1818–19 United States House of Representatives elections

1818–19 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1816 & 1817 April 26, 1818 – August 12, 1819[a] 1820 & 1821 →
All 186[b] seats in the United States House of Representatives 94 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Henry Clay John Sergeant Party Democratic-Republican Federalist Leader's seat Kentucky 2nd Pennsylvania 1st Last election 145 seats 40 seats Seats won 158[b] 28 Seat change 13 12
Speaker before election Henry Clay Democratic-Republican Elected Speaker Henry Clay Democratic-Republican

The 1818–19 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between April 26, 1818 and August 12, 1819. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives before the first session of the 16th United States Congress convened on December 6, 1819. They occurred during President James Monroe's first term. Also, newly admitted Alabama elected its first representatives in September 1819, increasing the size of the House to 186 seats.

This election occurred in a politically uneventful period marked by exceptionally low levels of partisan rivalry known as the Era of Good Feelings. The weak Federalist Party, with limited influence in few states, no longer effectively opposed the Democratic-Republican Party, which increased its large majority.

Illinois was admitted in 1818, adding one seat.^[1]

Alabama and Maine were admitted during the 16th Congress. One new seat was added for Alabama,^[2] while Maine, splitting from Massachusetts, simply retained its Representatives.^[3]

State	Type	↑ Date	Total seats	Democratic- Republican		Federalist
				Seats	Change	Seats	Change
New York	Districts	April 28–30, 1818	27	21	1	6	1
Louisiana	At-large	July 6–8, 1818	1	1		0
Indiana	At-large	August 3, 1818	1	1		0
Kentucky	Districts	August 3, 1818	10	10		0
Rhode Island	At-large	August 25, 1818	2	2	2	0	2
Vermont	At-large	September 1, 1818	6	6		0
Connecticut	At-large	September 21, 1818	7	7	7	0	7
Delaware	At-large	October 5, 1818	2	1		1
Georgia	At-large	October 5, 1818	6	6		0
Maryland	Districts	October 5, 1818	9	6	1	3	1
South Carolina	Districts	October 12–13, 1818	9	9		0
New Jersey	At-large	October 13, 1818	6	6		0
Ohio	Districts	October 13, 1818	6	5		1
Pennsylvania	Districts	October 13, 1818	23	19		4
Massachusetts	Districts	November 2, 1818	20	13	4	7	4
Late elections (after the March 4, 1819 beginning of the term)
Virginia	Districts	April 1819	23	20		3
New Hampshire	At-large	March 9, 1819	6	6		0
Illinois	At-large	August 2, 1819	1	1		0
Mississippi	At-large	August 2–3, 1819	1	1		0
Tennessee	Districts	August 5–6, 1819	6	6		0
North Carolina	Districts	August 12, 1819	13	10	1	3	1
Alabama	At-large	September 20–21, 1819	1	1	1	0
Total of regular elections[b]			186	158 84.9%	13	28 15.1%	12

There were special elections in 1818 and 1819 to the 15th United States Congress and 16th United States Congress.

Special elections are sorted by date then district.

See Non-voting delegates, below.

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Connecticut elected its members September 21, 1818. The delegation changed from seven Federalists to seven Democratic-Republicans then the retirement of six incumbents and the party-change of the seventh.

Delaware elected its members October 5, 1818.

Georgia elected its members October 5, 1818.

Illinois elected its member August 2, 1819, after the new congress began but before the first session convened. The incumbent had just been elected to the new seat in late 1818.

Indiana re-elected its member August 3, 1818.

Kentucky elected its members August 3, 1818.

Louisiana elected its member July 6–8, 1818.

Louisiana held an election for the 16th Congress at the same time that it held a special election to finish the 15th Congress. Data were only available for the special election, but the general election would presumably have had very similar results, and so the results for the special election are duplicated here.

Maryland elected its members October 5, 1818.

Massachusetts elected its members November 2, 1818. Massachusetts's electoral law required a majority for election, n Massachusetts's electoral law required a majority for electionMassachusetts's electoral law required a majority for electionecessitating additional elections in five districts on April 5, 1819 and July 26, 1819.

This was the last election in which the District of Maine — comprising congressional districts 14 through 20 — was part of Massachusetts. The District became the State of Maine during the 16th Congress.

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

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Mississippi elected its member August 2–3, 1819, after the new congress began but before the first session convened.

See Non-voting delegates, below.

New Hampshire elected its members March 9, 1819, after the new congress began but before the first session convened.

New Jersey elected its members October 13, 1818.

New York elected its members April 28–30, 1818, the earliest of any state.

At this time, the Democratic-Republicans in New York were divided into two factions, the "Bucktails" who were opposed to Governor Dewitt Clinton's Erie Canal project, led by Martin Van Buren, and on the other side, Clinton's supporters, known as Clintonians. In many districts, the remaining Federalists allied with the Clintonians, with candidates running on a joint ticket. Several candidates who ran under that joint ticket cannot be clearly categorized, and are marked C/F. Others who ran under the joint ticket are marked by their party with a footnote indicating that they ran under the joint ticket.

North Carolina elected its members August 12, 1819, after the new congress began but before the first session convened.

Ohio elected its members October 13, 1818.

Pennsylvania elected its members October 13, 1818.

Rhode Island elected its members August 25, 1818.

South Carolina elected its members October 12–13, 1818.

Tennessee elected its members August 5–6, 1819, after the new congress began but before the first session convened.

Vermont elected its members September 1, 1818.

Virginia elected its members in April 1819, after the new congress began but before the first session convened.

There were four territories with the right to send non-voting delegates to at least part of the 16th Congress, two of which, Michigan Territory and Arkansas Territory were new to this Congress.

• 1818 United States elections
  • List of United States House of Representatives elections (1789–1822)
  • 1818–19 United States Senate elections
• 15th United States Congress
• 16th United States Congress

• "A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825". Tufts Digital Library, Tufts University. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
• 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.
• "Party Divisions of the House of Representatives* 1789–present". Office of the Historian, United States House of Representatives. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
• "Fifteenth Congress March 4, 1817, to March 3, 1819". Office of the Historian, United States House of Representatives. Retrieved November 2, 2018 – via History.house.gov.^{[permanent dead link]}
• "Sixteenth Congress March 4, 1819, to March 3, 1821". Office of the Historian, United States House of Representatives. Archived from the original on December 23, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2019 – 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 September 6, 2024.

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