1844 and 1845 United States House of Representatives elections

Elections to the United States House of Representatives for the 29th Congress were held at various dates in different states from July 1844 to November 1845.

1844 and 1845 United States House of Representatives elections
July 1, 1844 – November 4, 1845[lower-alpha 1]
All 224[lower-alpha 2][lower-alpha 3]seats in the U.S. House of Representatives
115 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader John Davis Samuel Finley Vinton
Party Democratic Whig
Leader's seat Indiana 6th Ohio 12th
Last election 148 seats 73 seats
Seats won 140[lower-alpha 2] 81
Seat change 8 8
Popular vote 1,276,980 1,143,305
Percentage 50.02% 44.79%
Swing 1.25% 0.62%
  Third party Fourth party
 
Party Know Nothing Law and Order
Last election Pre-creation 2 seats
Seats won 6 0
Seat change 6 0
Popular vote 53,413 3,030
Percentage 2.09% 0.12%
Swing New Party 0.23%
  Fifth party
 
Party Independent
Last election 2 seats[lower-alpha 4]
Seats won 0
Seat change 2
Popular vote 31,961
Percentage 1.25%
Swing 0.81%
Speaker before election

John Jones
Democratic

 Elected Speaker

John Davis
Democratic

All 224 elected members[lower-alpha 3] took their seats when Congress convened December 1, 1845. The House elections spanned the 1844 Presidential election, won by dark horse Democratic candidate James K. Polk, who advocated territorial expansion. The new states of Texas and Iowa were added during this Congress, with Florida admitted on the last day of the previous Congress.

Democrats lost six seats but retained a large majority over the rival Whigs. The new American Party, based on the nativist "Know Nothing" movement characterized by opposition to immigration and anti-Catholicism, gained six seats.

Election summaries

One seat was added for the new State of Florida.[3] Texas and Iowa were admitted during this next Congress, but their initial elections were held in 1846.

↓
142 6 79
Democratic [lower-alpha 5] Whig
State Type Date Total
seats		 Democratic Know Nothing Whig
Seats Change Seats Change Seats Change
Louisiana District July 1–3, 1844 4 3 1 0 1 1
Illinois District August 5, 1844 7 6 0 1
Missouri At-large August 5, 1844 5 5 0 0
Georgia District[lower-alpha 6] August 7, 1844 8 4 4 0 4 4
Vermont District September 3, 1844 4 1 0 3
Maine District September 9, 1844 7 6 1 0 1 1
Arkansas At-large October 8, 1844 1 1 0 0
Ohio District October 8, 1844 21 13 1 0 8 1
Pennsylvania District October 8, 1844 24 12 2 2 10 2
New Jersey District October 9, 1844 5 1 3 0 4 3
South Carolina District October 14–15, 1844 7 7 0 0
Michigan District November 5, 1844 3 3 0 0
Massachusetts District November 11, 1844 10 0 2 0 10 2
New York District November 11, 1844 34 21 3 4 4 9 1
Delaware At-large November 12, 1844 1 0 0 1
Late electionsfter the March 4, 1845 beginning of term
New Hampshire At-large March 11, 1845 4[lower-alpha 3] 3 1 0 0
Rhode Island District April 2, 1845 2 0 0 2 2[lower-alpha 7]
Connecticut District April 7, 1845 4 0 4 0 4 4
Virginia District April 24, 1845 15 14 2 0 1 2
Florida[lower-alpha 8] At-large May 26, 1845 1 1 1 0 0
Alabama District August 4, 1845 7 6 0 1
Indiana District August 4, 1845 10 8 0 2
Kentucky District August 4, 1845 10 3 1 0 7 2
North Carolina District August 7, 1845 9 6 1 0 3 1
Tennessee District August 7, 1845 11 6 0 5
Maryland District October 1, 1845 6 4 4 0 2 4
Mississippi At-large November 3–4, 1845 4 4 0 0
Total 224[lower-alpha 2][lower-alpha 3] 142
62.6%		 6 6
2.6%		 6 79
34.8%		 6
House seats
Democratic
 
 62.56%
Know Nothing
 
 2.64%
Whig
 
 34.80%

Special elections

Florida
Main article: 1845 United States House of Representatives election in Florida
See also: List of United States Representatives from Florida
District Incumbent This race
Member Party First elected Results Candidates
Florida at-large None (New state) New seat.
New member elected late on May 26, 1845.
Democratic gain.
Winner did not serve, having also been elected U.S. senator.

Maryland
See also: List of United States Representatives from Maryland

Late elections to the 28th Congress

Maryland elected its members to the 28th Congress on February 14, 1844, after that Congress had already convened in 1843 and long after the 1842–1843 election cycle.

District Incumbent This race
Member Party First elected Results Candidates
Maryland 1 Isaac D. Jones Whig 1841 Unknown if incumbent retired or lost re-election.
New member elected.
Whig hold.
Maryland 2
Maryland 3
Maryland 4
Maryland 5
Maryland 6

Regular elections to the 29th Congress

Maryland's October 1, 1845 elections were after the March 4, 1845 beginning of the new term, but still before the Congress convened in December 1845.

District Incumbent This race
Member Party First elected Results Candidates
Maryland 1 John Causin Whig 1844 Unknown if incumbent retired or lost re-election.
New member elected.
Whig hold.
Maryland 2
Maryland 3
Maryland 4
Maryland 5
Maryland 6

See also

Notes
  1. Excludes states admitted during the 29th Congress
  2. Includes late elections
  3. There was one vacancy in New Hampshire's delegation, unfilled for the duration of the 29th Congress.[1][2]
  4. Includes one Independent and one Independent Whig.
  5. There were 6 Know Nothings.
  6. Changed from at-large
  7. Previous election had 2 members of the short-lived Law and Order Party
  8. New State

References
  1. Dubin, p. 142–143.
  2. Martis, p. 98-99.
  3. 5 Stat. 743

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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