Contents

1846–47 United States House of Representatives elections

House elections for the 30th U.S. Congress

1846–47 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1844 & 1845 August 2, 1846 – November 2, 1847[a] 1848 & 1849 →
All 230[b] seats in the United States House of Representatives 116 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Robert Winthrop Linn Boyd Party Whig Democratic Leader's seat Massachusetts 1st Kentucky 1st Last election 79 seats 142 seats Seats won 116 110[b][c] Seat change 37 32 Popular vote 1,033,506 1,124,080 Percentage 44.52% 48.43% Swing 0.27% 1.59%   Third party Fourth party   Party Know Nothing Independent Last election 6 seats 0 seats Seats won 1 3[d] Seat change 5 3 Popular vote 28,198 63,690 Percentage 1.21% 2.74% Swing 0.88% 1.49%
Results:      Democratic hold      Democratic gain      Whig hold      Whig gain      Independent gain      Know Nothing hold
Speaker before election John Davis Democratic Elected Speaker Robert Winthrop Whig

The 1846–47 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between August 2, 1846, and November 2, 1847. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives. 228 elected members representing 29 states took their seats when the first session of the 30th United States Congress convened December 6, 1847. The new states of Iowa and Texas elected their first representatives during this election cycle. These elections were held during President James K. Polk's term.

The Whigs gained 37 seats to win 116 and a change in partisan control, while the rival Democrats lost 30, falling to 112.^[e] The Whigs gained seats in the Mid-Atlantic and the South. The nativist and anti-Catholic Native American Party, also known as the Know Nothings, was reduced to one seat. One Independent, Amos Tuck, was elected from New Hampshire.

The Mexican–American War, which the incumbent House had voted overwhelmingly to approve, was the main issue. The war had much stronger voter support in the West, South, and among Democrats than in the East, North, and among Whigs.

It was widely, accurately believed that war with Mexico would be won with large territorial gains. The Wilmot Proviso was the first congressional attempt to address slavery in these projected new territories, by proposing to ban it. Congress rejected the Wilmot Proviso, but not quickly or smoothly. Protracted debate aggravated sectional tensions. The repeated failure of Congress, and later also the President and Supreme Court, over the next decade to resolve the issue of slavery in the territories was a major cause of the Civil War.

This was the last time the Whig Party won a House majority, though candidates opposed to the Democratic Party would win a large majority in the realigning 1854 election. Notable freshmen included Abraham Lincoln of Illinois, elected as a Whig to his only term.

Election summaries[edit]

The trend toward single-member districts culminated as no multi-member districts featured.

In 1845, partly motivated by the successful 1844 test of the electric telegraph between Washington and Baltimore, Congress established a uniform date for choosing Presidential electors. Gradually, states aligned nearly all elections with this date, though as of this election, only three states had done so.

Two seats were added for the new State of Wisconsin.^[1] Wisconsin was unrepresented for most of the first session.

State	Type	Date	Total seats	Democratic		Whig		Other
				Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Elections for new states (Not included in totals below)
Texas	District	March 30, 1846	2	2	2	0		0
Iowa	At-large	October 26, 1846	2	2	2	0		0
General elections
Missouri	District[g]	August 2, 1846	5	5		0		0
Arkansas	At-large	August 3, 1846	1	1[h]		0		0
Illinois	District	August 3, 1846	7	6[i]		1		0
Vermont	District	September 1, 1846	4	1		3		0
Maine	District	September 14, 1846	7	6		1		0
Florida	At-large	October 5, 1846	1	0	1	1	1	0
Georgia	District	October 5, 1846	8	4	1	4	1	0
South Carolina	District	October 12–13, 1846	7	7		0		0
Ohio	District	October 13, 1846	21	10	3	11	3	0
Pennsylvania	District	October 13, 1846	24	7	5	16	6	1[j]	1
Texas	District	November 2, 1846	2	2		0		0
Michigan	District	November 3, 1846 (Election Day)	3	3		0		0
New Jersey	District		5	1		4		0
New York	District		34	11[k]	10	23	14	0	4
Massachusetts	District	November 9, 1846	10	0		10		0
Delaware	At-large	November 10, 1846	1	0		1		0
Late elections (after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the term)
New Hampshire	District[g]	March 9, 1847	4[l]	2	1	1	1	1[m]	1
Connecticut	District	April 5, 1847	4	0		4		0
Rhode Island	District	April 7, 1847	2	1	1	1	1	0
Virginia	District	April 22, 1847	15	9	5	6	5	0
Alabama	District	August 2, 1847	7	5	1	2	1	0
Indiana	District	August 2, 1847	10	6	2	4	2	0
Iowa	District[g]	August 2, 1847	2	2		0		0
Kentucky	District	August 2, 1847	10	4	1	6	1	0
Tennessee	District	August 2, 1847	11	6		5		0
North Carolina	District	August 5, 1847	9	3	3	6	3	0
Maryland	District	October 6, 1847	6	2	2	4	2	0
Mississippi	District[g]	November 1–2, 1847	4	3	1	1	1	0
Louisiana	District	November 2, 1847	4	3		1		0
Total[b]			228	110[e] 48.7%	35	116 50.4%	38	2 0.9%	4

Special elections[edit]

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
Georgia 3	Washington Poe	Democratic	1844	Member-elect declined the seat. New member elected January 5, 1846. Democratic hold.	▌Y George W. Towns (Democratic) 51.62% ▌Ambrose Baber (Whig) 48.38%[2]
Missouri at-large	Sterling Price	Democratic	1844	Incumbent resigned August 12, 1846 to serve in the Mexican–American War. New member elected October 31, 1846 and seated December 7, 1846. Democratic hold. Successor had not been elected to the next term; see below.	▌Y William McDaniel (Democratic) ▌ William M. Kincaid (Whig)
Florida at-large	None (New state)			Member-elect elected to the Senate. New member elected October 6, 1845. Whig gain.	Initial count: ▌Y Edward C. Cabell (Whig) 50.51% ▌William H. Brockenbrough (Democratic) 49.49% Recount: ▌Y William H. Brockenbrough (Democratic) 50.35% ▌ Edward C. Cabell (Whig) 49.65%
				Recount places newly elected member in second place. Member removed from the seat, and the true victor is seated. Democratic gain.
Arkansas at-large	Archibald Yell	Democratic	1836 1840 (retired) 1844	Incumbent resigned July 1, 1846 to serve in the United States Volunteers. New member elected December 14, 1846. Whig gain. Successor seated February 6, 1847. Successor had not been elected to the next term; see below.	▌Y Thomas Willoughby Newton (Whig) 28.55% ▌George W. Paschal (Democratic) 28.17% ▌Albert Rust (Democratic) 27.06% ▌C. F. Noland (Whig) 13.97% ▌Herndon Haralson (Democratic) 2.26%[3]
Illinois 7	Edward D. Baker	Whig	1844	Incumbent resigned January 15, 1847 to join the Illinois Volunteer Infantry. New member elected January 20, 1847 to finish the term. Whig hold. Successor had not been a candidate to the next term; see below.	▌Y John Henry (Whig) 56.73% ▌Israel W. Crosby (Democratic) 30.33% ▌Archibald Job (Democratic) 6.92% ▌Turner R. King (Independent) 2.94% ▌William Brown (Whig) 1.91% Scattering 1.17%[4]
Michigan 2	Edward Bradley	Democratic	1846	Incumbent died August 5, 1847. New member elected November 2, 1847. Democratic hold.	▌Y Charles E. Stuart (Democratic) 52.2% ▌James W. Gordon (Whig) 43.9% ▌William C. Denison (Unknown) 3.9%[5]
Louisiana 1
Mississippi 1

Alabama[edit]

Elections were held August 2, 1847, after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1847.

Arkansas[edit]

Arkansas elected its sole member August 3, 1846.

Connecticut[edit]

Elections were held April 5, 1847, after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1847.

Delaware[edit]

The election was held November 10, 1846.

Florida[edit]

The election was held October 5, 1846.

Georgia[edit]

Elections were held October 5, 1846.

Illinois[edit]

Elections were held August 3, 1846.

Indiana[edit]

Elections were held August 2, 1847, after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1847.

Iowa[edit]

Elections to the 29th Congress[edit]

Elections for the new state were held October 26, 1846.

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
Iowa at-large (2 seats)	New state			New seat. New member elected October 26, 1846. Democratic gain. Winner (Leffler) was later elected in the 2nd district to the next term, see below.	(Elected on a general ticket) ▌Y Shepherd Leffler (Democratic) 26.47% ▌Y S. Clinton Hastings (Democratic) 26.10% ▌Joseph H. Hedrick (Whig) 23.86% ▌G. C. Mitchell (Whig) 23.57%[8]
	New state			New seat. New member elected October 26, 1846. Democratic gain. Winner (Hastings) would not be a candidate for the next term, see below.

Elections to the 30th Congress[edit]

Elections were held August 2, 1847, after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1847.

Kentucky[edit]

Elections were held August 2, 1847, after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1847.

Louisiana[edit]

Elections were held November 2, 1847, after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1847.

Maine[edit]

Elections were held September 14, 1846.

Maryland[edit]

Elections were held October 6, 1847 elections were after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the new term, but still before the Congress convened in December 1847.

Massachusetts[edit]

Elections were held November 9, 1846.

Michigan[edit]

Elections were held November 3, 1846.

Mississippi[edit]

Elections were held November 1–2, 1847, after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1847.

Missouri[edit]

Elections were held August 2, 1846. All five seats remained Democratic. Three of the members retired.

New Hampshire[edit]

Elections were held March 9, 1847, after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1847. Two of the districts had run-off elections in July 1847.

New Jersey[edit]

Elections were held November 3, 1846.

New York[edit]

Elections were held November 3, 1846.

North Carolina[edit]

Elections were held August 5, 1847, after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1847.

Ohio[edit]

Elections were held October 13, 1846.

Pennsylvania[edit]

Elections were held October 13, 1846.

Rhode Island[edit]

Elections were held April 7, 1847, after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1847.

South Carolina[edit]

Elections were held October 12–13, 1846.

Tennessee[edit]

Elections were held August 2, 1847.

Texas[edit]

29th Congress[edit]

Elections for the 29th Congress were held in March 1846.^[41]

30th Congress[edit]

Elections for the 30th United States Congress were held November 2, 1846.^[42]

Vermont[edit]

Elections were held September 1, 1846.

Virginia[edit]

Elections were held April 22, 1847, after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1847.

Wisconsin Territory[edit]

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Non-voting delegates[edit]

See also[edit]

• 1846 United States elections
  • List of United States House of Representatives elections (1824–1854)
  • 1846–47 United States Senate elections
• 29th United States Congress
• 30th United States Congress

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

• 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[edit]

• Office of the Historian (Office of Art & Archives, Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)