United States House of Representatives elections, 1890

United States House of Representatives elections, 1890

1888 ← November 4, 1890 → 1892

All 332 seats to the United States House of Representatives 167 seats were needed for a majority   Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader Charles Crisp Thomas Reed Omer M. Kem Party Democratic Republican Populist Leader's seat Georgia-3rd Maine-1st Nebraska-3rd Last election 161 seats 171 seats 0 seats Seats won 235 88 9 Seat change 74 83 9

Speaker before election Thomas Reed Republican Elected Speaker Charles Crisp Democratic

Elections to the United States House of Representatives were held in 1890 for members of the 52nd Congress, taking place in the middle of President Benjamin Harrison's term.

A stagnant economy which became worse after the Panic of 1890, combined with a lack of support for then Representative William McKinley's steep tariff act, which favored large industries at the expense of consumers, led to a sharp defeat for Harrison's Republican Party, giving a large majority to the Democratic Party and presaging Harrison's defeat in 1892. The Republican-controlled Congress was highly criticized for its lavish spending, and it earned the unflattering nickname of The Billion Dollar Congress. Democrats promised to cut the outlandish budget. This election also saw the Populist Party, a coalition of farmers and laborers who wanted to overhaul the nation's financial system, make a small mark on Congress.

Election summaries

State	Type	Total seats	Democratic		Republican		Populist
			Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Alabama	District	8	8		0		0
Arkansas	District	5	5		0		0
California	District	6	2		4		0
Colorado	At-large	1	0		1		0
Connecticut	District	4	3	2	1	2	0
Delaware	At-large	1	1		0		0
Florida	District	2	2		0		0
Georgia	District	10	9	1	0		1	1
Idaho	At-large	1	0		1		0
Illinois	District	20	14	7	6	7	0
Indiana	District	13	11	1	2	1	0
Iowa	District	11	6	5	5	5	0
Kansas	District	7	0		2	5	5	5
Kentucky	District	11	10	1	1	1	0
Louisiana	District	6	6	1	0	1	0
Maine	District	4	0		4		0
Maryland	District	6	6	2	0	2	0
Massachusetts	District	12	7	5	5	5	0
Michigan	District	11	7	5	4	5	0
Minnesota	District	5	3	3	1	4	1	1
Mississippi	District	7	7		0		0
Missouri	District	14	14	4	0	4	0
Montana	At-large	1	1	1	0	1	0
Nebraska	District	3	1	1	0	2	2	2
Nevada	At-large	1	0		1		0
New Hampshire	District	2	2	2	0	2	0
New Jersey	District	7	5	2	2	2	0
New York	District	34	23	8	11	8	0
North Carolina	District	9	8	2	1	2	0
North Dakota	At-large	1	0		1		0
Ohio	District	21	14	9	7	9	0
Oregon	At-large	1	0		1		0
Pennsylvania	District	28	10	3	18	3	0
Rhode Island	District	2	2	2	0	2	0
South Carolina	District	7	7		0		0
South Dakota	At-large	2	0		2		0
Tennessee	District	10	8	1	2	1	0
Texas	District	11	11		0		0
Vermont	District	2	0		2		0
Virginia	District	10	10	2	0	2	0
Washington	At-large	1	0		1		0
West Virginia	District	4	4		0		0
Wisconsin	District	9	8	6	1	6	0
Wyoming	At-large	1	0		1		0
Total		332	235 70.8%	74	88 26.5%	83	9 2.7%	9

Five states, with 9 seats between them, held elections early in 1890:

• June 3 Oregon
• September 2 Vermont
• September 8 Maine
• September 11 Idaho
• October 1 Wyoming

Idaho and Wyoming held elections for both the outgoing 51st Congress and the incoming 52nd Congress in 1890, having been admitted that year, and held future elections on the standard election day.

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

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

Separate races

• December 9, 1890: Thomas J. Geary (D) elected to finish the term of John J. De Haven (R), who had resigned October 1, 1890.

Complete returns

• D: Democratic
• I: Independent
• IR: Independent Republican
• Pop: Populist
• Pr: Prohibition
• R: Republican
• S: Socialist

California

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in California, 1890

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
California 1	Vacant			Democratic gain	Thomas J. Geary (D) 49.3% John A. Barham (R) 48.8% L. B. Scranton (Pr) 1.9%
California 2	Marion Biggs	Democratic	1886	Retired Democratic hold	Anthony Caminetti (D) 49% George I. Blanchard (R) 48.6% J. S. Witherell (Pr) 2.4%
California 3	Joseph McKenna	Republican	1884	Re-elected	Joseph McKenna (R) 55.4% John P. Irish (D) 42.5% O. O. Felkner (Pr) 2.1%
California 4	William W. Morrow	Republican	1884	Retired Republican hold	John T. Cutting (R) 49.2% Robert Ferral (D) 45.1% Thomas V. Cator (S) 5.6% Joseph Rowell (Pr) 0.2%
California 5	Thomas J. Clunie	Democratic	1888	Lost re-election Republican gain	Eugene F. Loud (R) 52.8% Thomas J. Clunie (D) 45.9% E. F. Howe (Pr) 1.3%
California 6	William Vandever	Republican	1886	Retired Republican hold	William W. Bowers (R) 51.1% W. J. Curtis (D) 44.1% O. R. Dougherty (Pr) 4.8%

Florida

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Florida, 1890

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Florida 1	Robert H. M. Davidson	Democratic	1876	Lost primary Democratic hold	Stephen R. Mallory, Jr. (D) 78.5% Harrison Reed (R) 21.5%
Florida 2	Robert Bullock	Democratic	1888	Re-elected	Robert Bullock (D) 58.8% Joseph Stripling (R) 41.2%

Ohio

The Ohio Legislature redistricted the state between censuses. Coupled with other Democratic gains, this redistricting gave the Democrats a nine seat net gain.

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Ohio 1	Benjamin Butterworth	Republican	1884	Retired Republican hold	Bellamy Storer (R) 53.7% Otway Cosgrove (D) 46.3%
Ohio 2	John A. Caldwell	Republican	1888	Re-elected	John A. Caldwell (R) 60.6% Alexander Long (D) 39.4%
Ohio 3	Elihu S. Williams	Republican	1886	Retired Republican loss	George W. Houk (D) 53.3% Henry Lee Morey (R) 46.7%
	Henry Lee Morey Redistricted from the 7th district	Republican	1888	Lost re-election Democratic gain
Ohio 4	Samuel S. Yoder	Democratic	1886	Retired Democratic hold	Martin K. Gantz (D) 51.8% William P. Orr (R) 48.2%
Ohio 5	George E. Seney	Democratic	1886	Retired Democratic hold	Fernando C. Layton (D) 55.8% Lawrence W. Stroup (R) 44.2%
Ohio 6	Melvin M. Boothman	Republican	1886	Retired Democratic gain	Dennis D. Donovan (D) 52.4% Joseph H. Brigham (R) 47.6%
Ohio 7	William E. Haynes Redistricted from the 10th district	Democratic	1888	Re-elected	William E. Haynes (D) 51.6% James M. Ashley (R) 48.4%
Ohio 8	Robert P. Kennedy	Republican	1886	Retired Democratic gain	Darius D. Hare (D) 50.3% Charles Foster (R) 49.7%
Ohio 9	William C. Cooper	Republican	1884	Retired Republican loss	Joseph H. Outhwaite (D) 54.1% Thomas B. Wilson (R) 45.9%
	Joseph H. Outhwaite Redistricted from the 13th district	Democratic	1884	Re-elected
Ohio 10	Open seat			New seat Republican gain	Robert E. Doan (R) 54.4% John Quincy Smith (D) 45.6%
Ohio 11	Albert C. Thompson	Republican	1886	Lost renomination Democratic gain	John M. Pattison (D) 55.0% DeWitt Clinton Loudon (R) 45.0%
Ohio 12	Jacob J. Pugsley	Republican	1886	Retired Republican hold	William H. Enochs (R) 63.2% Ezra V. Dean (D) 36.8%
Ohio 13	Open seat			New seat Democratic gain	James I. Dungan (D) 52.4% William T. Lewis (R) 47.6%
Ohio 14	Charles Preston Wickham	Republican	1886	Retired Republican loss	James W. Owens (D) 54.9% Samuel Slade (R) 45.1%
	James W. Owens Redistricted from the 16th district	Democratic	1888	Re-elected
Ohio 15	Charles H. Grosvenor	Republican	1886	Lost renomination Democratic gain	Michael D. Harter (D) 55.2% George L. Sackett (R) 44.8%
Ohio 16	William McKinley Redistricted from the 18th district	Republican	1886	Lost re-election Democratic gain	John G. Warwick (D) 50.4% William McKinley (R) 49.6%
Ohio 17	Open seat			New seat Democratic gain	Albert J. Pearson (D) 51.2% Christian L. Poorman (R) 58.8%
Ohio 18	Joseph D. Taylor Redistricted from the 17th district	Republican	1886	Re-elected	Joseph D. Taylor (R) 59.1% Henry H. McFadden (D) 40.9%
Ohio 19	Ezra B. Taylor	Republican	1880	Re-elected	Ezra B. Taylor (R) 61.9% Thomas E. Hoyt (D) 38.1%
Ohio 20	Martin L. Smyser	Republican	1888	Lost renomination Republican hold	Vincent A. Taylor (R) 60.6% Harlan L. Stewart (D) 39.4%
Ohio 21	Theodore E. Burton	Republican	1888	Lost re-election Democratic gain	Tom L. Johnson (D) 55.3% Theodore E. Burton (D) 44.7%

South Carolina

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina, 1890

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
South Carolina 1	Samuel Dibble	Democratic	1882	Retired Democratic hold	William H. Brawley (D) 84.2% William D. Crum (R) 15.7% Others 0.1%
South Carolina 2	George D. Tillman	Democratic	1878	Re-elected	George D. Tillman (D) 85.5% Seymour E. Smith (R) 14.3% Others 0.2%
South Carolina 3	James S. Cothran	Democratic	1886	Retired Democratic hold	George Johnstone (D) 91.4% John R. Tolbert (R) 8.2% Others 0.4%
South Carolina 4	William H. Perry	Democratic	1884	Retired Democratic hold	George W. Shell (D) 81.9% J. F. Ensor (R) 17.8% Others 0.3%
South Carolina 5	John J. Hemphill	Democratic	1882	Re-elected	John J. Hemphill (D) 87.1% G. G. Alexander (R) 12.2% Others 0.7%
South Carolina 6	George W. Dargan	Democratic	1882	Retired Democratic hold	Eli T. Stackhouse (D) 78.8% Edmund H. Deas (R) 20.5% Others 0.7%
South Carolina 7	Thomas E. Miller	Republican	1888	Lost re-election Democratic gain	William Elliott (D) 44.4% Thomas E. Miller (R) 38.8% E. M. Brayton (IR) 16.5% Others 0.3%

See also

• United States Senate elections, 1890
• 52nd United States Congress

References

• Unless otherwise noted, electoral data are from Ourcampaigns.com