States Senate (with special elections) 39 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Henry B. Anthony[a] William A. Wallace[b] (Lost re-election) Party Republican Democratic Leader since March 4, 1863 March 4, 1877 Leader's seat Rhode Island Pennsylvania Seats before 32 42 Seats won 15 9 Seats after 37 + VP[1] 37 Seat change 5 5 Seats up 10 14   Third party Fourth party   Party Readjuster Independent Seats before 0 1 Seats won 1 0 Seats after 1 1 Seat change 1 Seats up 0 0   Fifth party   Party Anti-Monopoly Seats before 1 Seats won 0 Seats after 0 Seat change 1 Seats up 1
Results of the elections:      Democratic gain      Democratic hold      Republican gain      Republican hold      Readjuster gain
Majority Party before election Democratic Elected Majority Party Republican[1]

The 1880–81 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states, coinciding with the presidential election of 1880. 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 1880 and 1881, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock.^[2] In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 1.

The Democratic Party lost five seats. The newly elected Readjuster senator William Mahone caucused with the Republicans, and the Republican Vice President's tie-breaking vote gave the Republicans the slightest majority. This changed when Vice President Chester Arthur ascended to the Presidency on September 19, 1881: with the Vice Presidency vacant during the remainder of Arthur's term, the Senate became evenly divided for the first of three times in history.

Results summary

Senate party division, 47th Congress (1881–1883)

• Majority party: Republican (37)
• Minority party: Democratic (37)
• Other parties: Independent (1); Readjuster (1)
• Total seats: 76

Change in Senate composition

Before the elections

After the elections