United States House of Representatives elections, 1834

United States House of Representatives elections, 1834

July 7, 1834 - November 5, 1835[Note 1]

All 242[Note 2] seats to the United States House of Representatives 122 seats were needed for a majority   Majority party Minority party   Leader James K. Polk John Bell Party Jacksonian[Note 3] Anti-Jacksonian[Note 4] Leader's seat Tennessee-9th Tennessee-7th Last election 143 seats 63 seats Seats won 143[Note 2][Note 5] 75[Note 5] Seat change 12   Third party Fourth party   Leader Harmar Denny John K. Griffin Party Anti-Masonic Nullifier Leader's seat Pennsylvania-22nd South Carolina-9th Last election 25 seats 9 seats Seats won 16[Note 5] 8[Note 5] Seat change 9 1

Speaker before election John Bell Anti-Jacksonian Elected Speaker James K. Polk Jacksonian

Elections to the United States House of Representatives for the 24th Congress were held in 1834 and 1835.

In this election, the dominant Jacksonian Party, or Democrats, retained their majority, neither gaining nor losing seats from 1832–1833. However, their primary opponents, the Anti-Jacksonians, who by this time were transitioning into becoming the Whig Party, gained at the expense of the Jacksonians as well as the two single-issue parties, the Anti-Masonic Party (an anti-Masonry movement) and the Nullifier Party (a John C. Calhoun-led states' rights party that supported South Carolina during the Nullification Crisis in 1832 and 1833).

The Whig Party, which evolved from the National Republican Party, attempted to change its image and reach out to new groups, including conservative Jacksonians, anti-Masons, and former Federalists. The Whigs would soon be able to gain a number of seats due to the unpopularity in some regions of Andrew Jackson's brash style. A number of former Jacksonians left the party and joined the newly formed Whigs in opposition to the perceived autocratic style of the president.

As the President's party lost no seats, this was the smallest loss by a President's party in the House as a result of the so-called six-year itch.

Election summaries

The States of Arkansas and Michigan were admitted during this Congress, adding 1 seat each.^[1][2]

↓

143	8	16	75
Jacksonian	N	AM	Anti-Jacksonian

State	Type	Date	Total seats	Jacksonian	Anti-Jacksonian	Anti-Masonic	Nullifier
				Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Delaware	At-large	November 11, 1834	1	0		1		0		0
Georgia	At-large	October 6, 1834	9	9		0		0		0
Illinois	District (3)	August 4, 1834	3	3		0		0		0
Louisiana	District (3)	July 7–9, 1834	3	1		2		0		0
Maine	District (8)	September 8, 1834	8	6	1	2	1	0		0
Massachusetts	District (12)	November 10, 1834	12	1		8	1	3	1	0
New Jersey	At-large	October 14, 1834	6	6		0		0		0
New York	District (33[Note 6])	November 3–5, 1834	40	31	1	9	9	0	8	0
Ohio	District (19)	October 14, 1834	19	9	2	9	3	1	1	0
Pennsylvania	District (25[Note 7])	October 14, 1834	28	17	3	3	1	8	2	0
South Carolina	District (9)	October 13–14, 1834	9	2	1	0		0		7	1
Vermont	District (5)	September 2, 1834	5	0		3		2		0
1835 elections
Alabama	District (5)	August 3, 1835	5	3	1	1	1	0		1
Connecticut	At-large	April 9, 1835	6	6	6	0	6	0		0
Indiana	District (7)	August 3, 1835	7	6		1		0		0
Kentucky	District (13)	August 5, 1835	13	4		9		0		0
Maryland	District (7[Note 8])	October 5, 1835	8	4	2	4	2	0		0
Michigan[Note 9]	At-large	October 5, 1835	1	1	1	0		0		0
Mississippi	At-large	November 3–5, 1835	2	1	1	1	1	0		0
Missouri	At-large	August 3, 1835	2	1		1		0		0
New Hampshire	At-large	March 10, 1835	5	5		0		0		0
North Carolina	District (13)	August 13, 1835	13	6		7		0		0
Rhode Island	At-large	August 25, 1835	2	0		0	1	2	1	0
Tennessee	District (13)	August 5–6, 1835	13	4	8	9	8	0		0
Virginia	District (21)	April, 1835	21	16	2	5	2	0		0
1836 elections
Arkansas[Note 9]	At-large	August 1, 1836	1	1	1	0		0		0
Total[Note 2]			242	143 59.1%		75 31.0%	12	16 6.6%	9	8 3.3%	1

House seats
Jacksonian			59.09%
Anti-Jacksonian			30.99%
Anti-Masonic			6.61%
Nullifier			3.31%

Complete returns

Pennsylvania

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates[3][Note 10]
Pennsylvania 1	Joel B. Sutherland	Jacksonian	1826	Re-elected	Joel B. Sutherland (J) 61.7% James Gowen (?) 38.3%
Pennsylvania 2 Plural district with 2 seats	Horace Binney	Anti-Jacksonian	1832	Retired Anti-Jacksonian hold	Joseph R. Ingersoll (AJ) 60.4% James Harper (AJ) 59.9% James M. Linnard (J) 40.1% Henry Horn (J) 39.6%
	James Harper	Anti-Jacksonian	1832	Re-elected
Pennsylvania 3	John G. Watmough	Anti-Jacksonian	1830	Lost re-election Jacksonian gain	Michael W. Ash (J) 55.6% John G. Watmough (AJ) 44.4%
Pennsylvania 4 Plural district with 3 seats	William Hiester	Anti-Masonic	1830	Re-elected	William Hiester (AM) 55.0% David Potts, Jr. (AM) 55.0% Edward Darlington (AM) 54.9% Archibald T. Dick (J) 45.1% Benjamin Champneys (J) 45.0% John Morgan (J) 45.0%
	Edward Darlington	Anti-Masonic	1832	Re-elected
	David Potts, Jr.	Anti-Masonic	1830	Re-elected
Pennsylvania 5	Joel K. Mann	Jacksonian	1830	Retired Jacksonian hold	Jacob Fry, Jr. (J) 55.3% James Royer (?) 44.7%
Pennsylvania 6	Robert Ramsey	Jacksonian	1832	Retired Anti-Jacksonian gain	Mathias Morris (AJ) 52.4% Henry Chapman (J) 47.6%
Pennsylvania 7	David D. Wagener	Jacksonian	1832	Re-elected	David D. Wagener (J) 68.1% Alexander E. Brown (?) 31.9%
Pennsylvania 8	Henry King	Jacksonian	1830	Retired Jacksonian hold	Edward B. Hubley (J) 59.6% Walter C. Livingston (?) 40.4%
Pennsylvania 9	Henry A. P. Muhlenberg	Jacksonian	1828	Re-elected	Henry A. P. Muhlenberg (J) 69.3% Stanly Kirby (?) 30.7%
Pennsylvania 10	William Clark	Anti-Masonic	1832	Re-elected	William Clark (AM) 54.0% John C. Bucher (J) 46.0%
Pennsylvania 11	Charles A. Barnitz	Anti-Masonic	1832	Lost re-election Jacksonian gain	Henry Logan (J) 54.2% Charles A. Barnitz (AM) 45.8%
Pennsylvania 12	George Chambers	Anti-Masonic	1832	Re-elected	George Chambers (AM) 59.8% Ludwig Heck (J) 40.2%
Pennsylvania 13	Jesse Miller	Jacksonian	1832	Re-elected	Jesse Miller (J) 51.4% Thomas Whiteside (AM) 48.6%
Pennsylvania 14	Joseph Henderson	Jacksonian	1832	Re-elected	Joseph Henderson (J) 52.5% James Milliken (AM) 47.5%
Pennsylvania 15	Andrew Beaumont	Jacksonian	1832	Re-elected	Andrew Beaumont (J) 56.1% Charles D. Shoemaker (?) 43.9%
Pennsylvania 16	Joseph B. Anthony	Jacksonian	1832	Re-elected	Joseph B. Anthony (J) 62.8% Samuel J. Packer (?) 37.2%
Pennsylvania 17	John Laporte	Jacksonian	1832	Re-elected	John Laporte (J) 56.8% Horrace Williston 43.2%
Pennsylvania 18	George Burd	Anti-Jacksonian	1830	Retired Jacksonian gain	Job Mann (J) 54.6% Charles Ogle (AM) 45.4%
Pennsylvania 19	Richard Coulter	Jacksonian	1826	Lost re-election Jacksonian hold	John Klingensmith, Jr. (J) 59.7% Richard Coulter (J) 40.3%
Pennsylvania 20	Andrew Stewart	Anti-Masonic	1820 1830	Lost re-election Jacksonian gain	Andrew Buchanan (J) 58.9% Andrew Stewart (AM) 41.1%
Pennsylvania 21	Thomas M. T. McKennan	Anti-Masonic	1830	Re-elected	Thomas M. T. McKennan (AM) 51.3% Thomas Ringland (J) 48.7%
Pennsylvania 22	Harmar Denny	Anti-Masonic	1829 (special)	Re-elected	Harmar Denny (AM) 53.5% John M. Snowden (J) 46.5%
Pennsylvania 23	Samuel S. Harrison	Jacksonian	1832	Re-elected	Samuel S. Harrison (J) 69.9% John Gilmore (?) 30.1%
Pennsylvania 24	John Banks	Anti-Masonic	1830	Re-elected	John Banks (AM) 52.2% Samuel Power (J) 47.8%
Pennsylvania 25	John Galbraith	Jacksonian	1832	Re-elected	John Galbraith (J) 60.6% Thomas H. Sill (AM) 39.4%

Two vacancies occurred in Pennsylvania's congressional representation during the 24th Congress. The first occurred in the 24th district when John Banks (AM) resigned on April 2, 1836, and was replaced in a special election by John J. Pearson (AJ). The second occurred in the 13th district when Jesse Miller (J) resigned on October 30, 1836, which vacancy was filled in a special election by James Black (J).

See also

• List of United States House of Representatives elections, 1824–54
• United States Senate elections, 1832
• United States presidential election, 1832
• 23rd United States Congress

Notes

1. Excludes states admitted during the 24th Congress
2. Includes late elections
3. By this point, Jacksonians also started to be known as Democrats.
4. By this point, Anti-Jacksonians were also known as Whigs.
5. There are significant discrepancies among the sources, e.g. Dubin (pg. 113), Martis (pg. 93), and Moore (pg. 960-963), in regards to the party figures from the 1834 U.S. House elections (particularly on the number of Anti-Mason members (and which members were elected as Anti-Masons or not), and whether Dixon H. Lewis of AL-04 was a "Nullifier" or a Democrat), so deferring to Martis, pg. 93 (and "Party Divisions of the House of Representatives* 1789–Present". Office of the Historian, House of United States House of Representatives.) on the party figures for 1834.
6. Includes 5 plural districts
7. Includes 3 plural districts
8. Includes 1 plural district
9. New state
10. For plural districts, percent is based on assumption that each voter cast as many votes as there are seats

References

1. 5 Stat. 49
2. 5 Stat. 50
3. Wilkes University Elections Statistics Project

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)