United States House of Representatives elections, 1878

United States House of Representatives elections, 1878

1876 ← November 5, 1878 → 1880

All 293 seats to the United States House of Representatives 147 seats were needed for a majority   Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader Samuel Randall James Garfield James B. Weaver Party Democratic Republican Greenback Leader's seat Pennsylvania-3rd Ohio-19th Iowa-6th Last election 152 seats 141 seats 0 seats Seats won 149 131 13 Seat change 3 10 13

Speaker before election Samuel Randall Democratic Elected Speaker Samuel Randall Democratic

Elections to the United States House of Representatives were held in 1878 for Representatives to the 46th Congress. These elections occurred in the middle of President Rutherford B. Hayes' term.

With a sour economy as the nation's pressing issue, both major parties lost seats to the new Greenback Party, which was established to promote the long-term use of paper money as a solution to stop enormous economic fluctuations. The Democratic Party remained the largest party, but lost its majority. However, it allied with several independent politicians and was able to remain in power. Notable freshmen included James B. Weaver, who would later run for President as the Populist candidate in the 1892 election. This was the fourth and last recorded House election where both major parties lost seats at the same time.

Election summaries

State	Type	Total seats	Democratic		Republican		Greenback
			Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Alabama	District	8	7	1	0		1	1
Arkansas	District	4	4		0		0
California	District	4	1		3		0
Colorado	At-large	1	0		1		0
Connecticut	District	4	1	2	3	2	0
Delaware	At-large	1	1		0		0
Florida	District	2	2	1	0	1	0
Georgia	District	9	9		0		0
Illinois	District	19	6	2	12	1	1	1
Indiana	District	13	6	2	6	3	1	1
Iowa	District	9	0		7	2	2	2
Kansas	District	3	0		3		0
Kentucky	District	10	10		0		0
Louisiana	District	6	6	2	0	2	0
Maine	District	5	0		3	2	2	2
Maryland	District	6	5	1	1	1	0
Massachusetts	District	11	1		10		0
Michigan	District	9	0	1	9	1	0
Minnesota	District	3	1	1	2	1	0
Mississippi	District	6	6		0		0
Missouri	District	13	12	3	0	4	1	1
Nebraska	At-large	1	0		1		0
Nevada	At-large	1	0		1		0
New Hampshire	District	3	0	1	3	1	0
New Jersey	District	7	3	1	4	1	0
New York	District	33	9	7	24	7	0
North Carolina	District	8	6	1	1		1	1
Ohio	District	20	11	3	9	3	0
Oregon	At-large	1	1	1	0	1	0
Pennsylvania	District	27	8	2	17		2	2
Rhode Island	District	2	0		2		0
South Carolina	District	5	5	3	0	3	0
Tennessee	District	10	9	1	1	1	0
Texas	District	6	5	1	0		1	1
Vermont	District	3	0		2	1	1	1
Virginia	District	9	8		1		0
West Virginia	District	3	3		0		0
Wisconsin	District	8	3		5		0
Total		293	149 50.9%	3	131 44.7%	10	13 4.4%	13

In 1845, Congress passed a law providing for a uniform nationwide date for choosing Presidential electors. 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 that date. By the 1870s, the majority of states had moved their elections to that date. In 1878/9, there were still 7 states with earlier election dates, and 1 state with a later election date:

• Early elections
  • June 3 Oregon
  • September 3 Vermont
  • September 9 Maine
  • October 7 Indiana
  • October 8 Iowa, Ohio, West Virginia
• Late election
  • September 3, 1879 California

California's elections were the last time that a State held Congressional elections after November, with the exception of special elections and elections in newly-admitted States.

House seats by party holding plurality in state   80.1-100% Democratic   80.1-100% Republican   60.1-80% Democratic   60.1-80% Republican   <=60% Democratic   <=60% Republican

6+ Democratic gain     6+ Republican gain   3-5 Democratic gain   3-5 Greenback gain   3-5 Republican gain   1-2 Democratic gain   1-2 Greenback gain   1-2 Republican gain   no net change

Complete list of races

California

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
California 1	Horace Davis	Republican	1876	Incumbent re-elected	Horace Davis (R) 48.4% Clitus Barbour (Workingmen) 44.5% Charles A. Sumner (D) 7.1%
California 2	Horace F. Page	Republican	1872	Incumbent re-elected	Horace F. Page (R) 51.9% Thomas J. Clunie (D) 34.4% H. B. Williams (Workingmen) 13.8%
California 3	John K. Luttrell	Democratic	1872	Incumbent retired Democratic hold	Campbell P. Berry (D) 50.1% Joseph McKenna (R) 49.6% G. T. Elliott (Workingmen) 0.3%
California 4	Romualdo Pacheco	Republican	1876	Incumbent re-elected	Romualdo Pacheco (R) 40.5% Wallace Leach (D) 31.8% James J. Ayers (Workingmen) 27.7%

Florida

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Florida 1	Robert H. M. Davidson	Democratic	1876	Re-elected	Robert H. M. Davidson (D) 56.8% Simon B. Conover (R) 40.9% Edmund C. Weeks (IR) 2.3%
Florida 2	Horatio Bisbee, Jr.	Republican	1876	Lost re-election Democratic gain	Noble A. Hull (D) 50.0% Horatio Bisbee, Jr. (R) 50.0%

In the 2nd district, the difference between the two candidates, in the initial returns, was just 28 votes. Bisbee challenged Hull's election, and was eventually awarded the seat, on January 22, 1881

South Carolina

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
South Carolina 1	Joseph Rainey	Republican	1870 (special)	Lost re-election Democratic gain	John S. Richardson (D) 61.7% Joseph Rainey (R) 38.3%
South Carolina 2	Richard H. Cain	Republican	1876	Lost re-election Democratic gain	Michael P. O'Connor (D) 60.9% Edmund W. M. Mackey (R) 39.1%
South Carolina 3	D. Wyatt Aiken	Democratic	1876	Re-elected	D. Wyatt Aiken (D) 79.1% J. F. Ensor (R) 20.9%
South Carolina 4	John H. Evins	Democratic	1876	Re-elected	John H. Evins (D) 96.8% Alexander S. Wallace (R) 3.2%
South Carolina 5	Robert Smalls	Republican	1874	Lost re-election Democratic gain	George D. Tillman (D) 71.2% Robert Smalls (R) 28.8%

See also

• 46th United States Congress
• United States Senate elections, 1878

References

• Electoral data and dates are from Ourcampaigns.com unless otherwise noted