1873 United States Senate special election in California

1873 United States Senate special election in California

December 23, 1873
Majority vote of both houses needed to win
Nominee John S. Hager Thomas H. Laine Party Democratic Independent Joint session 55 20 Percentage 53.92% 19.61%   Nominee Oscar L. Shafter Cornelius Cole Party Republican Republican Joint session 13 8 Percentage 12.75% 7.84%
Senator before election Eugene Casserly Democratic Elected Senator John S. Hager Democratic

The 1873 United States Senate special election in California was held on December 23, 1873, by the California State Legislature to elect a U.S. Senator (Class 1) to represent the State of California in the United States Senate. In a special joint session, Democratic State Senator John S. Hager was elected over People's Independent State Senator Thomas H. Laine, former Republican State Supreme Court Justice Oscar L. Shafter, and former Republican U.S. Senator Cornelius Cole.

Results

Election in the legislature (joint session)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John S. Hager	55	53.92%
	Independent	Thomas H. Laine	20	19.61%
	Republican	Oscar L. Shafter	13	12.75%
	Republican	Cornelius Cole	8	7.84%
		Scattering	6	5.88%
Total votes			102	100.00%