1791 United States Senate election in New York

none March 2026 September 2023 1791 United States Senate election in New York January 19, 1791 presidential New York (state) no 1789 1789 United States Senate elections in New York 1797 1797 United States Senate election in New York x200px Majority approval in both houses needed to win Senate Vote % Approval House Vote % Approval Aaron Burr portrait (3x4 close cropped).jpg Aaron Burr Independent (politician) 14–4 77.78% 32–27 54.24% Philip Schuyler Federalist Party Aaron Burr Independent Jeffersonian U.S. senator Elected U.S. senator The 1791 United States Senate election in New York was held on January 19, 1791, by the New York State Legislature to elect a U.S. senator (Class 1) to represent the State of New York in the United States Senate. The election was conducted by a system of approval voting. Incumbent Senator Philip Schuyler was not re-elected. Aaron Burr, Attorney General of New York, won majority support in both the State Senate and State Assembly to succeed him.A New Nation Votes https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/catalog/c534fp00z March 10, 2021 elections.lib.tufts.edu Background In July 1789, Philip Schuyler and Rufus King had been elected to the U.S. Senate. Schuyler had drawn the short term which would expire on March 3, 1791. At the State election in April 1790, nominal Federalist majorities were elected to both houses of the 14th New York State Legislature, but many Federalists were friendly to the Democratic-Republican Governor George Clinton, party lines not being drawn very strictly. Candidates Egbert Benson, U.S. Representative Aaron Burr, Attorney General of New York Philip Schuyler, incumbent Senator Schuyler, the incumbent, and Benson were both Federalists. Burr was not affiliated with the Federalist Party but was considered a moderate member of the emergent Jeffersonian faction that would coalesce as the Democratic-Republican Party the next year. Result Burr was declared elected after receiving a majority of "Yeas" in each chamber of the legislature. Schuyler and Benson were both rejected by the Assembly and no vote was taken on either in the Senate. The incumbent Schuyler was defeated, despite the nominal majority of his party. Many of the Federalists took the opportunity to show their disapproval of both Schuyler's haughtiness and the financial policies of Alexander Hamilton, the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and Schuyler's son-in-law. Besides, the Livingston faction of the Federalist Party felt betrayed after the election of Rufus King over their candidate James Duane in 1789, and now allied themselves with Clinton and later became Democratic-Republicans. +1791 United States Senate election result HouseAaron BurrPhilip SchuylerEgbert BensonState Senate (23 members)Yea 14Nay4State Assembly (65 members)Yea 322724Nay273235 Aftermath After a one-day special session of the U.S. Senate on March 4, 1791, the 2nd United States Congress convened for the regular session on October 24, 1791, at Congress Hall in Philadelphia. On November 8, 1791, the State's Council of Appointments declared the office of attorney general vacant, and appointed Morgan Lewis to succeed Burr. In popular culture The song "Schuyler Defeated" from the 2015 musical Hamilton focuses on Hamilton confronting Burr following the election. References Sources The New York Civil List compiled in 1858 (see: pg. 114 for State Senators 1790–91; page 165f for Members of Assembly 1790–91) History of Political Parties in the State of New-York by Jabez Delano Hammond (pages 50ff) The Life and Times of Aaron Burr by James Parton (1866, pages 177ff) 1791 New York United States Senate Category:Aaron Burr