Contents

1864–65 United States House of Representatives elections

1864–65 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1862 & 1863 June 5, 1864 – November 7, 1865[a] 1866 & 1867 →
All 193[b] seats in the United States House of Representatives 97 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Schuyler Colfax James Brooks Party National Union Democratic Leader's seat Indiana 9th New York 8th Last election 110 seats[c] 72 seats Seats won 150 33 Seat change 40 39 Popular vote 2,078,677[c] 1,631,393 Percentage 53.47% 41.97% Swing 0.78%[d] 3.14%   Third party Fourth party   Party Conservative Radical Democracy Last election New party New party Seats won 5 4 Seat change 5 4 Popular vote 84,998 54,008 Percentage 2.19% 1.39% Swing New party New party   Fifth party   Party Independent Last election 2 seats Seats won 1[e] Seat change 1 Popular vote 41,360 Percentage 1.06% Swing 0.50%
Results      National Unionist gain      National Unionist hold      Democratic gain      Democratic hold
Speaker before election Schuyler Colfax Republican Elected Speaker Schuyler Colfax Republican

The 1864–65 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between June 5, 1864, and November 7, 1865, in the midst of the American Civil War and President Abraham Lincoln's reelection. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives. Members were elected before the first session of the 39th United States Congress convened on December 4, 1865, including the at-large seat from the new state of Nevada, and the 8 from Tennessee, the first secessionist state to be readmitted. The other 10 secessionist states had not yet been readmitted, and therefore were not seated.

The opposition Democrats were deeply divided between the Copperheads, a group that demanded an immediate negotiated settlement with the Confederate States of America, and the War Democrats, who supported the war. With the Democrats lacking any coherent message, they lost half their seats to Lincoln's Republican Party, who increased their majority to a commanding level.

The National Union Party (formerly known as the Unionists) lost seven seats, retaining control of 18 seats (some classify the Representatives as including 13 Unconditional Unionists and five Unionists), all from the border statesofMaryland, Tennessee, and Kentucky, as well as West Virginia.

Election summaries[edit]

One new seat was added for the new State of Nevada^[1] and 8 vacancies were filled by the readmission of Tennessee, the first secessionist state to be readmitted. Three former Confederate States held elections in 1865 that were rejected by Congress.

State	Type	Date	Total seats	Democratic		Republican		Unionist[f]
				Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Oregon	At-large	June 5, 1864	1	0		1		0
Vermont	District	September 6, 1864	3	0		3		0
Maine	District	September 11, 1864	5	0	1	5	1	0
Indiana	District	October 10, 1864	11	2	5	9	5	0
Nevada[g]	At-large		1	0		1	1	0
Ohio	District		19	2	12	17	12	0
Pennsylvania	District		24	8	4	16	4	0
West Virginia	District	October 22, 1864	3	0		0		3
California	District[h]	November 8, 1864 (Election Day)[i]	3	0		3		0
Delaware	At-large		1	1		0		0
Illinois	District + 1 at-large		14	3	6	11	6	0
Iowa	District		6	0		6		0
Kansas	At-large		1	0		1		0
Maryland	District		5	2	1	0		3	1
Massachusetts	District		10	0		10		0
Michigan	District		6	0	1	6	1	0
Minnesota	District		2	0		2		0
Missouri	District		9	1	1	8[e]	7	0	8
New Jersey	District		5	3	1	2	1	0
New York	District		31	10	7	21	7	0
Wisconsin	District		6	1	2	5	2	0
Late elections (after the March 4, 1865 beginning of the term)
New Hampshire	District	March 14, 1865	3	0	1	3	1	0
Connecticut	District	April 3, 1865	4	0	1	4	1	0
Tennessee[j]	District	August 3, 1865[k]	8	0		0		8	8
Rhode Island	District	April 5, 1865	2	0		2		0
Kentucky	District	August 7, 1865	9	5	5	0		4	5
Nevada	At-large	November 7, 1865	1	0		1		0
Secessionist states not yet readmitted
Alabama	District	November 6, 1865[l]	6
Arkansas	District	October 9, 1865[l]	3
Florida	At-large	November 29, 1865[l]	1
Georgia	District	November 15, 1865[l]	7
Louisiana	District	November 6, 1865[l]	5
Mississippi	District	October 2, 1865[l]	5
North Carolina	District	November 9, 1865[l]	7
South Carolina	District	November 22, 1865[l]	4
Texas	District	October 15, 1866[l]	4
Virginia	District	October 12, 1865[l]	8
Total[b]			193 50 vacancies[m]	38 19.7%	31	137[e] 71.0%	46	18 9.3%	6

Of the rejected elections, Florida's and Mississippi's claimants' parties are unknown, while North Carolina elected 4 Union and 3 Conservative Representatives.

Special elections[edit]

38th Congress[edit]

39th Congress[edit]

Alabama[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

Arizona Territory[edit]

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Arkansas[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

California[edit]

California elections

← 1863 November 8, 1864 1867 →
3 seats
Majority party Minority party   Party Republican Democratic Last election 3 0 Seats won 3 0 Seat change Popular vote 62,039 43,045 Percentage 59.0% 41.0%
Results:      Republican hold

Note: This was the first election in which California elected representatives from congressional districts.

Colorado Territory[edit]

See non-voting delegates, below.

Connecticut[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

Dakota Territory[edit]

See non-voting delegates, below.

Delaware[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

Florida[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

Georgia[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

Idaho Territory[edit]

See non-voting delegates, below.

Illinois[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

Indiana[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

Iowa[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

Kansas[edit]

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Kentucky[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

Louisiana[edit]

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Maine[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

Maryland[edit]

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Massachusetts[edit]

Michigan[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

Minnesota[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

Mississippi[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

Missouri[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

Montana Territory[edit]

See non-voting delegates, below.

Nebraska Territory[edit]

See non-voting delegates, below.

Nevada[edit]

38th Congress[edit]

On October 31, 1864, the new state of Nevada elected Republican Henry G. Worthington to finish the term ending March 3, 1865.

39th Congress[edit]

Worthington was not renominated for the next term, however, and on November 7, 1865, Republican Delos R. Ashley was elected November 7, 1865 for the term that had already begun but would not formally meet until December 4, 1865.

New Hampshire[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

New Jersey[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

New Mexico Territory[edit]

See non-voting delegates, below.

New York[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

North Carolina[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

Ohio[edit]

Ohio's delegation swung from 14–5 Democratic to 17-2 Republican as 10 Democratic incumbents lost renomination or re-election.

Oregon[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

Pennsylvania[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

Rhode Island[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

South Carolina[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

Tennessee[edit]

Elections held late, on August 3, 1865.

Texas[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

Utah Territory[edit]

See non-voting delegates, below.

Vermont[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

Virginia[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

Washington Territory[edit]

See non-voting delegates, below.

West Virginia[edit]

Wisconsin[edit]

Wisconsin elected six members of congress on Election Day, November 8, 1864.^[23]

Non-voting delegates[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

38th Congress[edit]

39th Congress[edit]

See also[edit]

• 1864 United States elections
  • 1864 United States presidential election
  • 1864–65 United States Senate elections
• 38th United States Congress
• 39th 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.
• Thompson; West (1881). History of Nevada. Oakland, California: Oakland, Cal., Thompson and West. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
• "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)
• "Elections 1860 - 1869". JoinCalifornia / Election History for the State of California. Retrieved February 12, 2018.