United States elections, 1876

The 1876 United States general elections were held on November 7. In one of the most disputed presidential elections in American history, Republican Governor Rutherford B. Hayes ended up winning despite Democratic Governor Samuel J. Tilden earning a majority of the popular vote. The Republicans maintained their Senate majority and cut into the Democratic majority in the House.

President

The 1876 presidential election was heavily contested, and saw the highest turnout of voting age population in American history.^[1] Democratic Governor Samuel J. Tilden of New York won the Democratic nomination on the second ballot of the 1876 Democratic National Convention, defeating Indiana Governor Thomas A. Hendricks and a handful of other candidates. Republicans chose Ohio Governor Rutherford B. Hayes on the seventh ballot over Maine Senator James G. Blaine, Senator Oliver P. Morton of Indiana, Secretary of the Treasury Benjamin H. Bristow, and several other candidates.

Tilden outpolled Hayes in the popular vote by a margin of three percent, and had 184 electoral votes to Hayes' 165, with 20 electoral votes uncounted. These 20 electoral votes were in dispute: in three states (Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina), each party reported its candidate had won the state, while in Oregon one elector was declared illegal (as an "elected or appointed official") and replaced.

To resolve this dispute, Congress formed the Electoral Commission, a temporary body to investigate these electoral votes. Eventually, this commission awarded the electoral votes to Hayes after a bitter legal and political battle, giving him the victory. Many Democrats felt that Tilden had been cheated out of a victory, but the informal "Compromise of 1877" saw Democrats recognize Hayes as president in return for the end of Reconstruction. Excluding the multi-candidate 1824 election, Hayes's margin of victory of one electoral vote has never been matched, and no other winning candidate has ever lost the popular vote by more than one point.

United States House of Representatives

The Republicans picked up a net gain of 33 seats in the House, but it was not enough as the Democrats maintained their majority, 155–136 (not included two seats held by independents).^[2]

United States Senate

The Democrats gained three net seats in the Senate, but the Republicans held onto their majority. Since this election was held prior to ratification of the seventeenth amendment, these seats were chosen by the State legislatures.^[3]

References

United States elections 1789 1790 1792 1794 1796 1798 1800 1802 1804 1806 1808 1810 1812 1814 1816 1818 1820 1822 1824 1826 1828 1830 1832 1834 1836 1838 1840 1842 1844 1846 1848 1850 1852 1854 1856 1858 1860 1862 1864 1866 1868 1870 1872 1874 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 See also Presidential elections Senate elections House elections Gubernatorial elections