1870 and 1871 United States House of Representatives elections

Elections to the United States House of Representatives were held in 1870 and 1871 to elect Representatives for the 42nd Congress, and were held in the middle of President Ulysses S. Grant's first term.

1870 and 1871 United States House of Representatives elections
June 6, 1870 –
October 6, 1871[lower-alpha 1]
All 243 seats to the United States House of Representatives
122 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader James G. Blaine Fernando Wood
Party Republican Democratic
Leader's seat Maine 3rd New York 9th
Last election 171 seats 61 seats
Seats won 138 94[lower-alpha 2]
Seat change 33 33
Popular vote 2,719,276 2,441,956
Percentage 49.59% 44.53%
Swing 2.22% 0.40%
  Third party Fourth party
 
Party Conservative Liberal Republican
Last election 6 seats New Party
Seats won 10 2
Seat change 4 2
Popular vote 160,295 55,551
Percentage 2.92% 1.01%
Swing 0.27% Pre-creation
  Fifth party
 
Party Independent
Last election 0 seats
Seats won 1[lower-alpha 3]
Seat change 1
Popular vote 98,591
Percentage 1.80%
Swing 0.81%
Map of U.S. House elections results from 1870 elections for 42nd Congress
Speaker before election

James G. Blaine
Republican

 Elected Speaker

James G. Blaine
Republican

With Grant's administration rocked by a number of scandals (including a shady deal for gold speculation that led to a crash in the market and several business deals that saw high-ranking governmental officials gain kickbacks) and Reconstruction winding down, his Republican Party lost seats to the opposition Democratic Party but retained an overall majority. Also, since the Democratic Party controlled governments were reestablishing themselves in some portions of the South, the Democrats were able to make huge gains in this election.

Special elections

Election summaries
↓
104 139
Democratic Republican
State Type Total
seats		 Democratic Republican
Seats Change Seats Change
Mississippi[lower-alpha 4][lower-alpha 5] District 5 0 5
Alabama District 6 3 1 3 1
Arkansas District 3 1 2
California[lower-alpha 6] District 3 0 2 3 2
Connecticut[lower-alpha 6] District 4 1 3
Delaware At-large 1 1 0
Florida At-large 1 1 1 0 1
Georgia District 7 4 3
Illinois District
+ 1 at-large		 14 6 2 8 2
Indiana[lower-alpha 4] District 11 5 1 6 1
Iowa[lower-alpha 4] District 6 0 6
Kansas At-large 1 0 1
Kentucky District 9 9 0
Louisiana District 5 0 5
Maine[lower-alpha 4] District 5 0 5
Maryland District 5 5 0
Massachusetts District 10 0 10
Michigan District 6 1 1 5 1
Minnesota District 2 0 1 2 1
Missouri District 9 4 2 5[lower-alpha 7] 2
Nebraska[lower-alpha 4] At-large 1 0 1
Nevada At-large 1 1 1 0 1
New Hampshire[lower-alpha 6] District 3 3 3 0 3
New Jersey District 5 2 1 3 1
New York District 31 16 3 15 3
North Carolina[lower-alpha 4] District 7 5 4 2 4
Ohio[lower-alpha 4] District 19 5 1 14 1
Oregon[lower-alpha 4] At-large 1 1 0
Pennsylvania[lower-alpha 4] District 24 11 3 13[lower-alpha 8] 3
Rhode Island District 2 0 2
South Carolina[lower-alpha 4] District 4 0 4
Tennessee District 8 6 6 2 6
Texas[lower-alpha 6] District 4 4 3 0 3
Vermont[lower-alpha 4] District 3 0 3
Virginia District 8 5 5[lower-alpha 9] 3
West Virginia[lower-alpha 4] District 3 2 2 1 2
Wisconsin District 6 2 1 4 1
Total 243 104
42.8%		 37 139[lower-alpha 10]
57.2%		 32
House seats
Democratic
 
 42.80%
Republican
 
 57.20%

The previous election included 5 Conservatives

Election dates

In 1845, Congress passed a law providing for a uniform nationwide date for choosing Presidential electors.[1] 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 1870, there remained 12 States that held elections before Election Day, and 4 that held it after at this time:

California
California elections
September 6, 1871
3 seats
  Majority party Minority party
 
Party Republican Democratic
Last election 1 2
Seats won 3 0
Seat change 2 2
Popular vote 62,539 57,065
Percentage 52.3% 47.7%
     Republican hold     Republican gain
Main article: 1871 United States House of Representatives elections in California
See also: List of United States Representatives from California
District Incumbent Party Elected Status Opponent
California 1 Samuel Beach Axtell Democratic 1867 Incumbent retired.
New member elected.
Republican Gain.
  • Y Sherman O. Houghton (Republican) 51.6%
  • Lawrence Archer (Democratic) 48.4%
California 2 Aaron Sargent Republican 1868 Incumbent re-elected.
  • Y Aaron Sargent (Republican) 54%
  • James W. Coffroth (Democratic) 46%
California 3 James A. Johnson Democratic 1867 Incumbent retired.
New member elected.
Republican Gain.

Florida
Florida election
November 8, 1870 (Election Day)
1 seat
  Majority party Minority party
 
Party Republican Democratic
Last election 1 0
Seats won 1[2] 0[2]
Seat change
Popular vote 12,439 11,812
Percentage 51.3% 48.7%
Main article: 1870 United States House of Representatives election in Florida
See also: List of United States Representatives from Florida
District Incumbent Party First
elected		 Result Candidates
Florida at-large Charles M. Hamilton Republican 1868 Incumbent retired.
New member elected.
Republican hold.

Niblack subsequently successfully challenged Walls's election and was seated from Florida's at-large district on January 29, 1873.[3]

Ohio
See also: List of United States Representatives from Ohio
District Incumbent Party First
elected		 Result Candidates[4]
Ohio 1 Peter W. Strader Democratic 1868 Incumbent retired.
New member elected.
Republican gain
Ohio 2 Job E. Stevenson Republican 1868 Incumbent re-elected.
Ohio 3 Robert C. Schenck Republican 1862 Incumbent lost re-election.
New member elected.
Democratic gain
Ohio 4 William Lawrence Republican 1864 Incumbent retired.
New member elected.
Democratic gain
Ohio 5 William Mungen Democratic 1866 Incumbent retired.
New member elected.
Democratic hold
Ohio 6 John Armstrong Smith Republican 1868 Incumbent re-elected.
Ohio 7 James J. Winans Republican 1868 Incumbent lost renomination.
New member elected.
Republican hold
Ohio 8 John Beatty Republican 1868 (Special) Incumbent re-elected.
Ohio 9 Edward F. Dickinson Democratic 1868 Incumbent lost re-election.
New member elected.
Republican gain
Ohio 10 Erasmus D. Peck Republican 1870 (Special) Incumbent re-elected.
  • Y Erasmus D. Peck (Republican) 52.5%
  • William F. Lockwood (Democratic) 47.5%
Ohio 11 John Thomas Wilson Republican 1866 Incumbent re-elected.
Ohio 12 Philadelph Van Trump Democratic 1866 Incumbent re-elected.
Ohio 13 George W. Morgan Democratic 1868 Incumbent re-elected.
Ohio 14 Martin Welker Republican 1864 Incumbent retired.
New member elected.
Republican hold
Ohio 15 Eliakim H. Moore Republican 1868 Incumbent retired.
New member elected.
Republican hold
Ohio 16 John Bingham Republican 1864 Incumbent re-elected.
  • Y John Bingham (Republican) 52.4%
  • Robert A. Chambers (Democratic) 47.6%
Ohio 17 Jacob A. Ambler Republican 1868 Incumbent re-elected.
Ohio 18 William H. Upson Republican 1868 Incumbent re-elected.
Ohio 19 James A. Garfield Republican 1862 Incumbent re-elected.

Wisconsin
See also: List of United States Representatives from Wisconsin

Wisconsin elected six members of congress on Election Day, November 8, 1870. Prior to election day, a special election was held February 15, 1870, in the 2nd congressional district to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Representative Benjamin F. Hopkins for the remainder of his term in the 41st Congress.[5]

41st Congress
District Incumbent This race
Member Party First elected Results Candidates
Wisconsin 2 Benjamin F. Hopkins Republican 1866 Incumbent died January 1, 1870.
Special election held February 15, 1870.
New member elected.
Republican hold.

42nd Congress
District Incumbent This race
Member Party First elected Results Candidates
Wisconsin 1 Halbert E. Paine Republican 1864 Incumbent was not a candidate for re-election.
New member elected.
Democratic gain.
Wisconsin 2 David Atwood Republican 1870 Special Incumbent was not a candidate for re-election.
New member elected.
Republican hold.
Wisconsin 3 Amasa Cobb Republican 1862 Incumbent was not a candidate for re-election.
New member elected.
Republican hold.
Wisconsin 4 Charles A. Eldredge Democratic 1862 Incumbent re-elected.
Wisconsin 5 Philetus Sawyer Republican 1864 Incumbent re-elected.
Wisconsin 6 Cadwallader C. Washburn Republican 1866 Incumbent was not a candidate for re-election.
New member elected.
Republican hold.

Non-voting delegates

Colorado Territory
See also: List of United States Representatives from Colorado
District Incumbent This race
Delegate Party First elected Results Candidates
Colorado Territory at-large Allen A. Bradford Republican 1868 Unknown if incumbent retired or lost renomination.
New delegate elected.
Republican hold.

Montana Territory

Montana Territory elected its non-voting delegate August 7, 1871.

District Incumbent This race
Representative Party First elected Results Candidates
Montana Territory at-large James M. Cavanaugh Democratic 1859 (Minnesota)
1861 (Lost)
1868		 Incumbent lost renomination.

See also

Notes
  1. Majority of states held elections on November 8, 1870 (i.e. Election Day).
  2. Note that Dubin (p. 221) records 9–10 "Conservatives", and approximately 94 Democrats, as being elected to the 42nd Congress. This contrasts with Martis (pp. 124–125) which offers no separate accounting of "Conservatives" from Democrats and thus records a total of 104 Democratic members of the 42nd Congress.
  3. Includes 1 Independent Republican.
  4. Elections held early.
  5. Elections held at the same time as elections for 41st Congress.
  6. Elections held late.
  7. Includes 2 Liberal Republicans: Gustavus A. Finkelnburg elected to Missouri's 2nd district, and James G. Blair elected to Missouri's 8th district.
  8. Includes 1 Independent Republican, John V. Creely, elected to Pennsylvania's 2nd district.
  9. Previous election had 5 Conservatives.
  10. Includes 2 Liberal Republicans and 1 Independent Republican.

References
  1. Statutes at Large, 28th Congress, 2nd Session, p. 721.
  2. Initial result, Democratic candidate successfully challenged Republican victory
  3. "Forty-Second Congress (membership roster)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 9, 2013. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
  4. Smith, Joseph P, ed. (1898). History of the Republican Party in Ohio. I. Chicago: the Lewis Publishing Company. pp. 277, 278.
  5. "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.
  6. https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=264145
  7. https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=300355

Bibliography
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