United States House of Representatives elections, 1870 and 1871

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United States House of Representatives elections, 1870 and 1871
← 1868 June 6, 1870 –
October 6, 1871[Note 1]		 1872 →
All 243 seats to the United States House of Representatives
122 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
Party Republican Democratic
Last election 171 seats 67 seats
Seats won 137[Note 2] 104[Note 3]
Seat change Decrease 34 Increase 37
Popular vote 2,560,655[citation needed] 2,408,655[citation needed]
Percentage 48.2% 45.4%
Swing Decrease 4.1% Decrease 0.1%
  Third party
 
Party Liberal Republican
Last election 0 seats
Seats won 2
Seat change Increase 2
Speaker before election

James Blaine
Republican

 Elected Speaker

James Blaine
Republican

Elections to the United States House of Representatives were held in 1870 and 1871 to elect Representatives for the 42nd Congress, and were held in the middle of President Ulysses S. Grant's first term.

With Grant's administration rocked by a number of scandals (including a shady deal for gold speculation that led to a crash in the market and several business deals that saw high-ranking governmental officials gain kickbacks) and Reconstruction winding down, his Republican Party lost seats to the opposition Democratic Party but retained an overall majority. Also, since the Democratic Party controlled governments were reestablishing themselves in some portions of the South, the Democrats were able to make huge gains in this election.

Overall results

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Party Total
seats		 Seat
change		 Seat
percentage		 Vote
percentage		 Popular
vote
Republican 139[Note 4] Decrease 32 57.2% 48.2% 2,560,655
Democratic 104 Increase 37 42.8% 45.4% 2,408,655
Others – – 0.0% 6.4% 341,794
Totals 243 Steady 100.0% 100.0% 5,311,104

Election summaries

↓
137 2 104
Republican LR Democratic
State Type Total
seats		 Republican Democratic
Seats Change Seats Change
Mississippi[Note 5][Note 6] District 5 5 Steady 0 Steady
Alabama District 6 3 Decrease 1 3 Increase 1
Arkansas District 3 2 Steady 1 Steady
California[Note 7] District 3 3 Increase 2 0 Decrease 2
Connecticut[Note 7] District 4 3 Steady 1 Steady
Delaware At-large 1 0 Steady 1 Steady
Florida At-large 1 0 Decrease 1 1 Increase 1
Georgia District 7 3 Steady 4 Steady
Illinois District
+ 1 at-large		 14 8 Decrease 2 6 Increase 2
Indiana[Note 5] District 11 6 Decrease 1 5 Increase 1
Iowa[Note 5] District 6 6 Steady 0 Steady
Kansas At-large 1 1 Steady 0 Steady
Kentucky District 9 0 Steady 9 Steady
Louisiana District 5 5 Steady 0 Steady
Maine[Note 5] District 5 5 Steady 0 Steady
Maryland District 5 0 Steady 5 Steady
Massachusetts District 10 10 Steady 0 Steady
Michigan District 6 5 Decrease 1 1 Increase 1
Minnesota District 2 2 Increase 1 0 Decrease 1
Missouri District 9 5[Note 8] Decrease 2 4 Increase 2
Nebraska[Note 5] At-large 1 1 Steady 0 Steady
Nevada At-large 1 0 Decrease 1 1 Increase 1
New Hampshire[Note 7] District 3 0 Decrease 3 3 Increase 3
New Jersey District 5 3 Increase 1 2 Decrease 1
New York District 31 15 Decrease 3 16 Increase 3
North Carolina[Note 5] District 7 2 Decrease 4 5 Increase 4
Ohio[Note 5] District 19 14 Increase 1 5 Decrease 1
Oregon[Note 5] At-large 1 0 Steady 1 Steady
Pennsylvania[Note 5] District 24 13[Note 9] Decrease 3 11 Increase 3
Rhode Island District 2 2 Steady 0 Steady
South Carolina[Note 5] District 4 4 Steady 0 Steady
Tennessee District 8 2 Decrease 6 6 Increase 6
Texas[Note 7] District 4 0 Decrease 3 4 Increase 3
Vermont[Note 5] District 3 3 Steady 0 Steady
Virginia District 8 3 Steady 5 Increase 5[Note 10]
West Virginia[Note 5] District 3 1 Decrease 2 2 Increase 2
Wisconsin District 6 4 Decrease 1 2 Increase 1
Total 243 139[Note 4]
57.2%		 Decrease 32 104
42.8%		 Increase 37
House seats
Republican
  
 57.20%
Democratic
  
 42.80%

The previous election included 5 Conservatives

Election dates

In 1845, Congress passed a law providing for a uniform nationwide date for choosing Presidential electors.[1] 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 1870, there remained 12 States that held elections before Election Day, and 4 that held it after at this time:

All Races

California

District Incumbent Party Elected Status Opponent
California 1 Samuel Beach Axtell Democratic 1867 Incumbent retired.
Republican Gain		 √ Sherman O. Houghton (Republican) 51.6%
Lawrence Archer (Democratic) 48.4%
California 2 Aaron Augustus Sargent Republican 1868 Incumbent re-elected √ Aaron Augustus Sargent (Republican) 54%
James W. Coffroth (Democratic) 46%
California 3 James A. Johnson Democratic 1867 Incumbent retired.
Republican gain		 √ John M. Coghlan (Republican) 51.7%
George Pearce (Democratic) 48.3%

Florida

District Incumbent Party First
elected		 Result Candidates
Florida at-large Charles M. Hamilton Republican 1868 Incumbent retired.
Republican hold		 √ Josiah T. Walls (Republican) 51.3%
Silas L. Niblack (Democratic) 48.7%

Niblack subsequently successfully challenged Walls' election, and took Florida's at-large seat on January 29, 1873.[2]

Ohio

District Incumbent Party First
elected		 Result Candidates[3]
Ohio 1 Peter W. Strader Democratic 1868 Incumbent retired.
Republican gain		 <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Ohio 2 Job E. Stevenson Republican 1868 Incumbent re-elected. <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Ohio 3 Robert C. Schenck Republican 1862 Incumbent lost re-election.
Democratic gain		 <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Ohio 4 William Lawrence Republican 1864 Incumbent retired.
Democratic gain		 <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Ohio 5 William Mungen Democratic 1866 Incumbent retired.
Democratic hold		 <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Ohio 6 John Armstrong Smith Republican 1868 Incumbent re-elected. <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Ohio 7 James J. Winans Republican 1868 Lost renomination
Republican hold		 <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Ohio 8 John Beatty Republican 1868 (s) Incumbent re-elected. <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Ohio 9 Edward F. Dickinson Democratic 1868 Incumbent lost re-election.
Republican gain		 <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Ohio 10 Erasmus D. Peck Republican 1870 (s) Incumbent re-elected. <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • √ Erasmus D. Peck (Republican) 52.5%
  • William F. Lockwood (Democratic) 47.5%
Ohio 11 John Thomas Wilson Republican 1866 Incumbent re-elected. <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Ohio 12 Philadelph Van Trump Democratic 1866 Incumbent re-elected. <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Ohio 13 George W. Morgan Democratic 1868 Incumbent re-elected. <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Ohio 14 Martin Welker Republican 1864 Incumbent retired.
Republican hold		 <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Ohio 15 Eliakim H. Moore Republican 1868 Incumbent retired.
Republican hold		 <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Ohio 16 John Bingham Republican 1864 Incumbent re-elected. <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • √ John Bingham (Republican) 52.4%
  • Robert A. Chambers (Democratic) 47.6%
Ohio 17 Jacob A. Ambler Republican 1868 Incumbent re-elected. <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Ohio 18 William H. Upson Republican 1868 Incumbent re-elected. <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • √ William H. Upson (Republican) 62.2%
  • John M. Coffinberry (Democratic) 37.8%
Ohio 19 James A. Garfield Republican 1862 Incumbent re-elected. <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Majority of states held elections on November 8, 1870 (i.e. Election Day).
  2. ↑ Includes 1 Independent Republican.
  3. ↑ Note that Dubin (p. 221) records 9–10 "Conservatives", and approximately 94 Democrats, as being elected to the 42nd Congress. This contrasts with Martis (pp. 124–125) which offers no separate accounting of "Conservatives" from Democrats and thus records a total of 104 Democratic members of the 42nd Congress.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Includes 2 Liberal Republicans and 1 Independent Republican.
  5. ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 Elections held early.
  6. ↑ Elections held at the same time as elections for 41st Congress.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Elections held late.
  8. ↑ Includes 2 Liberal Republicans: Gustavus A. Finkelnburg elected to A, and James G. Blair elected to A.
  9. ↑ Includes 1 Independent Republican, John V. Creely, elected to A.
  10. ↑ Previous election had 5 Conservatives.

References

  1. ↑ Statutes at Large, 28th Congress, 2nd Session, p. 721.
  2. ↑ Forty-Second Congress (membership roster)
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Bibliography

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External links

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