1897 United States Senate election in Wisconsin

1897 United States Senate election in Wisconsin
	January 27, 1897
U.S. senator before election; William F. Vilas; Democratic	Elected U.S. Senator ; John C. Spooner; Republican

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]

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

1st Vote of the 43rd Wisconsin Legislature, January 27, 1897^[1]
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.

References

^ ^a ^b "January 27, 1897". State of Wisconsin Assembly Journal (Report). Wisconsin Legislature. 1897. pp. 118–120. Retrieved March 21, 2025 – via HathiTrust.

[2] Democratic senators Stephen F. Mayer and Albert Solliday voted for Bragg.

[election-1] "January 27, 1897". State of Wisconsin Assembly Journal (Report). Wisconsin Legislature. 1897. pp. 118–120. Retrieved March 21, 2025 – via HathiTrust.

[1]

[a]