United States House of Representatives elections, 1846

August 2, 1846 - November 2, 1847^{[Note 1]}

All 230^{[Note 2]} seats to the United States House of Representatives
116 seats were needed for a majority

	Majority party	Minority party	Third party

Leader	Robert Winthrop	Linn Boyd	Lewis Charles Levin
Party	Whig	Democratic	Know Nothing
Leader's seat	Massachusetts-1st	Kentucky-1st	Pennsylvania-1st
Last election	79 seats	142 seats	6 seats
Seats won	116	112^{[Note 2]}^{[Note 3]}	1
Seat change	37	30	5

Speaker before election

John Davis
Democratic

Elected Speaker

Robert Winthrop
Whig

Elections to the United States House of Representatives for the 30th Congress were held at different dates in the various states, from August 2, 1846 (Missouri) to November 2, 1847 (Mississippi and Louisiana) during James K. Polk's term in office. The Whigs picked up 37 seats to win 116 seats, while the rival Democrats lost 30 and fell to 112 seats^{[Note 3]} in the House. The result was a switch of partisan control of the House, with the Whigs gaining a narrow majority of just four seats. The Whigs picked up seats in New England and the South. The nativist American Party, dedicated to opposition to immigration and anti-Catholicism, lost five of its Representatives and was left with only a single seat. In addition, one Independent, Amos Tuck, was elected to New Hampshire's 1st District.

The Mexican–American War was the biggest issue of concern during this election. While the war was widely supported west of the Appalachian Mountains, many people in eastern urban regions were opposed. The extreme loyalty of the Democratic Congress—with only 14 representatives voting against the war—was a huge factor in the Whig pick-up. Growing divisions over slavery were also a contentious concern, as this ever-present issue had been brought to the forefront by Congressional rejection of the Wilmot Proviso.

Notable freshmen include future president Abraham Lincoln, elected as a Whig to his first and only term in this election.

Election summaries

The remaining multi-member at-large districts were abolished for this election, leaving all states with two or more Representatives divided into districts. In 1845, Congress had passed a law establishing a uniform date throughout the Union for choosing electors. The law did not apply to Congressional elections, but the date was gradually adopted for Congressional elections as well. In 1846, only three states (Michigan, New Jersey, and New York) used that date (November 3, 1846).

Two seats were added for the new State of Wisconsin.^[1] Wisconsin was unrepresented for most of the 1st session.

↓
116	1	1	112
Whig	I	AKN	Democratic

State	Type	Date	Total seats	Whig	Democratic	Other
State	Type	Date	Total seats	Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Michigan	District	November 3, 1846 (Election Day)	3	0		3		0
New Jersey	District		5	4		1		0
New York	District		34	23	14	11^{[Note 4]}	10	0	4
Arkansas	At-large	August 3, 1846	1	0		1		0
Delaware	At-large	November 10, 1846	1	1		0		0
Florida	At-large	October 5, 1846	1	1	1	0	1	0
Georgia	District	October 5, 1846	8	4	1	4	1	0
Illinois	District	August 3, 1846	7	1		6^{[Note 5]}		0
Maine	District	September 14, 1846	7	1		6		0
Massachusetts	District	November 9, 1846	10	10		0		0
Missouri	District^{[Note 6]}	August 2, 1846	5	0		5		0
Ohio	District	October 13, 1846	21	11	3	10	3	0
Pennsylvania	District	October 13, 1846	24	16	6	7	5	1^{[Note 7]}	1
South Carolina	District	October 12–13, 1846	7	0		7		0
Texas	District	November 2, 1846	2	0		2		0
Vermont	District	September 1, 1846	4	3		1		0
1847 elections
Alabama	District	August 2, 1847	7	2	1	5	1	0
Connecticut	District	April 5, 1847	4	4		0		0
Indiana	District	August 2, 1847	10	4	2	6	2	0
Iowa	District^{[Note 6]}	August 2, 1847	2	0		2		0
Kentucky	District	August 2, 1847	10	6	1	4	1	0
Louisiana	District	November 2, 1847	4	1		3		0
Maryland	District	October 6, 1847	6	4	2	2	2	0
Mississippi	District^{[Note 6]}	November 1–2, 1847	4	1	1	3	1	0
New Hampshire	District^{[Note 6]}	March 9, 1847	4^{[Note 8]}	1	1	2	1	1^{[Note 9]}	1
North Carolina	District	August 5, 1847	9	6	3	3	3	0
Rhode Island	District	April 7, 1847	2	1	1	1	1	0
Tennessee	District	August 2. 1847	11	5		6		0
Virginia	District	April 22, 1847	15	6	5	9	5	0
1848 elections
Wisconsin^{[Note 10]}	District	May 8, 1848	2	0		2	2	0
Total^{[Note 2]}			230	116 50.4%	38	112^{[Note 3]} 48.7%	33	2 0.9%	4

House seats

Whig			50.43%
Democratic			48.70%
Know-Nothing			0.43%
Others			0.43%

Complete returns

Florida

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Florida at-large	William H. Brockenbrough	Democratic	1845 (special)	Retired Whig gain	Edward C. Cabell (W) 50.9% William A. Kain (D) 49.1%

Notes

↑ Excludes states admitted during the 30th Congress.
1 2 3 Includes late elections
1 2 3 Includes 2 Independent Democrats elected to IL-01 and NY-17 – see: Martis, p. 100-101.
↑ Includes George Petrie, who was elected to NY-17 as an Independent Democrat.
↑ Includes Robert Smith, who was elected to IL-01 as an Independent Democrat.
1 2 3 4 Changed from at-large
↑ 1 Know-Nothing
↑ One seat had been vacant during the entire 29th Congress.
↑ Amos Tuck was elected to NH-01 as an Independent.
↑ New state

References

↑ 9 Stat. 58

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)

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