1857 United States Senate election in Massachusetts

none March 2026 September 2023 1857 United States Senate election in Massachusetts presidential no 1851 United States Senate election in Massachusetts 1851 1863 United States Senate election in Massachusetts 1863 January 9–13, 1857 x160px Majority vote of each house needed to win Senate Percentage House Percentage Charles Sumner by Southworth & Hawes c1850.jpg Charles Sumner Republican Party (United States) unanimousThe Re-election of Mr. Sumner New York Daily Times 15 Jan 1857 1MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE. 21 Jan 1857 Zion's Herald and Wesleyan Journal 28 3 11 unanimous 333 96.52% Senator Charles Sumner Free Soil Party Charles Sumner Republican Party (United States) The 1857 United States Senate election in Massachusetts was held in January 1857. Incumbent Charles Sumner was re-elected to a second term in office as a member of the Republican Party. Sumner was elected in 1851 by a single vote after twenty-five inconclusive ballots by a coalition of Free-Soil and Democratic legislators. He had since become a founding member of the Massachusetts Republican Party. At the time, Massachusetts elected United States senators by a majority vote of each separate house of the Massachusetts General Court: the House and the Senate. During the election, Sumner was still recovering from a brutal attack by a fellow member of Congress, Preston Brooks. He would not permanently return to the Senate until 1859. Background Bleeding Kansas Caning of Charles Sumner On May 22, 1856, Congressman Preston Brooks used a walking cane to attack incumbent Senator Charles Sumner on the floor of the Senate. Brooks considered his attack retaliation for a Sumner's speech given two days earlier, in which Sumner fiercely criticized slaveholders including South Carolina Senator Andrew Butler, author of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and Brook's relative. The beating nearly killed Sumner and contributed to the country's polarization over the issue of slavery. In the 1856 legislative elections, supporters of the Republican ticket, including Republicans and nominal members of the Know-Nothing Party, won an overwhelming majority in both houses of the General Court, securing Sumner's re-election without opposition. Representatives-elect included 218 Republicans, 5 Fremont Americans, 6 Fillmore Americans, 4 Democrats, and 2 Whigs. 24 seats were left vacant.THE ELECTION The Boston Herald 5 Nov 1856 2 House In a noted contrast from the divisive and lengthy 1851 election, Sumner was re-elected overwhelmingly by the House on January 9.MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE. Zion's Herald and Wesleyan Journal 28 2 14 Jan 1857 7 In the House, Sumner received votes from 333 of 345 voting. Some protest votes were cast for conservative former Whig politicians who had become independents or Democrats following the party's dissolution in 1856. 1857 Senate election in the House Republican Party (United States) Charles Sumner (incumbent) 333 96.52% Independent (United States) Robert C. Winthrop 3 0.87% Unknown Nathaniel J. Lord 1 0.29% Independent (politician) George H. Gordon 1 0.29% Democratic Party (United States) Erasmus D. Beach 1 0.29% Unknown Otis P. Lord 1 0.29% Unknown Charles E. Goodrich 1 0.29% Independent (politician) Edward Everett 1 0.29% Democratic Party (United States) Rufus Choate 1 0.29% Constitutional Union Party (United States) William Appleton 1 0.29% 345 100.00% Senate On January 13, the Senate re-elected Sumner unanimously. References 1857 Massachusetts United States Senate