from sessions, but Randall refused to take his place as speaker on a temporary basis, preferring to concentrate on his appropriations work. Kerr and Randall began to work more closely together through 1876, but Kerr died in August of that year, leaving the Speakership vacant once again. Speaker of the House Hayes and Tilden After Kerr's death, Randall was the consensus choice of the Democratic caucus, and was elected to the Speakership when Congress returned to Washington on December 2, 1876. He assumed the chair at a tumultuous time, as the presidential election had just concluded the previous month with no clear winner. The Democratic candidate, Samuel J. Tilden of New York, had 184 electoral votes, just shy of the 185 needed for victory. Rutherford B. Hayes, the Republican, had 163; the remaining 22 votes were in doubt. Randall spent early December in conference with Tilden while committees examined the votes from the disputed states. The counts of the disputed ballots were inconclusive, with each of the states in question producing two sets of returns: one signed by Democratic officials, the other by Republicans, each claiming victory for their man. By January 1877, with the question still unresolved, Congress and President Grant agreed to submit the matter to a bipartisan Electoral Commission, which would be authorized to determine the fate of the disputed electoral votes. Randall supported the idea, believing it the best solution to an intractable problem. The bill passed, providing for a commission of five representatives, five senators, and five Supreme Court justices. To ensure partisan balance, there would be seven Democrats and seven Republicans; the fifteenth member was to be a Supreme Court justice chosen by the other four on the commission (themselves two Republicans and two Democrats). Justice David Davis, an independent respected by both parties, was expected to be their choice, but he upset the careful planning by accepting election to the Senate by the state of Illinois and refusing to serve on the commission. The remaining Supreme Court justices were all Republicans and, with the addition of Justice Joseph P. Bradley to the place intended for Davis, the commission had an 8–7 Republican majority. Randall nevertheless favored the compromise, even voting in favor of it in the roll call vote (the Speaker usually does not vote). The commission met and awarded all the disputed ballots to Hayes by an 8–7 party-line vote. Democrats were