1846–47 United States House of Representatives elections

August 2, 1846 – November 2, 1847[lower-alpha 1]
All 230[lower-alpha 2] 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[lower-alpha 2][lower-alpha 3] 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[lower-alpha 4] 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.^{[lower-alpha 5]} 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

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[lower-alpha 7]	August 2, 1846	5	5		0		0
Arkansas	At-large	August 3, 1846	1	1[lower-alpha 8]		0		0
Illinois	District	August 3, 1846	7	6[lower-alpha 9]		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[lower-alpha 10]	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[lower-alpha 11]	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[lower-alpha 7]	March 9, 1847	4[lower-alpha 12]	2	1	1	1	1[lower-alpha 13]	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[lower-alpha 7]	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[lower-alpha 7]	November 1–2, 1847	4	3	1	1	1	0
Louisiana	District	November 2, 1847	4	3		1		0
Total[lower-alpha 2]			228	110[lower-alpha 5] 48.7%	35	116 50.4%	38	2 0.9%	4

Shaded according to winners share of vote

Special elections

Alabama

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

Arkansas elected its sole member August 3, 1846.

Connecticut

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

The election was held November 10, 1846.

Florida

The election was held October 5, 1846.

Georgia

Elections were held October 5, 1846.

Illinois

Elections were held August 3, 1846.

Indiana

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

Kentucky

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

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

Elections were held September 14, 1846.

Maryland

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

Elections were held November 9, 1846.

Michigan

Elections were held November 3, 1846.

Mississippi

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

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

New Hampshire

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

Elections were held November 3, 1846.

New York

Elections were held November 3, 1846.

North Carolina

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

Elections were held October 13, 1846.

Pennsylvania

Elections were held October 13, 1846.

Rhode Island

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

Elections were held October 12–13, 1846.

Tennessee

Elections were held August 2, 1847.

Texas

Vermont

Elections were held September 1, 1846.

Virginia

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

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Non-voting delegates

See also

• 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

References

Bibliography

• 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

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