United States House of Representatives elections, 1874

United States House of Representatives elections, 1874

November 3, 1874[Note 1]

All 293[Note 2] seats to the United States House of Representatives 147 seats were needed for a majority   Majority party Minority party   Leader Michael Kerr James Blaine Party Democratic Republican Leader's seat Indiana-3rd Maine-3rd Last election 89 seats[Note 3] 199 seats[Note 4] Seats won 183[1][Note 5] 106[1][Note 6] Seat change 94 93 Popular vote 2,758,223 2,633,140 Percentage 45.7% 43.6% Swing 2.4% 7.4%   Third party   Party Independent Last election 0 seats Seats won 4[1][Note 7] Seat change 4

Speaker before election James Blaine Republican Elected Speaker Michael Kerr Democratic

Elections to the United States House of Representatives were held in 1874 and 1875 for Representatives to the 44th Congress, occurring in the middle of President Ulysses S. Grant's second term with a deep economic depression underway. It was an important turning point, as the Republicans lost heavily and the Democrats gained control of the House. It signaled the imminent end of Reconstruction, which Democrats opposed. Historians emphasize the factors of economic depression and attacks on the Grant administration for corruption as key factors in the vote.^[2]

With the election following the Panic of 1873, Grant's Republican Party was crushed in the elections, losing their majority and almost half their seats to the Democratic Party. This was the first period of Democratic control since the pre-war era. The economic crisis and the inability of Grant to find a solution led to his party's defeat. This was the second-largest swing in the history of the House (only behind the 1894 elections), and is the largest House loss in the history of the Republican Party.

In the south, the Democrats and Conservatives continued their systematic destruction of the Republican coalition. In the South, Scalawags moved into the Democratic Party. The Democratic landslide signaled the imminent end of Reconstruction, which Democrats opposed and a realignment of the Republican coalition that had dominated American politics since the late 1850s.^[3]

While the ongoing end of Reconstruction in the South was one of the main reasons for the shift, turn-of-the-century Bourbon Democrat historian James Ford Rhodes explored the multiple causes of the results in the North:^[4]

"In the fall elections of 1874 the issue was clearly defined: Did the Republican President Ulysses S. Grant and Congress deserve the confidence of the country? and the answer was unmistakably No....

"The Democrats had won a signal victory, obtaining control of the next House of Representatives which would stand Democrats 168, Liberals and Independents 14, Republicans 108 as against the two-thirds Republican majority secured by the election of 1872. Since 1861 the Republicans had controlled the House and now with its loss came a decrease in their majority in the Senate....

Rhodes continues:

"The political revolution from 1872 to 1874 was due to the failure of the Southern policy of the Republican party, to the Credit Mobilier and Sanborn contract scandals, to corrupt and inefficient administration in many departments and to the persistent advocacy of Grant by some close friends and hangers-on for a third presidential term. Some among the opposition were influenced by the President's backsliding in the cause of civil service reform, and others by the failure of the Republican party to grapple successfully with the financial question. The depression, following the financial Panic of 1873, and the number of men consequently out of employment weighed in the scale against the party in power. In Ohio, the result was affected by the temperance crusade in the early part of the year. Bands of women of good social standing marched to saloons before which or in which they sang hymns and, kneeling down, prayed that the great evil of drink might be removed. Sympathizing men wrought with them in causing the strict law of the State against the sale of strong liquor to be rigidly enforced. Since Republicans were in the main the instigators of the movement, it alienated from their party a large portion of the German American vote."

Election summaries

Colorado was admitted as a State in 1876 adding one new seat.^[5] Colorado held two elections in 1876, one for the last part of the 44th Congress, and the second, in November, for the 45th Congress.

↓

182	1	4	3	103
Democratic	ID	I	IR	Republican

State	Type	Total seats	Democratic	Republican	Independent
			Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Alabama	District + 2 at-large	8	6	4	2	4	0
Arkansas	District[Note 8]	4	4	4	0	4	0
California[Note 9]	District	4	3	2	1	2	0
Colorado[Note 10]	At-large	1	0		1	1	0
Connecticut[Note 9]	District	4	3	2	1	2	0
Delaware	At-large	1	1	1	0	1	0
Florida	District[Note 11]	2	1	1	1	1	0
Georgia[Note 12]	District	9	9[Note 5]	2	0	2	0
Illinois	District	19	11	6	6	8	2	2
Indiana[Note 12]	District[Note 8]	13	8	5	5	5	0
Iowa[Note 12]	District	9	1	1	8	1	0
Kansas	District[Note 11]	3	1	1	2	1	0
Kentucky	District	10	9	1	1	1	0
Louisiana	District[Note 8]	6	4	3	2	2	0
Maine[Note 12]	District	5	0		5		0
Maryland	District	6	6	2	0	2	0
Massachusetts	District	11	5	5	4	7	2	2
Michigan	District	9	3	3	6	3	0
Minnesota	District	3	0		3		0
Mississippi	District	6	4	3	2[Note 13]	3	0
Missouri	District	13	13	4	0	4	0
Nebraska[Note 12]	At-large	1	0		1		0
Nevada	At-large	1	0	1	1	1	0
New Hampshire[Note 9]	District	3	2	1	1	1	0
New Jersey	District	7	5	4	2	4	0
New York	District[Note 8]	33	17	8	16[Note 13]	8	0
North Carolina[Note 12]	District	8	7	2	1	2	0
Ohio[Note 12]	District	20	13	7	7	7	0
Oregon[Note 12]	At-large	1	1	1	0	1	0
Pennsylvania	District[Note 8]	27	17	12	10	12	0
Rhode Island	District	2	0		2		0
South Carolina	District[Note 8]	5	0		5		0
Tennessee	District[Note 8]	10	9	6	1	6	0
Texas	District[Note 8]	6	6		0		0
Vermont[Note 12]	District	3	0		3[Note 13]		0
Virginia	District	9	8	4	1	4	0
West Virginia[Note 12]	District	3	3	1	0	1	0
Wisconsin	District	8	3	1	5	1	0
Total		293[Note 2]	183[Note 5] 62.5%	94	106[Note 6] 36.2%	93	4 1.4%	4

House seats
Democratic			62.46%
Republican			36.18%
Others			1.37%

[[File:44 us house membership.png|thumb|350px| 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 ]]

[[File:44 us house changes.png|thumb|350px| 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 Republican gain   no net change ]]

Election dates

In 1845, Congress passed a law providing for a uniform nationwide date for choosing Presidential electors.^[6] 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 1874–75, there were still 10 states with earlier election dates, and 3 states with later election dates:

• Early elections (1874):
  • June 1 Oregon
  • August 6 North Carolina
  • September 1 Vermont
  • September 14 Maine
  • October 7 Georgia
  • October 13 Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio, West Virginia
• Late elections (1875):
  • March 9, 1875 New Hampshire
  • April 5, 1875 Connecticut
  • September 7, 1875 California

In addition, Colorado held its first election some time in 1876.

All races

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

California

District	Incumbent	Party	Elected	Results	Candidates
California 1	Charles Clayton	Republican	1872	Retired Democratic gain	William Adam Piper (D) 49.1% Ira P. Rankin (R) 26.8% John F. Swift (I) 24.1%
California 2	Horace F. Page	Republican	1872	Re-elected	Horace F. Page (R) 43.4% Henry Larkin (D) 38.7% Charles A. Tuttle (I) 17.8%
California 3	John K. Luttrell	Democratic	1872	Re-elected	John K. Luttrell (D) 46.7% C. B. Denio (R) 36.1% Charles F. Reed (I) 17.1%
California 4	Sherman O. Houghton	Republican	1870	Lost re-election Democratic gain	Peter D. Wigginton (D) 48.8% Sherman O. Houghton (R) 34.6% J. S. Thompson (I) 16.7%

Florida

District	Incumbent	Party	Elected	Results	Candidates
Florida 1	William J. Purman Redistricted from the at-large district	Republican	1872	Re-elected	William J. Purman (R) 53.0% John Henderson (D) 47.0%
Florida 2	Josiah T. Walls Redistricted from the at-large district	Republican	1870	Re-elected	Josiah T. Walls (R) 51.1% Jesse J. Finley (D) 48.9%

In the 2nd district, Jesse J. Finley (D) successfully challenged the election of Josiah T. Walls (R) and took his seat April 19, 1876

South Carolina

District	Incumbent	Party	Elected	Results	Candidates
South Carolina 1	Joseph Rainey	Republican	1870 (special)	Re-elected	Joseph Rainey (R) 51.4% Samuel Lee (IR) 48.6%
South Carolina 2	Alonzo J. Ransier	Republican	1872	Retired Independent Republican gain	Edmund W. M. Mackey (IR) 54.1% Charles W. Buttz (R) 45.9%
South Carolina 3	Previous incumbent Robert B. Elliott resigned in 1874			Republican hold	Solomon L. Hoge (R) 56.1% Samuel McGowan (C) 43.9%
South Carolina 4	Alexander S. Wallace	Republican	1868	Re-elected	Alexander S. Wallace (R) 53.2% Joseph B. Kershaw (C) 46.8%
South Carolina 5	Richard H. Cain Redistricted from the at-large district	Republican	1872	Retired Republican hold	Robert Smalls (R) 79.4% J. P. M. Epping (IR) 19.9% Others 0.7%

In the 2nd district, Charles W. Buttz (R) successfully challenged the election of Edmund W. M. Mackey (IR). The seat was declared vacant July 19, 1876 and was filled in a special election held at the same time as the general election, which was won by Buttz.

See also

• United States Senate elections, 1874
• 44th United States Congress

Notes

1. The majority of states held their elections on this date. 13 other states held regular elections on different dates between June 1, 1874 and September 7, 1875.
2. Includes late elections.
3. Included 1 Independent Democrat.
4. In addition, there were 4 Liberal Republicans elected in 1872.
5. Includes 1 Independent Democrat, William H. Felton, elected to GA-07.
6. Includes 3 Independent Republicans elected to MS-02, NY-03 and VT-02.
7. Includes 4 Independents elected to IL-07, IL-19, MA-05 and MA-10.
8. At-large seats eliminated in redistricting.
9. Elections held late.
10. New state.
11. Changed from at-large.
12. Elections held early.
13. Includes 1 Independent Republican.

References

1. Martis, pp. 128–129.
2. Nicolas Barreyre, "The Politics of Economic Crises: The Panic of 1873, the End of Reconstruction, and the realignment of American Politics." Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era (2011) 10#4 pp 403-423
3. James E. Campbell, "Party Systems and Realignments in the United States, 1868-2004," Social Science History, Fall 2006, Vol. 30 Issue 3, pp 359-386
4. James Ford Rhodes (1920). History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850: 1872-1877. The Macmillan company. p. 67.
5. 13 Stat. 34
6. 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.

External links

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