United States House of Representatives elections, 1868

United States House of Representatives elections, 1868

June 1, 1868 - August 2, 1869
All 243 seats to the United States House of Representatives 122 seats were needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader James Blaine Michael Kerr Lewis McKenzie Party Republican Democratic Conservative Leader's seat Maine-3rd Indiana-3rd Virginia-7th Last election 175 seats 47 seats 2 seats Seats won 171 67 5 Seat change 4 20 3
Speaker before election Theodore M. Pomeroy Republican Elected Speaker James Blaine Republican

Elections to the United States House of Representatives were held in 1868 to elect Representatives to the 41st United States Congress. The election coincided with the presidential election of 1868, which was won by Ulysses S. Grant.

The Democrats gained 20 seats, but Grant's Republican Party retained a commanding majority in the Reconstruction era following the American Civil War, holding onto a firm legitimacy through an association with victory. As more Southern states exited Reconstruction, more Democratic seats appeared in the South. However, Democratic gains in the South were limited, as the Republican power-brokers of Reconstruction held a great deal of influence. The small Conservative Party of Virginia also picked up several seats in Virginia, as it had support among wealthy Southern leaders who wanted to increase the region's power.

Election summaries

Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia were readmitted during this Congress, leaving Congress without vacant State delegations for the first time since 1860. Georgia had been partially readmitted in the previous Congress, but was not initially admitted to the 41st Congress. With Georgia's final readmission in 1870, all former Confederate states were once more represented in Congress.

↓

171	5	67
Republican	C	Democratic

State	Type	Total seats	Republican		Democratic		Conservative
			Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Alabama	District	6	4	2	2	2	0
Arkansas	District	3	2	1	1	1	0
California	District	3	1		2		0
Connecticut	District	4	3	2	1	2	0
Delaware	At-large	1	0		1		0
Florida	At-large	1	1		0		0
Georgia	District	7	3	1	4	2	0
Illinois	District + 1 at-large	14	10	1	4	1	0
Indiana	District	11	7	1	4	1	0
Iowa	District	6	6		0		0
Kansas	At-large	1	1		0		0
Kentucky	District	9	0	1	9	2	0
Louisiana	District	5	5	1	0	1	0
Maine	District	5	5		0		0
Maryland	District	5	0	1	5	2	0	1
Massachusetts	District	10	10		0		0
Michigan	District	6	6		0		0
Minnesota	District	2	1	1	1	1	0
Mississippi	District	5	5	5	0		0
Missouri	District	9	7	1	2	1	0
Nebraska	At-large	1	1		0		0
Nevada	At-large	1	1		0		0
New Hampshire	District	3	3		0		0
New Jersey	District	5	2	1	3	1	0
New York	District	31	19	2	12	2	0
North Carolina	District	7	6		1	1	0	1
Ohio	District	19	13	3	6	3	0
Oregon	At-large	1	0	1	1	1	0
Pennsylvania	District	24	18		6		0
Rhode Island	District	2	2		0		0
South Carolina	District	4	4		0		0
Tennessee	District	8	8		0		0
Texas	District	4	3	3	1	1	0
Vermont	District	3	3		0		0
Virginia	District	8	3	3	0		5	5
West Virginia	District	3	3		0		0
Wisconsin	District	6	5		1		0
Total		243	171 70.4%	6	67 27.6%	22	5 2.1%	3

House seats
Republican			70.37%
Democratic			27.57%
Conservative			2.06%

Election dates

Mississippi had held rejected elections on July 1, 1868.

In 1845, Congress passed a law providing for a uniform nationwide date for choosing Presidential electors. 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 that date. 1868 was the first year in which the majority of States (20 of 37) held their elections on that date. There were still 9 states which held elections before that date and 4 that held regular elections after that date, in addition to 4 readmitted states that held elections after that date

• Early dates (1868):
  • June 1 Oregon
  • September 1 Vermont
  • September 14 Maine
  • October 13 Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania
  • October 22 West Virginia
• Late dates (regular elections):
  • December 29, 1868 Florida
  • March 9, 1869 New Hampshire
  • April 5, 1869 Connecticut
  • August 2, 1869 Alabama
• Readmitted states:
  • July 6, 1869 Virginia
  • December 1, 1869 Mississippi
    • Mississippi also held elections to the 42nd Congress on the same day
  • December 3, 1868 Texas
  • December 20–22, 1870 Georgia

Late elections to the 40th Congress

Florida

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Florida at-large	None (Readmitted state)			Republican gain	Charles M. Hamilton (R) 58.1% John Friend (D) 32.6% Liberty Billings (I) 9.4%

Complete list of elections

California

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
California 1	Samuel Beach Axtell	Democratic	1866	Re-elected	Samuel Beach Axtell (D) 54.1% Frank M. Pixley (R) 45.9%
California 2	William Higby	Republican	1863	Lost renomination Republican hold	Aaron A. Sargent (R) 54.7% James W. Coffroth (D) 45.3%
California 3	James A. Johnson	Democratic	1866	Re-elected	James A. Johnson (D) 50.4% Chancellor Hartson (R) 49.6%

Florida

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Florida at-large	Charles M. Hamilton	Republican	1868	Re-elected	Charles M. Hamilton (R) 56.4% W. D. Barnes (D) 38.5% William U. Saunders (I) 5.1%

Ohio

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Ohio 1	Benjamin Eggleston	Republican	1864	Lost Re-election Democratic gain	Peter W. Strader (D) 50.5% Benjamin Eggleston (R) 49.5%
Ohio 2	Samuel F. Cary	Ind-Republican	1867 (s)	Lost Re-election Republican hold	Job E. Stevenson (R) 51.1% Samuel F. Cary (D) 48.9%
Ohio 3	Robert C. Schenck	Republican	1862	Re-elected	Robert C. Schenck (R) 50.7% Clement Vallandigham (D) 49.3%
Ohio 4	William Lawrence	Republican	1864	Re-elected	William Lawrence (R) 51.2% John S. Leedom (D) 48.8%
Ohio 5	William Mungen	Democratic	1866	Re-elected	William Mungen (D) 59.3% Thomas E. Grissell (R) 40.7%
Ohio 6	Reader W. Clarke	Republican	1864	Retired Republican hold	John Armstrong Smith (R) 51.6% Nelson Barrere (D) 48.4%
Ohio 7	Samuel Shellabarger	Republican	1864	Retired Republican hold	James J. Winans (R) 50.2% John H. Thomas (D) 49.8%
Ohio 8	John Beatty	Republican	1868 (s)	Re-elected	John Beatty (R) 52.0% John H. Benson (D) 48.0%
Ohio 9	Ralph P. Buckland	Republican	1864	Retired Democratic gain	Edward F. Dickinson (D) 52.7% William Harvey Gibson (R) 47.3%
Ohio 10	James M. Ashley	Republican	1862	Lost Re-election Democratic gain	Truman H. Hoag (D) 51.5% James M. Ashley (D) 48.5%
Ohio 11	John Thomas Wilson	Republican	1866	Re-elected	John Thomas Wilson (R) 54.2% John Sands (D) 45.8%
Ohio 12	Philadelph Van Trump	Democratic	1866	Re-elected	Philadelph Van Trump (D) 58.9% Nelson J. Turney (R) 41.1%
Ohio 13	Columbus Delano	Republican	1866	Retired Democratic gain	George W. Morgan (D) 53.0% Charles Cooper (R) 47.0%
Ohio 14	Martin Welker	Republican	1864	Re-elected	Martin Welker (R) 50.9% Lyman R. Critchfield (D) 49.1%
Ohio 15	Tobias A. Plants	Republican	1864	Retired Republican hold	Eliakim H. Moore (R) 51.8% Martin Dewey Follett (D) 48.2%
Ohio 16	John Bingham	Republican	1864	Re-elected	John Bingham (R) 50.8% Josiah M. Estep (D) 49.2%
Ohio 17	Ephraim R. Eckley	Republican	1862	Retired Republican hold	Jacob A. Ambler (R) 56.4% Daniel T. Lawson (D) 43.6%
Ohio 18	Rufus P. Spalding	Republican	1862	Retired Republican hold	William H. Upson (R) 60.5% Franklin T. Backus (D) 39.5%
Ohio 19	James A. Garfield	Republican	1862	Re-elected	James A. Garfield (R) 67.4% James McEwen (D) 32.6%

See also

• United States presidential election, 1868
• United States Senate elections, 1868
• 41st United States Congress

External links

• Office of the Historian (Office of Art & Archives, Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)