United States House of Representatives elections, 1886

United States House of Representatives elections, 1886

November 2, 1886[Note 1]

All 325 seats to the United States House of Representatives 163 seats needed for a majority   Majority party Minority party   Leader John G. Carlisle Thomas Brackett Reed Party Democratic Republican Leader's seat Kentucky-6th Maine-1st Last election 183 seats[Note 2] 141 seats Seats won 167[1] 154[1][Note 3] Seat change 16 13   Third party Fourth party   Leader Henry Smith James B. Weaver Party Labor Greenback Leader's seat Wisconsin-4th Iowa-6th Last election 0 seats 1 seat Seats won 2[1] 1[1] Seat change 2

Map of U.S. House elections results from 1886 elections for 50th Congress

Speaker before election John G. Carlisle Democratic Elected Speaker John G. Carlisle Democratic

Elections to the United States House of Representatives were held in 1886 for Representatives to the 50th Congress, taking place in the middle of President Grover Cleveland's first term.

As in many midterm elections, Cleveland's Democratic Party lost seats to the opposition Republican Party, although a narrow majority was retained. Many of these Republican pickups were in the industrializing Midwest states, where the debate over tariffs, which were advocated by Republicans to protect domestic industry but opposed by Democrats to allow for free agricultural trade, led to political change. The small Labor Party, supported by industrial workers, gained one seat each in Virginia (VA-06) and Wisconsin (WI-04), while the Greenback Party maintained its one seat in Iowa (James B. Weaver of IA-06). John Nichols was also elected as an Independent to NC-04.

Election summaries

State	Type	Total seats	Democratic	Republican	Others
			Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Alabama	District	8	8		0		0
Arkansas	District	5	5		0		0
California	District	6	2	1	4	1	0
Colorado	At-large	1	0		1		0
Connecticut	District	4	2		2		0
Delaware	At-large	1	1		0		0
Florida	District	2	2		0		0
Georgia	District	10	10		0		0
Illinois	District	20	6	4	14	4	0
Indiana	District	13	6	3	7	3	0
Iowa	District	11	1	2	9[Note 4]	2	1[Note 5]
Kansas	District	7	0		7[Note 4]		0
Kentucky	District	11	8	2	3	2	0
Louisiana	District	6	6	1	0	1	0
Maine[Note 6]	District	4	0		4		0
Maryland	District	6	5		1		0
Massachusetts	District	12	4	2	8	2	0
Michigan	District	11	5	2	6	2	0
Minnesota	District	5	3	3	2	3	0
Mississippi	District	7	7		0		0
Missouri	District	14	12		2		0
Nebraska	District	3	1	1	2	1	0
Nevada	At-large	1	0		1		0
New Hampshire	District	2	1	1	1	1	0
New Jersey	District	7	2	1	5	1	0
New York	District	34	16	1	18	1	0
North Carolina	District	9	7	1	1		1[Note 7]	1
Ohio	District	21	6	5	15	5	0
Oregon[Note 6]	At-large	1	0		1		0
Pennsylvania	District + at-large	28	8		20		0
Rhode Island	District	2	0		2		0
South Carolina	District	7	7	1	0	1	0
Tennessee	District	10	8	1	2	1	0
Texas	District	11	11		0		0
Vermont[Note 6]	District	2	0		2		0
Virginia	District	10	3	5	6	5	1[Note 8]	1
West Virginia	District	4	3		1		0
Wisconsin	District	9	1	1	7		1[Note 8]	1
Total		325	167[1] 51.4%	16	154[1][Note 3] 47.4%	13	4[1] 1.2%	3

House seats
Democratic			51.38%
Republican			47.38%
Labor			0.62%
Greenback			0.31%
Others			0.31%

There were 2 Labor Party and 1 Independent members elected, and 1 Greenback Party member re-elected in Iowa. The previous election saw just the Greenback elected.

↓

167	2	1	1	2	152
Democratic	La	I	Gb	IR	Republican

[[File:50 us house membership.png|thumb|left|450px| House seats by party holding plurality in state   80+% – 100% Democratic   80+% – 100% Republican   60+% – 80% Democratic   60+% – 80% Republican   Up to 60% Democratic   Up to 60% Republican ]]

[[File:50 us house changes.png|thumb|left|450px| Net gain in party representation   6+ Democratic gain     6+ Republican gain   3-5 Democratic gain     3-5 Republican gain   1-2 Democratic gain   1-2 Labor gain   1-2 Republican gain   1-2 Independent gain   no net change ]]

Early election dates

In 1886, three states, with 7 seats among them, held elections early:

• June 7 Oregon
• September 7 Vermont
• September 10 Maine

Complete list of races

• D: Democratic
• I: Independent
• Pr: Prohibition
• R: Republican

California

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
California 1	Barclay Henley	Democratic	1882	Incumbent retired. Democratic hold	√ Thomas Larkin Thompson (D) 50.2% Charles A. Garter (R) 47.2% L. W. Simmons (Pr) 2.6%
California 2	James A. Louttit	Republican	1884	Incumbent retired. Democratic gain.	√ Marion Biggs (D) 50% J. C. Campbell (R) 47% W. O. Clark (Pr) 3%
California 3	Joseph McKenna	Republican	1884	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Joseph McKenna (R) 53.1% Henry C. McPike (D) 44.6% W. W. Smith (Pr) 2.4%
California 4	William W. Morrow	Republican	1884	Incumbent re-elected.	√ William W. Morrow (R) 48.7% Frank McCoppin (D) 42% Charles A. Sumner (I) 9% Robert Thompson (Pr) 0.4%
California 5	Charles N. Felton	Republican	1884	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Charles N. Felton (R) 48.8% Frank J. Sullivan (D) 48.4% C. Henderson (Pr) 1.4% A. E. Redstone (I) 1.4%
California 6	Henry Markham	Republican	1884	Incumbent retired. Republican hold	√ William Vandever (R) 47.3% Joseph D. Lynch (D) 47.1% W. A. Harris (Pr) 5.6%

Florida

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Florida 1	Robert H. M. Davidson	Democratic	1876	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Robert H. M. Davidson (D) 66.2% C. B. Pendleton (R) 33.8%
Florida 2	Charles Dougherty	Democratic	1884	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Charles Dougherty (D) 53.9% J. C. Greeley (R) 44.9% R. B. Norment (Pr) 1.2%

South Carolina

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
South Carolina 1	Samuel Dibble	Democratic	1882	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Samuel Dibble (D) 99.9% Others 0.1%
South Carolina 2	George D. Tillman	Democratic	1878	Incumbent re-elected.	√ George D. Tillman (D) 99.6% Others 0.4%
South Carolina 3	D. Wyatt Aiken	Democratic	1876	Incumbent retired. Democratic hold.	√ James S. Cothran (D) 99.8% Others 0.2%
South Carolina 4	William H. Perry	Democratic	1884	Incumbent re-elected.	√ William H. Perry (D) 100%
South Carolina 5	John J. Hemphill	Democratic	1882	Incumbent re-elected.	√ John J. Hemphill (D) 99.9% Others 0.1%
South Carolina 6	George W. Dargan	Democratic	1882	Incumbent re-elected.	√ George W. Dargan (D) 98.7% Others 1.3%
South Carolina 7	Robert Smalls	Republican	1884 (special)	Incumbent lost re-election. Democratic gain.	√ William Elliott (D) 52.0% Robert Smalls (R) 47.8% Others 0.2%

See also

• United States elections, 1886
  • United States Senate elections, 1886 and 1887
• 49th United States Congress
• 50th United States Congress

Notes

1. Three states held early elections between June 7 and September 10.
2. Included 1 Independent Democrat.
3. Includes 2 Independent Republicans, John Alexander Anderson elected to KS-05, and Albert R. Anderson to IA-08.
4. Includes 1 Independent Republican.
5. Greenback Party
6. Elections held early.
7. John Nichols was elected as an Independent to NC-04.
8. Labor Party

References

1. Martis, pp. 140–141.

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)