1790–91 United States House of Representatives elections

April 27, 1790 – October 11, 1791[lower-alpha 1]
All 67 seats in the United States House of Representatives[lower-alpha 2] 34 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Jonathan Trumbull Jr. Frederick Muhlenberg[lower-alpha 3] Party Pro-Administration Anti-Administration Leader's seat Connecticut at-large Pennsylvania 2nd Last election 37 seats 28 seats Seats won 40 27 Seat change 3 1
Results:      Pro-Administration hold      Pro-Administration gain      Anti-Administration hold      Anti-Administration gain      Undistricted      Chesapeak Party (MD) gain
Speaker before election Frederick Muhlenberg Pro-Administration Elected Speaker Jonathan Trumbull Jr. Pro-Administration

The 1790–91 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between April 27, 1790, and October 11, 1791. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives before the first session of the 2nd United States Congress convened on October 24, 1791. This was the first midterm election cycle, which took place in the middle of President George Washington's first term. The size of the House increased to 67 seats after the new state of Vermont elected its first representatives.

While formal political parties still did not exist, coalitions of pro-Washington (pro-Administration) representatives and anti-Administration representatives each gained two seats as a result of the addition of new states to the union.

Speaker Frederick Muhlenberg, who had led the Pro-Administrationists in 1789, switched loyalties to the Anti-Administrationists during the tenure of the 1st Congress. He failed to win election to the Speakership as their leader as a result of these elections, and was succeeded by Jonathan Trumbull Jr., who became the 2nd Speaker of the House.

Retirements

Either five or six incumbents did not seek re-election.

Election summaries

In this period, each state fixed its own date for congressional general elections, as early as April 27, 1790 (in New York) and as late as October 11, 1791 (in Pennsylvania). Elections to a Congress took place both in the even-numbered year before and in the odd-numbered year when the Congress convened. In some states, the congressional delegation was not elected until after the legal start of the Congress (on the 4th day of March in the odd-numbered year). The first session of this Congress was convened in Philadelphia on October 24, 1791.

Kentucky and Vermont became states during the 2nd Congress, adding two seats each.^[1] The legislation admitted Vermont was passed at the end of the 1st Congress taking effect on March 4, 1791, the first day of the 2nd Congress, so that Vermont was represented from the start of the Congress, while Kentucky was unrepresented until the 2nd session.

State	Type	Date	Total seats	Pro- Administration		Anti- Administration
				Seats	Change	Seats	Change
New York	Districts	April 27–29, 1790	6	5	2	1	2
New Hampshire	At-large	August 30, 1790	3	3	1	0	1
Virginia	Districts	September 1, 1790	10	2	1	8	1
Connecticut	At-large	September 20, 1790	5	5		0
Maryland	Mixed[lower-alpha 4]	October 4, 1790	6	3	1	3	1
Massachusetts	Districts	October 4, 1790[lower-alpha 5]	8	7	1	1	1
South Carolina	Districts	October 12, 1790	5	3	1	2	1
Rhode Island	At-large	October 19, 1790	1	1		0
Delaware	At-large	November 8, 1790	1	1		0
Georgia	District	January 3, 1791	3	0		3
New Jersey	At-large	January 26, 1791	4	4		0
North Carolina	Districts	January 28, 1791	5	2		3
Late elections (after the March 4, 1791, beginning of the term)
Vermont	Districts	July 13, 1791[lower-alpha 6]	2	0		2	2
Pennsylvania	Districts	October 11, 1791	8	4	2	4	2
Total			67	40 59.7%	3	27 40.3%	1

Change in composition

Special elections

There were special elections in 1790 and 1791 during the 1st United States Congress and 2nd United States Congress. New states and newly ratified states are not included as special elections.

Elections are sorted by date then district.

Connecticut

Connecticut elected all five of its representatives at-large on a general ticket on September 20, 1790.

There were two subsequent special elections. The first was held to fill the vacancy left by Pierpont Edwards (Pro-Administration) declining to serve and was won by Jeremiah Wadsworth (Pro-Administration). The second was held September 19, 1791, to fill the vacancy left by Roger Sherman (Pro-Administration)'s election to the Senate and was won by Amasa Learned (Pro-Administration).

Delaware

Georgia

Georgia switched to a conventional district system for the Second Congress. At the time, the districts were not numbered, but are retroactively renumbered as the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd respectively here.

Kentucky

Kentucky was admitted during the 2nd Congress and elected its first representatives in 1792.

Maryland

Under Maryland law for the election for the 1st and 2nd Congresses "candidates were elected at-large but had to be residents of a specific district with the statewide vote determining winners from each district."

Massachusetts

Massachusetts law required a majority for election. This condition was met in four of the eight districts, the remaining four required between 2 and 9 ballots for election.

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New York

New York's districts were not numbered at the time, therefore the numbering here is retroactive.

North Carolina

North Carolina ratified the Constitution November 21, 1789, and elected its representatives after admission.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania had elected its Representatives at-large in the 1st Congress, but switched to using districts in the 2nd Congress. Five incumbents ran for re-election, four of whom won, while three others retired leaving three open seats. Two districts had no incumbents residing in them, while one (the 8th district) had a single representative who declined to run for re-election and one (the 2nd district) had three incumbents, only one of whom ran for re-election.

Rhode Island

South Carolina

Vermont

Vermont was admitted at the end of the First Congress, with the admission taking effect at the start of the Second Congress. Vermont was entitled to elect two representatives. Vermont law at the time required a majority to win an office. In the 1st district, no candidate won a majority, necessitating a run-off.

Virginia

See also

• 1790 United States elections
  • List of United States House of Representatives elections (1789–1822)
  • 1790–91 United States Senate elections
• 1st United States Congress
• 2nd United States Congress

Notes

References

Bibliography

• "A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825". Tufts Digital Library, Tufts University. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
• Dubin, Michael J. (March 1, 1998). 1788 United States Congressional Elections-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.
• "Party Divisions of the House of Representatives* 1789–Present". Office of the Historian, United States House of Representatives. Retrieved January 21, 2015.

External links

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