1861 United States Senate election in California
March 9–20, 1861 (1st–22nd)
April 2, 1861 (23rd) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
113 members of the California State Legislature 57 votes needed to win | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in California |
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The 1861 United States Senate election in California was held on April 2, 1861, by the California State Legislature to elect a U.S. senator (Class 3) to represent the State of California in the United States Senate. The legislature had previously attempted to elect a senator from March 9–20, culminating with McDougall's apparent victory on the 22nd ballot; however, it was subsequently found that McDougall had not received the requisite majority, and his election was rescinded. In a special joint session, Anti-Lecompton Democratic former U.S. representative James A. McDougall was elected over Lecompton Democratic newspaper editor John Nugent. McDougall was elected with Republican support.