1840 and 1841 United States House of Representatives elections

Elections to the United States House of Representatives for the 27th Congress were held at various dates in different states from July 1840 to November 1841.

1840 and 1841 United States House of Representatives elections
July 6, 1840 – November 2, 1841
All 242 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives
122 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader John White John Jones
Party Whig Democratic
Leader's seat Kentucky 9th Virginia 3rd
Last election 116 seats 126 seats
Seats won 142 98
Seat change 26 28
Popular vote 1,089,609 1,021,051
Percentage 51.04% 47.83%
Swing 1.31% 2.18%
  Third party
 
Party Independent
Last election 0 seats
Seats won 2 [lower-alpha 1]
Seat change 2
Popular vote 18,063
Percentage 0.85%
Swing 0.44%
Speaker before election

Robert M. T. Hunter
Whig

 Elected Speaker

John White
Whig

In a Whig wave, voters gave the Whig Party a House majority for the first time. Most Americans experienced the Panic of 1837 as a severe economic downturn. Its perceived mishandling by Democratic President Martin Van Buren fueled new support for alternative economic policies favored by Whigs of which voters had previously been skeptical. Collapse of the Anti-Masonic Party in the late 1830s also drove some third-party incumbents into the Whig Party. Newly elected members included Robert M. T. Hunter, Independent of Virginia,[1][2][3] and Zadoc Casey, Independent Democrat of Illinois.[4][5]

Election summaries
↓
98 2 142
Democratic [lower-alpha 2] Whig
State Type Date Total
seats		 Democratic Whig
Seats Change Seats Change
Louisiana District July 6–8, 1840 3 1 1 2 1
Missouri At-large August 3, 1840 2 2 0
Illinois District August 7, 1840 3 2[lower-alpha 3] 1
Vermont District September 4, 1840 5 0 2 5 2
Maine District September 14, 1840 8 4 2 4 2
Arkansas At-large October 5, 1840 1 1 0
Georgia At-large October 6, 1840 9 0 9
South Carolina District October 12–13, 1840 9 8 1
Ohio District October 13, 1840 19 7 4 12 4
Pennsylvania District (25[lower-alpha 4]) October 13, 1840 28 15 2 13 8
New York District (33[lower-alpha 5]) November 2–4, 1840 40 21 2 19 2
Connecticut District November 3, 1840 6 0 6
Michigan At-large November 3, 1840 1 0 1 1 1
New Jersey At-large November 3, 1840 6 0 5 6 5
Massachusetts District November 9, 1840 12 1 1 11 1
Delaware At-large November 10, 1840 1 0 1 1 1
1841 elections
New Hampshire At-large March 9, 1841 5 5 0
Rhode Island At-large April 21, 1841 2 0 2
Virginia[lower-alpha 6] District April 23, 1841 21[lower-alpha 6] 10 2 10 3
Kentucky District April 26, 1841 13 2 11
Indiana District May 3, 1841 7 1 4 6 4
Tennessee District May 6, 1841 13 5 1 8 1
North Carolina District May 13, 1841 13 5 3 8 3
Maryland District (7[lower-alpha 7]) May 17, 1841 8 2 3 6 3
Alabama At-large[lower-alpha 8] May 20, 1841 5 5 2 0 2
Mississippi At-large November 1–2, 1841 2 2 0
Total 242 99[lower-alpha 3]
40.9%		 26 142
59.5%		 33
House seats
Democratic
 
 40.50%
Whig
 
 58.68%
Others
 
 0.82%

The previous election had two minor parties, the Anti-Masonic Party with 6 seats and the Conservative Party (of Virginia) with 2 seats, both of which disappeared in this election.

The 1st session of the 27th Congress began May 31, 1841, before Mississippi had elected Representatives, leaving that State unrepresented until the 2nd session.

Special elections

26th Congress

27th Congress
New York 26 Francis Granger Whig 1838 Incumbent resigned March 5, 1841 to become U.S. Postmaster General.
New member elected May 13, 1841.
Whig hold.
Successor seated May 21, 1841.
  • Y John Greig (Whig) 53.36%
  • Bowen Whiting (Democratic) 43.30%
  • Hiram Pitts (Liberty) 3.34%[6]
New York 26 John Greig Whig 1841 (Special) Incumbent resigned September 25, 1841.
New member elected.
Whig hold.
Successor seated November 27, 1841.
  • Y Francis Granger (Whig) 53.36%
  • Bowen Whiting (Democratic) 45.14%
  • Hiram Pitts (Liberty) 3.96%[7]

See also

Notes
  1. Includes one Independent from Virginia, and one Independent Democrat from Illinois.
  2. There was 1 Independent and 1 Independent Democrat.
  3. Including one Independent Democrat elected to Illinois's 2nd congressional district.
  4. Includes 3 plural districts
  5. Includes 5 plural districts
  6. Robert M. T. Hunter was elected as an Independent in Virginia's 9th congressional district, and so is not included in the figures here. Hunter had previously run in earlier elections as a Whig.
  7. Includes 1 plural district
  8. Changed from district

References
  1. Dubin 1998, p. 129.
  2. Martis 1989, p. 98.
  3. Moore 1994, p. 974.
  4. Dubin 1998, p. 128.
  5. Martis 1989, p. 96.
  6. https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=725096
  7. https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=725097

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.
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