1872–73 United States House of Representatives elections

1872–73 United States House of Representatives elections
All 292 seats in the United States House of Representatives; 147 seats needed for a majority
	300px Map of U.S. House elections results from 1872 elections for 43rd Congress
Speaker before election; James G. Blaine; Republican	Elected Speaker; James G. Blaine; Republican

The 1872–73 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between June 4, 1872 and April 7, 1873. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives before the first session of the 43rd United States Congress convened on December 1, 1873. They coincided with the re-election of United States President Ulysses S. Grant. The congressional reapportionment based on the 1870 United States Census increased the number of House seats to 292.

Grant's Republican Party increased its majority greatly, partly at the expense of the opposition Democratic Party and partly by adding 49 new seats to the House. The pro-industry outlook of the Republicans appealed to many Northern voters, especially as the post-war economy exploded, and this allowed the party to flourish as the Industrial Revolution grew more widespread. The Republicans also benefited from a continuing association with Civil War victory as well as disarray amongst Democratic leadership.

Election summaries

Following the 1870 Census, the House was reapportioned, initially adding 40 seats,^[1] followed by a subsequent amendment to the apportionment act adding another seat to 9 states,^[2] resulting in a total increase of 49 seats. No states lost seats, 10 states had no change, 13 states gained 1 seat each, 9 states gained 2 seats, 3 states gained 3 seats, 1 State gained 4 seats, and 1 State gained 5 seats. Prior to the supplemental act, two states (New Hampshire and Vermont) had each lost 1 seat. This was the first reapportionment after the repeal of the three-fifths compromise by the 14th Amendment.

↓
89	203
Democratic	Republican

State	Type	Total seats		Democratic		Republican
State	Type	Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Alabama	District + 2 at-large	8	2	2	1	6^{[lower-alpha 4]}	3
Arkansas	District + at-large	4	1	0	1	4^{[lower-alpha 4]}	2
California	District	4	1	1	1	3
Connecticut^{[lower-alpha 5]}	District	4		1		3
Delaware	At-large	1		0	1	1	1
Florida	At-large	2	1	0		2	1
Georgia	District	9	2	7	3	2	1
Illinois	District	19	5	5	1	14	6
Indiana^{[lower-alpha 6]}	District + 3 at-large	13	2	3	2	10	4
Iowa	District	9	3	0		9	3
Kansas	At-large	3	2	0		3	2
Kentucky	District	10	1	10	1	0
Louisiana	District + 1 at-large	6	1	0		6^{[lower-alpha 4]}	1
Maine^{[lower-alpha 6]}	District	5		0		5
Maryland	District	6	1	4	1	2	2
Massachusetts	District	11	1	0		11	1
Michigan	District	9	3	0	1	9	4
Minnesota	District	3	1	0		3	1
Mississippi	District	6	1	1	1	5
Missouri	District	13	4	9	5	4	1
Nebraska^{[lower-alpha 6]}	At-large	1		0		1
Nevada	At-large	1		1		0
New Hampshire^{[lower-alpha 5]}	District	3		1	2	2	2
New Jersey	District	7	2	1	1	6	3
New York	District + 1 at-large	33	2	9	7	24	9
North Carolina^{[lower-alpha 6]}	District	8	1	5		3	1
Ohio^{[lower-alpha 6]}	District	20	1	6	1	14^{[lower-alpha 4]}
Oregon^{[lower-alpha 6]}	At-large	1		0	1	1	1
Pennsylvania^{[lower-alpha 6]}	District + 3 at-large	27	3	5	6	22	9
Rhode Island	District	2		0		2
South Carolina	District + 1 at-large	5	1	0		5	1
Tennessee	District + 1 at-large	10	2	3	3	7	5
Texas	District + 2 at-large	6	2	6	3	0	1
Vermont^{[lower-alpha 6]}	District	3		0		3
Virginia	District	9	1	5		4	1
West Virginia^{[lower-alpha 6]}	District	3		2^{[lower-alpha 3]}		1
Wisconsin	District	8	2	2		6	2
Total		292	49	89^{[lower-alpha 3]} 30.5%	13	203^{[lower-alpha 7]} 69.5%	62 30.5%

Popular vote

Republican			52.85%
Democratic			41.76%
Lib. Republican			4.08%
Conservative			1.87%
Independent			2.25%
Others			0.00%

House seats

Republican			67.92%
Democratic			29.01%
Lib. Republican			1.37%
Conservative			1.37%
Independent			0.34%

Election dates

In 1845, Congress passed a law providing for a uniform nationwide date for choosing Presidential electors.^[3] This law did not affect election dates for Congress, which remained within the jurisdiction of State governments, but over time, the States moved their Congressional elections to this date as well. In 1872–73, there were still 9 states with earlier election dates, and 2 states with later election dates:

Early elections (1872):
- June 4 Oregon
- August 1 North Carolina
- August 27 West Virginia
- September 3 Vermont
- September 9 Maine
- October 8 Indiana, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania
Late elections (1873):
- March 11, 1873 New Hampshire
- April 7, 1873 Connecticut