1842–43 United States House of Representatives elections

1842–43 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1840 & 1841 August 1, 1842 – November 8, 1843[a] 1844 & 1845 →
All 223 seats in the United States House of Representatives 112 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader John Jones John White Party Democratic Whig Leader's seat Virginia 6th Kentucky 6th Last election 98 seats 142 seats Seats won 147[b] 72 Seat change 49 70 Popular vote 1,051,561 905,910 Percentage 51.27% 44.17% Swing 3.44% 6.89%   Third party Fourth party   Party Law and Order Independent Last election Pre-creation 2 seats[c] Seats won 2 2[d] Seat change 2 Popular vote 7,145 42,236 Percentage 0.35% 2.06% Swing New Party 1.21%
Results:      Democratic hold      Democratic gain      Whig hold      Whig gain      Law and Order gain
Speaker before election John White Whig Elected Speaker John Jones Democratic

The 1842–43 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between August 1, 1842, and November 8, 1843.^[a] Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives before the first session of the 28th United States Congress convened on December 4, 1843. The exception was Maryland, who held theirs so late that they ran into February 1844.^[a] These elections occurred during President John Tyler's term. The congressional reapportionment based on the 1840 United States census unusually decreased the number of House seats, from 242 down to 223.

After Whig President William Henry Harrison died within a month of taking office, his successor as president, John Tyler was only nominally a Whig who had not been properly validated for alignment to Whig policy. Effectively an independent, Tyler was disliked by politicians and was unpopular with voters of both parties, leaving the Whigs unexpectedly leaderless and in visible disarray.

Despite the improving economy, rural voters favored Democrats, again rejecting Whig economic nationalism. The Whig Party lost 69 seats and their sizeable majority from the 1840 election, almost half their House delegation (one of the Whigs who won re-election was William Wright of New Jersey, elected as an "Independent Whig"^{[1] [2]}).

The Democrats won a majority, flipping 48 Whig seats (this includes Henry Nes of Pennsylvania, elected as an Independent Democrat^[1][e]). In Rhode Island, the Law and Order Party, formed in response to the Dorr Rebellion, won both of Rhode Island's two seats.

Apportionment was based on the census of 1840 and was unusual in that the number of House seats was decreased, from 242 to 223:^[4] this came after the Apportionment Act of 1842 mandated that all members be elected from single-member contiguous districts, thus abolishing plural districts and at-large districts.^[5] Four states that did not comply with this new law delayed redistricting under a grandfather clause.

State	Type	Date	Total seats		Democratic		Whig		Law and Order
			Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Missouri	At-large	August 1, 1842	5	3	5	3	0		0
Tennessee	District	August 3, 1842	11	2	6	1	5	3	0
Illinois	District	August 7, 1842	7	4	6	4	1		0
Arkansas	At-large	October 3, 1842	1		1		0		0
Georgia	At-large	October 3, 1842	8	1	8	8	0	9	0
New Jersey	District[g]	October 8, 1842	5	1	4	4	1[h]	5	0
Delaware	At-large	November 8, 1842	1		0		1		0
New York	District	November 8, 1842	34	6	24	4	10	10	0
Massachusetts	District	November 14, 1842[i]	10	2	2	1	8	3	0
South Carolina	District	February 20–21, 1843	7	2	7	1	0	1	0
New Hampshire	At-large	March 3, 1843	4	1	4	1	0		0
Late elections after the March 4, 1843 beginning of the term
Connecticut	District	April 5, 1843	4	2	4	4	0	6	0
Virginia	District	April 27, 1843	15	6	12	2	3	8	0
Louisiana	District	July 3–5, 1843	4	1	4	3	0	2	0
North Carolina	District	August 3, 1843	9	4	5		4	4	0
Alabama	District	August 7, 1843	7	2	6	1	1	1	0
Indiana	District	August 7, 1843	10	3	8	7	2	4	0
Kentucky	District	August 7, 1843	10	3	5	3	5	6	0
Rhode Island	District[g]	August 29, 1843	2		0		0	2	2	2
Vermont	District	September 5, 1843	4	1	1	1	3	2	0
Maine	District	September 11, 1843	7	1	5	1	2	2	0
Ohio	District	October 10, 1843	21	2	12	5	9	3	0
Pennsylvania	District	October 10, 1843	24	4	12[j]	3	12	1	0
Mississippi	At-large	November 6–7, 1843	4	2	4	2	0		0
Michigan	District[g]	November 8, 1843	3	2	3	3	0	1	0
Maryland	District	February 14, 1844	6	2	0	2	6		0
Total			223	19	148[j] 66.4%	50	73[h] 32.7%	71	2 0.9%	2

Alabama gained 2 seats, going from 5 to 7 members. Elections were held August 7, 1843, after the March 4, 1843 beginning of the term. In the 1841 elections, Alabama briefly used at-large general-ticket elections, but in these elections it returned to districts.

1842 Arkansas at-large election

← 1840 October 3, 1842 1844 →

Nominee Edward Cross William Cummins Lemuel D. Evans Party Democratic Whig Independent Popular vote 9,413[12] 5,315 1,686 Percentage 57.4% 32.4% 10.3%

County Results Cross:     40-50%     50-60%     60-70%      70-80%     80-90%     >90% Cummins:     40-50%     50-60%     60-70%     70-80% Evans:     50-60%      No Data

U.S. Representative before election Edward Cross Democratic Elected U.S. Representative Edward Cross Democratic

Arkansas stayed at 1 seat, electing its one member at-large October 3, 1842.

Connecticut lost 2 seats, reduced from 6 to 4 members. Elections were held April 5, 1843, after the March 4, 1843 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1843.

1842 United States House of Representatives election in Delaware

← 1840 November 8, 1842 1844 →

Nominee George B. Rodney William H. Jones Party Whig Democratic Popular vote 5,465 5,456 Percentage 50.04% 49.96%

Rodney:      50–60% Jones:      50–60%

U.S. Representative before election George B. Rodney Whig Elected U.S. Representative George B. Rodney Whig

Delaware stayed at 1 seat, electing its one member at-large November 8, 1842.

The election was decided by a nine-vote margin.

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Georgia lost 1 seat, going from 9 to 8 members. Elections were held at-large on a general ticket October 3, 1842.

Illinois gained 4 seats, going from 3 to 7 members. Elections were held August 7, 1842.

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2020)

Indiana gained 3 seats, going from 7 to 10 members. Elections were held August 7, 1843, after the March 4, 1843 beginning of the term.

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2020)

Kentucky lost 3 seats, going from 13 to 10 members. Elections were held August 7, 1843, after the March 4, 1843 beginning of the term.

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2020)

Louisiana gained 1 seats, going from 3 to 4 members. Elections were held July 3–5, 1843, after the March 4, 1843 beginning of the term.

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2020)

Maine lost 1 seat, going from 8 to 7 members. Elections were held September 11, 1843, after the March 4, 1843 beginning of the term.

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2020)

Maryland lost 2 seats, going from 8 to 6 members. Elections were held February 14, 1844, after the March 4, 1843 beginning of the term.

Maryland's elections to the next Congress were held February 14, 1844, after the 1842–1843 election cycle was passed and almost after the next Congress completed.

Massachusetts lost 2 seats, going from 12 to 10 members. Elections were held November 14, 1842, but some districts' elections stretched to multiple ballots into 1843 and very early 1844.

Michigan gained 2 seats, going from 1 to 3 members. Elections were held from districts November 8, 1843, after the March 4, 1843 beginning of the term, having previously elected a single member at-large.

Mississippi gained 2 seats, going from 2 to 4 members. Elections were held at-large on a general ticket November 6–7, 1843, after the March 4, 1843 beginning of the term. Due to a banking crisis in Mississippi, the state Democratic party was split into two factions; the Redemptions, which favored the repudiation of bank bonds, and Anti-Redemptions, which opposed it.^[52]

Missouri gained 3 seats, going from 2 to 5 members. Elections were held at-large on a general ticket August 1, 1842.

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2020)

New Hampshire lost 1 seat, going from 5 to 4 members. Elections were held at-large on a general ticket March 3, 1843.

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2020)

New Jersey lost 1 seats, going from 6 to 5 members. Elections were held from districts October 8, 1842, having previously elected them at-large.

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2020)

New York lost 6 seats, going from 40 to 34 members, but remaining the largest delegation. Its thirty-four members were elected November 8, 1842.

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2020)

North Carolina lost 4 seats, going from 13 to 9 members. Elections were held August 3, 1843, after the March 4, 1843 beginning of the term.

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2020)

Ohio gained 2 seats, going from 19 to 21 members. Its twenty-one members were elected October 10, 1843, after the March 4, 1843 beginning of the term.

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2020)

Pennsylvania lost 4 seats, going from 28 to 24 members. Its twenty-four members were elected October 10, 1843, after the March 4, 1843 beginning of the term.

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2020)

Rhode Island stayed at 2 seats, but elected its members from districts, having previously elected them at-large. Elections were held August 29, 1843, after the March 4, 1843 beginning of the term.

South Carolina lost 2 seats, going from 9 to 7 members. Elections were held February 20–21, 1843.

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2020)

Tennessee lost 2 seats, going from 13 to 11 members. Elections were held August 3, 1842.

Vermont lost 1 seat, going from 5 to 4 members. Elections were held September 5, 1843, after the March 4, 1843 beginning of the term.

Virginia lost 6 seats, going from 21 to 15 members. Elections were held April 27, 1843, after the March 4, 1843 beginning of the term.

See Non-voting delegates, below.

• 1842 United States elections
  • 1842–43 United States Senate elections
• 27th United States Congress
• 28th United States Congress

• 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.

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