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1874–75 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1872 & 1873 November 3, 1874 1876 & 1877 →
All 292 seats in the United States House of Representatives 147 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Michael Kerr James G. Blaine Party Democratic Republican Leader's seat Indiana 3rd Maine 3rd Last election 88 seats 195 seats Seats won 180 103 Seat change 92 92 Popular vote 3,061,888 2,766,257 Percentage 49.12% 44.38% Swing 7.12% 8.47%   Third party Fourth party   Party Anti-Monopoly Reform Last election 0 seats 0 seats Seats won 1 1 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 79,816 9,546 Percentage 1.28% 0.15% Swing New New   Fifth party   Party Independent Last election 1 seat Seats won 4 Seat change 3 Popular vote 276,554 Percentage 4.44% Swing 2.19%
Results:      Democratic hold      Democratic gain      Republican hold      Republican gain      Independent hold
Speaker before election James G. Blaine Republican Elected Speaker Michael Kerr Democratic

The 1874–75 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between June 1, 1874, and September 7, 1875. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives before the first session of the 44th United States Congress convened on December 6, 1875. Elections were held for all 292 seats, representing 37 states.

These elections were held in the middle of President Ulysses S. Grant's second term with a deep economic depression underway. It was an important turning point, as the Republicans lost heavily and the Democrats gained control of the House. It signaled the imminent end of Reconstruction, which Democrats opposed. Historians emphasize the factors of economic depression and attacks on the Grant administration for corruption as key factors in the vote.

With the election following the Panic of 1873, Grant's Republican Party was crushed in the elections, losing their majority and almost half their seats to the Democratic Party. This was the first period of Democratic control since the prewar era. The economic crisis and the inability of Grant to find a solution led to his party's defeat. This was the second-largest swing in the history of the House (only behind the 1894 elections), and is the largest House loss in the history of the Republican Party.

In the south, the Democrats continued their systematic destruction of the Republican coalition. In the South, Scalawags moved into the Democratic Party. The Democratic landslide signaled the imminent end of Reconstruction, which Democrats opposed and a realignment of the Republican coalition that had dominated American politics since the late 1850s.

While the ongoing end of Reconstruction in the South was one of the main reasons for the shift, turn-of-the-century historian James Ford Rhodes explored the multiple causes of the results in the North:

In the fall elections of 1874 the issue was clearly defined: Did the Republican President Ulysses S. Grant and Congress deserve the confidence of the country? and the answer was unmistakably No ... The Democrats had won a signal victory, obtaining control of the next House of Representatives which would stand Democrats 168, Liberals and Independents 14, Republicans 108 as against the two-thirds Republican majority secured by the election of 1872. Since 1861 the Republicans had controlled the House and now with its loss came a decrease in their majority in the Senate ...

Rhodes continues:

The political revolution from 1872 to 1874 was due to the failure of the Southern policy of the Republican party, to the Credit Mobilier and Sanborn contract scandals, to corrupt and inefficient administration in many departments and to the persistent advocacy of Grant by some close friends and hangers-on for a third presidential term. Some among the opposition were influenced by the President's backsliding in the cause of civil service reform, and others by the failure of the Republican party to grapple successfully with the financial question. The depression, following the financial Panic of 1873, and the number of men consequently out of employment weighed in the scale against the party in power. In Ohio, the result was affected by the temperance crusade in the early part of the year. Bands of women of good social standing marched to saloons before which or in which they sang hymns and, kneeling down, prayed that the great evil of drink might be removed. Sympathizing men wrought with them in causing the strict law of the State against the sale of strong liquor to be rigidly enforced. Since Republicans were in the main the instigators of the movement, it alienated from their party a large portion of the German American vote.

Special elections

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• South Carolina 3: 1874
• Pennsylvania 23: 1874
• Massachusetts 1: 1875
• Oregon at-large: 1875
• Maine 4: 1875

Election summaries

State	Type	Total seats	Democratic		Republican		Independent
			Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Alabama	District + 2 at-large	8	6	4	2	4	0
Arkansas	District	4	4	4	0	4	0
California	District	4	3	2	1	2	0
Connecticut	District	4	3	2	1	2	0
Delaware	At-large	1	1	1	0	1	0
Florida	District	2	1	1	1	1	0
Georgia	District	9	9	2	0	2	0
Illinois	District	19	11	6	6	8	2	2
Indiana	District	13	8	5	5	5	0
Iowa	District	9	1	1	8	1	0
Kansas	District	3	1	1	2	1	0
Kentucky	District	10	9	1	1	1	0
Louisiana	District	6	4	3	2	2	0
Maine	District	5	0		5		0
Maryland	District	6	6	2	0	2	0
Massachusetts	District	11	5	5	4	7	2	2
Michigan	District	9	3	3	6	3	0
Minnesota	District	3	0		3		0
Mississippi	District	6	4	3	2	3	0
Missouri	District	13	13	4	0	4	0
Nebraska	At-large	1	0		1		0
Nevada	At-large	1	0	1	1	1	0
New Hampshire	District	3	2	1	1	1	0
New Jersey	District	7	5	4	2	4	0
New York	District	33	17	8	16	8	0
North Carolina	District	8	7	2	1	2	0
Ohio	District	20	13	7	7	7	0
Oregon	At-large	1	1	1	0	1	0
Pennsylvania	District	27	17	12	10	12	0
Rhode Island	District	2	0		2		0
South Carolina	District	5	0		5		0
Tennessee	District	10	9	6	1	6	0
Texas	District	6	6		0		0
Vermont	District	3	0		3		0
Virginia	District	9	8	4	1	4	0
West Virginia	District	3	3	1	0	1	0
Wisconsin	District	8	3	1	5	1	0
Total		293	183 62.5%	94	105 36.2%	93	4 1.4%	4

Election dates

In 1845, Congress passed a law providing for a uniform nationwide date for choosing Presidential electors. 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 1874–75, there were still 10 states with earlier election dates, and 3 states with later election dates:

• Early elections (1874):
  • June 1 Oregon
  • August 6 North Carolina
  • September 1 Vermont
  • September 14 Maine
  • October 7 Georgia
  • October 13 Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio, West Virginia
• Late elections (1875):
  • March 9, 1875 New Hampshire
  • April 5, 1875 Connecticut
  • September 7, 1875 California

Alabama

Arkansas

Arizona Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

California

Colorado Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Idaho Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

New York

North Carolina

Ohio

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

Tennessee

Texas

Utah Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Vermont

Virginia

Washington Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Non-voting delegates

See also

• 1874 United States elections
  • 1874–75 United States Senate elections
• 43rd United States Congress
• 44th United States Congress

Notes

1. The majority of states held their elections on this date. 13 other states held regular elections on different dates between June 1, 1874, and September 7, 1875.
2. ^ Includes late elections.
3. Included 1 Independent Democrat.
4. ^ Includes 3 Independent Republicans.
5. ^ Includes 1 Independent Democrat, William H. Felton, elected to Georgia's 7th congressional district.
6. There were 4 Independents, 3 Independent Republicans, and 1 Independent Democrat.
7. ^ Elections held late.
8. ^ Elections held early.
9. ^ Includes 1 Independent Republican.
10. Thomas M. Gunter lost election in 1872 to William W. Wilshire, contested the election and was seated June 1874.
11. Died before term began.

References

1. ^ Martis, pp. 128–129.
2. Barreyre, Nicolas (2011). "The Politics of Economic Crises: The Panic of 1873, the End of Reconstruction, and the realignment of American Politics". Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. 10 (4): 403–423. doi:10.1017/S1537781411000260.
3. Campbell, James E. (Fall 2006). "Party Systems and Realignments in the United States, 1868-2004". Social Science History. 30 (3): 359–386. doi:10.1017/S014555320001350X. S2CID 15075840.
4. Rhodes, James Ford (1920). History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850: 1872-1877. The Macmillan company. p. 67.
5. Statutes at Large, 28th Congress, 2nd Session, p. 721.
6. Guide to U.S. Elections. Vol. II (6th ed.). Washington, D.C.: CQ Press. 2010. p. 1046. ISBN 9781604265361. LCCN 2009033938. OCLC 430736650.
7. "State of Connecticut Elections Database » Search Past Election Results". State of Connecticut Elections Database. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
8. "MS - District 01". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
9. "MS - District 02". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
10. "MS - District 03". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
11. "MS - District 04". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
12. "MS - District 05". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
13. "MS - District 06". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
14. "Our Campaigns - NE - District 01 Race - Oct 13, 1874". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
15. "TN - District 01". Our Campaigns. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
16. "TN - District 02". Our Campaigns. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
17. "TN - District 03". Our Campaigns. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
18. "TN - District 04". Our Campaigns. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
19. "TN - District 05". Our Campaigns. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
20. "TN - District 06". Our Campaigns. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
21. "TN - District 07". Our Campaigns. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
22. "TN - District 08". Our Campaigns. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
23. "TN - District 09". Our Campaigns. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
24. "TN - District 10". Our Campaigns. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
25. "VT Elections Database » Vermont Election Results and Statistics". VT Elections Database. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
26. "Virginia Elections Database » Virginia Election Results and Statistics". Virginia Elections Database. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
27. "WV District 01". Our Campaigns. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
28. "WV District 02". Our Campaigns. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
29. "WV District 03". Our Campaigns. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
30. "DK Territorial Delegate". Our Campaigns. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
31. "Our Campaigns - CO Territorial Delegate - Final Election Race - Nov 03, 1874". www.ourcampaigns.com.
32. "ID Territorial Delegate". Our Campaigns. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
33. "MT Territorial Delegate". Our Campaigns. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
34. "WY Territorial Delegate". Our Campaigns. Retrieved April 11, 2021.

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)

• 1874 United States House of Representatives elections
• 1875 United States House of Representatives elections
• Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant
• James G. Blaine
• Adlai Stevenson I
• William A. Wheeler