Editing David C. Broderick (section)

==State Senate career==
Broderick was a member of the [[California State Senate]] from 1850 to 1852, serving as its president from 1851 to 1852.  Broderick was acting [[Lieutenant Governor of California|Lieutenant Governor]] from January 9, 1851, to January 8, 1852, following incumbent [[John McDougall (California politician)|John McDougall]]'s succession to the [[Governor of California|governorship]].  From then on, Broderick effectively had political control of [[San Francisco]], which under his "utterly vicious"<ref>Young, John P. ''San Francisco, a History of the Pacific Coast Metropolis'' Volume 1, 1912, page 214.</ref> rule soon became notorious for municipal corruption.<ref>Asbury, Herbert. ''The Barbary Coast''. New York, 1933. Chapter 4. {{blockquote|From the middle of 1851 to his death, in 1859, Broderick was, for all practical purposes, in absolute control of San Francisco's political machinery. ... And not even his most adoring worshippers have been able entirely to conceal the plain fact that in the final analysis he must, more than any one man, shoulder responsibility for the municipal corruption which was the basic cause of the second uprising of a tormented and enraged citizenry.
}}</ref>  In the words of his biographer [[Jeremiah Lynch]]:<ref>Lynch, Jeremiah. ''A Senator of the Fifties: David C. Broderick of California'', 1911, pages 68–69.</ref>

{{blockquote|In San Francisco he became the dictator of the municipality. His political lessons and observations in New York were priceless. He introduced a modification of the same organization in San Francisco with which [[Tammany Hall|Tammany]] has controlled New York for lo! these many years. It was briefly this. At a forthcoming election a number of offices were to be filled; those of sheriff, district attorney, alderman, and places in the legislature. Several of these positions were very lucrative, notably that of the sheriff, tax-collector, and assessor. The incumbents received no specified salaries, but were entitled to all or a certain proportion of the fees. These fees occasionally exceeded $50,000 per annum. Broderick would say to the most popular or the most desirable aspirant: "This office is worth $50,000 a year. Keep half and give me the other half, which I require to keep up our organization in the state. Without intelligent, systematic discipline, neither you nor I can win, and our opponents will conquer, unless I have money enough to pay the men whom I may find necessary. If you agree to that arrangement, I will have you nominated when the convention assembles, and then we will all pull together until after the election." Possibly this candidate dissented, but then someone else consented, and as the town was hugely Democratic, his selections were usually victorious.}}

Broderick became rich from this system.<ref>Asbury, Herbert. ''The Barbary Coast''. New York, 1933. Chapter 4. {{blockquote|Broderick's political income from these and other sources was probably several hundred thousand dollars a year, and with such sums at his disposal he not only maintained his hold upon the city but furthered his ambition to be United States Senator, despite the slashing onslaughts of several of the newspapers.}}</ref>

In [[1857 United States Senate election in California|1857]], Broderick was elected by the state legislature as [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]] from California (popular election of senators did not start until the 20th century). Broderick began his term on March 4, 1857.