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1802–03 United States House of Representatives elections

House elections for the 8th U.S. Congress

1802–03 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1800 & 1801 April 26, 1802 – December 14, 1803 1804 & 1805 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 142 seats in the United States House of Representatives 72 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Nathaniel Macon John Cotton Smith Party Democratic-Republican Federalist Leader's seat North Carolina 6th Connecticut at-large Last election 68 seats 38 seats Seats won 103 39 Seat change 35 1
Results:      Federalist hold      Federalist gain      Democratic-Republican hold      Democratic-Republican gain      Undistricted
Speaker before election Nathaniel Macon Democratic-Republican Elected Speaker Nathaniel Macon Democratic-Republican

The 1802–03 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between April 26, 1802 (inNew York) and December 14, 1803 (inNew Jersey). Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives, either before or after the first session of the 8th United States Congress convened on October 17, 1803. They occurred during President Thomas Jefferson's first term in office.

With the addition of the new state of Ohio's representatives, and the congressional reapportionment based on the 1800 United States census, the size of the House increased from 106 to 142 seats. The greatest population growth revealed in the 1800 census was in territories that constituted the western regions of the country at the time, a tremendous boost for Democratic-Republican candidates. Nearly all of the new seats created in the reapportionment went to Democratic-Republicans, closely aligned as they were with the agrarian interests of Western farmers. As a result, the Democratic-Republicans won the largest proportion of seats that either they or the competing Federalists had ever been able to secure in any earlier Congress, a supermajority greater than two-thirds of the total number.

These elections were the first following reapportionment after the 1800 census. Thirty-five new seats were added in reapportionment,^[1] with three states having no change in apportionment, and thirteen states gaining between 1 and 7 seats. One further seat was added for the new state of Ohio, which is included in this table below.^[2]

State	Type	Date	Total seats		Democratic- Republican		Federalist
			Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
New York	Districts	April 26–29, 1802	17	7	12	6	5	1
Connecticut	At-large	August 20, 1802	7		0		7
New Hampshire	At-large	August 30, 1802	5	1	0		5	1
Rhode Island	At-large	August 31, 1802	2		2		0
Georgia	At-large	October 4, 1802	4	2	4	2	0
Delaware	At-large	October 5, 1802	1		1	1	0	1
Pennsylvania	Districts	October 12, 1802	18	5	18	8	0	3
Massachusetts	District	November 1, 1802[a]	17	3	7		10	3
Vermont	Districts	December 13, 1802[b]	4	2	1		3	2
Maryland	Districts	January 1, 1803	9	1	6	1	3
South Carolina	Districts	February 3, 1803	8	2	6	3	2	1
Late elections (After the March 4, 1803, beginning of Congress)
Virginia	Districts	April 1803	22	3	18		4	3
Kentucky	Districts	August 2, 1803	6	4	6	4	0
Tennessee	At-large	August 5, 1803	3	2	3	2	0
North Carolina	Districts	August 15, 1803	12	2	11	5	1	3
Very late elections (After the October 17, 1803, beginning of 1st session)
New Jersey	At-large	December 14, 1803	6	1	6	1	0
Election of new state during 8th Congress
Ohio	At-large	June 21, 1803	1	1	1	1	0
Total			142	36	102 71.8%	34	40 28.2%	2

There were special elections in 1802 and 1803 during the 7th United States Congress and 8th United States Congress.

Elections are sorted here by date then district.

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates[d]
Connecticut at-large 7 seats on a general ticket	John Cotton Smith	Federalist	1800	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y John Cotton Smith (Federalist) 15.8% ▌Y Benjamin Tallmadge (Federalist) 13.3% ▌Y Samuel W. Dana (Federalist) 13.1% ▌Y Elias Perkins (Federalist) 12.6% ▌Y Calvin Goddard (Federalist) 12.2% ▌Y Roger Griswold (Federalist) 11.9% ▌Y John Davenport (Federalist) 9.7% ▌Simeon Baldwin (Federalist) 7.3% ▌Timothy Pitkin (Federalist) 1.5%
	Benjamin Tallmadge	Federalist	1801 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected.
	Samuel W. Dana	Federalist	1796	Incumbent re-elected.
	Elias Perkins	Federalist	1800	Incumbent re-elected but declined to serve, leading to a special election.
	Calvin Goddard	Federalist	1801 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected.
	Roger Griswold	Federalist	1794	Incumbent re-elected.
	John Davenport	Federalist	1798	Incumbent re-elected.

Georgia gained 2 seats in reapportionment after the 1800 census. It elected its representatives October 4, 1802, at-large on a general ticket.

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates[d]
Georgia at-large 4 seats on a general ticket	John Milledge	Democratic-Republican	1801 (Special)	Incumbent resigned in May 1802, leading to a December 15, 1802, special election. Incumbent elected to the next term, but declined the seat, leading to an October 3, 1803, special election.	▌Y John Milledge (Democratic-Republican) 21.2% ▌Y David Meriwether (Democratic-Republican) 20.2% ▌Y Peter Early (Democratic-Republican) 19.0% ▌Y Samuel Hammond (Democratic-Republican) 13.2% ▌Joseph Bryan (Democratic-Republican) 11.7% ▌Francis Willis (Democratic-Republican) 8.1% Matthew MacAlister 6.6%
	David Meriwether	Democratic-Republican	1802 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected.
	None (Seat created)			New seat. New member elected. Democratic-Republican gain.
	None (Seat created)			New seat. New member elected. Democratic-Republican gain.

Kentucky gained 4 seats to 6 in reapportionment after the 1800 census.

Maryland gained 1 seat in reapportionment after the 1800 census. Rather than increasing the number of districts, however, Maryland made the Maryland 5aplural district with 2 seats.

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates[d]
Maryland 1	John Campbell	Federalist	1801	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y John Campbell (Federalist) 79.5% ▌William Thomas (Democratic-Republican) 20.5%
Maryland 2	Walter Bowie	Democratic-Republican	1802 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Walter Bowie (Democratic-Republican) 99.5% Others 0.5%
Maryland 3	Thomas Plater	Federalist	1801	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Thomas Plater (Federalist) 51.9% ▌Patrick Magruder (Democratic-Republican) 41.7% ▌Richard Wooten (Federalist) 6.4%
Maryland 4	Daniel Hiester	Democratic-Republican	1788 (Pennsylvania) 1801	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Daniel Hiester (Democratic-Republican) 60.0% ▌Eli Williams (Federalist) 40.0%
Maryland 5 Plural district with 2 seats	Samuel Smith	Democratic-Republican	1792	Incumbent retired to run for Senate. New member elected. Democratic-Republican hold.	▌Y Nicholas R. Moore (Democratic-Republican) 53.8% ▌Y William McCreery (Democratic-Republican) 38.3% ▌George Buchanan (Federalist) 7.8%
	None (Seat created)			New seat. New member elected. Democratic-Republican gain.
Maryland 6	John Archer	Democratic-Republican	1801	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y John Archer (Democratic-Republican) 100.0%
Maryland 7	Joseph H. Nicholson	Democratic-Republican	1798 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Joseph H. Nicholson (Democratic-Republican) 99.6% Others 0.4%
Maryland 8	John Dennis	Federalist	1796	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y John Dennis (Federalist) 94.9% ▌Joshua Prideaux (Democratic-Republican) 3.4% Samuel Heath 1.1% Others 0.7%

Massachusetts increased 3 seats to 17 in reapportionment after the 1800 census. Massachusetts law at the time required a majority for election to an office, which requirement was not met in the 6th district, requiring two additional ballots.

See Non-voting delegates, below.

New Hampshire increased its apportionment from 4 seats to 5 after the 1800 census.

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates[d]
New Hampshire at-large 5 seats on a general ticket	Samuel Tenney	Federalist	1800	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Samuel Tenney (Federalist) 12.6% ▌Y Samuel Hunt (Federalist) 12.0% ▌Y David Hough (Federalist) 11.8% ▌Y Silas Betton (Federalist) 11.6% ▌Y Clifton Clagett (Federalist) 11.3% ▌Nahum Parker (Democratic-Republican) 8.4% ▌Clement Storer (Democratic-Republican) 8.0% ▌Jonathan Smith (Democratic-Republican)8.0% ▌Moody Bedell (Democratic-Republican) 7.1% ▌Thomas Cogswell (Democratic-Republican) 4.5% ▌Obed Hall (Democratic-Republican) 2.1% Scattering 2.7%
	Vacant.			Incumbent Joseph Peirce resigned in 1802. New member elected. Federalist hold.
	George B. Upham	Federalist	1800	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Federalist hold.
	Abiel Foster	Federalist	1794	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Federalist hold.
	None (Seat created)			New seat. New member elected. Federalist gain.

New Jersey increased its apportionment from 5 seats to 6 after the 1800 census.

The Federalists did not run any official candidates in 1802, but a few Federalists did receive scattered votes.

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
New Jersey at-large 6 seats on a general ticket	John Condit	Democratic-Republican	1798	Incumbent retired to run for Senate. New member elected. Democratic-Republican hold.	▌Y James Mott (Democratic-Republican) 16.5% ▌Y Henry Southard (Democratic-Republican) 16.4% ▌Y William Helms (Democratic-Republican) 16.4% ▌Y Ebenezer Elmer (Democratic-Republican) 16.3% ▌Y Adam Boyd (Democratic-Republican) 16.3% ▌Y James Sloan (Democratic-Republican) 16.3% ▌Aaron Ogden (Federalist) 0.5% ▌Frederick Frelinghuysen (Federalist) 0.4% ▌William Coxe (Federalist) 0.3% ▌James H. Imlay (Federalist) 0.3% ▌Richard Stockton (Federalist) 0.3% ▌Jonathan Elmer (Federalist) 0.2%
	Ebenezer Elmer	Democratic-Republican	1800	Incumbent re-elected.
	William Helms	Democratic-Republican	1800	Incumbent re-elected.
	James Mott	Democratic-Republican	1800	Incumbent re-elected.
	Henry Southard	Democratic-Republican	1800	Incumbent re-elected.
	None (Seat created)			New seat. New member elected. Democratic-Republican gain.

New York's apportionment increased from 10 seats to 17 seats after the 1800 census. The state was subsequently redistricted. 11 open seats were available due to the increase in apportionment and retirement of incumbents.

North Carolina increased its apportionment from 10 to 12 seats after the 1800 census.

Pennsylvania increased its apportionment from 13 to 18 seats after the 1800 census. The state was re-districted from 12 into 11 districts, four of which were plural districts.

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates[21]
Pennsylvania 1 Plural district with 3 seats	William Jones	Democratic-Republican	1800	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Democratic-Republican hold.	▌Y Joseph Clay (Democratic-Republican) 20.2% ▌Y Jacob Richards (Democratic-Republican) 20.0% ▌Y Michael Leib (Democratic-Republican) 18.4% ▌George Latimer (Federalist) 13.4% ▌Peter Brown (Federalist) 13.3% ▌Jonas Preston (Federalist) 13.2% ▌Elisha Gordon (Federalist) 1.4%
	None (Seat created)			New seat. New member elected. Democratic-Republican gain.
	Michael Leib Redistricted from the 2nd district	Democratic-Republican	1798	Incumbent re-elected.
Pennsylvania 2 Plural district with 3 seats	Robert Brown Redistricted from the 4th district	Democratic-Republican	1798 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Robert Brown (Democratic-Republican) 33.0% ▌Y Isaac Van Horne (Democratic-Republican) 30.8% ▌Y Frederick Conrad (Democratic-Republican) 17.9% ▌Samuel Sitgreaves (Federalist) 11.3% ▌Nathaniel Borleau (Federalist) 4.8% ▌Lord Butler (Federalist) 2.2%
	None (Seat created)			New seat. New member elected. Democratic-Republican gain.
	Isaac Van Horne Redistricted from the 4th district	Democratic-Republican	1801 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected.
Pennsylvania 3 Plural district with 3 seats	Joseph Hemphill	Federalist	1800	Incumbent lost re-election. New member elected. Democratic-Republican gain.	▌Y John Whitehill (Democratic-Republican) 22.1% ▌Y Isaac Anderson (Democratic-Republican) 22.0% ▌Y Joseph Hiester (Democratic-Republican)21.7% ▌Jacob Bower (Federalist) 11.6% ▌Joseph Hemphill (Federalist) 11.4% ▌Thomas Boude (Federalist) 11.3%
	Joseph Hiester Redistricted from the 5th district	Democratic-Republican	1797 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected.
	Thomas Boude Redistricted from the 7th district	Federalist	1800	Incumbent lost re-election. New member elected. Democratic-Republican gain.
Pennsylvania 4 Plural district with 2 seats	John A. Hanna Redistricted from the 6th district	Democratic-Republican	1796	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y John A. Hanna (Democratic-Republican) 50.5% ▌Y David Bard (Democratic-Republican) 49.3% ▌David Mitchell (Federalist) 0.2%
	None (Seat created)			New seat. New member elected. Democratic-Republican gain.
Pennsylvania 5	Andrew Gregg Redistricted from the 9th district	Democratic-Republican	1791	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Andrew Gregg (Democratic-Republican) Unopposed
Pennsylvania 6	John Stewart Redistricted from the 8th district	Democratic-Republican	1800	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y John Stewart (Democratic-Republican) 56.7% ▌John Edie (Federalist) 43.3%
Pennsylvania 7	Henry Woods Redistricted from the 10th district	Federalist	1798	Incumbent lost re-election. New member elected. Democratic-Republican gain.	▌Y John Rea (Democratic-Republican) 66.6% ▌Henry Woods (Federalist) 28.9% ▌John McLene (Democratic-Republican) 4.5%
Pennsylvania 8	None (District created)			New seat. New member elected. Democratic-Republican gain.	▌Y William Findley (Democratic-Republican) 53.9% ▌Jacob Painter (Democratic-Republican) 46.1%
Pennsylvania 9	John Smilie Redistricted from the 11th district	Democratic-Republican	1792 1798	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y John Smilie (Democratic-Republican) Unopposed
Pennsylvania 10	William Hoge Redistricted from the 12th district	Democratic-Republican	1801 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y William Hoge (Democratic-Republican) Unopposed
Pennsylvania 11	None (District created)			New seat. New member elected. Democratic-Republican gain.	▌Y John Lucas (Democratic-Republican) 48.9% ▌John Wilkins (Federalist) 36.7% ▌Alexander Foster (Federalist) 14.4%

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
Rhode Island at-large 2 seats on a general ticket	Thomas Tillinghast	Democratic-Republican	1800	Incumbent lost re-election. New member elected. Democratic-Republican hold.	▌Y Joseph Stanton Jr. (Democratic-Republican) 30.7% ▌Y Nehemiah Knight (Democratic-Republican) 30.6% ▌Thomas Tillinghast (Federalist)[h] 19.4% ▌Elisha Potter (Federalist) 19.3%
	Joseph Stanton Jr.	Democratic-Republican	1800	Incumbent re-elected.

South Carolina increased its apportionment from 6 seats to 8 after the 1800 census.

Tennessee increased its apportionment from 1 seat to 3 seats after the 1800 census.

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
Tennessee at-large 3 seats on a general ticket	William Dickson	Democratic-Republican	1801	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y William Dickson (Democratic-Republican) 30.2% ▌Y George W. Campbell (Democratic-Republican) 29.7% ▌Y John Rhea (Democratic-Republican) 23.0% ▌John Cocke (Democratic-Republican) 17.2%
	None (Seat created)			New seat. New member elected. Democratic-Republican gain.
	None (Seat created)			New seat. New member elected. Democratic-Republican gain.

Vermont increased its apportionment from 2 seats to 4 after the 1800 census. Vermont law at the time required a majority of votes to win an office, which frequently necessitated additional ballots.

Virginia increased its apportionment from 19 to 22 seats after the 1800 census. Virginia's congressional delegation remained the largest of any state, but would lose this distinction permanently after the census of 1810. Elections were held over three days in April 1803.