United States House of Representatives elections, 1840
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All 242 seats to the United States House of Representatives 122 seats were needed for majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Elections to the United States House of Representatives for the 27th Congress were held on different dates in each state, from July 6, 1840 (Louisiana) to November 2, 1841 (Mississippi).
The 1840–41 U.S. House elections gave the Whig Party control of the House of Representatives for the first time. The Panic of 1837 had created an economic depression and the perceived mishandling of this crisis by President Martin Van Buren, gave the Whigs the presidency (William Henry Harrison was elected) and a majority in the House. The Whigs campaigned for neo-mercantilist reform based on modernization and economic nationalism, ideas which had previously been unpopular outside of urban regions, but gained footholds because of the depression. The collapse of the Anti-Masonic Party in the late 1830s also gave the Whigs the advantage of having several incumbents turn from rivals to party members. In addition, Robert M. T. Hunter was elected as an Independent to Virginia's 9th District,[1] and Zadoc Casey was elected as an Independent Democrat to Illinois's 2nd District.[2]
Election summaries
| 142 | 1 | 1 | 98 |
| Whig | I | ID | Democratic |
| State | Type | Date | Total seats |
Whig | Democratic | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seats | Change | Seats | Change | ||||
| Arkansas | At-large | October 5, 1840 | 1 | 0 |  |
1 | |
| Connecticut | District (6) | November 3, 1840 | 6 | 6 | |
0 | |
| Delaware | At-large | November 10, 1840 | 1 | 1 |  1 |
0 |  1 |
| Georgia | At-large | October 6, 1840 | 9 | 9 | |
0 | |
| Illinois | District (3) | August 7, 1840 | 3 | 1 | |
2[Note 1] | |
| Louisiana | District (3) | July 6–8, 1840 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
1 | 1 |
| Maine | District (8) | September 14, 1840 | 8 | 4 | 2 |
4 | 2 |
| Massachusetts | District (12) | November 9, 1840 | 12 | 11 | 1 |
1 | 1 |
| Michigan | At-large | November 3, 1840 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
0 | 1 |
| Missouri | At-large | August 3, 1840 | 2 | 0 | |
2 | |
| New Jersey | At-large | November 3, 1840 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
0 | 5 |
| New York | District (33[Note 2]) | November 2–4, 1840 | 40 | 19 | 2 |
21 | 2 |
| Ohio | District (19) | October 13, 1840 | 19 | 12 | 4 |
7 | 4 |
| Pennsylvania | District (25[Note 3]) | October 13, 1840 | 28 | 13 | 8 |
15 | 2 |
| South Carolina | District (9) | October 12–13, 1840 | 9 | 1 | |
8 | |
| Vermont | District (5) | September 4, 1840 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
0 | 2 |
| 1841 elections | |||||||
| Alabama | At-large[Note 4] | May 20, 1841 | 5 | 0 | 2 |
5 | 2 |
| Indiana | District (7) | May 3, 1841 | 7 | 6 | 4 |
1 | 4 |
| Kentucky | District (13) | April 26, 1841 | 13 | 11 | |
2 | |
| Maryland | District (7[Note 5]) | May 17, 1841 | 8 | 6 | 3 |
2 | 3 |
| Mississippi | At-large | November 1–2, 1841 | 2 | 0 | |
2 | |
| New Hampshire | At-large | March 9, 1841 | 5 | 0 | |
5 | |
| North Carolina | District (13) | May 13, 1841 | 13 | 8 | 3 |
5 | 3 |
| Rhode Island | At-large | April 21, 1841 | 2 | 2 | |
0 | |
| Tennessee | District (13) | May 6, 1841 | 13 | 8 | 1 |
5 | 1 |
| Virginia[Note 6] | District (21) | April 23, 1841 | 21[Note 6] | 10 | 4 |
10 | 3 |
| Total | 242 | 142 59.5% |
36 |
99[Note 1] 40.9% |
28 | ||
The previous election had two minor parties, the Anti-Masonic Party with 6 seats and the Conservative Party (of Virginia) with 2 seats, both of which disappeared in this election.
The 1st session of the 27th Congress began May 31, 1841, before Mississippi had elected Representatives, leaving that State unrepresented until the 2nd session.
See also
Notes
- 1 2 3 Including one Independent Democrat elected to IL-02.
- ↑ Includes 5 plural districts
- ↑ Includes 3 plural districts
- ↑ Changed from district
- ↑ Includes 1 plural district
- 1 2 Robert M. T. Hunter was elected as an Independent to VA-09, and so is not included in the figures here. Hunter had previously run in earlier elections as a Whig.
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)