Contents

1848–49 United States House of Representatives elections

House elections for the 31st U.S. Congress

1848–49 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1846 & 1847 August 7, 1848 – November 6, 1849[a] 1850 & 1851 →
All 233[b] seats in the United States House of Representatives 117 seats 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 110 seats 116 seats Seats won 113[b] 106 Seat change 3 10 Popular vote 1,212,632 1,231,320 Percentage 44.16% 44.84% Swing 4.27% 0.32%   Third party Fourth party   Party Free Soil Know Nothing Last election New Party 1 seats Seats won 9 1 Seat change 9 Popular vote 237,714 10,539 Percentage 8.66% 0.38% Swing 5.57%[c] 0.83%   Fifth party   Party Independent Last election 3 seats[d] Seats won 3[e] Seat change Popular vote 48,223 Percentage 1.76% Swing 0.98%
Speaker before election Robert C. Winthrop Whig Elected Speaker Howell Cobb Democratic

The 1848–49 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between August 1848 and November 1849. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives before the first session of the 31st United States Congress convened on December 3, 1849. The new state of Wisconsin elected its first representatives, and California also held its first congressional elections before officially achieving statehood in 1850, increasing the size of the House to 233 seats.

These elections spanned the 1848 United States presidential election and took place amid the U.S. victory over Mexico in the (1846–48) Mexican–American War. The Whigs lost their House majority as Democrats, whose support had driven the war, gained a House plurality. Among minor parties, the Free Soil Party won nine Northern seats, while the American or "Know Nothing" Party retained one.

Following the discovery of gold in January 1848, California boomed, creating immediate pressure for statehood. The Compromise of 1850, though largely crafted in the Senate, was also passed by the House, brokering its admission to the Union. Anticipating statehood, California elected two members at-large on November 13, 1849, to be seated September 11, 1850.

As neither major party held a majority when Congress convened on December 3, 1849 ⁠— the Democrats finished three seats short, while the Whigs had lost 12 seats and the majority ⁠— the election of a Speaker proved contentious.

The Whigs were sectionally split, with Northern Whigs nominating incumbent speaker Robert C. WinthropofMassachusetts and Southern Whigs supporting Meredith P. GentryofTennessee. Democrats primarily supported Howell CobbofGeorgia; 13 other Democratic hopefuls also garnered support. The small Free Soil Party, opposing expansion of slavery into the Western territories, supported David WilmotofPennsylvania, author of the Wilmot Proviso, calling attention to slave power's hold over both major parties.

After nearly three weeks of heated debate, the House suspended its majority rule for the Speaker election: Cobb was elected on the 63rd ballot by plurality.^[1]

Election summaries[edit]

Wisconsin was apportioned an additional seat in 1848,^[2] and two more seats were added for the new state of California.^[3]

State	Type	Date	Total seats	Democratic		Free Soil		Whig		Other
				Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Arkansas	At-large	August 7, 1848	1	1		0		0		0
Illinois	District	August 7, 1848	7	6		0		1		0
Iowa	District	August 7, 1848	2	2		0		0		0
Missouri	District	August 7, 1848	5	5		0		0		0
Vermont	District	September 5, 1848	4	1		0		3		0
Maine	District	September 11, 1848	7	5	1	0		2	1	0
Florida	At-large	October 2, 1848	1	0		0		1		0
Georgia	District	October 2, 1848	8	4		0		4		0
South Carolina	District	October 9–10, 1848	7	7		0		0		0
Ohio	District	October 10, 1848	21	11	1	2	2	8	3	0
Pennsylvania	District	October 10, 1848	24	9	2	1	1	13	3	1[g]
Delaware	At-large	November 6, 1848	1	0		0		1		0
Michigan	District	November 7, 1848 (Election Day)[h]	3	2	1	0		1	1	0
New Jersey	District		5	1		0		4		0
New York	District		34	1	10	1	1	32	9	0
Wisconsin	District		3[i]	1	1	1	1	1	1	0
Massachusetts	District	November 13, 1848	10[j]	0		1	1	8	2	0
Late elections, after the March 4, 1849 beginning of the term
New Hampshire	District	March 13, 1849	4	2		1	1	1		0	1[k]
Connecticut	District	April 2, 1849	4	2	2	1	1	1	3	0
Rhode Island	District	April 4, 1849	2	0	1	0		2	1	0
Virginia	District	April 26, 1849	15	13	4	0		2	4	0
Tennessee	District	August 2, 1849	11	7	1	0		4	1	0
Alabama	District	August 6, 1849	7	5		0		2		0
Indiana	District	August 6, 1849	10	8	2	1	1	1	3	0
Kentucky	District	August 6, 1849	10	4		0		6		0
Texas	District	August 6, 1849	2	2		0		0		0
North Carolina	District	August 7, 1849	9	3		0		6		0
Maryland	District	October 3, 1849	6	3	1	0		3	1	0
Louisiana	District	November 5, 1849	4	3		0		1		0
Mississippi	District	November 5–6, 1849	4	4	1	0		0	1	0
California	At-large	November 11, 1849[l]	2	1	1	0		0		1[m]	1
Total[b]			233	113 48.7%	1	9 3.9%	9	108 46.6%	8	2 0.9%

Special elections[edit]

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30th Congress[edit]

31st Congress[edit]

Alabama[edit]

Elections were held August 6, 1849, after the March 4, 1849 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1849.

Arkansas[edit]

The election was held August 7, 1848.

California[edit]

In California two at-large members were elected November 13, 1849 in anticipation of statehood and seated September 11, 1850.

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
California at-large 2 seats	None			New seat. Independent gain.	(Elected on a general ticket) ▌Y George W. Wright (Independent) 22.0% ▌Y Edward Gilbert (Democratic) 20.6% ▌Rodman M. Price (Democratic) 16.3% ▌P. A. Morse (Unknown) 8.3% ▌Lewis Dent (Unknown) 8.2% ▌E. J. C. Kewen (Unknown) 7.3% ▌W. M. Sheppard (Unknown) 7.2% ▌William E. Shannon (Unknown) 5.4% ▌Peter Halsted (Unknown) 2.4% ▌L. W. Hastings (Unknown) 0.9% ▌Pierson B. Reading (Whig) 0.7% ▌W. H. Russell (Unknown) 0.4% ▌J. S. Thompson (Unknown) 0.3% ▌Kimball H. Dimmick (Unknown) 0.2%
	None			New seat. Democratic gain.

Connecticut[edit]

Elections were held April 2, 1849, after the March 4, 1849 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1849.

Delaware[edit]

The election was held November 6, 1848.

Florida[edit]

Florida's single at-large member was elected October 2, 1848.

Georgia[edit]

Elections were held October 2, 1848.

Illinois[edit]

Elections were held August 7, 1848.

Indiana[edit]

Elections were held August 10, 1849, after the March 4, 1849 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1849.

Iowa[edit]

Elections were held August 7, 1848.

Kentucky[edit]

Elections were held August 6, 1849, after the March 4, 1849 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1849.

Louisiana[edit]

Elections were held November 5, 1849, after the March 4, 1849 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1849.

Maine[edit]

Elections were held September 11, 1848.

Maryland[edit]

Elections were held October 3, 1849 elections were after the March 4, 1849 beginning of the new term, but still before the Congress convened in December 1849.

Massachusetts[edit]

Elections were held November 13, 1848.

Michigan[edit]

Elections were held November 7, 1848.

Minnesota Territory[edit]

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Mississippi[edit]

Elections were held November 5–6, 1849, after the March 4, 1849 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1849.

Missouri[edit]

Elections were held August 7, 1848.

New Hampshire[edit]

Elections were held March 13, 1849, after the March 4, 1849 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1849.

New Jersey[edit]

Elections were held November 7, 1848.

New York[edit]

Elections were held November 7, 1848.

North Carolina[edit]

Elections were held August 7, 1849, after the March 4, 1849 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1849.

Ohio[edit]

Elections were held October 10, 1848.

Oregon Territory[edit]

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Pennsylvania[edit]

Elections were held October 10, 1848.

Rhode Island[edit]

Elections were held April 4, 1849, after the March 4, 1849 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1849.

South Carolina[edit]

Elections were held October 9–10, 1848.

Tennessee[edit]

Elections were held August 2, 1849.

Texas[edit]

Elections were held August 6, 1849.

Vermont[edit]

Elections were held September 5, 1848.

Virginia[edit]

Elections were held April 26, 1849, after the March 4, 1849 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1849.

Wisconsin[edit]

Wisconsin members were first elected in advance of its June 1848 statehood. It elected two members to finish the current term in the 30th Congress, and then it gained an elected an additional member for elections to the 31st Congress.

30th Congress[edit]

Wisconsin's two members were elected May 8, 1848.

31st Congress[edit]

Wisconsin's three members were elected November 7, 1848.

Non-voting delegates[edit]

Going into these elections, there were no incumbent delegates, because the only territory — Wisconsin Territory — became a state in 1848. Two new territories — Minnesota Territory and Oregon Territory — were granted delegates in 1849.

See also[edit]

• 1848 United States elections
  • List of United States House of Representatives elections (1824–1854)
  • 1848 United States presidential election
  • 1848–49 United States Senate elections
• 30th United States Congress
• 31st 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)