Pomeroy Affair
During the Kansas senatorial election of 1873, it was alleged that Senator Pomeroy paid $7,000 to Mr. Alexander M. York, a Kansas state senator, to secure his vote for reelection to the Senate by the Kansas State Legislature. York publicly disclosed the alleged bribe was an attempt to pin a bribery charge against the senator. Pomeroy ultimately lost the election to John J. Ingalls.
Pomeroy took to the Senate floor on February 10, 1873 to deny the allegations as a "conspiracy ... for the purpose of accomplishing my defeat," and urged the creation of a special committee to investigate the allegations. The payment of the $7,000 was never disputed by witnesses, but instead of being a bribe it was described to the committee as a payment meant to be passed along to a second individual as seed money to start a national bank.
This is currently under investigation by a Special Committee on the Kansas Senatorial Election.
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