United States House of Representatives elections, 1834

United States House of Representatives elections, 1834

1832 ←
→ 1836

All 242 seats to the United States House of Representatives
122 seats were needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader James K. Polk John Bell
Party Democratic Whig
Leader's seat Tennessee-9th Tennessee-7th
Last election 143 seats 63 seats
Seats won 143 75
Seat change 0 +12

Speaker before election

John Bell
Whig

Elected Speaker

James K. Polk
Democratic

Elections to the United States House of Representatives were held in 1834.

In this election, the dominant Democratic Party retained the same total of seats as after the previous election cycle. However, their primary opponents, the new Whig Party, gained at the expense of the Democrats as well as the two single-issue parties, the Anti-Masonic Party (an anti-Masonry movement) and the Nullifier Party (a John C. Calhoun-led states' rights party that supported South Carolina during the Nullification Crisis in 1832 and 1833).

The Whigs evolved from the National Republican Party, who attempted to change their image and reach out to new groups, including conservative Democrats, anti-Masons, and former Federalists. The Whigs were able to gain a number of seats due to the unpopularity in some regions of Andrew Jackson's brash style. A number of former Democrats left the party and joined the newly formed Whigs in opposition to the perceived autocratic style of the president.

Overall results

Party Total seats (change) Seat percentage
Democrats 143 0 59.1%
Whigs 75 +12 31.0%
Anti-Masonic 16 -9 6.6%
Nullifier 8 -1 3.3%
Totals 242 +2 100%

See also

http://clerk.house.gov/histHigh/Congressional_History/index.html