United States House of Representatives elections, 1852

United States House of Representatives elections, 1852

1850 ← → 1854

All 234 seats to the United States House of Representatives 118 seats were needed for a majority   Majority party Minority party   Leader Linn Boyd Joseph R. Chandler Party Democratic Whig Leader's seat Kentucky-1st Pennsylvania-2nd Last election 127 seats 85 seats Seats won 157 71 Seat change +30 -14

Speaker before election Linn Boyd Democratic Elected Speaker Linn Boyd Republican

Elections to the United States House of Representatives were held in 1852.

This election cycle saw the Democrats increase their House majority and gain the presidency (under Franklin Pierce). Although sectionalism remained a huge problem, the parties got a slight boost of stability due to the unity of a bitter presidential campaign. Two small third parties, the Constitutional Unionists and States' Rights parties, quickly collapsed prior to this election, while the anti-slavery Free Soil Party held onto its four seats.

Overall results

Party	Total seats (change)		Seat percentage
Democratic Party	157	+30	67.1%
Whig Party	71	-14	30.3%
Free Soil Party	4	0	1.7%
Independent	2	-2	0.8%
Totals	234	+1	100%

California

Note: From statehood to 1864, California's representatives were elected at-large, with the top two vote-getters winning election from 1849 to 1858; in 1860 when California gained a seat in the House the top three vote-getters were elected.

District	Opponent
California AL	James A. McDougall (D) 84.4% Milton S. Latham (D) 15.6%

See also

http://clerk.house.gov/histHigh/Congressional_History/index.html