View source for 1788 United States House of Representatives election in Pennsylvania

{{Short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is already sufficiently detailed; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox election
| election_name      = United States House of Representatives election in Pennsylvania, 1788
| country            = Pennsylvania
| type               = legislative
| ongoing            = no
| previous_election  = 
| previous_year      = 
| next_election      = United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania, 1791
| next_year          = 1791
| seats_for_election = All 8 Pennsylvania seats to the [[United States House of Representatives]]
| election_date      = November 26, 1788
| party1             = Pro-Administration Party (United States)
| last_election1     = 
| seats1             = 6
| seat_change1       = 
| popular_vote1      = 8,707
| percentage1        = 54.0%
| swing1             = 
| party2             = Anti-Administration Party (United States)
| last_election2     = 
| seats2             = 2
| seat_change2       = 
| popular_vote2      = 7,417
| percentage2        = 46.0%
| swing2             = 
}}
{{ElectionsPA}}

An [[election]] to the [[United States House of Representatives]] was held in [[Pennsylvania]] on November 26, 1788, for the [[1st United States Congress|1st Congress]].

== Background ==
The [[United States Constitution]] was adopted on September 17, 1787, by the [[Philadelphia Convention|Constitutional Convention]] in [[Philadelphia]], and then ratified by the States. Pennsylvania's legislature ratified the Constitution on December 12, 1787, by a vote of 46–23. On July 8, 1788, the [[Congress of the Confederation]] passed a resolution calling the first session of the [[1st United States Congress]] for March 4, 1789, to convene at [[New York City]] and the election of [[United States Senate|senators]] and representatives in the meanwhile by the States.

==Election==
Pennsylvania's legislature scheduled the election for November 26, 1788, and provided for the election to be held on an [[general ticket|at-large basis]], an attempt by the Federalist-dominated legislature to prevent anti-Federalist Representatives from being elected in frontier districts.  Both parties submitted tickets with 8 candidates each.  The large [[German-American|German population]] in Pennsylvania tended to vote for German candidates, giving the Anti-Federalist Muhlenberg and Hiester enough votes to gain seats.<ref>[http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=280017 Ourcampaigns.com article on this election]</ref>

{| class=wikitable
|+'''1788 United States House election results'''
|- 
! {{Party shading/Pro-Administration}} colspan="3" | [[Pro-Administration Party|Pro-Administration]]
! {{Party shading/Anti-Administration}} colspan="3" | [[Anti-Administration Party|Anti-Administration]]
|-
| {{Party shading/Pro-Administration}} | '''[[Frederick Muhlenberg]]'''
| {{Party shading/Pro-Administration}} | '''8,707'''
| {{Party shading/Pro-Administration}} | '''7.49%'''
| {{Party shading/Anti-Administration}} | '''[[Peter Muhlenberg]]'''
| {{Party shading/Anti-Administration}} | '''7,417'''
| {{Party shading/Anti-Administration}} | '''6.38%'''
|-
| {{Party shading/Pro-Administration}} | '''[[Henry Wynkoop]]'''
| {{Party shading/Pro-Administration}} | '''8,246'''
| {{Party shading/Pro-Administration}} | '''7.09%'''
| {{Party shading/Anti-Administration}} | '''[[Daniel Hiester]]'''
| {{Party shading/Anti-Administration}} | '''7,403'''
| {{Party shading/Anti-Administration}} | '''6.37%'''
|-
| {{Party shading/Pro-Administration}} | '''[[Thomas Hartley]]'''
| {{Party shading/Pro-Administration}} | '''8,163'''
| {{Party shading/Pro-Administration}} | '''7.02%'''
| [[William Findley]]
| 6,586
| 5.66%
|-
| {{Party shading/Pro-Administration}} | '''[[George Clymer]]'''
| {{Party shading/Pro-Administration}} | '''8,094'''
| {{Party shading/Pro-Administration}} | '''6.96%'''
| [[William Irvine (physician)|William Irvine]]
| 6,492
| 5.58%
|-
| {{Party shading/Pro-Administration}} | '''[[Thomas Fitzsimons]]'''
| {{Party shading/Pro-Administration}} | '''8,086'''
| {{Party shading/Pro-Administration}} | '''6.95%'''
| [[Charles Pettit]]
| 6,481
| 5.57%
|-
| {{Party shading/Pro-Administration}} | '''[[Thomas Scott (American politician)|Thomas Scott]]'''
| {{Party shading/Pro-Administration}} | '''8,068'''
| {{Party shading/Pro-Administration}} | '''6.94%'''
| [[William Montgomery (Pennsylvania soldier)|William Montgomery]]
| 6,348
| 5.46%
|-
| John Allison
| 7,067
| 6.08%
| [[Blair McClenachan]]
| 6,223
| 5.35%
|-
| Stephen Chambers
| 7,050
| 6.06%
| Robert Whitehall
| 5,850
| 5.03%
|}

==See also==
* [[United States House of Representatives elections, 1788 and 1789]]

==References==
*Electoral data and information on districts are from [http://staffweb.wilkes.edu/harold.cox/rep/indexrep.html the Wilkes University Elections Statistics Project]
<references/>{{1788 United States elections|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania|1788]]
[[Category:1788 United States House of Representatives elections|Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:1788 Pennsylvania elections|United States House of Representatives]]