United States House of Representatives elections, 1900

United States House of Representatives elections, 1900

November 6, 1900[Note 1]

All 357 seats to the United States House of Representatives 179 seats needed for a majority   Majority party Minority party   Leader David Henderson James Richardson Party Republican Democratic Leader's seat Iowa-3rd Tennessee-5th Last election 189 seats[Note 2] 161 seats Seats won 201[1][2][Note 3] 151[1][2] Seat change 12 10   Third party   Party Populist Last election 6 seats Seats won 5[1][2] Seat change 1

Speaker before election David Henderson Republican Elected Speaker David Henderson Republican

Elections to the United States House of Representatives were held in 1900 for members of the 57th Congress, coinciding with the re-election of President William McKinley.

McKinley's Republican Party gained thirteen seats from the Democratic Party and minor parties, cementing their majority. A reassertion of Republican control in the Mid-Atlantic was key in the gain of new seats. However, with an improved economy, especially in the industrial sector, the election cycle featured no keystone issue, resulting in a general support for the status quo. The fading Populist Party held on to five House seats, while the sole member of the Silver Party changed parties to Democratic.

Election summaries

↓

200	1	5	151
Republican	SR	P	Democratic

State	Type	Total seats	Republican	Democratic	Populist	Silver/ Silver Republican
			Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Alabama	District	9	0	1	9	1	0		0
Arkansas	District	6	0		6		0		0
California	District	7	7	1	0	1	0		0
Colorado	District	2	0		0		1		1[Note 3]
Connecticut	District	4	4		0		0		0
Delaware	At-large	1	1		0		0		0
Florida	District	2	0		2		0		0
Georgia	District	11	0		11		0		0
Idaho	At-large	1	0		0		1	1	0	1[Note 4]
Illinois	District	22	11	3	11	3	0		0
Indiana	District	13	9		4		0		0
Iowa	District	11	11		0		0		0
Kansas	District +at-large	8	7		1	1	0	1	0
Kentucky	District	11	3	1	8	1	0		0
Louisiana	District	6	0		6		0		0
Maine[Note 5]	District	4	4		0		0		0
Maryland	District	6	6	2	0	2	0		0
Massachusetts	District	13	10		3		0		0
Michigan	District	12	12		0		0		0
Minnesota	District	7	7		0		0		0
Mississippi	District	7	0		7		0		0
Missouri	District	15	3[Note 6]		12		0		0
Montana	At-large	1	0		0	1	1	1	0
Nebraska	District	6	2		2	1	2	1	0
Nevada	At-large	1	0		1	1	0		0	1[Note 7]
New Hampshire	District	2	2		0		0		0
New Jersey	District	8	6		2		0		0
New York	District	34	21	5	13	5	0		0
North Carolina	District	9	2		7	1	0	1	0
North Dakota	At-large	1	1		0		0		0
Ohio	District	21	17	2	4	2	0		0
Oregon[Note 5]	District	2	2		0		0		0
Pennsylvania	District +2 at-large	30	26	6	4	6	0		0
Rhode Island	District	2	2		0		0		0
South Carolina	District	7	0		7		0		0
South Dakota	At-large	2	2		0		0		0
Tennessee	District	10	2		8		0		0
Texas	District	13	0	1	13	1	0		0
Utah	At-large	1	1	1	0	1	0		0
Vermont[Note 5]	District	2	2		0		0		0
Virginia	District	10	0		10		0		0
Washington	At-large	2	2		0		0		0
West Virginia	District	4	4	1	0	1	0		0
Wisconsin	District	10	10		0		0		0
Wyoming	At-large	1	1		0		0		0
Total		357	200 56.0%	13	151 42.3%	10	5 1.4%	1	1[Note 3] 0.3%	2

House seats
Republican			56.02%
Democratic			42.30%
Populist			1.40%
Silver Republican			0.28%

The previous election of 1898 saw the election of 6 Populists, 2 Silver Republicans, and a Silver Party member.

[[File:57 us house membership.png|thumb|500px| House seats by party holding plurality in state   80+ to 100% Democratic   80+ to 100% Populist   80+ to 100% Republican   60+ to 80% Democratic     60+ to 80% Republican   Up to 60% Democratic   Up to 60% Populist   Up to 60% Republican ]]

[[File:57 us house changes.png|thumb|500px| Net gain in party representation   6+ Democratic gain     6+ Republican gain   3-5 Democratic gain     3-5 Republican gain   1-2 Democratic gain   1-2 Populist gain   1-2 Republican gain   no net change ]]

Early election dates

In 1900, three states, with 8 seats among them, held elections early:

• June 4 Oregon
• September 4 Vermont
• September 10 Maine

Complete returns

Party abbreviations

• D: Democratic
• I: Independent
• P: Prohibition
• R: Republican
• Sil: Silver
• Soc: Socialist

California

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
California 1	John All Barham	Republican	1894	Retired Republican hold	Frank Coombs (R) 55.3% James F. Farraher (D) 42.4% William Morgan (Soc) 1.6% Charles T. Clark (P) 0.8%
California 2	Previous incumbent Marion De Vries (D) resigned August 20, 1900 to accept a judicial position			Republican gain	Samuel D. Woods[Note 8] (R) 50.4% J. D. Sproul (D) 47.9% W. F. Lockwood (Soc) 0.9% W. H. Barron (P) 0.8%
California 3	Victor H. Metcalf	Republican	1898	Re-elected	Victor H. Metcalf (R) 58.3% Frank Freeman (D) 38% R. A. Dague (Soc) 2.6% Alvin W. Holt (P) 1.1%
California 4	Julius Kahn	Republican	1898	Re-elected	Julius Kahn (R) 55.7% R. Porter Ashe (D) 38.2% Charles C. O'Donnell (I) 3.6% G. B. Benham (Soc) 2.2% Joseph Rowell (P) 0.3%
California 5	Eugene F. Loud	Republican	1890	Re-elected	Eugene F. Loud (R) 55.7% J. H. Henry (D) 41.3% C. H. King Sr. (Soc) 2.2% Fred E. Caton (P) 0.8%
California 6	Russell J. Waters	Republican	1898	Retired Republican hold	James McLachlan (R) 52.4% W. D. Crichton (D) 42.4% Noble A. Richardson (Soc) 3.1% A. H. Hensley (P) 2.1%
California 7	James C. Needham	Republican	1898	Re-elected	James C. Needham (R) 51.8% William Graves (D) 37.9% H. G. Wilshire (Soc) 7% James Campbell (P) 3.2%

Florida

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Florida 1	Stephen M. Sparkman	Democratic	1894	Re-elected	Stephen M. Sparkman (D) 87.0% G. Brown Patterson (R) 13.0%
Florida 2	Robert Wyche Davis	Democratic	1896	Re-elected	Robert Wyche Davis (D) 80.0% John M. Cheney (R) 20.0%

Nevada

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Nevada at-large	Francis G. Newlands	Democratic	1892	Re-elected as Democratic	Francis G. Newlands (D/Sil) 58.8% E. S. Farrington (R) 41.2%

South Carolina

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
South Carolina 1	William Elliott	Democratic	1886 1896	Re-elected	William Elliott (D) 72.7% W. W. Beckett (R) 27.3%
South Carolina 2	W. Jasper Talbert	Democratic	1892	Re-elected	W. Jasper Talbert (D) 97.7% J. B. Odom (R) 2.3%
South Carolina 3	Asbury Latimer	Democratic	1892	Re-elected	Asbury Latimer (D) 97.5% Anson C. Merrick (R) 2.5%
South Carolina 4	Stanyarne Wilson	Democratic	1894	Lost primary Democratic hold	Joseph T. Johnson (D) 97.0% S. T. Poinier (R) 3.0%
South Carolina 5	David E. Finley	Democratic	1898	Re-elected	David E. Finley (D) 97.3% John F. Jones (R) 2.7%
South Carolina 6	James Norton	Democratic	1897 (special)	Lost primary Democratic hold	Robert B. Scarborough (D) 94.3% R. A. Stuart (R) 5.7%
South Carolina 7	J. William Stokes	Democratic	1894	Re-elected	J. William Stokes (D) 93.2% Alexander D. Dantzler (R) 6.8%

J. William Stokes (D) of the 7th district died in office on July 6, 1901 and was replaced in a special election by Asbury F. Lever (D)

See also

• United States presidential election, 1900
• United States Senate elections, 1900
• 57th United States Congress

Notes

1. Three states held earlier elections between June 4 and September 10.
2. Included 2 Silver Republicans.
3. Includes 1 member of the Silver Republican faction, John F. Shafroth, of CO-01.
4. Previous election had 1 member from the Silver Republican Party faction.
5. Elections held early.
6. Elections to MO-12 were contested multiple times, and the seat was considered vacant for much of the 57th Congress – Republican George C. Wagoner was finally seated just before the end of the 57th Congress. See Dubin, p. 333 and 337–338.
7. Previous election had 1 member from the Silver Party.
8. Also won special election to 56th Congress.

References

1. "Party Divisions of the House of Representatives* 1789–Present". Office of the Historian, United States House of Representatives. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
2. Martis, pp. 154–155.

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, United States House of Representatives. Retrieved January 21, 2015.

External links

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