1881 United States Senate special elections in New York

1881 United States Senate elections in New York

← Class I (1881)
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May 31—July 22, 1881 Class I (1887)
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Nominee Warner Miller
Class I
Elbridge Lapham
Class III
Party Republican Republican

U.S. Senators before election

Thomas C. Platt (Class I)
Roscoe Conkling (Class III)
Republican

Elected U.S. Senators

Warner Miller (Class I)
Elbridge Lapham (Class III)
Republican

The 1881 United States Senate special elections in New York was held from May 31 to July 22 by the New York State Legislature to elect two U.S. senators (Class 1 and Class 3) to represent New York in the United States Senate. The elections were triggered by the May 16 resignations of Senators Roscoe Conkling and Thomas C. Platt, triggered by ongoing disputes with President James A. Garfield over federal patronage privileges in the state, particularly the lucrative postings at the New York Customs House. The resignations were intended to trigger the Senators' re-elections to affirm their support in the New York Legislature as a show of either popularity or political force. Instead, the legislature demurred for 52 days before electing Warner Miller and Elbridge Lapham in their place. During the balloting, President Garfield was shot; he died two months after balloting concluded.

On July 1, Platt withdrew from the election after 41 inconclusive joint ballots, most of them led by Chauncey Depew. The early ballots for Conkling's seat were generally led by former Vice President of the United States William A. Wheeler. On July 2, President Garfield was shot by Charles Guiteau, who declared his support for Conkling's Stalwart faction immediately after the shooting. With no consensus emerging for either seat, a Republican caucus met on July 8 to nominate replacement candidates and settled on Warner Miller and Elbridge Lapham after Depew withdrew. Two weeks later, Warner Miller was elected to Platt's seat. Conkling's supporters held out for another week before acquiescing to the unanimous nomination of Lapham on July 22, ending the election.

President Garfield died on September 19. With the Stalwart faction effectively eliminated by Conkling's removal from office, Congress passed the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, which was signed into law by Chester A. Arthur, a former Conkling protégé.


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