1858–59 United States House of Representatives elections

United States House of Representatives elections, 1858
All 238 seats to the United States House of Representatives ; 120 seats were needed for a majority
Speaker before election; James Orr; Democratic	Elected Speaker ; William Pennington; Republican

Elections to the House of Representatives for the 36th Congress were held in 1858-1859. Following these elections, the Republicans gained control of the House for the first time, benefiting from the continued breakdown in the anti-immigration and anti-Catholic American Party of the Know Nothing Movement, and from strife within the Democratic Party.

The Republicans were actually several seats short of a numerical majority and were forced to form a minority government, but were able to exercise authority by mustering support from members of smaller parties. The deeply divided Democrats continued to fall apart due to the slavery issue, losing a number of seats, and the American Party all but collapsed. A number of former Whigs who were dissatisfied with their short membership in the Republican Party, as well as some former Know Nothings, formed the Opposition Party, which generally allied more with the Republicans than Democrats.

For several states, this was the last Congressional election until the Reconstruction Era, and 29 of the Representatives elected in this election resigned near the end of the Congress following their states' secession from the Union.

Election summaries

One seat was added for the new State of Kansas,^[4] which was unrepresented for most of the 36th Congress. For several Southern states, these were the last congressional elections they took part in until Reconstruction.

↓
114	17	6	101
Republican	Opp.	AKN	Democratic

State	Type	Date	Total seats	Republican		Democratic		Opposition		Know-Nothing
State	Type	Date	Total seats	Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Delaware	At-large	November 2, 1858 (Election Day)^[5]	1	0		1		0		0
Illinois	District		9	4		5		0		0
Massachusetts	District		11	11		0		0		0
Michigan	District		4	3	1	1	1	0		0
New Jersey	District		5	3	1	2^[6]	1	0		0
New York	District		33	26	5	7^[7]	5	0		0
Wisconsin	District		3	2	1	1	1	0		0
Arkansas	District	August 2, 1858	2	0		2		0		0
Florida	At-large	October 4, 1858	1	0		1		0		0
Indiana	District	October 12, 1858	11	7	2	4^[8]	2	0		0
Iowa	District	October 12, 1858	2	2		0		0		0
Maine	District	September 13, 1858	6	6		0		0		0
Missouri	District	August 2, 1858	7	0	1	6^[9]	2	0		1	1
Ohio	District	October 12, 1858	21	15	2	6	2	0		0
Pennsylvania	District	October 12, 1858	25	20	10	5^[10]	10	0		0
South Carolina	District	October 10–11, 1858	6	0		6		0		0
Vermont	District	September 7, 1858	3	3		0		0		0
1859 elections
Alabama^[11]	District	August 1, 1859	7	0		7		0		0
California	At-large	September 7, 1859	2	0		2		0		0
Connecticut	District	April 4, 1859	4	4	2	0	2	0		0
Georgia^[11]	District	October 3, 1859	8	0		6		1	1	1	1
Kansas^[12]	At-large	December 1, 1859	1	1	1	0		0		0
Kentucky	District	August 1, 1859	10	0		5	3	5	5	0	2
Louisiana^[11]	District	November 7, 1859	4	0		3		0		1
Maryland	District	November 8, 1859	6	0		3		0		3
Minnesota	At-large	October 4, 1859	2	2	2	0	2	0		0
Mississippi^[11]	District	October 3, 1859	5	0		5		0		0
New Hampshire	District	March 8, 1859	3	3		0		0		0
North Carolina^[11]	District	August 4, 1859	8	0		5	2	3	3	0	1
Oregon	At-large	June 27, 1859	1	0		1		0		0
Rhode Island	District	April 7, 1859	2	2		0		0		0
Tennessee	District	August 4, 1859	10	0		3	4	7	7	0	3
Texas^[11]	District	August 1, 1859	2	0		2^[9]		0		0
Virginia	District	May 26, 1859	13	0		12^[13]	1	1	1	0
Total^[2]			238	114 47.9%	22	101^[3] 42.4%	30	17 7.1%	17	6 2.5%	8

House seats

Republican			47.90%
Democratic			42.44%
Opposition			7.14%
Know-Nothing			2.52%

Complete returns

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	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Status	Candidates
California's 2 at-large seats	Charles L. Scott	Democratic	1856	Re-elected	John C. Burch (Democratic) 28.4% Charles L. Scott (Democratic) 28.1% Joseph C. McKibbin (Anti-Lecompton Democratic) 21.4% Edward D. Baker (Republican) 20.4% S. A. Booker (Anti-Lecompton Democratic) 1.5% P. H. Sibley (Republican) 0.1%
California's 2 at-large seats	Joseph C. McKibbin	Anti-Lecompton Democratic	1856	Lost re-election Democratic hold

Ohio

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates^[14]
Ohio 1	George H. Pendleton	Democratic	1856	Re-elected	George H. Pendleton (D) 51.2% Timothy C. Day (O) 48.8%
Ohio 2	William S. Groesbeck	Democratic	1856	Lost re-election Republican gain	John A. Gurley (R) 52.6% William S. Groesbeck (D) 47.4%
Ohio 3	Clement L. Vallandigham	Democratic	1856^[15]	Re-elected	Clement L. Vallandigham (D) 50.5% Lewis D. Campbell (R) 49.5%
Ohio 4	Matthias H. Nichols	Republican	1852	Lost re-election Democratic gain	William Allen (D) 50.2% Matthias H. Nichols (R) 49.8%
Ohio 5	Richard Mott	Republican	1854	Retired Republican hold	James M. Ashley (R) 51.3% William Mungen (D) 48.7%
Ohio 6	Joseph R. Cockerill	Democratic	1856	Retired Democratic hold	William Howard (D) 53.0% Reader W. Clarke (R) 47.0%
Ohio 7	Aaron Harlan	Republican	1852	Lost renomination Republican hold	Thomas Corwin (R) 63.8% Charles W. Blair (D) 36.2%
Ohio 8	Benjamin Stanton	Republican	1854	Re-elected	Benjamin Stanton (R) 59.5% William Hubbard (D) 40.5%
Ohio 9	Lawrence W. Hall	Democratic	1856	Lost re-election Republican gain	John Carey (R) 50.3% Lawrence W. Hall (R) 49.7%
Ohio 10	Joseph Miller	Democratic	1856	Lost re-election Republican gain	Carey A. Trimble (R) 55.0% Joseph Miller (D) 45.0%
Ohio 11	Albert C. Thompson	Republican	1854	Retired Democratic gain	Charles D. Martin (D) 50.7% Nelson H. Van Vorhes (R) 49.3%
Ohio 12	Samuel S. Cox	Democratic	1856	Re-elected	Samuel S. Cox (R) 51.8% Lucius Case (D) 48.2%
Ohio 13	John Sherman	Republican	1854	Re-elected	John Sherman (R) 57.1% S. J. Patrick (D) 42.9%
Ohio 14	Philemon Bliss	Republican	1854	Retired Republican hold	Cyrus Spink (R) 56.3% J. P. Jeffries (D) 43.7%
Ohio 15	Joseph Burns	Democratic	1856	Lost re-election Republican gain	William Helmick (R) 50.7% Joseph Burns (D) 49.3%
Ohio 16	Cydnor B. Tompkins	Republican	1856	Re-elected	Cydnor B. Tompkins (R) 52.8% George W. Manypenny (D) 47.2%
Ohio 17	William Lawrence	Democratic	1856	Retired Republican gain	Thomas C. Theaker (R) 50.3% Benjamin T. Sprigg (D) 49.7%
Ohio 18	Benjamin F. Leiter	Republican	1854	Retired Republican hold	Sidney Edgerton (R) 53.3% J. L. Ranney (D) 46.7%
Ohio 19	Edward Wade	Republican	1852	Re-elected	Edward Wade (R) 65.1% J. W. Gray (D) 34.9%
Ohio 20	Joshua Reed Giddings	Republican	1842	Lost renomination Republican Hold	John Hutchins (R) 64.7% David Tod (D) 35.3%
Ohio 21	John Bingham	Republican	1854	Re-elected	John Bingham (R) 57.3% Thomas Means (D) 42.7%

References

^ Excludes states admitted during this Congress
^ ^a ^b ^c Includes late elections
^ ^a ^b Includes 8 Anti-Lecompton Democrats and 7 Independent Democrats
^ 11 Stat. 269
^ In 1845, Congress passed a law providing for a uniform date for choosing electors. Congressional elections were unaffected by this law, but the date was gradually adopted by the states for Congressional elections
^ Both Anti-Lecompton Democrats
^ Includes 1 Independent Democrat and 3 Anti-Lecompton Democrats
^ Includes 1 Anti-Lecompton Democrat
^ ^a ^b Includes 1 Independent Democrat
^ Includes 2 Anti-Lecompton Democrats
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Last election before Reconstruction
^ New state, Representative seated January 29, 1861, and continued into the 37th Congress
^ Includes 4 Independent Democrats
^ Smith, Joseph P, ed. (1898). History of the Republican Party in Ohio. Vol. I. Chicago: the Lewis Publishing Company. pp. 84, 85.
^ (contested election)

[1] Excludes states admitted during this Congress

[late-2] Includes late elections

[dem-3] Includes 8 Anti-Lecompton Democrats and 7 Independent Democrats

[4] 11 Stat. 269

[5] In 1845, Congress passed a law providing for a uniform date for choosing electors. Congressional elections were unaffected by this law, but the date was gradually adopted by the states for Congressional elections

[6] Both Anti-Lecompton Democrats

[7] Includes 1 Independent Democrat and 3 Anti-Lecompton Democrats

[1ALD-8] Includes 1 Anti-Lecompton Democrat

[1ID-9] Includes 1 Independent Democrat

[10] Includes 2 Anti-Lecompton Democrats

[cw-11] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Last election before Reconstruction

[12] New state, Representative seated January 29, 1861, and continued into the 37th Congress

[13] Includes 4 Independent Democrats

[14] Smith, Joseph P, ed. (1898). History of the Republican Party in Ohio. Vol. I. Chicago: the Lewis Publishing Company. pp. 84, 85.

[15] (contested election)

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Election summaries

Complete returns

California

Ohio

See also

References