The Green Papers: Political Party Breakdown of the 31st Congress of the United States, 1849-1851

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Boldface (with superscript C) numbers indicate the majority Party in each house. Red (with superscript P) numbers (boldface or not) indicate the Party of the President in any event.

President	Party	Congress	United States Senate	House of Representatives
	Democrat	Whig	other	vacancies	Democrat	Whig	other
Taylor/ Fillmore	Whig	31st 1849-1851	32^C	27^P	1
31ST CONGRESS- IN GENERAL President ZACHARY TAYLOR died on 9 July 1850, at which moment- as per Article II, Section 1, clause 6 of the U.S. Constitution- "the Powers and Duties of [the Presidency] shall devolve on the Vice President", MILLARD FILLMORE. Mr. Fillmore formally took the oath of office as President on 10 July 1850. CALIFORNIA was admitted as the 31st State of the Union on 9 September 1850: as this was after the convening of the "long" session of the 31st Congress on 3 December 1849, California's 2 Senators are NOT counted among those elected to the Senate of the 31st Congress; neither are California's 2 Congressmen counted among those elected to the House of Representatives in that Congress. 31ST CONGRESS- SENATE The SENATE of the 31st Congress included 1 Senator from other than the two Major Parties as elected by his respective State Legislature, as follows: 1 Free Soiler- Senator Salmon P. Chase of OHIO (Class 3) The Class 2 Senate seat from ALABAMA (term ending 3 March 1853) was vacated by the death of Senator Dixon H. Lewis on 25 October 1848, during the preceding Congress; the Governor of the State appointed Benjamin Fitzpatrick, a Democrat, on 25 November 1848 to fill the vacancy until a successor could be elected by the General Assembly of the State. Senator Fitzpatrick continued to serve into the 31st Congress by virtue of this appointment; however, Jeremiah Clemens- also a Democrat- was elected to fill this seat by the General Assembly of the State on 30 November 1849, before the convening of the "long" session of that Congress on 3 December 1849. Senator Clemens- and not his immediate predecessor, Senator Fitzpatrick- is, therefore, the one counted among the 32 Democrats elected to the Senate of the 31st Congress.

President

Party

Congress

United States Senate

House of Representatives

Democrat

Whig

other

vacancies

Democrat

Whig

other

Taylor/
Fillmore

Whig

31st 1849-1851

32^C

27^P

31ST CONGRESS- IN GENERAL

President ZACHARY TAYLOR died on 9 July 1850, at which moment- as per Article II, Section 1, clause 6 of the U.S. Constitution- "the Powers and Duties of [the Presidency] shall devolve on the Vice President", MILLARD FILLMORE. Mr. Fillmore formally took the oath of office as President on 10 July 1850.

CALIFORNIA was admitted as the 31st State of the Union on 9 September 1850: as this was after the convening of the "long" session of the 31st Congress on 3 December 1849, California's 2 Senators are NOT counted among those elected to the Senate of the 31st Congress; neither are California's 2 Congressmen counted among those elected to the House of Representatives in that Congress.

31ST CONGRESS- SENATE

The SENATE of the 31st Congress included 1 Senator from other than the two Major Parties as elected by his respective State Legislature, as follows:

1 Free Soiler-
- Senator Salmon P. Chase of OHIO (Class 3)

The Class 2 Senate seat from ALABAMA (term ending 3 March 1853) was vacated by the death of Senator Dixon H. Lewis on 25 October 1848, during the preceding Congress; the Governor of the State appointed Benjamin Fitzpatrick, a Democrat, on 25 November 1848 to fill the vacancy until a successor could be elected by the General Assembly of the State. Senator Fitzpatrick continued to serve into the 31st Congress by virtue of this appointment; however, Jeremiah Clemens- also a Democrat- was elected to fill this seat by the General Assembly of the State on 30 November 1849, before the convening of the "long" session of that Congress on 3 December 1849. Senator Clemens- and not his immediate predecessor, Senator Fitzpatrick- is, therefore, the one counted among the 32 Democrats elected to the Senate of the 31st Congress.

Modified .