United States House of Representatives elections, 1870

United States House of Representatives elections, 1870

1868 ← → 1872

All 243 seats to the United States House of Representatives 127 seats were needed for a majority   Majority party Minority party   Leader James Blaine George Morgan Party Republican Democratic Leader's seat Maine-3rd Ohio-13th Last election 171 seats 67 seats Seats won 136 104 Seat change -35 +37

Speaker before election James Blaine Republican Elected Speaker James Blaine Republican

The U.S. House election, 1870 was an election for the United States House of Representatives in 1870 which occurred 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 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

Party	Total seats (change)		Seat percentage
Republican Party	136	-35	55.9%
Democratic Party	104	+37	42.7%
Independent	3	-3	1.2%
Totals	243	+0	100.0%

California

District	Incumbent	Party	Elected	Status	Opponent
California 1	Samuel Beach Axtell	Democratic	1866	Retiring	Sherman O. Houghton (R) 51.6% Lawrence Archer (D) 48.4%
California 2	Aaron Augustus Sargent	Republican	1868	Running	Aaron Augustus Sargent (R) 54% James W. Coffroth (D) 46%
California 3	James A. Johnson	Democratic	1866	Retiring	John M. Coghlan (R) 51.7% George Pearce (D) 48.3%

See also

• 42nd United States Congress

External links

• http://clerk.house.gov/histHigh/Congressional_History