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1880 United States House of Representatives elections

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United States House of Representatives elections, 1880
← 1878 November 2, 1880[Note 1] 1882 →
All 293 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives
147 seats were needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party Third party
 
Leader J. Warren Keifer Samuel J. Randall Nicholas Ford
Party Republican Democratic Greenback
Leader's seat Ohio-4th Pennsvylvania-3rd Missouri-9th
Last election 132 seats 148 seats[Note 3] 13 seats
Seats won 151[1][Note 2] 131[1][Note 2][Note 4] 10[1][Note 2]
Seat change Increase 19 Decrease 17 Decrease 3
Speaker before election

Samuel Randall
Democratic

Elected Speaker

Joseph Keifer
Republican Party (United States)

Map of U.S. House elections results from 1880 elections for 47th Congress

Elections to the United States House of Representatives were held in 1880 for Representatives to the 47th Congress, coinciding with the election of President James A. Garfield.

Garfield's Republican Party managed to gain an outright majority of seats from the opposition Democratic Party. The Democratic loss of control in the House is historically seen as somewhat surprising, since no major issue played a role in their defeat. The end of Reconstruction and the pro-business nature of the Republicans were both minor factors. The ability of the Republican Party to paint several key Democratic leaders as corrupt also helped to alter the composition of the part just enough so that the Republicans gained a majority. The Greenback Party, which promoted the use of the paper currency and was seen as a pro-farmer party[by whom?], also lost several seats due to national economic recovery, which aided the Republicans.[citation needed]

Election summaries

↓
151 10 131
Republican Gb Democratic
State Type Total
seats 		Republican Democratic Greenback
Seats Change Seats Change Seats Change
Alabama District 8 1 Increase 1 6 Decrease 1 1 Steady
Arkansas District 4 0 Steady 4 Steady 0 Steady
California District 4 2 Decrease 1 2 Increase 1 0 Steady
Colorado At-large 1 1 Steady 0 Steady 0 Steady
Connecticut District 4 3 Steady 1 Steady 0 Steady
Delaware At-large 1 0 Steady 1 Steady 0 Steady
Florida District 2 1 Steady 1 Steady 0 Steady
Georgia District 9 0 Steady 9[Note 5] Steady 0 Steady
Illinois District 19 13 Increase 1 6 Steady 0 Decrease 1
Indiana District 13 8 Increase 2 5 Decrease 1 0 Steady
Iowa District 9 8 Increase 1 1 Increase 1 0 Decrease 2
Kansas District 3 3 Steady 0 Steady 0 Steady
Kentucky District 10 1 Increase 1 9 Decrease 1 0 Steady
Louisiana District 6 1 Increase 1 5 Decrease 1 0 Steady
Maine[Note 6] District 5 3 Steady 0 Steady 2 Steady
Maryland District 6 1 Steady 5 Steady 0 Steady
Massachusetts District 11 10 Steady 1 Steady 0 Steady
Michigan District 9 9 Steady 0 Steady 0 Steady
Minnesota District 3 3 Increase 1 0 Decrease 1 0 Steady
Mississippi District 6 1 Increase 1 5 Decrease 1 0 Steady
Missouri District 13 2 Increase 2 7 Decrease 5 4 Increase 3
Nebraska At-large 1 1 Steady 0 Steady 0 Steady
Nevada At-large 1 0 Decrease 1 1 Increase 1 0 Steady
New Hampshire District 3 3 Steady 0 Steady 0 Steady
New Jersey District 7 4 Steady 3 Steady 0 Steady
New York District 33[Note 7] 20 Decrease 4 12 Increase 3 0 Steady
North Carolina District 8 1 Steady 7 Increase 1 0 Decrease 1
Ohio[Note 6] District 20 15 Increase 6 5 Decrease 6 0 Steady
Oregon[Note 6] At-large 1 1 Increase 1 0 Decrease 1 0 Steady
Pennsylvania District 27 18 Increase 1 7 Decrease 1 2 Steady
Rhode Island District 2 2 Steady 0 Steady 0 Steady
South Carolina District 5 1 Increase 1 4 Decrease 1 0 Steady
Tennessee District 10 3 Increase 2 7 Decrease 2 0 Steady
Texas[Note 6] District 6 0 Steady 5 Steady 1 Steady
Vermont[Note 6] District 3 3 Increase 1 0 Steady 0 Decrease 1
Virginia District 9 2 Increase 1 7[Note 8] Decrease 1 0 Steady
West Virginia District 3 0 Steady 3 Steady 0 Steady
Wisconsin District 8 6 Increase 1 2 Decrease 1 0 Steady
Total 293[Note 7] 151[1]
51.5% 		Increase 16 131[1][Note 4]
44.7% 		Decrease 13 10[1]
3.4% 		Decrease 4
House seats
Republican
 
 51.54%
Democratic
 
 44.71%
Greenback
 
 3.41%
House seats by party holding plurality in state
  80.1-100% Democratic
  80.1-100% Republican
  60.1-80% Democratic
  60.1-80% Republican
  Up to 60% Democratic
  Up to 60% Republican
Net gain in party representation
  6+ Democratic gain
  
  6+ Republican gain
  3-5 Democratic gain
  3-5 Greenback gain
  3-5 Republican gain
  1-2 Democratic gain
  1-2 Greenback gain
  1-2 Republican gain
  no net change

Early election dates

In 1845, Congress passed a law providing for a uniform nationwide date for choosing Presidential electors.[2] This law did not affect election dates for Congress, which remained within the jurisdiction of State governments, but over time, the States moved their Congressional elections to this date as well.

In 1880, no states held their elections after Election Day for the first time (California was the last state to hold late elections, in 1878). But 5 states, with 35 seats among them, held their elections before the rest of the states:

All races

California

District Incumbent Party First
elected 		Result Candidates
California 1 Horace Davis Republican 1876 Lost re-election
Democratic Gain 		William Rosecrans (D) 51%
Horace Davis (R) 47.3%
Stephen Maybell (GB) 1.7%
California 2 Horace F. Page Republican 1872 Re-elected Horace F. Page (R) 53.6%
John R. Glascock (D) 45.7%
Benjamin Todd (GB) 0.7%
California 3 Campbell P. Berry Democratic 1879 Re-elected Campbell P. Berry (D) 51.1%
George A. Knight (R) 48.2%
A. Musselman (GB) 0.6%
California 4 Romualdo Pacheco Republican 1876 Re-elected Romualdo Pacheco (R) 45.8%
Wallace Leach (D) 45.3%
J. F. Godfrey (GB) 8.9%

Florida

District Incumbent Party First
elected 		Result Candidates
Florida 1 Robert H. M. Davidson Democratic 1876 Re-elected Robert H. M. Davidson (D) 57.2%
George W. Witherspoon (R) 42.3%
Livingston W. Bethel (I) 0.5%
Florida 2 Noble A. Hull Democratic 1878 Retired
Democratic hold 		Jesse J. Finley (D) 52.3%
Horatio Bisbee, Jr. (R) 47.7%

In the 2nd district, Horatio Bisbee, Jr. (R) successfully challenged the election of Jesse J. Finley (D) and was seated June 1, 1882.

South Carolina

District Incumbent Party First
elected 		Result Candidates
South Carolina 1 John S. Richardson Democratic 1878 Re-elected John S. Richardson (D) 63.3%
Samuel J. Lee (R) 36.7%
South Carolina 2 Michael P. O'Connor Democratic 1878 Re-elected Michael P. O'Connor (D) 58.8%
Edmund W. M. Mackey (R) 41.2%
South Carolina 3 D. Wyatt Aiken Democratic 1876 Re-elected D. Wyatt Aiken (D) 74.1%
C. J. Stollbrand (R) 25.9%
South Carolina 4 John H. Evins Democratic 1876 Re-elected John H. Evins (D) 69.7%
A. Blythe (R) 29.3%
J. Hendrix McLane (GB) 1.0%
South Carolina 5 George D. Tillman Democratic 1878 Re-elected George D. Tillman (D) 60.4%
Robert Smalls (R) 39.6%

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Five states held early elections between June 1 and October 12.
  2. ^ a b c Dubin (p. 255) counts 147 Republicans, 135 Democrats, 2 Readjusters, 1 Independent Democrat, and 8 Greenbacks at the start of the 47th United States Congress.
  3. ^ Included 7 Independent Democrats.
  4. ^ a b Includes 2 Readjuster Democrats elected in Virginia (VA-07 and VA-09), and 1 Independent Democrat elected to GA-09.
  5. ^ Includes 1 Independent Democrat elected to GA-09.
  6. ^ a b c d e Elections held early
  7. ^ a b 1 Independent, J. Hyatt Smith elected to NY-03.
  8. ^ Includes 2 Readjuster Democrats, elected to VA-07 and VA-09.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Martis, pp. 134-135.
  2. ^ Statutes at Large, 28th Congress, 2nd Session, p. 721.

Bibliography

  • Dubin, Michael J. (March 1, 1998). United States Congressional Elections, 1788-1997: The Official Results of the Elections of the 1st Through 105th Congresses. McFarland and Company. ISBN 978-0786402830.
  • Martis, Kenneth C. (January 1, 1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress, 1789-1989. Macmillan Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0029201701.
  • Moore, John L., ed. (1994). Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections (Third ed.). Congressional Quarterly Inc. ISBN 978-0871879967.
  • "Party Divisions of the House of Representatives* 1789–Present". Office of the Historian, House of United States House of Representatives. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
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