1872 and 1873 United States House of Representatives elections

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 U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant.

1872 and 1873 United States House of Representatives elections

November 5, 1872[lower-alpha 1]
All 292 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives 147 seats needed for a majority
Leader James G. Blaine Fernando Wood Party Republican Democratic Leader's seat Maine 3rd New York 10th Last election 138 seats 94 seats Seats won 199 85 Seat change 61 9 Popular vote 3,561,090 2,813,934 Percentage 52.85% 41.76% Swing 3.26% 2.77%   Party Liberal Republican Conservative Last election 2 seats 10 seats Seats won 4 4 Seat change 2 6 Popular vote 274,693 126,329 Percentage 4.08% 1.87% Swing 3.07% 1.05%   Party Independent Last election 1 seat[lower-alpha 2] Seats won 1[lower-alpha 3] Seat change Popular vote 151,757 Percentage 2.25% Swing 0.45%
Map of U.S. House elections results from 1872 elections for 43rd Congress
Speaker before election James G. Blaine Republican Elected Speaker James G. Blaine Republican

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.

↓

89	203
Democratic	Republican

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

Popular vote Republican   52.85% Democratic   41.76% Lib. Republican   4.08% Conservative   1.87% Independent   2.25% Others   0.00%

House seats Republican   67.92% Democratic   29.01% Lib. Republican   1.37% Conservative   1.37% Independent   0.34%

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

Special elections

• Connecticut 1: 1872
• Georgia 8: 1873
• Louisiana 4: 1872
• Louisiana 4: 1873
• Massachusetts 3: 1873
• Oregon at-large: 1873
• Pennsylvania 13: 1872

Alabama

Arkansas

California

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

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

Connecticut

Delaware

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			This race
	Representative	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
Florida at-large 2 seats on a general ticket	Josiah T. Walls	Republican	1870	Incumbent re-elected.	William J. Purman (Republican) 26.3% Josiah T. Walls (Republican) 26.2% Silas L. Niblack (Democratic) 23.8% Charles W. Jones (Democratic) 23.7%
	None (New seat)			New seat. New member elected. Republican gain.

Georgia

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

In the newly-formed at-large district, George A. Sheridan (Liberal Republican) beat P. B. S. Pinchback (Republican), the first black Governor of Louisiana.[4] Pinchback challenged the election and it was settled in February 1875, in Sheridan's favor, only one month before the end of the Congress.

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New York

North Carolina

Ohio

After redistricting and eleven retirements, only four of the nineteen incumbents were re-elected.

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

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

Tennessee

Texas

Vermont

Virginia

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wisconsin elected eight members of congress on Election Day, November 5, 1872. Two seats were newly added in reapportionment after the 1870 census.[6][7]

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
Wisconsin 1	Alexander Mitchell	Democratic	1870	Incumbent was redistricted to the 4th congressional district. New member elected. Republican gain.	Charles G. Williams (Republican) 62.5% Ithamar Sloan (Liberal Republican) 37.5%
Wisconsin 2	Gerry Whiting Hazelton	Republican	1870	Incumbent re-elected.	Gerry Whiting Hazelton (Republican) 53.2% George Baldwin Smith (Democratic) 46.8%
Wisconsin 3	J. Allen Barber	Republican	1870	Incumbent re-elected.	J. Allen Barber (Republican) 58.2% Allen Warden (Liberal Republican) 41.8%
Wisconsin 4	Charles A. Eldredge	Democratic	1862	Incumbent was redistricted to the 5th congressional district. New member elected. Democratic hold.	Alexander Mitchell (Democratic) 65.1% Frederick Charles Winkler (Republican) 34.9%
Wisconsin 5	Philetus Sawyer	Republican	1864	Incumbent was redistricted to the 6th congressional district. New member elected. Democratic gain.	Charles A. Eldredge (Democratic) 55.5% Henry Baetz (Republican) 44.5%
Wisconsin 6	Jeremiah McLain Rusk	Republican	1870	Incumbent was redistricted to the 7th congressional district. New member elected. Republican hold.	Philetus Sawyer (Republican) 56.1% Myron P. Lindsley (Democratic) 43.9%
Wisconsin 7	New district.			New district. New member elected. Republican gain.	Jeremiah McLain Rusk (Republican) 65.4% Stephen Marston (Liberal Republican) 34.6%
Wisconsin 8	New district.			New district. New member elected. Republican gain.	Alexander S. McDill (Republican) 59.7% William Carson (Democratic) 40.3%

Non-voting delegates

Colorado Territory

District	Incumbent			This race
	Delegate	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
Colorado Territory at-large	Jerome B. Chaffee	Republican	1870	Incumbent re-elected.	Jerome B. Chaffee (Republican) [data unknown/missing][8]

See also

• 1872 United States elections
  • 1872 United States presidential election
  • 1872 and 1873 United States Senate elections
• 42nd United States Congress
• 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 Republican.
3. Includes 1 Independent Democrat, John J. Davis, elected to WV-01.
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. 5 Stat. 721: 28th Congress, 2nd Sess., Ch. 1, enacted January 23, 1845
4. "Our Campaigns - LA - At Large Race - Nov 05, 1872". www.ourcampaigns.com.
5. Smith, Joseph P, ed. (1898). History of the Republican Party in Ohio. I. Chicago: the Lewis Publishing Company. p. 306.
6. "Wisconsin U.S. House Election Results" (PDF). Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 5, 2012. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
7. Turner, A. J., ed. (1874). "Official directory". The legislative manual of the state of Wisconsin (Report). Madison, Wisconsin: State of Wisconsin. pp. 444–445. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
8. "Our Campaigns - CO Territorial Delegate Race - Nov 05, 1872". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved May 21, 2020.

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)