United States House of Representatives elections, 1872

United States House of Representatives elections, 1872

November 5, 1872[Note 1]

All 292 seats to the United States House of Representatives 147 seats were needed for a majority   Majority party Minority party   Leader James Blaine Fernando Wood Party Republican Democratic Leader's seat Maine-3rd New York-10th Last election 137 seats 104 seats Seats won 199 89[Note 2] Seat change 62 15 Popular vote 3,401,847 2,903,521 Percentage 51.0% 43.3% Swing 2.8% 4.9%   Third party   Party Liberal Republican Last election 2 seats Seats won 4[Note 3] Seat change 2

Speaker before election James Blaine Republican Elected Speaker James Blaine Republican

Elections to the United States House of Representatives were held in 1872 and 1873 for representatives to the 43rd Congress, coinciding with the re-election of President Ulysses S. Grant.

Grant's Republican Party increased its majority greatly at the expense of the opposition Democratic Party. The pro-industry outlook of the Republicans appealed to many Northern voters, especially as the post-war economy exploded, and this allowed the party to flourish as the Industrial Revolution grew more widespread. The Republicans also benefited from a continuing association with Civil War victory as well as disarray amongst Democratic leadership.

Election summaries

Following the 1870 Census, the House was reapportioned, initially adding 40 seats,^[1] followed by a subsequent amendment to the apportionment act adding another seat to 9 States,^[2] resulting in a total increase of 49 seats. No States lost seats, 10 States had no change, 13 States gained 1 seat each, 9 States gained 2 seats, 3 States gained 3 seats, 1 State gained 4 seats, and 1 State gained 5 Seats. Prior to the supplemental act, two States (New Hampshire and Vermont) had each lost 1 seat. This was the first reapportionment after the repeal of the three-fifths compromise by the 14th Amendment

↓

199	4	89
Republican	IR	Democratic

State	Type	Total seats		Republican	Democratic
		Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Alabama	District + 2 at-large	8	2	6[Note 4]	3	2	1
Arkansas	District + at-large	4	1	4[Note 4]	2	0	1
California	District	4	1	3		1	1
Connecticut[Note 5]	District	4		3		1
Delaware	At-large	1		1	1	0	1
Florida	At-large	2	1	2	1	0
Georgia	District	9	2	2	1	7	3
Illinois	District	19	5	14	6	5	1
Indiana[Note 6]	District + 3 at-large	13	2	10	4	3	2
Iowa	District	9	3	9	3	0
Kansas	At-large	3	2	3	2	0
Kentucky	District	10	1	0		10	1
Louisiana	District + 1 at-large	6	1	6[Note 4]	1	0
Maine[Note 6]	District	5		5		0
Maryland	District	6	1	2	2	4	1
Massachusetts	District	11	1	11	1	0
Michigan	District	9	3	9	4	0	1
Minnesota	District	3	1	3	1	0
Mississippi	District	6	1	5		1	1
Missouri	District	13	4	4	1	9	5
Nebraska[Note 6]	At-large	1		1		0
Nevada	At-large	1		0		1
New Hampshire[Note 5]	District	3		2	2	1	2
New Jersey	District	7	2	6	3	1	1
New York	District + 1 at-large	33	2	24	9	9	7
North Carolina[Note 6]	District	8	1	3	1	5
Ohio[Note 6]	District	20	1	14[Note 4]		6	1
Oregon[Note 6]	At-large	1		1	1	0	1
Pennsylvania[Note 6]	District + 3 at-large	27	3	22	9	5	6
Rhode Island	District	2		2		0
South Carolina	District + 1 at-large	5	1	5	1	0
Tennessee	District + 1 at-large	10	2	7	5	3	3
Texas	District + 2 at-large	6	2	0	1	6	3
Vermont[Note 6]	District	3		3		0
Virginia	District	9	1	4	1	5
West Virginia[Note 6]	District	3		1		2[Note 2]
Wisconsin	District	8	2	6	2	2
Total		292	49	203[Note 7] 69.5%	62 30.5%	89[Note 2] 30.5%	13

House seats
Republican			69.52%
Democratic			30.48%

Election dates

In 1845, Congress passed a law providing for a uniform nationwide date for choosing Presidential electors.^[3] 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 1872–73, there were still 9 states with earlier election dates, and 2 states with later election dates:

• Early elections (1872):
  • June 4 Oregon
  • August 1 North Carolina
  • August 27 West Virginia
  • September 3 Vermont
  • September 9 Maine
  • October 8 Indiana, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania
• Late elections (1873):
  • March 11, 1873 New Hampshire
  • April 7, 1873 Connecticut

Complete returns

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

California

A new seat was added, following the 1870 U.S. Census, bringing the delegation up from three to four Representatives.

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
California 1	None (Incumbent redistricted to 4th district)			New seat Republican gain	Charles Clayton (R) 52.3% William A. Piper (D) 47.7%
California 2	Aaron Augustus Sargent	Republican	1868	Retired Republican hold	Horace F. Page (R) 51.8% Paschal Coggins (D) 48.2%
California 3	John M. Coghlan	Republican	1871	Lost re-election Democratic gain	John K. Luttrell (D) 51.7% John M. Coghlan (R) 48.3%
California 4	Sherman O. Houghton (Redistricted from the 1st district)	Republican	1871	Re-elected	Sherman O. Houghton (R) 53.6% E. J. C. Kewen (D) 46.4%

Florida

Florida gained a second seat after the 1870 census, but delayed districting until 1874, electing both Representatives at-large for this election.

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Florida at-large 2 seats on a general ticket	Josiah T. Walls	Republican	1870	Re-elected	William J. Purman (R) 26.3% Josiah T. Walls (R) 26.2% Silas L. Niblack (D) 23.8% Charles W. Jones (D) 23.7%
	None (seat created)			New seat Republican gain

Ohio

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates[4]
Ohio 1	Ozro J. Dodds	Democratic	1872 (s)	Retired Democratic hold	Milton Sayler (D) 58.4% Benjamin Eggleston (R) 41.6%
Ohio 2	Job E. Stevenson	Republican	1868	Retired Liberal Republican gain	Henry B. Banning (LR) 53.7% Rutherford B. Hayes (R) 46.3%
Ohio 3	Lewis D. Campbell	Democratic	1870	Retired Republican gain	John Quincy Smith (R) 52.1% James W. Sohn (D) 47.9%
Ohio 4	John F. McKinney	Democratic	1870	Retired Republican gain	Lewis B. Gunckel (R) 53.1% John J. Winans (D) 46.9%
Ohio 5	Charles N. Lamison	Democratic	1870	Re-elected	Charles N. Lamison (D) 60.3% Samuel Lybrand (R) 39.7%
Ohio 6	John Armstrong Smith	Republican	1868	Retired Republican hold	Isaac R. Sherwood (R) 51.5% Frank H. Hurd (D) 48.5%
Ohio 7	Samuel Shellabarger	Republican	1870	Retired Democratic gain	Lawrence T. Neal (D) 52.5% John Thomas Wilson (R) 47.5%
Ohio 8	John Beatty	Republican	1868 (s)	Retired Republican hold	William Lawrence (R) 57.9% John P. Musson (D) 42.1%
Ohio 9	Charles Foster	Republican	1870	Re-districted Republican hold	James W. Robinson (R) 50.8% George W. Morgan (D) 49.2%
Ohio 10	Erasmus D. Peck	Republican	1870 (s)	Retired Republican hold	Charles Foster (R) 51.2% Rush R. Sloane (D) 48.8%
Ohio 11	John Thomas Wilson	Republican	1866	Re-districted Republican hold	Hezekiah S. Bundy (R) 56.2% Samuel P. Nash (D) 43.8%
Ohio 12	Philadelph Van Trump	Democratic	1866	Retired Democratic hold	Hugh J. Jewett (D) 58.8% James Taylor (R) 41.2%
Ohio 13	George W. Morgan	Democratic	1868	Re-districted Democratic hold	Milton I. Southard (D) 54.5% Lucius P. Marsh (R) 45.5%
Ohio 14	James Monroe	Republican	1870	Re-districted Democratic gain	John Berry (D) 57.9% Thomas E. Douglas (R) 42.1%
Ohio 15	William P. Sprague	Republican	1870	Re-elected	William P. Sprague (R) 52.0% Richard R. Hudson (D) 48.0%
Ohio 16	John Bingham	Republican	1864	Lost Re-nomination Republican hold	Lorenzo Danford (R) 56.5% Christian L. Poorman (D) 43.5%
Ohio 17	Jacob A. Ambler	Republican	1868	Retired Republican hold	Laurin D. Woodworth (R) 54.0% Richard Brown (D) 46.0%
Ohio 18	William H. Upson	Republican	1868	Retired Republican hold	James Monroe (R) 58.7% Norton Strange Townshend (D) 41.3%
Ohio 19	James A. Garfield	Republican	1862	Re-elected	James A. Garfield (R) 69.9% Milton Sutliff (D) 30.1%
Ohio 20	None (district recreated)			Republican gain	Richard C. Parsons (R) 55.8% Selah Chamberlain (D) 44.2%

See also

• United States presidential election, 1872
• United States Senate elections, 1872
• 43rd United States Congress

Notes

1. In the majority of states; 11 states held elections on different dates between June 4, 1872 and April 7, 1873.
2. Includes 1 Independent Democrat, John J. Davis, elected to WV-01.
3. Four Liberal Republicans were elected: to AL-01 and OH-02, and to at-large seats in Arkansas and Louisiana.
4. Includes 1 Liberal Republican.
5. Elections held late.
6. Elections held early.
7. Includes 4 Liberal Republicans.

References

1. 17 Stat. 28
2. 17 Stat. 192
3. Statutes at Large, 28th Congress, 2nd Session, p. 721.
4. Smith, Joseph P, ed. (1898). History of the Republican Party in Ohio I. Chicago: the Lewis Publishing Company. p. 306.

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)