1897 United States Senate election in Wisconsin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1897 United States Senate election in Wisconsin was held in the 43rd Wisconsin Legislature on January 27, 1897. Incumbent Democratic U.S. senator William F. Vilas did not run for a second term. His predecessor, Republican former U.S. senator John Coit Spooner was elected to succeed him on the first ballot.[1]
 | |||||||||||||||||||||
January 27, 1897
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
In the 1897 term, Republicans held overwhelming majorities in both chambers of the Wisconsin Legislature, so had more than enough votes to elect a Republican United States senator.
Major candidates
Democratic
- Willis C. Silverthorn, 1896 Democratic gubernatorial nominee, former state legislator from Wausau, Wisconsin.
Republican
- John Coit Spooner, former U.S. senator.
National Democratic (Gold Democrats)
- Edward S. Bragg, former U.S. representative, former U.S. ambassador, former Union Army general.
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | John Coit Spooner | 117 | 92.13% | ||
| Democratic | Willis C. Silverthorn | 8 | 6.30% | ||
| National Democratic | Edward S. Bragg | 2[a] | 1.57% | ||
| Absent or not voting | 6 | ||||
| Majority | 64 | 50.39% | |||
| Total votes | 127 | 95.49% | |||
| Republican gain from Democratic | |||||
Notes
- Democratic senators Stephen F. Mayer and Albert Solliday voted for Bragg.