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1896 United States House of Representatives elections

House elections for the 55th U.S. Congress

1896 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1894 November 3, 1896[a] 1898 →
All 357 seats in the United States House of Representatives 179 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Thomas Brackett Reed Joseph Weldon Bailey Party Republican Democratic Leader's seat Maine 1st Texas 4th Last election 254 seats 93 seats Seats won 206[1] 124[1] Seat change 48 31 Popular vote 6,655,919 5,594,384 Percentage 48.77% 40.99% Swing 0.50% 3.27%   Third party Fourth party   Party Populist Silver Republican Last election 9 seats New Party Seats won 22[1] 3[1] Seat change 13 3 Popular vote 935,636 139,132 Percentage 6.86% 1.02% Swing 4.16% Pre-creation   Fifth party Sixth party   Party Silver Independent Republican Last election 1 0 Seats won 1[1] 1 Seat change 1 Popular vote 6,429 72,945 Percentage 0.05% 0.53% Swing 0.01% 0.20%
Results:      Democratic gain      Republican gain      Democratic hold      Republican hold      Populist gain      Populist hold      Silver Republican gain
Speaker before election Thomas Reed Republican Elected Speaker Thomas Reed Republican

The 1896 United States House of Representatives elections were held for the most part on November 3, 1896, with Oregon, Maine, and Vermont holding theirs early in either June or September. They coincided with the electionofPresident William McKinley. Elections were held for 357 seats of the United States House of Representatives, representing 45 states, to serve in the 55th United States Congress. The size of the House increased by one seat after Utah gained statehood on January 4, 1896. Special elections were also held throughout the year.

The Republican Party maintained its large majority in the House but lost 48 seats, mostly to the Democratic and Populist parties. The Republican losses were most likely due to the extraordinary gains that party made in the prior elections,^{[citation needed]} when many normally Democratic districts voted Republican due to the severity of and fallout from the Panic of 1893. The Democratic Party recovered in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern districts dominated by Catholic and working-class voters. In the West, the Populist Party made large gains and several Republicans broke away over the national party platform's endorsement of a gold standard.

This election marked the zenith of the Populist Party. The Populists would lose most of their seats in the 1898 elections and thereafter slowly fade from prominence.

Election summaries[edit]

State	Type	Total seats	Democratic		Populist		Silver		Silver Republican		Ind. Republican		Republican
			Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Alabama	District	9	7	2	1	1	0		0		0		1	1
Arkansas	District	6	6		0		0		0		0		0
California	District	7	2	1	2	2	0		0		0		3	3
Colorado	District	2	0		1		0		1	1	0		0	1
Connecticut	District	4	0		0		0		0		0		4
Delaware	At-large	1	1	1	0		0		0		0		0	1
Florida	District	2	2		0		0		0		0		0
Georgia	District	11	11		0		0		0		0		0
Idaho	At-large	1	0		1	1	0		0		0		0	1
Illinois	District	22	5	3	0		0		0		0		17	3
Indiana	District	13	4	4	0		0		0		0		9	4
Iowa	District	11	0		0		0		0		0		11
Kansas	District +at-large	8	0		6	5	0		0		0		2	5
Kentucky	District	11	7	1	0		0		0		0		4	1
Louisiana	District	6	6		0		0		0		0		0
Maine[c]	District	4	0		0		0		0		0		4
Maryland	District	6	0	3	0		0		0		0		6	3
Massachusetts	District	13	1		0		0		0		0		12
Michigan	District	12	2	2	0		0		0		0		10	2
Minnesota	District	7	0		0		0		0		0		7
Mississippi	District	7	7		0		0		0		0		0
Missouri	District	15	12	7	0		0		0		0		3	7
Montana	At-large	1	0		0		0		1	1	0		0	1
Nebraska	District	6	0		4	3	0		0		0		2	3
Nevada	At-large	1	0		0		1		0		0		0
New Hampshire	District	2	0		0		0		0		0		2
New Jersey	District	8	0		0		0		0		0		8
New York	District	34	5	1	0		0		0		0		29	1
North Carolina	District	9	1	1	5	1	0		0		0		3
North Dakota	At-large	1	0		0		0		0		0		1
Ohio	District	21	6	4	0		0		0		0		15	4
Oregon[c]	District	2	0		0		0		0		0		2
Pennsylvania	District +2 at-large	30	3	1	0		0		0		1	1	26	2
Rhode Island	District	2	0		0		0		0		0		2
South Carolina	District	7	7	1	0		0		0		0		0	1
South Dakota	At-large	2	0		2	2	0		0		0		0	2
Tennessee	District	10	8	2	0		0		0		0		2	2
Texas	District	13	12		0		0		0		0		1
Utah	At-large	1	1	1	0		0		0		0		0	1
Vermont[c]	District	2	0		0		0		0		0		2
Virginia	District	10	6	2	0		0		0		0		4	2
Washington[d]	At-large	2	1	1	0		0		1	1	0		0	2
West Virginia	District	4	0		0		1		3	3	0		0
Wisconsin	District	10	0		0		0		0		0		10
Wyoming	At-large	1	1	1	0		0		0		0		0	1
Total		357	124 34.7%	31	22 6.2%	13	1 0.3%	0	3 0.8%		1 0.3%	1	206 57.7%	48

Special elections[edit]

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (January 2020)

Early election dates[edit]

Three states, with 8 seats between them, held elections early in 1896:

• June 1: Oregon
• September 1: Vermont
• September 14: Maine

Alabama[edit]

Arkansas[edit]

California[edit]

Colorado[edit]

Connecticut[edit]

Delaware[edit]

Florida[edit]

Georgia[edit]

Idaho[edit]

Illinois[edit]

Indiana[edit]

Iowa[edit]

Kansas[edit]

Kentucky[edit]

Louisiana[edit]

Maine[edit]

Maryland[edit]

Massachusetts[edit]

Michigan[edit]

Minnesota[edit]

Mississippi[edit]

Missouri[edit]

Montana[edit]

Nebraska[edit]

Nevada[edit]

New Hampshire[edit]

New Jersey[edit]

New York[edit]

North Carolina[edit]

North Dakota[edit]

Ohio[edit]

Oregon[edit]

Pennsylvania[edit]

Rhode Island[edit]

South Carolina[edit]