1855 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts

1855 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts

← 1853 January 23 and 31, 1855 1859 →
40 members of the Massachusetts Senate 396 members of the Massachusetts House Majority vote of both houses needed to win
Nominee Henry Wilson Party Know Nothing Senate 21 Percentage 52.5% House 234 Percentage 57.8%
U.S. senator before election Julius Rockwell Whig Elected U.S. senator Henry Wilson Know Nothing

The 1855 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts was held during January 1855. Henry Wilson was elected to fill the remainder of the term left vacant by the resignation of Edward Everett.

Everett had resigned in 1854 over poor health and protest following his failure to vote against the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Prior to the election, Julius Rockwell had been appointed to the seat on an interim basis.^[1]

At the time, Massachusetts elected United States senators by a majority vote of each separate house of the Massachusetts General Court, the House and the Senate.