United States House of Representatives elections, 1840

United States House of Representatives elections, 1840

1838 ← July 6, 1840 - November 2, 1841 → 1842

All 242 seats to the United States House of Representatives 122 seats were needed for majority   Majority party Minority party   Leader John White John Jones Party Whig Democratic Leader's seat Kentucky-9th Virginia-3rd Last election 108 seats 126 seats Seats won 144 98 Seat change 36 28

Speaker before election Robert M. T. Hunter Whig Elected Speaker John White Whig

Elections to the United States House of Representatives for the 27th Congress were held on different dates in each state, from July 6, 1840 (Louisiana) to November 2, 1841 (Mississippi), and gave the Whig Party control of the House of Representatives for the first time. The Panic of 1837 had created an economic depression and the perceived mishandling of this crisis by President Martin Van Buren, gave the Whigs the presidency (William Henry Harrison was elected) and a majority in the House. The Whigs campaigned for neo-mercantilist reform based on modernization and economic nationalism, ideas which had previously been unpopular outside of urban regions, but gained footholds because of the depression. The engulfment of the Anti-Masonic Party in 1839 also gave the Whigs the advantage of having several incumbents turn from rivals to party members.

Election summaries

State	Type	Date	Total seats	Whig		Democratic
				Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Arkansas	At-large	October 5, 1840	1	0		1
Connecticut	District (6)	November 3, 1840	6	6		0
Delaware	At-large	November 10, 1840	1	1	1	0	1
Georgia	At-large	October 6, 1840	9	9		0
Illinois	District (3)	August 7, 1840	3	1		2
Louisiana	District (3)	July 6-8, 1840	3	2	1	1	1
Maine	District (8)	September 14, 1840	8	4	2	4	2
Massachusetts	District (12)	November 9, 1840	12	11	1	1	1
Michigan	At-large	November 3, 1840	1	1	1	0	1
Missouri	At-large	August 3, 1840	2	0		2
New Jersey	At-large	November 3, 1840	6	6	5	0	5
New York	District (33)	November 2-4, 1840	40	20	1	20	1
Ohio	District (19)	October 13, 1840	19	12	4	7	4
Pennsylvania	District (25)	October 13, 1840	28	13	8	15	2
South Carolina	District (9)	October 12-13, 1840	9	1		8
Vermont	District (5)	September 4, 1840	5	5	2	0	2
1841 elections
Alabama	At-large	May 20, 1841	5	0	2	5	2
Indiana	District (7)	May 3, 1841	7	6	4	1	4
Kentucky	District (13)	April 26, 1841	13	11		2
Maryland	District (7)	May 17, 1841	8	6	3	2	3
Mississippi	At-large	November 1-2, 1841	2	0		2
New Hampshire	At-large	March 9, 1841	5	0		5
North Carolina	District (13)	May 13, 1841	13	8	3	5	3
Rhode Island	At-large	April 21, 1841	2	2		0
Tennessee	District (13)	May 6, 1841	13	8	1	5	1
Virginia	District (21)	April 23, 1841	21	11	5	10	3
Total			242	144 59.5%	36	98 40.5%	28

The previous election had two minor parties, the Anti-Masonic Party with 6 seats and the Conservative Party (of Virginia) with 2 seats, both of which disappeared in this election.

The 1st session of the 27th Congress began May 31, 1841, before Mississippi had elected Representatives, leaving that State unrepresented until the 2nd session.

External links

• Congressional History