United States House of Representatives elections, 1862 and 1863
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All 184 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives[Note 2] 93 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Elections to the United States House of Representatives were held in mostly in November 1862, in the middle of President Abraham Lincoln's first term. His Republicans lost 22 seats in Congress, while the Democrats picked up 28, for a net swing of 50 seats (or 27 percent) out of a total House membership of 185.
The mid-term elections in 1862 caused the Republicans to lose their majority in the House due to sharp disfavor with the Administration over its failure to deliver a speedy end to the war, as well as rising inflation, high new taxes, ugly rumors of corruption, the suspension of habeas corpus, the draft law, and fears that freed slaves would undermine the labor market. The Republicans were forced to rely on the assistance of the Unionist Party in order to control the chamber because they were 5 seats short of a majority. The Emancipation Proclamation announced in September gained votes in Yankee areas of New England and the upper Midwest, but it lost votes in the ethnic cities and the lower Midwest. While Republicans were discouraged, Democrats were energized and did especially well in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and New York. Elated Democrats from the Northwest hailed the elections as a repudiation of the emancipation heresy.[1]
The Republicans did keep control of the major states except New York. Most important, the Republicans retained control of the House, in spite of falling from 59% of the seats to just over 46% because of their alliance with the 24 Unionist representatives; the Unionists were a group of disaffected pro-war Democrats who broke with their party during the previous Congress. The voters, editorialized the Cincinnati Gazette, "are depressed by the interminable nature of this war, as so far conducted, and by the rapid exhaustion of the national resources without progress.".[2]
A typical result came in Lincoln's home district of Springfield, Illinois, where John T. Stuart, a Democrat and one of Lincoln's former law partners, defeated the Republican incumbent. Anti-black sentiments that overwhelmingly favored forbidding immigration of freed slaves and preventing black suffrage was primarily responsible.[3]
Election summaries
Tennessee and Virginia had been partially represented in the 37th Congress with 8 filled seats between them, but were unrepresented in the 38th Congress. The other 9 secessionist states had been unrepresented in the 37th Congress and remained unrepresented in the 38th, leaving 58 vacancies[4] (61, including the new state of West Virginia).
Reapportionment took place according to the 1860 Census, using the 1850 Apportionment bill[5] which provided for a permanent total of 233 seats, but a subsequent bill added an additional 8 seats,[6] increasing the number of seats to 241 (58 of which were in secessionist states, once the three new seats for West Virginia are excluded from the total), a net gain of 2 seats over the previous Congress. Excluding the secessionist states, 2 states lost 2 seats each, 5 states lost 1 seat, 11 states had no change in apportionment, 2 states gained 2 seats each, 1 state gained 3 seats, 1 gained 4 seats, and 1 gained 5 seats. Within the secessionist states, 3 states lost 2 seats each, 3 lost 1 seat, 2 had no change, 2 gained 1 seat each, and 1 gained 2 seats, a net loss of five seats apportioned to those states.
Upon the admission of West Virginia, 3 of Virginia's seats were reassigned to the new State, filling 3 vacancies,[7] and during the 2nd session, one seat was added for the new State of Nevada.[8]
85 | 2 | 25 | 72 |
Republican | IR | Unionist | Democratic |
State | Type | Date | Total seats |
Republican | Democratic | Unionist[Note 4] | ||||
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Seats | Change | Seats | Change | Seats | Change | Seats | Change | |||
Oregon | At-large | June 2, 1862 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||
Maine | District | September 8, 1862 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | ||||
Indiana | District | October 14, 1862 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 0 | ||||
Iowa | District | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | |||||
Ohio | District | 19 | 5 | 14 | 0 | |||||
Pennsylvania | District | 24 | 12[Note 3] | 12 | 0 | |||||
Delaware | At-large | November 1, 1862 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||
Massachusetts | District | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | |||||
Illinois | District + 1 at-large |
November 4, 1862 (Election Day)[Note 5] |
14 | 5 | 9 | 0 | ||||
Kansas | At-large | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||
Michigan | District | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | |||||
Minnesota | District[Note 6] | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |||||
Missouri | District | 9 | 1 | 0 | 8 | |||||
New Jersey | District | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | |||||
New York | District | 31 | 14 | 17 | 0 | |||||
Wisconsin | District | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | |||||
1863 elections | ||||||||||
New Hampshire | District | March 10, 1863 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | ||||
Rhode Island | District | April 1, 1863 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||
Connecticut | District | April 6, 1863 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | ||||
Kentucky | District | August 3, 1863 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9 | ||||
Vermont | District | September 1, 1863 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||||
California | At-large | September 2, 1863 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||||
West Virginia[Note 7] | District | October 22, 1863 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||||
Maryland | District | November 3, 1863 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||||
Secessionist States | ||||||||||
Alabama | District | 6 | ||||||||
Arkansas | District | 3 | ||||||||
Florida | At-large | 1 | ||||||||
Georgia | District | 7 | ||||||||
Louisiana | District | 5 | ||||||||
Mississippi | District | 5 | ||||||||
North Carolina | District | 7 | ||||||||
South Carolina | District | 4 | ||||||||
Tennessee | District | 8 | ||||||||
Texas | District | 4 | ||||||||
Virginia | District | 11[Note 8] | ||||||||
Total[Note 2] | 184 58 Vacancies[Note 9] |
87[Note 3] 47.3% |
72 39.1% |
25 13.6% |
California
Note: From statehood to 1866, California's representatives were elected at-large, with the top two vote-getters winning election from 1849 to 1858; in 1860 when California gained a seat in the House the top three vote-getters were elected.
District | Incumbent | Party | Results | Candidates |
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California at-large | Timothy Phelps | Republican | Incumbent retired. New member elected. Republican hold. |
√ Cornelius Cole (Republican) 20% √ William Higby (Republican) 19.9% √ Thomas B. Shannon (Republican) 19.9% John Bigler (Inndependent) 13.4% John B. Weller (Inndependent) 13.4% Ninian E. Whiteside (Democratic) 13.4% |
California at-large | Aaron A. Sargent | Republican | Incumbent retired. New member elected. Republican hold. | |
California at-large | Frederick F. Low | Republican | Incumbent retired. New member elected. Republican hold. |
Ohio
District | Incumbent | Party | First elected |
Result | Candidates[9] |
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Ohio 1 | George H. Pendleton | Democratic | 1856 | Re-elected |
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Ohio 2 | John A. Gurley | Republican | 1858 | Incumbent lost re-election. New member elected. Democratic gain. |
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Ohio 3 | Clement Vallandigham | Democratic | 1858 (Special) | Incumbent lost re-election. New member elected. Republican gain. |
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Ohio 4 | William Allen | Democratic | 1858 | Incumbent retired. New member elected. Democratic hold. |
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Ohio 5 | New district | New district. New member elected. Democratic gain. |
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Ohio 6 | Chilton A. White | Democratic | 1860 | Re-elected |
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Ohio 7 | Richard A. Harrison | Unionist | 1861 (Special) | Incumbent retired. New member elected. Democratic loss. |
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Samuel S. Cox Redistricted from the 12th district |
Democratic | 1856 | Re-elected | ||
Samuel Shellabarger Redistricted from the 8th district |
Republican | 1860 | Incumbent lost renomination. New member elected. Democratic loss. | ||
Ohio 8 | New district | New district. New member elected. Democratic gain. |
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Ohio 9 | Warren P. Noble | Democratic | 1860 | Re-elected |
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Samuel T. Worcester Redistricted from the 13th district |
Republican | 1861 (Special) | Incumbent lost re-election. New member elected. Republican loss. | ||
Ohio 10 | James M. Ashley Redistricted from the 5th district |
Republican | 1858 | Re-elected |
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Ohio 11 | Valentine B. Horton | Republican | 1860 | Incumbent retired. New member elected. Democratic gain. |
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Ohio 12 | Carey A. Trimble Redistricted from the 10th district |
Republican | 1858 | Incumbent lost re-election. New member elected. Democratic gain. |
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Ohio 13 | New district | New district. New member elected. Democratic gain. |
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Ohio 14 | Harrison G. O. Blake | Republican | 1859 (Special) | Incumbent retired. New member elected. Democratic gain. |
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Ohio 15 | Robert H. Nugen | Democratic | 1860 | Incumbent retired. New member elected. Democratic hold. |
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James R. Morris Redistricted from the 17th district |
Democratic | 1860 | Re-elected | ||
William P. Cutler Redistricted from the 16th district |
Republican | 1860 | Incumbent lost re-election. New member elected. Republican loss. | ||
Ohio 16 | New district | New district. New member elected. Democratic gain. |
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Ohio 17 | New district | New district. New member elected. Republican gain. |
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Ohio 18 | Sidney Edgerton | Republican | 1858 | Incumbent retired. New member elected. Republican hold. |
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Ohio 19 | Albert G. Riddle | Republican | 1860 | Incumbent retired. New member elected. Republican hold. |
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See also
Notes
- ↑ Excluding states admitted after the start of Congress.
- 1 2 Including late elections.
- 1 2 3 Includes 2 Independent Republicans, elected to PA-13 and PA-18.
- ↑ Including Unconditional Unionists.
- ↑ In 1845, Congress passed a law providing for a uniform date for choosing presidential electors (see: Statutes at Large, 28th Congress, 2nd Session, p. 721). Congressional elections were unaffected by this law, but the date was gradually adopted by the states for Congressional elections as well.
- ↑ Changed from at-large.
- ↑ New state.
- ↑ Subsequently, 3 seats were transferred to the new state of West Virginia.
- ↑ After 3 seats were reassigned from Virginia to West Virginia.
References
Bibliography
- Carson, Jamie L. et al. "The Impact of National Tides and District-Level Effects on Electoral Outcomes: The U.S. Congressional Elections of 1862–63," American Journal of Political Science, October 2001, Vol. 45 Issue 4, pp 887–898 in JSTOR
- Nevins, Allan. Ordeal of the Union: vol 6. War Becomes Revolution, 1862–1863 (1960)
- Shankman, Arnold. "Francis W. Hughes and the 1862 Pennsylvania Election." Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 1971 95(3): 383-393. ISSN 0031-4587
- Tap, Bruce. "Race, Rhetoric, and Emancipation: the Election of 1862 in Illinois." Civil War History 1993 39(2): 101-125. ISSN 0009-8078
- Voegeli, Jacque. "The Northwest and the Race Issue, 1861–1862," Mississippi Valley Historical Review Vol. 50, No. 2 (September 1963), pp. 235–251 IN jstor
- 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)