United States House of Representatives elections, 1898

United States House of Representatives elections, 1898

1896 ← November 8, 1898 → 1900

All 357 seats to the United States House of Representatives 179 seats were needed for a majority   Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader David Henderson James Richardson John Calhoun Bell Party Republican Democratic Populist Leader's seat Iowa-3rd Tennessee-5th Colorado-2nd Last election 203 seats 128 seats 22 seats Seats won 185 163 6 Seat change 18 35 16   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader John F. Shafroth Francis G. Newlands Party Silver Republican Party Silver Party Leader's seat Colorado-1st Nevada-At Large Last election 3 seats 1 seats Seats won 2 1 Seat change 1

Speaker before election Thomas Reed Republican Elected Speaker David Henderson Republican

Elections to the United States House of Representatives were held in 1898 for members of the 56th Congress, and took place in the middle of President William McKinley's first term.

As in many midterm elections, the President's Republican Party lost seats, but was able to hold a majority over the Democratic Party. The Populist Party also lost many seats, as their movement began to decline. Many Populists rallied behind William Jennings Bryan's increasingly powerful branch of the Democratic Party, which built the rural economic issues advocated by Populists into their platform. As a result, the Democrats won a number of Western seats as well many in the Mid-Atlantic.

Election summaries

State	Type	Total seats	Republican		Democratic		Populist		Silver/ Silver Republican
			Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Alabama	District	9	0		9	1	0	1	0
Arkansas	District	6	0		6		0		0
California	District	7	6	3	1	1	0	2	0
Colorado	District	2	0		0		1		1
Connecticut	District	4	4		0		0		0
Delaware	At-large	1	1	1	0	1	0		0
Florida	District	2	0		2		0		0
Georgia	District	11	0		11		0		0
Idaho	At-large	1	0		0		0	1	1	1
Illinois	District	22	14	3	8	3	0		0
Indiana	District	13	9		4		0		0
Iowa	District	11	11		0		0		0
Kansas	District +at-large	8	7	5	0		1	5	0
Kentucky	District	11	2	2	9	2	0		0
Louisiana	District	6	0		6		0		0
Maine	District	4	4		0		0		0
Maryland	District	6	4	2	2	2	0		0
Massachusetts	District	13	10	2	3	2	0		0
Michigan	District	12	12	2	0	2	0		0
Minnesota	District	7	7		0		0		0
Mississippi	District	7	0		7		0		0
Missouri	District	15	3		12		0		0
Montana	At-large	1	0		1	1	0		0	1
Nebraska	District	6	2		1	1	3	1	0
Nevada	At-large	1	0		0		0		1
New Hampshire	District	2	2		0		0		0
New Jersey	District	8	6	2	2	2	0		0
New York	District	34	16	12	18	12	0		0
North Carolina	District	9	2	1	6	5	1	4	0
North Dakota	At-large	1	1		0		0		0
Ohio	District	21	15		6		0		0
Oregon	District	2	2		0		0		0
Pennsylvania	District +2 at-large	30	20	7	10	7	0		0
Rhode Island	District	2	2		0		0		0
South Carolina	District	7	0		7		0		0
South Dakota	At-large	2	2	2	0		0	2	0
Tennessee	District	10	2		8		0		0
Texas	District	13	1		12		0		0
Utah	At-large	1	0		1		0		0
Vermont	District	2	2		0		0		0
Virginia	District	10	0	2	10	2	0		0
Washington	At-large	2	2	2	0	1	0		0	1
West Virginia	District	4	3	1	1	1	0		0
Wisconsin	District	10	10		0		0		0
Wyoming	At-large	1	1	1	0	1	0		0
Total		357	185 51.8%	18	163 45.7%	35	6 1.7%	16	3 0.8%	1

Three states, with 8 seats between them, held elections early in 1898:

• June 6 Oregon
• September 6 Vermont
• September 12 Maine

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

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

Complete returns

Party abbreviations

• D: Democratic
• I: Independent
• Pop: Populist
• R: Republican
• Sil: Silver
• SL: Socialist Labor
• SR: Silver Republican

California

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in California, 1898

District	Incumbent	Party	Elected	Status	Opponent
California 1	John All Barham	Republican	1894	Re-elected	John All Barham (R) 61.1% Emmet Seawell (D) 38.9%
California 2	Marion De Vries	Democratic	1896	Re-elected	Marion De Vries (D) 55.3% Frank D. Ryan (R) 44.7%
California 3	Samuel G. Hilborn	Republican	1894	Defeated in primary Republican hold	Victor H. Metcalf (R) 57.3% John Aubrey Jones (D) 39.1% Thomas F. Burns (SL) 3.6%
California 4	James G. Maguire	Democratic	1892	Ran for governor Republican gain	Julius Kahn (R) 50% James H. Barry (D) 44.1% W. J. Martin (SL) 3.7% Joseph P. Kelly (I) (D) 2.2%
California 5	Eugene F. Loud	Republican	1890	Re-elected	Eugene F. Loud (R) 51.8% William Craig (D) 44.3% E. T. Kingsley (SL) 3.9%
California 6	Charles A. Barlow	Populist	1900	Lost re-election Republican gain	Russell J. Waters (R) 52.6% Charles A. Barlow (Pop) 44.9% James T. Van Ransselear (SL) 2.5%
California 7	Curtis H. Castle	Populist	1896	Lost re-election Republican gain	James C. Needham (R) 50.1% Curtis H. Castle (Pop) 49.9%

Florida

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Florida, 1898

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Florida 1	Stephen M. Sparkman	Democratic	1894	Re-elected	Stephen M. Sparkman (D) 84.2% E. R. Gunby (R) 15.8%
Florida 2	Robert Wyche Davis	Democratic	1896	Re-elected	Robert Wyche Davis (D) 71.8% H. L. Anderson (R) 28.2%

South Carolina

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina, 1898

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
South Carolina 1	William Elliott	Democratic	1886 1896	Re-elected	William Elliott (D) 66.5% George W. Murray (R) 33.5%
South Carolina 2	W. Jasper Talbert	Democratic	1892	Re-elected	W. Jasper Talbert (D) 97.0% B. P. Chatfield (R) 2.9% Others 0.1%
South Carolina 3	Asbury Latimer	Democratic	1892	Re-elected	Asbury Latimer (R) 96.6% John R. Tolbert (D) 3.3% Others 0.1%
South Carolina 4	Stanyarne Wilson	Democratic	1894	Re-elected	Stanyarne Wilson (D) 96.4% P. S. Suber (D) 3.6%
South Carolina 5	Thomas J. Strait	Democratic	1892	Lost primary Democratic hold	David E. Finley (D) 100%
South Carolina 6	James Norton	Democratic	1897 (special)	Re-elected	James Norton (D) 96.9% J. H. Evans (R) 3.1%
South Carolina 7	J. William Stokes	Democratic	1894	Re-elected	J. William Stokes (D) 89.8% James Weston (R) 10.2%

See also

• 56th United States Congress

References

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