United States House of Representatives elections, 1848

United States House of Representatives elections, 1848

August 7, 1848 - November 6, 1849[Note 1]

All 233[Note 2] seats to the United States House of Representatives 117 seats were needed for a majority   First party Second party   Leader Howell Cobb Robert C. Winthrop Party Democratic Whig Leader's seat Georgia-6th Massachusetts-1st Last election 112 seats 116 seats Seats won 113[Note 2] 108 Seat change 1 8   Third party Fourth party   Leader Joshua Reed Giddings Lewis Charles Levin Party Free Soil Know Nothing Leader's seat Ohio-20th Pennsylvania-1st Last election 0 seats 1 seats Seats won 9 1 Seat change 9

Speaker before election Robert C. Winthrop Whig Elected Speaker Howell Cobb Democratic

Elections to the United States House of Representatives for the 31st Congress were held at various dates in each state between August 7, 1848 (Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa and Missouri) and November 6, 1849 (Mississippi). California also elected two Representatives at-large on November 11, 1849, in anticipation of statehood. They were seated September 11, 1850.

The Democrats gained one seat, while the Whigs lost their majority they had gained just two years earlier in the election of 1846. This was the first election in the U.S. House that resulted in no party gaining an overall majority of seats.

The Mexican–American War, which ended with an American victory several months before the election, was a big factor in the election. Zachary Taylor, a general in the war, was elected president as a Whig, but the Democrats, who instigated the war, were rewarded for their victory by regaining the largest share of House seats. The fiercely abolitionist Free Soil Party was a huge spoiler in this election, earning 9 seats in districts that generally supported Whig politicians. At the same time, the American (Know Nothing) Party continued to be a marginal force after their breakthrough in the 1844 elections, managing to win just 1 seat in 1848, just as they had previously in 1846. In addition, the new state of California opted to elect an Independent, George Washington Wright, as one of its two representatives, in elections held in 1849.

When Congress assembled on December 3, 1849, no single party was able to win a majority of the vote for Speaker of the House. The Whigs split; the majority renominating Robert Charles Winthrop of Massachusetts but the southern Whigs split off to support Meredith Poindexter Gentry of Tennessee. The Democrats put forth Howell Cobb of Georgia, while the Free Soilers supported David Wilmot of Pennsylvania, author of the Wilmot Proviso.

The impasse continued until the 63rd ballot. Two dozen other candidates were offered in the hopes that someone else could gain a majority. The Democrats and Free Soilers attempted a compromise on the 40th ballot, but this was exposed when Edward Stanly, a Whig from North Carolina, exposed the deal. After the 59th ballot, Stanly offered a proposal, which was accepted. The House would take three additional ballots. If no candidate won the majority, whoever placed first on the 63rd ballot would be declared the new Speaker. On December 22, Cobb was chosen on the 63rd ballot with 102 votes to 99 for Winthrop and 20 scattering.

Election summaries

Wisconsin was apportioned an additional seat in 1848,^[1] and two more seats were added for the new state of California.^[2]

↓

113	9	1	1	108
Democratic	FS	I	AKN	Whig

State	Type	Date	Total seats	Democratic	Whig	Free Soil	Other
				Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Michigan	District	November 7, 1848 (Election Day)[Note 3]	3	2	1	1	1	0		0
New Jersey	District		5	1		4		0		0
New York	District		34	1	10	32	9	1	1	0
Wisconsin	District		3[Note 4]	1	1	1	1	1	1	0
Arkansas	At-large	August 7, 1848	1	1		0		0		0
Delaware	At-large	November 6, 1848	1	0		1		0		0
Florida	At-large	October 2, 1848	1	0		1		0		0
Georgia	District	October 2, 1848	8	4		4		0		0
Illinois	District	August 7, 1848	7	6		1		0		0
Iowa	District	August 7, 1848	2	2		0		0		0
Maine	District	September 11, 1848	7	5	1	2	1	0		0
Massachusetts	District	November 13, 1848	10[Note 5]	0		8	2	1	1	0
Missouri	District	August 7, 1848	5	5		0		0		0
Ohio	District	October 10, 1848	21	11	1	8	3	2	2	0
Pennsylvania	District	October 10, 1848	24	9	2	13	3	1	1	1[Note 6]
South Carolina	District	October 9–10, 1848	7	7		0		0		0
Vermont	District	September 5, 1848	4	1		3		0		0
1849 elections
Alabama	District	August 6, 1849	7	5		2		0		0
California	At-large	November 11, 1849[Note 7]	2	1	1	0		0		1[Note 8]	1
Connecticut	District	April 2, 1849	4	2	2	1	3	1	1	0
Indiana	District	August 6, 1849	10	8	2	1	3	1	1	0
Kentucky	District	August 6, 1849	10	4		6		0		0
Louisiana	District	November 5, 1849	4	3		1		0		0
Maryland	District	October 3, 1849	6	3	1	3	1	0		0
Mississippi	District	November 5–6, 1849	4	4	1	0	1	0		0
New Hampshire	District	March 13, 1849	4	2		1		1	1	0	1[Note 9]
North Carolina	District	August 7, 1849	9	3		6		0		0
Rhode Island	District	April 4, 1849	2	0	1	2	1	0		0
Tennessee	District	August 2, 1849	11	7	1	4	1	0		0
Texas	District	August 6, 1849	2	2		0		0		0
Virginia	District	April 26, 1849	15	13	4	2	4	0		0
Total[Note 2]			232	113 48.7%	1	108 46.6%	8	9 3.9%	9	2 0.9%

House seats
Democratic			48.71%
Whig			46.55%
Free Soil			3.88%
Know-Nothing			0.43%
Others			0.43%

Complete returns

California

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
California at-large 2 seats on a general ticket	None (District created)			Independent gain	George W. Wright (I) 22% Edward Gilbert (D) 20.6% Rodman M. Price 16.3% P. A. Morse 8.3% Lewis Dent 8.2% E. J. C. Kewen 7.3% W. M. Sheppard 7.2% William E. Shannon 5.4% Peter Halsted 2.4% L. W. Hastings 0.9% Pierson B. Reading 0.7% W. H. Russell 0.4% J. S. Thompson 0.3% Kimball H. Dimmick 0.2%
	None (District created)			Democratic gain

Florida

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Florida at-large	Edward C. Cabell	Whig	1846	Re-elected	Edward C. Cabell (W) 53.5% William Pope Duval (D) 46.5%

See also

• United States elections, 1848
  • List of United States House of Representatives elections, 1824–54
  • United States presidential election, 1848
  • United States Senate elections, 1848 and 1849
• 30th United States Congress
• 31st United States Congress

Notes

1. Excludes states admitted during the 31st Congress
2. Includes late elections
3. 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.
4. Increase of 1 seat
5. One vacancy, in MA-04, for the duration of the 31st Congress (as no candidate received a majority of the vote after multiple elections).
6. 1 Know-Nothing
7. Seated September 11, 1850 after admission to the Union.
8. 1 Independent elected.
9. Previous election had 1 Independent

References

1. 9 Stat. 235
2. 9 Stat. 452

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)