Sawyer was a senator from Wisconsin and was a Republican. He served from 1887 to 1893.
He was previously a senator from Wisconsin as a Republican from 1881 to 1887; the representative for Wisconsin’s 6th congressional district as a Republican from 1873 to 1875; and the representative for Wisconsin’s 5th congressional district as a Republican from 1865 to 1873.
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![Photo of Sen. Philetus Sawyer [R-WI, 1887-1893]](/static/legislator-photos/409603-200px.jpeg)
Voting Record
Missed Votes
From Mar 1881 to Mar 1893, Sawyer missed 573 of 2,999 roll call votes, which is 19.1%. This is better than the median of 35.9% among the lifetime records of senators serving in Mar 1893. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses, major life events, and running for higher office.
| Time Period | Votes Eligible | Missed Votes | Percent | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 1865-Feb 1866 (House) | 105 | 7 | 6.7% | 22nd |
| 1866 Mar-May (House) | 142 | 31 | 21.8% | 50th |
| 1866 Jun-Jul (House) | 142 | 7 | 4.9% | 12th |
| Dec 1866-Mar 1867 (House) | 224 | 13 | 5.8% | 12th |
| 1867 Mar-Mar (House) | 61 | 11 | 18.0% | 62nd |
| 1867 Jul-Jul (House) | 35 | 4 | 11.4% | 25th |
| 1867 Nov-Nov (House) | 5 | 0 | 0.0% | 0th |
| Dec 1867-Feb 1868 (House) | 142 | 22 | 15.5% | 12th |
| 1868 Mar-May (House) | 126 | 18 | 14.3% | 12th |
| 1868 Jun-Jul (House) | 150 | 10 | 6.7% | 0th |
| 1868 Sep-Sep (House) | 1 | 0 | 0.0% | 0th |
| Dec 1868-Mar 1869 (House) | 197 | 30 | 15.2% | 38th |
| 1869 Mar-Apr (House) | 83 | 14 | 16.9% | 30th |
| Dec 1869-Feb 1870 (House) | 71 | 14 | 19.7% | 30th |
| 1870 Mar-May (House) | 152 | 7 | 4.6% | 10th |
| 1870 Jun-Jul (House) | 170 | 5 | 2.9% | 0th |
| Dec 1870-Mar 1871 (House) | 158 | 5 | 3.2% | 0th |
| 1871 Mar-Apr (House) | 87 | 4 | 4.6% | 0th |
| Dec 1871-Feb 1872 (House) | 89 | 14 | 15.7% | 44th |
| 1872 Mar-May (House) | 156 | 28 | 17.9% | 22nd |
| 1872 Jun-Jun (House) | 35 | 4 | 11.4% | 0th |
| Dec 1872-Mar 1873 (House) | 150 | 11 | 7.3% | 10th |
| Dec 1873-Feb 1874 (House) | 78 | 7 | 9.0% | 36th |
| 1874 Mar-May (House) | 101 | 6 | 5.9% | 7th |
| 1874 Jun-Jun (House) | 60 | 1 | 1.7% | 0th |
| Dec 1874-Mar 1875 (House) | 235 | 59 | 25.1% | 50th |
| Dec 1881-Mar 1882 (Senate) | 96 | 9 | 9.4% | 14th |
| 1882 Apr-Jul (Senate) | 212 | 35 | 16.5% | 28th |
| 1882 Aug-Aug (Senate) | 38 | 15 | 39.5% | 71st |
| Dec 1882-Mar 1883 (Senate) | 401 | 146 | 36.4% | 68th |
| 1881 Mar-Mar (Senate) | 178 | 40 | 22.5% | 36th |
| 1881 Oct-Oct (Senate) | 61 | 2 | 3.3% | 0th |
| Dec 1883-Feb 1884 (Senate) | 65 | 17 | 26.2% | 49th |
| 1884 Mar-May (Senate) | 114 | 16 | 14.0% | 17th |
| 1884 Jun-Jul (Senate) | 78 | 14 | 17.9% | 23rd |
| Dec 1884-Mar 1885 (Senate) | 171 | 25 | 14.6% | 17th |
| Dec 1885-Mar 1886 (Senate) | 63 | 10 | 15.9% | 28th |
| 1886 Apr-Jul (Senate) | 234 | 53 | 22.6% | 30th |
| 1886 Aug-Aug (Senate) | 12 | 2 | 16.7% | 26th |
| Dec 1886-Mar 1887 (Senate) | 143 | 32 | 22.4% | 47th |
| 1885 Mar-Apr (Senate) | 9 | 2 | 22.2% | 29th |
| Dec 1887-Feb 1888 (Senate) | 50 | 6 | 12.0% | 11th |
| 1888 Mar-May (Senate) | 64 | 15 | 23.4% | 29th |
| 1888 Jun-Aug (Senate) | 62 | 7 | 11.3% | 7th |
| 1888 Sep-Oct (Senate) | 14 | 3 | 21.4% | 25th |
| Dec 1888-Mar 1889 (Senate) | 199 | 54 | 27.1% | 31st |
| Dec 1889-Feb 1890 (Senate) | 31 | 1 | 3.2% | 0th |
| 1890 Mar-May (Senate) | 114 | 17 | 14.9% | 6th |
| 1890 Jun-Aug (Senate) | 150 | 11 | 7.3% | 3rd |
| 1890 Sep-Sep (Senate) | 79 | 7 | 8.9% | 12th |
| Dec 1890-Mar 1891 (Senate) | 143 | 8 | 5.6% | 0th |
| 1889 Mar-Apr (Senate) | 9 | 2 | 22.2% | 29th |
| 1892 Jan-Mar (Senate) | 26 | 1 | 3.8% | 2nd |
| 1892 Apr-Jul (Senate) | 78 | 5 | 6.4% | 1st |
| Dec 1892-Mar 1893 (Senate) | 105 | 18 | 17.1% | 6th |
Primary Sources
The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:
- unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
- United States Congressional Roll Call Voting Records, 1789-1990 by Howard L. Rosenthal and Keith T. Poole.
- Martis’s “The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress”, via Keith Poole’s roll call votes data set, for political party affiliation for Members of Congress from 1789 through about year 2000
- Biographical Directory of the United States Congress for the photo
Pronunciation Guide
Philetus Sawyer is pronounced:
The letters stand for sounds according to the following table:
Capital letters indicate a stressed syllable.
