1854 and 1855 United States House of Representatives elections

Elections to the United States House of Representatives for the 34th Congress were held during President Franklin Pierce's term at various dates in different states from August 1854 to November 1855.

1854 and 1855 U.S. House of Representatives elections

August 4, 1854 – November 6, 1855
All 234 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives[1] 118 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader William A. Richardson Henry M. Fuller Nathaniel P. Banks Party Democratic Whig Know Nothing Leader's seat Illinois 5th Pennsylvania 12th Massachusetts 7th Last election 150 seats 71 seats 0 seats Seats won 81[lower-alpha 1][2][3] 54[lower-alpha 2] 51[2][3][lower-alpha 3] Seat change 69 17 51 Popular vote 1,418,553[lower-alpha 4] 580,929 631,510 Percentage 43.95% 18.00% 19.56% Swing 5.87% 23.61% 19.25%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party Anti-Nebraska Republican People's Party Last election Pre-creation Pre-creation Pre-creation Seats won 22[lower-alpha 2] 13[lower-alpha 2] 9[4][lower-alpha 2] Seat change 22 13 9 Popular vote 196,461 182,245 102,423 Percentage 6.09% 5.65% 3.17% Swing New Party New Party New Party   Seventh party Eighth party   Party Free Soil Independent Last election 4 seats 3 seats Seats won 1[lower-alpha 2] 1[lower-alpha 5] Seat change 3 2 Popular vote 22,928 84,196[lower-alpha 6] Percentage 0.71% 2.61% Swing 3.28% 0.18%
Speaker before election Linn Boyd Democratic Elected Speaker Nathaniel P. Banks Know Nothing

This midterm election was among the most disruptive in American history, auguring the collapse of the Second Party System. Both major parties, the Democratic Party and the Whig Party, organized as rivals for roughly 20 years, lost critical voter support. The Whig Party disintegrated over the slavery issue even as Northern voters, strongly opposing the Kansas–Nebraska Act, shifted sharply against Democrats. The elected majority temporarily coalesced as the Opposition Party. This transitional party included Whigs, Free Soil members, American Party members or Know Nothings, the People's Party of Indiana, Anti-Nebraska candidates, a few disaffected Northern Democrats, and members of the nascent Republican Party, which soon would amalgamate most of these factions, becoming the new rival to the Democrats.

Candidates opposed to the Democratic Party won widely in the North through November 1854. The American Party, ignoring slavery and opposing immigration particularly by Catholics from Ireland and Germany, won seats from both major parties, but to the net loss of Democrats, in New England and the South from November 1854 into 1855.

Congress had passed the Kansas–Nebraska Act in May 1854 after aggressive sponsorship by the Pierce Administration and Democrats led by Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas, including an outspoken contingent of radical pro-slavery legislators. The Act repealed the 1820 Missouri Compromise and triggered the Bleeding Kansas conflict. With widely foreseen risks and immediately negative results, the Act publicly discredited the Democratic Party, fueling new partisan and sectional rancor. It created violent uncertainty on the frontier by abruptly making slavery potentially legal in territories originally comprising the northern portion of the Louisiana Purchase and attractive to contemporary settlers. Settlers were expected to determine the status of slavery locally. This idea appealed to Democratic politicians and to some voters in its shape and intent, but proved unworkable in Kansas where the status of slavery would be closely disputed between more numerous settlers from the North and geographically closer settlers from the South. Even some pro-slavery voters, particularly Southern Whigs, felt repealing the Missouri Compromise was politically reckless and attempting to push slavery by law and force into territories where most settlers predictably were unlikely to want it endangered its continued legal protection anywhere, even in the South. These fears proved prescient.

The election of the Speaker was the lengthiest and most contentious in history. More than 21 Representatives sought the post. After two months and 133 ballots, American Party Representative Nathaniel Banks of Massachusetts, also a Free Soiler, defeated Democrat William Aiken of South Carolina both by plurality and a margin of three votes.[5]

Election summaries

State	Type	Date	Total seats	Opposition		Democratic		Know Nothing
				Seats	Change[lower-alpha 7]	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Arkansas	District	August 4, 1854	2	0		2		0
Iowa	District	August 7, 1854	2	1		1		0
Missouri	District	August 7, 1854	7	6	2	1	2	0
Vermont	District	September 5, 1854	3	3		0		0
California	At-large	September 6, 1854	2	0		2		0
Maine	District	September 11, 1854	6	5	2	1	2	0
Florida	At-large	October 2, 1854	1	0		1		0
South Carolina	District	October 9–10, 1854	6	0		6		0
Indiana	District	October 10, 1854	11	9	8	2	8	0
Ohio	District	October 10, 1854	21	21	12	0	12	0
Pennsylvania	District	October 10, 1854	25	17	8	7	9	1	1
Illinois	District	November 7, 1854 (Election Day)[lower-alpha 8]	9	4		5		0
Michigan	District		4	3	3	1	3	0
New Jersey	District		5	4	3	1	3	0
New York	District		33	25	13	5	16	3	3
Wisconsin	District		3	2	2	1	2	0
Massachusetts	District	November 12, 1854	11	0	10	0	1	11	11
Delaware	At-large	November 14, 1854	1	0		0	1	1	1
New Hampshire	District	March 13, 1855	3	0		0	3	3	3
Connecticut	District	April 2, 1855	4	0		0	4	4	4
Rhode Island	District	April 4, 1855	2	0		0	2	2	2
Virginia	District	May 24, 1855	13	0		12	1	1	1
North Carolina	District	August 2, 1855	8	0	3	5		3	3
Tennessee	District	August 2, 1855	10	0	5	5		5	5
Alabama	District	August 6, 1855	7	0	1	5	1	2	2
Kentucky	District	August 6, 1855	10	0	5	4	1	6	6
Texas	District	August 6, 1855	2	0		1	1	1	1
Georgia	District	October 1, 1855	8	0	2	6		2	2
Louisiana	District	November 5, 1855	4	0	1	3		1	1
Mississippi	District[lower-alpha 9]	November 5–6, 1855	5	0		4	1	1	1
Maryland	District	November 6, 1855	6	0	2	2	2	4	4
Total			234	100[2][3] 42.7%	29[lower-alpha 10]	83[2][3] 35.0%	75	51[2][3] 21.8%	51

House seats Democratic   35.47% Know Nothing   21.79% People's   3.85% Republican   15.81% Whig   23.08%

Arkansas

See also: List of United States Representatives from Arkansas

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Arkansas 1	Alfred B. Greenwood	Democratic	1852	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Alfred B. Greenwood (Democratic) 97.99% W.C. Myrtle (Independent) 2.01%
Arkansas 2	Edward A. Warren	Democratic	1852	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Democratic hold.	Y Albert Rust (Democratic) 65.95% E.G. Walker (Whig) 34.05%

California

See also: List of United States Representatives from California

Note: From statehood to 1864, California's representatives were elected at-large, with the top two vote-getters winning election from 1849 to 1858.

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
California at-large 2 seats on a general ticket	Milton S. Latham	Democratic	1852	Incumbent withdrew. New member elected. Democratic hold.	Y James W. Denver (anti-Broderick Democratic) 22.41% Y Philemon T. Herbert (anti-Broderick Democratic) 22.24% George W. Bowie (Whig) 21.14% Calhoun Benham (Whig) 20.94% James Churchman (Broderick Democratic) 6.09% James A. McDougall (Broderick Democratic) 6.07% Milton S. Latham (Broderick Democratic) 1.12%[6]
	James A. McDougall	Democratic	1852	Incumbent lost re-election. New member elected. Democratic hold.

Florida

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Florida at-large	Augustus Maxwell	Democratic	1852	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Augustus Maxwell (Democratic) 55.26% Thomas Brown (Whig) 44.74%

Iowa

See also: List of United States Representatives from Iowa

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Iowa 1	Bernhart Henn	Democratic	1850	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Democratic hold.	Y Augustus Hall (Democratic) 50.27% R.L. Clark (Whig) 49.50% J.L. Ashbaugh (Independent) 0.23%
Iowa 2	William Vandever	Whig	1852	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Whig hold.	Y James Thorington (Whig) 53.33% Stephen P. Hempstead (Democratic) 46.09% Augustus Hall (Independent) 0.57%

Maine

See also: List of United States Representatives from Maine

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Maine 1	Moses Macdonald	Democratic	1850	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Republican gain.	Y John M. Wood (Republican) 59.36% Samuel Wells (Democratic) 39.91% Lorenzo D. Wilkinson (Independent) 0.74%
Maine 2	Samuel Mayall	Democratic	1852	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Republican gain.	Y John J. Perry (Republican) 56.88% William K. Kimball (Democratic) 42.46% Charles J. Gilman (Independent) 0.66%
Maine 3	E. Wilder Farley	Whig	1852	Incumbent lost re-election. New member elected. Republican gain.	Y Ebenezer Knowlton (Republican) 43.94% Jonathan G. Dickerson (Democratic) 30.78% E. Wilder Farley (Whig) 25.28%
Maine 4	Samuel P. Benson	Whig	1852	Incumbent re-elected. Republican gain.	Y Samuel P. Benson (Republican) 77.05% George Rogers (Democratic) 22.95%
Maine 5	Israel Washburn Jr.	Whig	1850	Incumbent re-elected. Republican gain.	Y Israel Washburn Jr. (Republican) 63.09% Samuel H. Blake (Democratic) 36.91%
Maine 6	Thomas J. D. Fuller	Democratic	1848	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Thomas J. D. Fuller (Democratic) 42.39% James A. Milliken (Republican) 38.74% Noah Smith (Whig) 18.88%

Missouri

See also: List of United States Representatives from Missouri

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Missouri 1	Thomas Hart Benton	Benton Democratic (Opposition)	1852	Incumbent lost re-election. New member elected. Whig gain.	Y Luther M. Kennett (Whig) 54.16% Thomas Hart Benton (Benton Democratic) 45.84%
Missouri 2	Alfred W. Lamb	Democratic	1852	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Whig gain.	Y Gilchrist Porter (Whig) 54.14% Tully Cornick (Benton Democratic) 45.86%
Missouri 3	James J. Lindley	Whig	1852	Incumbent re-elected.	Y James J. Lindley (Whig) 52.46% Augustus W. Fournoy (Democratic) 47.54%
Missouri 4	Mordecai Oliver	Whig	1852	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Mordecai Oliver (Whig) 41.95% S.L. Leonard (Democratic) 34.21% Shelton J. Howe (Benton Democratic) 19.08% J.F. Pitt (Ind. Whig) 4.76%
Missouri 5	John G. Miller	Whig	1850	Incumbent re-elected.	Y John G. Miller (Whig) 46.12% Thomas L. Price (Benton Democratic) 35.50% Warwick Hough (Democratic) 18.38%
Missouri 6	John S. Phelps	Democratic	1844	Incumbent re-elected.	Y John S. Phelps (Democratic) 51.10% Waldo P. Johnson (Benton Democratic) 48.90%
Missouri 7	Samuel Caruthers	Whig	1852	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Samuel Caruthers (Whig) 58.85% Charles Jones (Democratic) 41.15%

Pennsylvania

See also: List of United States Representatives from Pennsylvania

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Pennsylvania 1	Thomas B. Florence	Democratic	1848	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Thomas B. Florence (Democratic) 51.77% Edward Joy Morris (Whig) 48.23%
Pennsylvania 2	Joseph R. Chandler	Whig	1848	Incumbent lost re-election as an Independent. New member elected. Whig gain.	Y Job R. Tyson (Whig) 54.63% John Hamilton (Democratic) 33.82% Joseph R. Chandler (Independent Whig) 11.56%
Pennsylvania 3	John Robbins	Democratic	1848	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Whig gain.	Y William Millward (Whig) 51.59% James Landy (Democratic) 48.41%
Pennsylvania 4	William Henry Witte	Democratic	1852	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Know Nothing gain.	Y Jacob Broom (Know Nothing) 49.63% Henry Myer Phillips (Democratic) 44.08% John Lambert (Whig) 6.29%
Pennsylvania 5	John McNair	Democratic	1850	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Democratic hold.	Y John Cadwalader (Democratic) 50.03% Nathan A. Jones (Whig) 49.97%
Pennsylvania 6	William Everhart	Whig	1852	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Democratic gain.	Y John Hickman (Democratic) 58.97% John M. Broomall (Whig) 41.03%
Pennsylvania 7	Samuel A. Bridges	Democratic	1852	Incumbent lost re-election. New member elected. Republican gain.	Y Samuel C. Bradshaw (Republican) 51.03% Samuel A. Bridges (Democratic) 48.97%
Pennsylvania 8	J. Glancy Jones	Democratic	1854	Incumbent re-elected.	Y J. Glancy Jones (Democratic) 59.77% John C. Myers (Whig) 40.23%
Pennsylvania 9	Isaac E. Hiester	Whig	1852	Incumbent lost re-election. New member elected. Independent gain.	Y Anthony E. Roberts (Independent Whig) 39.38% Isaac E. Hiester (Whig) 33.79% Joseph S. Lefevre (Democratic) 26.84%
Pennsylvania 10	Ner Middleswarth	Whig	1852	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Whig hold.	Y John C. Kunkel (Whig) 55.99% Amos Boughter (Democratic) 43.01% George A. Seiler (Independent) 1.00%
Pennsylvania 11	Christian M. Straub	Democratic	1852	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Whig gain.	Y James H. Campbell (Republican) 38.87% William L. Dewart (Democratic) 36.68% Joseph W. Cake (Democratic) 21.90% Kimber Cleaver (Know Nothing) 2.56%
Pennsylvania 12	Hendrick B. Wright	Democratic	1852	Incumbent lost re-election. New member elected. Whig gain.	Y Henry Mills Fuller (Whig) 56.26% Hendrick B. Wright (Democratic) 43.74%
Pennsylvania 13	Asa Packer	Democratic	1852	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Asa Packer (Democratic) 58.67% Edward F. Stewart (Whig) 41.33%
Pennsylvania 14	Galusha A. Grow	Democratic	1850	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Galusha A. Grow (Democratic) 95.22% Jim Grow (Independent) 4.56% Olin L. Hawley (Independent) 0.23%

Vermont

See also: List of United States Representatives from Vermont

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Vermont 1	James Meacham	Whig	1849 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected.	Y James Meacham (Whig) 71.35% Solomon W. Jewett (Democratic) 28.65%
Vermont 2	Andrew Tracy	Whig	1852	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Republican gain.	Y Justin S. Morrill (Republican) 50.26% J.W. Parker (Democratic) 35.07% Oscar L. Shafter (Free Soil) 14.68%
Vermont 3	Alvah Sabin	Whig	1852	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Alvah Sabin (Whig) 68.54% William Heywood (Democratic) 31.46%

Wisconsin

See also: List of United States Representatives from Wisconsin

Election results in Wisconsin for 1854:[7]

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Wisconsin 1	Daniel Wells Jr.	Democratic	1852	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Daniel Wells Jr. (Democratic) 54.6% Wyman Spooner (Republican) 45.4%
Wisconsin 2	Ben C. Eastman	Democratic	1850	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Republican gain.	Y Cadwallader C. Washburn (Republican) 59.5% Otis Hoyt (Democratic) 39.8% David Taylor (None) 0.7%
Wisconsin 3	John B. Macy	Democratic	1852	Incumbent lost re-election. New member elected. Opposition gain.	Y Charles Billinghurst (Opposition) 55.9% John B. Macy (Democratic) 36.0% Harvey G. Turner (Independent) 8.1%

Non-voting delegates

District	Incumbent			This race
	Delegate	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
Minnesota Territory	Henry Mower Rice	Democratic	1852	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Henry Mower Rice (Democratic) 46.00% William Rainey Marshall (Republican) 32.46% David Olmsted (Anti-Nebraska Democratic) 21.54%[8]

See also

• 1854 United States elections
• List of United States House of Representatives elections, 1824–54
• 1854 and 1855 United States Senate elections
• 33rd United States Congress
• 34th United States Congress

Notes

1. Includes two Anti-Broderick Democrats (California), one Anti-Benton Democrat (Missouri), one Hard-Shell Democrat (New York), and four Soft-Shell Democrats (New York)
2. Counted as part of the plurality-winning "Opposition Party."
3. While Martis, et al. count 51 Know Nothings, Dubin (p. 174) counts 52.
4. Includes votes for those who ran labeled as a Anti-Broderick Democrat, Anti-Benton Democrat, Hard Shell Democrat or Soft-Shell Democrat.
5. Included one Independent Whig: Anthony Ellmaker Roberts of Pennsylvania.
6. Includes votes for those who ran labeled as a Independent, Benton Democrat, Independent Democrat, or Independent American.
7. Compared to Whigs, Free Soilers, and Independents elected in the previous election of 1852.
8. In 1845, Congress passed a law providing for a uniform date for choosing presidential electors (see: Statutes at Large, 28th Congress, 2nd Session, p. 721). Congressional elections were unaffected by this law, but the date was gradually adopted by the states for Congressional elections as well.
9. At-large district abolished in redistricting.
10. Compared to just Whig Party members elected in the previous election of 1852. If Whig Party and Free Soil Party members are counted together, the increase was only 25.

References

1. http://mcimaps.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/34th-Congress.png
2. Martis, pp. 108–109.
3. "Party Divisions of the House of Representatives* 1789–Present". Office of the Historian, House of United States House of Representatives. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
4. Dubin, p. 174.
5. Nevins, Allan (1947). Ordeal of the Union, Volume II: A House Dividing 1852-1857. New York. pp. 413–415.
6. https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=115030
7. "Wisconsin U.S. House Election Results" (PDF). Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 5, 2012. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
8. "Our Campaigns - MN Territorial Delegate Race - Aug 05, 1855". www.ourcampaigns.com.

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)