1888 United States House of Representatives elections

Elections to the United States House of Representatives held in 1888 were held to choose members of the 51st Congress, and were held at the same time as the election of President Benjamin Harrison.

1888 United States House of Representatives elections

June 6, September 4, September 10, and November 6, 1888[lower-alpha 1]
All 332 seats in the United States House of Representatives[lower-alpha 2] 167 seats needed for a majority
Leader Thomas Brackett Reed John G. Carlisle Party Republican Democratic Leader's seat Maine 1st Kentucky 6th Last election 152 seats 167 seats Seats won 179[1][lower-alpha 3] 152[1][lower-alpha 3] Seat change 27 15 Popular vote 5,408,259 5,558,964 Percentage 47.36% 48.68% Swing 2.37% 0.56%   Party Labor Independent Last election 2 seats 2 seats[lower-alpha 4] Seats won 1[1] 0 Seat change 1 2 Popular vote 161,225 61,520 Percentage 1.41% 0.54% Swing 0.33% 1.54%
Map of U.S. House elections results from 1888 elections for 51st Congress on election day (a number of Southern seats were later successfully contested and the results overturned)
Speaker before election John Carlisle Democratic Elected Speaker Thomas Reed Republican

Harrison's Republican Party gained a majority in the House at the expense of the Democratic Party, even though incumbent President Grover Cleveland actually received more votes counted than Harrison. However, as in other elections in the period, widespread vote suppression and fraud was common on behalf of Democrats and against black Republicans in the South. The Republican House majority in uncontested elections unseated a number of initially reported as victorious Democratic candidates in favor of Republican candidates who contested their election loss. The issue of tariffs played a key role in this election. The Democrats, with the support of farmers and laborers, wanted to lower tariffs in order to promote free trade, while the Republicans, backed by industry and big business, believed that higher tariffs were necessary to protect American manufacturing. Especially in industrializing regions, voters chose the Republican view on tariffs, as they gave the party a slim majority in the House.

Election summaries

Seven seats were added, for the six new states of, in order of admission (number of House seats for each new state listed in parentheses): North Dakota (1), South Dakota (2), Montana (1), Washington (1), Idaho (1), and Wyoming (1).

↓

179	1	152
Republican	[lower-alpha 5]	Democratic

State	Type	Total seats	Republican		Democratic
			Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Alabama	District	8	1	1	7	1
Arkansas	District	5[lower-alpha 6]	1		3
California	District	6	4		2
Colorado	At-large	1	1		0
Connecticut	District	4	3	1	1	1
Delaware	At-large	1	0		1
Florida	District	2	0		2
Georgia	District	10	0		10
Illinois	District	20	13	1	7	1
Indiana	District	13	3	4	10	4
Iowa	District	11[lower-alpha 7]	10	1	1
Kansas	District	7	7		0
Kentucky	District	11	2	1	9	1
Louisiana	District	6	1	1	5	1
Maine[lower-alpha 8]	District	4	4		0
Maryland	District	6	3	2	3	2
Massachusetts	District	12	10	2	2	2
Michigan	District	11	9	3	2	3
Minnesota	District	5	5	3	0	3
Mississippi	District	7	0		7
Missouri	District	14	4	2	10	2
Nebraska	District	3	3	1	0	1
Nevada	At-large	1	1		0
New Hampshire	District	2	2	1	0	1
New Jersey	District	7	4	1	3	1
New York	District	34	19	1	15	1
North Carolina	District	9[lower-alpha 9]	3	2	6	2
Ohio	District	21	16	1	5	1
Oregon[lower-alpha 8]	At-large	1	1		0
Pennsylvania	District[lower-alpha 10]	28	21	1	7	1
Rhode Island	District	2	2		0
South Carolina	District	7	1	1	6	1
Tennessee	District	10	3	1	7	1
Texas	District	11	0		11
Vermont[lower-alpha 8]	District	2	2		0
Virginia	District	10[lower-alpha 11]	4	2	6	3
West Virginia	District	4	2	1	2	1
Wisconsin	District	9[lower-alpha 11]	7		2	1
1889 elections (New States)
Montana	At-large	1	1	1	0
North Dakota	At-large	1	1	1	0
South Dakota	At-large	2	2	2	0
Washington	At-large	1	1	1	0
1890 elections (New States)
Idaho	At-large	1	1	1	0
Wyoming	At-large	1	1	1	0
Total[lower-alpha 2]		332	179[1] 53.9%	17	152[1] 45.8%	6

Popular vote Democratic   48.68% Independent   0.54% Labor   1.41% Republican   47.36% Others   2.01%

House seats Democratic   45.78% Labor   0.30% Republican   53.92%

The previous election had 4 third-party candidates, 2 Labor, 1 Greenback, and 1 Independent.

Election dates

All states elected their members November 6, 1888 except, three states, with 7 seats among them:

• June 6: Oregon
• September 4: Vermont
• September 10: Maine

Arizona Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Arkansas

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
Arkansas 1	Poindexter Dunn	Democratic	1878	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Democratic hold.	William H. Cate (Democratic) 51.9% Lewis P. Featherstone (Labor) 47.4% Others 0.6%
Arkansas 2	Clifton R. Breckinridge	Democratic	1882	Incumbent re-elected.	Clifton R. Breckinridge (Democratic) 51.2% John M. Clayton (Republican) 48.8%
Arkansas 3	Thomas C. McRae	Democratic	1884	Incumbent re-elected.	Thomas C. McRae (Democratic) 59.7% John Ansley (Labor) 40.3%
Arkansas 4	John H. Rogers	Democratic	1884	Incumbent re-elected.	John H. Rogers (Democratic) 57.8% Isaac McCacken (Independent) 42.2%
Arkansas 5	Samuel W. Peel	Democratic	1884	Incumbent re-elected.	Samuel W. Peel (Democratic) 68.9% Edward P. Watson (Independent) 22.0% John Gates (Republican) 9.1%

In the 1st district, initial returns showed William H. Cate (Democratic) winning the election, but the election was contested by Lewis P. Featherstone (Labor), and on May 5, 1890, he was declared the winner.

In the 2nd district, Clifton R. Breckinridge (Democratic) was initially declared re-elected. John M. Clayton successfully contested the election, but was assassinated before the contest was complete, so the House declared the seat vacant. Breckinridge was subsequently re-elected November 4, 1890 to finish the term.

California

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
California 1	Thomas Larkin Thompson	Democratic	1886	Incumbent lost re-election. New member elected. Republican gain.	John J. De Haven (Republican) 49.9% Thomas L. Thompson (Democratic) 49% W. D. Reynolds (Independent) 1.1%
California 2	Marion Biggs	Democratic	1886	Incumbent re-elected.	Marion Biggs (Democratic) 50.6% John A. Eagon (Republican) 46.6% S. M. McLean (Prohibition) 2.4% J. F. McSwain (Independent) 0.4%
California 3	Joseph McKenna	Republican	1884	Incumbent re-elected.	Joseph McKenna (Republican) 56.0% Ben Morgan (Democratic) 41.2% W. W. Smith (Prohibition) 1.9% S. Solon Holl (Independent) 1.0%
California 4	William W. Morrow	Republican	1884	Incumbent re-elected.	William W. Morrow (Republican) 50.8% Robert Ferral (Democratic) 48.6% Frank M. Pixley (Socialist) 0.6%
California 5	Charles N. Felton	Republican	1884	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Democratic gain.	Thomas J. Clunie (Democratic) 49.3% Timothy G. Phelps (Republican) 49.2% Henry French (Independent)
California 6	William Vandever	Republican	1886	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Republican hold	William Vandever (Republican) 52.5% Reel B. Terry (Democratic) 43.7% J. G. Miller (Prohibition) 3.5% Alfred Daggett (Know Nothing) 0.2%

Florida

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
Florida 1	Robert H. M. Davidson	Democratic	1876	Incumbent re-elected.	Robert H. M. Davidson (Democratic) 67.1% H. R. Benjamin (Republican) 32.9%
Florida 2	Charles Dougherty	Democratic	1884	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Democratic hold	Robert Bullock (Democratic) 53.5% Frederick S. Goodrich (Republican) 46.5%

Idaho Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Montana Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

New Mexico Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Ohio

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates[2]
Ohio 1	Benjamin Butterworth	Republican	1884	Incumbent re-elected.	Benjamin Butterworth (Republican) 52.6% Otway Cosgrove (Democratic) 47.4%
Ohio 2	Charles Elwood Brown	Republican	1884	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Republican hold.	John A. Caldwell (Republican) 51.9% Clinton W. Gerard (Democratic) 48.1%
Ohio 3	Elihu S. Williams	Republican	1886	Incumbent re-elected.	Elihu S. Williams (Republican) 50.5% George W. Houk (Democratic) 49.5%
Ohio 4	Samuel S. Yoder	Democratic	1886	Incumbent re-elected.	Samuel S. Yoder (Democratic) 60.6% Robert L. Mattingly (Republican) 39.4%
Ohio 5	George E. Seney	Democratic	1886	Incumbent re-elected.	George E. Seney (Democratic) 57.9% Wilson Vance (Republican) 42.1%
Ohio 6	Melvin M. Boothman	Republican	1886	Incumbent re-elected.	Melvin M. Boothman (Republican) 50.1% Gaylord M. Saltzgaber (Democratic) 49.9%
Ohio 7	James E. Campbell	Democratic	1886	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Republican gain.	Henry Lee Morey (Republican) 51.2% John M. Pattison (Democratic) 48.8%
Ohio 8	Robert P. Kennedy	Republican	1886	Incumbent re-elected.	Robert P. Kennedy (Republican) 54.2% Andrew R. Bohn (Democratic) 45.8%
Ohio 9	William C. Cooper	Republican	1884	Incumbent re-elected.	William C. Cooper (Republican) 53.0% John S. Braddock (Republican) 47.0%
Ohio 10	Jacob Romeis	Republican	1884	Incumbent lost re-election. New member elected. Democratic gain.	William E. Haynes (Democratic) 51.5% Jacob Romeis (Republican) 48.5%
Ohio 11	Albert C. Thompson	Republican	1886	Incumbent re-elected.	Albert C. Thompson (Republican) 56.8% Joseph W. Shinn (Democratic) 43.2%
Ohio 12	Jacob J. Pugsley	Republican	1886	Incumbent re-elected.	Jacob J. Pugsley (Republican) 50.9% Lawrence T. Neal (Democratic) 49.1%
Ohio 13	Joseph H. Outhwaite	Democratic	1884	Incumbent re-elected.	Joseph H. Outhwaite (Democratic) 52.7% John B. Neil (Republican) 47.3%
Ohio 14	Charles P. Wickham	Republican	1886	Incumbent re-elected.	Charles P. Wickham (Republican) 51.5% David L. Wadsworth (Democratic) 48.5%
Ohio 15	Charles H. Grosvenor	Republican	1886	Incumbent re-elected.	Charles H. Grosvenor (Republican) 53.5% John P. Spriggs (Democratic) 46.5%
Ohio 16	Beriah Wilkins	Democratic	1886	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Democratic hold.	James W. Owens (Democratic) 55.2% Edwin L. Lybarger (Republican) 44.8%
Ohio 17	Joseph D. Taylor	Republican	1886	Incumbent re-elected.	Joseph D. Taylor (Republican) 56.9% William Lawrence (Democratic) 43.1%
Ohio 18	William McKinley	Republican	1886	Incumbent re-elected.	William McKinley (Republican) 54.4% George P. Ikirt (Democratic) 45.6%
Ohio 19	Ezra B. Taylor	Republican	1880 (s)	Incumbent re-elected.	Ezra B. Taylor (Republican) 67.5% Henry Apthorp (Democratic) 32.5%
Ohio 20	George W. Crouse	Republican	1886	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Republican Hold	Martin L. Smyser (Republican) 52.9% Calvin P. Humphrey (Democratic) 47.1%
Ohio 21	Martin A. Foran	Democratic	1882	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Republican gain.	Theodore E. Burton (Republican) 50.8% Tom L. Johnson (Democratic) 49.2%

South Carolina

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
South Carolina 1	Samuel Dibble	Democratic	1882	Incumbent re-elected.	Samuel Dibble (Democratic) 86.7% S. W. McKinlay (Republican) 13.1% Others 0.2%
South Carolina 2	George D. Tillman	Democratic	1878	Incumbent re-elected.	George D. Tillman (Democratic) 86.8% Seymour E. Smith (Republican) 11.4% Others 1.8%
South Carolina 3	James S. Cothran	Democratic	1886	Incumbent re-elected.	James S. Cothran (Democratic) 99.8% Others 0.2%
South Carolina 4	William H. Perry	Democratic	1884	Incumbent re-elected.	William H. Perry (Democratic) 99.9% Others 0.1%
South Carolina 5	John J. Hemphill	Democratic	1882	Incumbent re-elected.	John J. Hemphill (Democratic) 99.7% Others 0.3%
South Carolina 6	George W. Dargan	Democratic	1882	Incumbent re-elected.	George W. Dargan (Democratic) 95.7% Others 4.3%
South Carolina 7	William Elliott	Democratic	1884	Incumbent re-elected.	William Elliott (Democratic) 54.1% Thomas E. Miller (Republican) 45.4% Others 0.5%

In the 7th district, Elliott was initially declared re-elected, but Miller successfully challenged the election and was seated in his place in September 1890.

Utah Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Washington Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Wyoming Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Non-voting delegates

District	Incumbent			This race
	Delegate	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
Arizona Territory at-large
Idaho Territory at-large
Montana Territory at-large	Joseph K. Toole	Democratic	1884	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Republican gain.	Thomas H. Carter (Republican) 56.20% William A. Clark (Democratic) 43.39%[3]
New Mexico Territory at-large
Utah Territory at-large
Washington Territory at-large
Wyoming Territory at-large

See also

• 1888 United States elections
  • 1888 United States presidential election
  • 1888 and 1889 United States Senate elections
• 50th United States Congress
• 51st United States Congress

Notes

1. Regulars only, not including Specials.
2. Includes late elections.
3. There are significant discrepancies between the party counts provided by Martis (pp. 142–43) and Dubin (p. 285) in regards to the 51st Congress, mainly due to the fact that Martis counts the results of many later contested elections (which were generally decided in favor of the challenging Republican candidate, resulting in the unseating of a number of Democratic members). Dubin records 169 Republicans and 161 Democrats on the first day of the 1st session of the 51st Congress; Dubin reports 177 Republicans, 154 Democrats, and one Labor Party member at the start of the 2nd session of the 51st Congress, figures that nearly match Martis' numbers.
4. Including 2 Independent Republicans, John Alexander Anderson elected to Kansas's 5th congressional district, and Albert R. Anderson to Iowa's 8th congressional district.
5. There was 1 labor member.
6. After a contested election, Lewis P. Featherstone of the Labor Party was declared the winner in Arkansas's 1st congressional district.
7. Previous election had 1 Greenback Party Representative.
8. Elections held early.
9. Previous election had 1 Independent.
10. At-large seat eliminated in redistricting.
11. Previous election had 1 Labor Party member.

References

1. Martis, pp. 142–143.
2. Smith, Joseph P, ed. (1898). History of the Republican Party in Ohio. I. Chicago: the Lewis Publishing Company. pp. 567, 568.
3. https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=300407

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)