United States House of Representatives elections, 1868

United States House of Representatives elections, 1868

June 1, 1868 - August 2, 1869[Note 1][Note 2]

All 243[Note 3] seats to the United States House of Representatives 122 seats were needed for a majority   Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader James Blaine Michael Kerr Lewis McKenzie Party Republican Democratic Conservative Leader's seat Maine-3rd Indiana-3rd Virginia-7th Last election 175 seats 47 seats 2 seats Seats won 171 67 5 Seat change 4 20 3

Speaker before election Theodore M. Pomeroy Republican Elected Speaker James Blaine Republican

Elections to the United States House of Representatives were held in 1868 to elect Representatives to the 41st United States Congress. The election coincided with the presidential election of 1868, which was won by Ulysses S. Grant.

The Democrats gained 20 seats, but Grant's Republican Party retained a commanding majority in the Reconstruction era following the American Civil War, holding onto a firm legitimacy through an association with victory. As more Southern states exited Reconstruction, more Democratic seats appeared in the South. However, Democratic gains in the South were limited, as the Republican power-brokers of Reconstruction held a great deal of influence. The small Conservative Party of Virginia also picked up several seats in Virginia, as it had support among wealthy Southern leaders who wanted to increase the region's power.

Election summaries

Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia were readmitted during this Congress, leaving Congress without vacant State delegations for the first time since 1860. Georgia had been partially readmitted in the previous Congress, but was not initially admitted to the 41st Congress. With Georgia's final readmission in 1870, all former Confederate states were once more represented in Congress.

State	Type	Total seats	Republican	Democratic	Conservative
			Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Alabama[Note 4]	District	6	4	2	2	2	0
Arkansas	District	3	2	1	1	1	0
California	District	3	1		2		0
Connecticut[Note 4]	District	4	3	2	1	2	0
Delaware	At-large	1	0		1		0
Florida[Note 5]	At-large	1	1		0		0
Georgia[Note 6]	District	7[Note 7]	3	1	4	2	0
Illinois	District + 1 at-large	14	10	1	4	1	0
Indiana[Note 5]	District	11	7	1	4	1	0
Iowa[Note 5]	District	6	6		0		0
Kansas	At-large	1	1		0		0
Kentucky	District	9[Note 7]	0	1	9	2	0
Louisiana	District	5	5	1	0	1	0
Maine[Note 5]	District	5	5		0		0
Maryland	District	5	0	1	5	2	0	1
Massachusetts	District	10	10		0		0
Michigan	District	6	6		0		0
Minnesota	District	2	1	1	1	1	0
Mississippi[Note 6]	District	5	5	5	0		0
Missouri	District	9	7	1	2	1	0
Nebraska[Note 5]	At-large	1	1		0		0
Nevada	At-large	1	1		0		0
New Hampshire[Note 4]	District	3	3		0		0
New Jersey	District	5	2	1	3	1	0
New York	District	31	19	2	12	2	0
North Carolina	District	7	6		1	1	0	1
Ohio[Note 5]	District	19	13	3	6	3	0
Oregon[Note 5]	At-large	1	0	1	1	1	0
Pennsylvania[Note 5]	District	24	18		6		0
Rhode Island	District	2	2		0		0
South Carolina	District	4	4		0		0
Tennessee	District	8	8		0		0
Texas[Note 6]	District	4	3	3	1	1	0
Vermont[Note 5]	District	3	3		0		0
Virginia[Note 6]	District	8	3	3	0		5	5
West Virginia[Note 5]	District	3	3		0		0
Wisconsin	District	6	5		1		0
Total[Note 3]		243	171 70.4%	6	67 27.6%	22	5 2.1%	3

Election dates

Mississippi had held rejected elections on July 1, 1868.

In 1845, Congress passed a law providing for a uniform nationwide date for choosing Presidential electors. This law did not affect election dates for Congress, which remained within the jurisdiction of State governments, but over time, the States moved their Congressional elections to that date. 1868 was the first year in which the majority of States (20 of 37) held their elections on that date. There were still 9 states which held elections before that date and 4 that held regular elections after that date, in addition to 4 readmitted states that held elections after that date

• Early dates (1868):
  • June 1 Oregon
  • September 1 Vermont
  • September 14 Maine
  • October 13 Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania
  • October 22 West Virginia
• Late dates (regular elections):
  • December 29, 1868 Florida
  • March 9, 1869 New Hampshire
  • April 5, 1869 Connecticut
  • August 2, 1869 Alabama
• Readmitted states:
  • July 6, 1869 Virginia
  • December 1, 1869 Mississippi
    • Mississippi also held elections to the 42nd Congress on the same day
  • December 3, 1868 Texas
  • December 20–22, 1870 Georgia

Late elections to the 40th Congress

Florida

Complete list of elections

California

Florida

Ohio

See also

• United States presidential election, 1868
• United States Senate elections, 1868
• 41st United States Congress

Notes

References

Bibliography

• Dubin, Michael J. (March 1, 1998). United States Congressional Elections, 1788-1997: The Official Results of the Elections of the 1st Through 105th Congresses. McFarland and Company. ISBN 978-0786402830. 
• Martis, Kenneth C. (January 1, 1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress, 1789-1989. Macmillan Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0029201701. 
• Moore, John L., ed. (1994). Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections (Third ed.). Congressional Quarterly Inc. ISBN 978-0871879967. 
• "Party Divisions of the House of Representatives* 1789–Present". Office of the Historian, House of United States House of Representatives. Retrieved January 21, 2015. 

External links

• Office of the Historian (Office of Art & Archives, Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)