President Benjamin Harrison is often relegated to the forgotten presidents, but a lot happened during his presidency, especially during his first two years in office as the Republicans had united government for the first time since the Grant Administration. During the Harrison Administration, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, the McKinley Tariff, and the admission of six states occurred among other things.

At the start of Harrison’s presidency in 1889, the United States had numerous western territories, and Republicans sought to make the best use of them that they could in admitting them. The new proposed states were Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Democrats had not been keen on admitting new states, believing as Republicans did that such states would be voting Republican and thus for the long term give them control of the Senate. However, after the Republicans won the 1888 election, President Cleveland signed into law the Omnibus Enabling Act, which established a procedure for residents of what would become Montana and Washington to be admitted as states as well as permitted the Dakota Territory to split into North and South and to become states (Washington State Legislature). These places followed through, and North Dakota and South Dakota were admitted on November 2, 1889, Montana on November 8^th, and Washington on November 11^th. However, the process of admitting states was not done yet, and Republicans aimed to add two more.

Idaho and Wyoming

In 1890, Idaho territorial delegate Republican Fred Dubois made an impassioned case to President Harrison for the admission of the territory as a state, and he agreed to support it. Oddly, the statehood vote in the House was 129-1 on April 3^rd, with nearly all Democrats abstaining in the vote; among the Democrats only Charles Buckalew of Pennsylvania voted against and Clarke Lewis of Mississippi voted for. As Republican Representative Abner Taylor of Illinois quipped on the floor, “I was paired with a live man, but as the Democrats are all dead I voted “ay” (Congressional Record, 3006). On June 30th, the Senate passed the legislation by voice vote and on July 3rd, President Harrison signed into law the Idaho Admission Act. Wyoming was not far behind, with territorial delegate Republican Joseph M. Carey introducing statehood. This measure was heavily debated in the House, and Democrats were staunchly opposed to this effort at adding yet more Republican senators and also cited its low population. However, Carey argued that other states had been admitted with even less population only to see growth (U.S. House). The House passed the statehood bill 139-127 on March 26^th with only Republican Mark Dunnell of Minnesota breaking party lines in his vote against. On June 27^th, the Senate followed 29-18 on a party line vote. On July 10th, President Harrison signed the Wyoming Admission Act. This state’s entry was particularly notable as it was now the first state that granted women suffrage, and for this distinction it is to this day known as the “Equality State”.

Short and Long-Term Political Impacts

Although the first senators from all these states were Republicans, whether these states stuck with the Republicans or the Republicans they elected even stuck with the party varied. In 1892, for instance, two (Idaho and North Dakota) of the six states would vote for the Populist Party candidate James B. Weaver rather than to reelect Harrison, and in 1896 only North Dakota would stick with Republican William McKinley, and in 1900 even though the economy was prospering Idaho and Montana would support Democrat William Jennings Bryan. For dissident senators, Idaho’s Fred Dubois and South Dakota’s Richard Pettigrew would have increasingly strong differences with the Republican Party, especially over its policies on currency. After one term in the Senate which he lost to a Populist, Dubois would later return to the Senate for another term as a Democrat. Pettigrew would abandon the Republican Party to become a “Silver Republican” after the party embraced the gold standard rather than bimetallism in the 1896 platform, and he would disagree on many more issues. Montana interestingly had a very long history of Democratic senators; from 1901 to 1905, 1913 to 1947, 1953 to 1989, and 2007 to 2015 both of its senators would be Democrats. Although Wyoming would often elect Republicans, from 1917 to 1977, save for a brief time in 1954, at least one of their senators would be a Democrat. Since 1977, both of its senators have been Republicans. North Dakota and South Dakota frequently elected Republican senators throughout their histories, although North Dakota had two Democratic senators from 1987 to 2011 and South Dakota had two Democratic senators from 1936 to 1939, 1973 to 1979, and 1997 to 2005. Idaho would have for almost its entire history at least one Republican representing it in the Senate, with the only exceptions being 1901 to 1903, 1945 to 1946, and most of 1949. Since 1981, Republicans have held both seats. Washington has been the most successful state for Democrats. Republicans had dominance in its early years in the Senate, indeed until 1933 at least one of the state’s senators would be a Republican. However, with the Great Depression, the state strongly turned to the Democrats and from 1933 to 1947, 1953 to 1981, and 2001 to present, both of its senators would be Democrats.

Interestingly, in 2025, this expansion currently heavily benefits Republicans, as of these states, only Washington has Democratic senators and indeed since 1968 four of the six have only voted for Republican candidates. Washington has voted for Democratic presidential candidates since 1988. Democrats did, however, have more of a balanced situation in the Senate 20 years ago, as the 2004 election produced a Senate with six Democrats and six Republicans representing these states. We cannot know what lies in the future, but given that national and state politics have become increasingly closely aligned, this is a good development for the Republican prospects of holding Senate seats in the five of these states they hold them.

References

Admission of Idaho. (1890, April 3). Congressional Record, 3003-3006. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Retrieved from

https://www.congress.gov/bound-congressional-record/1890/04/03/house-section

Enabling Act. Washington State Legislature.

Retrieved from

https://leg.wa.gov/about-the-legislature/history-of-the-legislature/enabling-act/

Manny, B. (2017, July 3). Idaho’s birthday was supposed to be July 4. So why do we celebrate on July 3? Idaho Statesman.

Retrieved from

https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/article159429194.html

Roberts, P. (2014, November 8). Wyoming Becomes a State: The Constitutional Convention and Statehood Debates of 1889 and 1890 and Their Aftermath. WyoHistory.

Retrieved from

https://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/wyoming-statehood

To Pass H.R. 982 [Wyoming Statehood, Senate]. Govtrack.

Retrieved from

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/51-1/s196

To Pass H.R. 982 (P. 391-20) [Wyoming Statehood, House]. Govtrack.

Retrieved from

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/51-1/h111

Wyoming Statehood Bill. U.S. House.

Retrieved from

https://history.house.gov/Records-and-Research/Listing/lfp_060/