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1814–15 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1812 & 1813 April 26, 1814 – August 10, 1815 1816 & 1817 →
All 182 seats in the United States House of Representatives 92 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Henry Clay Timothy Pitkin Party Democratic-Republican Federalist Leader's seat Kentucky 2 Connecticut at-large Last election 114 seats 68 seats Seats won 118 64 Seat change 5 4
Speaker before election Langdon Cheves Democratic-Republican Elected Speaker Henry Clay Democratic-Republican

The 1814–15 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between April 26, 1814, and August 10, 1815. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives before the first session of the 14th United States Congress convened on December 4, 1815. They occurred during President James Madison's second term. Elections were held for all 182 seats, representing 18 states.

This election happened in the middle of the War of 1812. The war was extremely unpopular in certain regions, particularly New England. The failed American invasion of Upper Canada (Ontario) and the 1814 Burning of Washington were embarrassing military setbacks, but the Democratic-Republican Party remained dominant and the declining Federalist Party was unable to convert war opposition into political gain.

This election marked the first in American history where the incumbent president's party gained House seats in a midterm election while still losing seats in the Senate; this happened again in 1822 and 1902.

Election summaries

State	Type	Date	Total seats	Democratic- Republican		Federalist
				Seats	Change	Seats	Change
New York	Districts	April 26–28, 1814	27	21	12	6	12
Louisiana	At-large	July 4–6, 1814	1	1		0
Kentucky	Districts	August 3, 1814	10	10		0
New Hampshire	At-large	August 29, 1814	6	0		6
Rhode Island	At-large	August 30, 1814	2	0		2
Vermont	At-large	September 6, 1814	6	0	6	6	6
Connecticut	At-large	September 19, 1814	7	0		7
Georgia	At-large	October 3, 1814	6	6		0
Maryland	Districts		9	4	2	5	2
Delaware	At-large	October 4, 1814	2	0		2
New Jersey	At-large	October 10–11, 1814	6	6	4	0	4
South Carolina	Districts		9	8	1	1	1
Ohio	Districts	October 11, 1814	6	6		0
Pennsylvania	Districts		23	18	4	5	4
Massachusetts	Districts	November 7, 1814	20	2	2	18	2
Late elections (After the March 4, 1815 beginning of the term)
Virginia	Districts	April 1815	23	19	2	4	2
Tennessee	Districts	August 3–4, 1815	6	6		0
North Carolina	Districts	August 10, 1815	13	11	1	2	1
Total			182	118 64.8%	4	64 35.2%	4

Special elections

There were special elections in 1814 and 1815 to the 13th United States Congress and 14th United States Congress.

Special elections are sorted by date then district.

13th Congress

14th Congress

Connecticut

Connecticut held its election September 19, 1814.

Delaware

Delaware held its election October 4, 1814.

Georgia

Georgia held its election October 3, 1814.

Illinois Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Indiana Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Kentucky

Kentucky held its elections August 3, 1814.

Louisiana

Louisiana held its election July 4–6, 1814.

Maryland

Maryland held its elections October 3, 1814.

Massachusetts

Massachusetts held its elections November 7, 1814. State law required a majority vote for election which was not met in two districts, leading to a second election January 6, 1815.

District numbers differed between source used and elsewhere on Misplaced Pages; district numbers used elsewhere on Misplaced Pages used here.

Mississippi Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Missouri Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

New Hampshire

New Hampshire held its election August 29, 1814.

New Jersey

New Jersey held its election October 10–11, 1814. The state returned to an at-large basis for electing its representatives, abolishing the short-lived districts of the previous election.

New York

New York held its elections April 26–28, 1814.

North Carolina

North Carolina held its elections August 10, 1815.

Ohio

Ohio held its elections October 11, 1814.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania held its elections October 11, 1814.

Rhode Island

Rhode Island held its election August 30, 1814.

South Carolina

South Carolina held its elections October 10–11, 1814.

Tennessee

Tennessee held its elections August 3–4, 1815.

Vermont

Vermont held its elections September 6, 1814. Voters swung from one party to the other. The margins were close, actually, but to toss the entire six-member delegation out of office.

Virginia

Virginia held its elections in April 1815.

Non-voting delegates

Four territories sent delegates to the 14th Congress. There was no election held in Illinois Territory

This was the last election for Indiana Territory, as it was admitted to the Union as a state in 1816. In Missouri Territory, Hempstead resigned and Easton also filled his seat for the remainder of the 13th Congress

See also

• 1814 United States elections
  • List of United States House of Representatives elections (1789–1822)
  • 1814–15 United States Senate elections

Notes

1. Excludes states admitted during the 14th Congress
2. ^ Includes late elections
3. Massachusetts law required a majority vote for election, which was not met in two districts, requiring a second election, held on January 6, 1815.
4. ^ Only candidates with at least 1% of the vote listed.
5. Samuel Smith's resignation is not mentioned in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
6. ^ Numbers of votes missing or incomplete in source.
7. ^ Henry Clay was elected to the 2nd district, which he had represented in the 12th and 13th Congresses until he resigned to accept a position as diplomatic envoy to Great Britain. He was still out of the country at the time of the general election. Kentucky's governor, unsure of the implications of a situation in which Clay held the office of United States Representative and diplomatic envoy simultaneously, declared his seat vacant. A subsequent special election was held in 1815, which Clay won without opposition, See above. Although the district was unrepresented from the March 4, 1815 (the start of the 14th Congress) until October 30, 1815, the 14th Congress did not meet until December 4, 1815 so there was no effective vacancy.
8. ^ Won special election to fill vacancy in 13th Congress.
9. ^ The source indicates uncertainty as to whether Farrow ran in 1814.
10. ^ Source did not provide full name.

References

1. ^ "Thirteenth Congress March 4, 1813, to March 3, 1815". Office of the Historian, United States House of Representatives. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
2. "Kentucky 1815 U.S. House of Representatives, District 2, Special". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Archived from the original on March 16, 2020. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
3. "Massachusetts 1814 U.S. House of Representatives, Middlesex District, Special". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Archived from the original on August 11, 2020. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
4. "Virginia 1814 U.S. House of Representatives, District 11, Special". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Archived from the original on March 15, 2020. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
5. "Massachusetts 1814 U.S. House of Representatives, Berkshire District, Special". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Archived from the original on March 12, 2020. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
6. United States Congress. "Samuel Smith (id: S000608)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
7. ^ "New Hampshire 1814 U.S. House of Representatives, Special". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Archived from the original on August 20, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
8. "Tennessee 1814 U.S. House of Representatives, District 5, Special". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
9. "New Jersey 1814 U.S. House of Representatives, Special". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Archived from the original on August 20, 2020. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
10. "Missouri 1814 U.S. House of Representatives (Territorial Delegate)". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Archived from the original on March 7, 2020. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
11. "Ohio 1814 U.S. House of Representatives, District 6, Special". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Archived from the original on March 13, 2020. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
12. "Pennsylvania 1814 U.S. House of Representatives, District 2, Special". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Archived from the original on August 20, 2020. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
13. "Pennsylvania 1814 U.S. House of Representatives, District 3, Special". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Archived from the original on March 22, 2020. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
14. ^ "Fourteenth Congress March 4, 1815, to March 3, 1817". Office of the Historian, United States House of Representatives. Archived from the original on October 22, 2018. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
15. "Massachusetts 1815 U.S. House of Representatives, Essex North District, Special". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Archived from the original on March 13, 2020. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
16. United States Congress. "Henry Clay (id: c000482)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
17. "Kentucky 1815 U.S. House of Representatives, District 2, Special". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Archived from the original on March 16, 2020. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
18. Cox, Harold (January 31, 2007). "Pennsylvania Election Statistics: 1682–2006". The Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

Bibliography

• Dubin, Michael J. (March 1, 1998). 1788–1997 United States Congressional Elections: 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.
• "A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825". Tufts Digital Library, Tufts University. Archived from the original on January 29, 2015. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
• "Party Divisions of the House of Representatives* 1789–Present". Office of the Historian, United States House of Representatives. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
• "Fourteenth Congress March 4, 1815, to March 3, 1817". Office of the Historian, United States House of Representatives. Archived from the original on October 22, 2018. Retrieved October 21, 2018 – via History.house.gov.
• Mapping Early American Elections project team (2019). "Mapping Early American Elections". Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media, George Mason University. Retrieved 2024-09-06.

External links

• Office of the Historian (Office of Art & Archives, Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)

• 1814 United States House of Representatives elections
• 1815 United States House of Representatives elections