United States House of Representatives elections, 1850

August 5, 1850 - November 4, 1851

All 233 seats to the United States House of Representatives 117 seats were needed for a majority

	Majority party	Minority party	Third party

Leader	Linn Boyd	Edward Stanly	Alexander H. Stephens
Party	Democratic	Whig	Constitutional Union
Leader's seat	Kentucky-1st	North Carolina-8th	Georgia-7th
Last election	113 seats	108 seats	0 seats
Seats won	130^{[Note 1]}	86^{[Note 2]}	10
Seat change	17	22	10

	Fourth party	Fifth party

Leader	Joshua Reed Giddings	Albert G. Brown
Party	Free Soil	States' Rights
Leader's seat	Ohio-20th	Mississippi-4th
Last election	9 seats	0 seats
Seats won	4	3
Seat change	5	3

Speaker before election

Howell Cobb
Democratic

Elected Speaker

Linn Boyd
Democratic

Elections to the United States House of Representatives for the 32nd Congress were held at various dates in each state from August 5, 1850 (Iowa and Missouri) to November 4, 1851 (Louisiana and Mississippi). The Democrats gained 17 seats, increasing their majority relative to the Whigs, who lost 22 seats.

Whig President Millard Fillmore, who had gained the presidency after the death of Zachary Taylor, grew increasingly unpopular. The election saw sectionalism and slavery continue to emerge as major issues.

The Constitutional Union Party, formed in support of the Compromise of 1850, gained 10 seats (its first ever) in Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama. The Free Soil Party, which was strongly abolitionist, lost five seats and was reduced to four Representatives, all in New England districts. The States' Rights Party, a pro-slavery states' rights party, gained ground in Georgia and Mississippi.

Election summaries

↓
130	10	3	4	86
Democratic	CU	SR	FS	Whig

State	Type	Date	Total seats	Democratic	Whig	Constitutional Union	Free Soil	States' Rights
State	Type	Date	Total seats	Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Illinois	District	November 5, 1850 (Election Day)^{[Note 3]}	7	6		1		0		0		0
Michigan	District		3	1	1	2	1	0		0		0
New Jersey	District		5	4	3	1	3	0		0		0
New York	District		34	17	16	17	5	0		0	1	0
Wisconsin	District		3	2^{[Note 4]}	1	0	1	0		1		0
Delaware	At-large	November 12, 1850	1	1	1	0	1	0		0		0
Florida	At-large	October 7, 1850	1	0		1		0		0		0
Iowa	District	August 5, 1850	2	2		0		0		0		0
Maine	District	September 9, 1850	7	5		2		0		0		0
Massachusetts	District	November 11, 1850	10^{[Note 5]}	1	1	7	1	0		2	1	0
Missouri	District	August 5, 1850	5	2	3	3	3	0		0		0
Ohio	District	October 8, 1850	21	11^{[Note 4]}		9	1	0		1	1	0
Pennsylvania	District	October 8, 1850	24^{[Note 6]}	15	6	9	4	0		0	1	0
South Carolina	District	October 14–15, 1850	7	7		0		0		0		0
Vermont	District	September 3, 1850	4	1		3		0		0		0
1851 elections
Alabama	District	August 4, 1851	7	4	1	2		1	1	0		0
Arkansas	At-large	August 4, 1851	1	1		0		0		0		0
California	At-large	September 3, 1851	2^{[Note 7]}	2	1	0		0		0		0
Connecticut	District	April 7, 1851	4	3	1	1		0		0	1	0
Georgia	District	October 6, 1851	8	0	4	0	4	6	6	0		2	2
Indiana	District	August 4, 1851	10	8		2	1	0		0	1	0
Kentucky	District	August 4, 1851	10	5	1	5	1	0		0		0
Louisiana	District	November 4, 1851	4	2	1	2	1	0		0		0
Maryland	District	October 1, 1851	6	2	1	4^{[Note 2]}	1	0		0		0
Mississippi	District	November 3–4, 1851	4	0	4	0		3	3	0		1	1
New Hampshire	District	March 11, 1851	4	2		2	1	0		0	1	0
North Carolina	District	August 7, 1851	9	3		6		0		0		0
Rhode Island	District	April 2, 1851	2	1	1	1	1	0		0		0
Tennessee	District	August 7, 1851	11	7^{[Note 4]}		4		0		0		0
Texas	District	August 4, 1851	2	2		0		0		0		0
Virginia	District	October 23, 1851	15	13		2		0		0		0
Total			233	130^{[Note 1]} 55.8%	17	86^{[Note 2]} 36.9%	22	10 4.3%	10	4 1.7%	5	3 1.3%	3

House seats

Democratic			55.79%
Whig			36.91%
Constitutional Union			4.29%
Free Soil			1.72%
Others			1.29%

One district in Massachusetts had been vacant in the 31st Congress. No new seats were added. The previous election had 1 Know-Nothing and 1 Independent

Complete returns

California

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
California at-large	George W. Wright	Independent	1849	Democratic gain	Edward C. Marshall (D) Joseph W. McCorkle (D)
California at-large	Edward Gilbert	Democratic	1849	Democratic hold	Edward C. Marshall (D) Joseph W. McCorkle (D)

Florida

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Florida at-large	Edward C. Cabell	Whig	1846	Re-elected	Edward C. Cabell (W) 52.8% John Beard (D)

Notes

1 2 Includes three Independent Democrats from Ohio, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.
1 2 3 Includes 1 Independent Whig.
↑ In 1845, Congress passed a law providing for a uniform date for choosing presidential electors (see: Statutes at Large, 28th Congress, 2nd Session, p. 721). Congressional elections were unaffected by this law, but the date was gradually adopted by the states for Congressional elections as well.
1 2 3 Includes one Independent Democrat.
↑ One seat (MA-04) had been vacant during the entire 31st Congress.
↑ There was 1 Know-Nothing in the 31st Congress.
↑ There was 1 Independent in the 31st Congress.

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)

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