1846–47 United States House of Representatives elections

States held the 1846–47 United States House of Representatives elections between August 2, 1846, and November 2, 1847, during President James K. Polk's term. Each state set a date for its elections to the House of Representatives. From 29 states, 228 elected Representatives were seated, including the first from the new U. S. states of Iowa and Texas, when the first session of the 30th United States Congress convened on December 6, 1847.

The Whigs won a change in partisan control of the House from the rival Democrats. The Whigs gained seats in the Mid-Atlantic and Southern states. Representatives of the minor, nativist Know Nothing Party and independents won a few seats.

The Mexican–American War, which the incumbent House had voted overwhelmingly to approve, was the main issue. The war had much stronger voter support in the West, South, and among Democrats than in the East, North, and among Whigs. Voters widely, accurately believed that the United States would win the war relatively easily and would make large territorial gains. Anticipating victory, Representative David Wilmot, Democrat of Pennsylvania, proposed that Congress act to ban slavery in these projected new territories. Congress ultimately rejected the Wilmot Proviso, but not quickly, smoothly, or without significant public controversy. Protracted debate aggravated sectional tensions. The repeated failure of Congress, and later also the President and Supreme Court, over the next decade to definitively resolve the issue of slavery in the territories would become a major cause of the Civil War.

This was the last time the Whig Party won a House majority, though candidates opposed to the Democratic Party would win a large majority in the realigning 1854 election. Notable freshmen included Abraham Lincoln of Illinois, elected as a Whig to his only term.

Election summaries The trend toward single-member districts culminated, as no multi-member districts featured.

In 1845, partly motivated by the successful 1844 test of the electric telegraph between Washington and Baltimore, a major technological change enabling news and information to be transmitted almost instantaneously regardless of distance, Congress established a uniform date for choosing Presidential electors. Gradually, states would align nearly all elections with this date, though as of this election, only three states had done so.

Two House seats were added for the new state of Wisconsin, which was unrepresented for most of the first session.

+ ↓ 108 4 116 Democratic Whig

State Type Date Totalseats Democratic Whig Other Seats Change Seats Change Seats Change Elections for new states (Not included in totals below) Texas District March 30, 1846 2 2 2 0 0 Iowa At-large October 26, 1846 2 2 2 0 0 General elections Missouri District August 2, 1846 5 5 0 0 Arkansas At-large August 3, 1846 1 1 0 0 Illinois District August 3, 1846 7 4 1 1 1 1 Vermont District September 1, 1846 4 1 3 0 Maine District September 14, 1846 7 6 1 0 Florida At-large October 5, 1846 1 0 1 1 1 0 Georgia District October 5, 1846 8 4 1 4 1 0 South Carolina District October 12–13, 1846 7 7 0 0 Ohio District October 13, 1846 21 10 3 11 3 0 Pennsylvania District October 13, 1846 24 7 5 16 6 1 1 Texas District November 2, 1846 2 2 0 0 Michigan District November 3, 1846(Election Day) 3 3 0 0 New Jersey District 5 1 4 0 New York District 34 10 11 23 14 1 3 Massachusetts District November 9, 1846 10 0 10 0 Delaware At-large November 10, 1846 1 0 1 0 Late elections (after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the term) New Hampshire District March 9, 1847 4 2 1 1 1 1 1 Connecticut District April 5, 1847 4 0 4 0 Rhode Island District April 7, 1847 2 1 1 1 1 0 Virginia District April 22, 1847 15 9 5 6 5 0 Alabama District August 2, 1847 7 5 1 2 1 0 Indiana District August 2, 1847 10 6 2 4 2 0 Iowa District August 2, 1847 2 2 0 0 Kentucky District August 2, 1847 10 4 1 6 1 0 Tennessee District August 2, 1847 11 6 5 0 North Carolina District August 5, 1847 9 3 3 6 3 0 Maryland District October 6, 1847 6 2 2 4 2 0 Mississippi District November 1–2, 1847 4 3 1 1 1 0 Louisiana District November 2, 1847 4 3 1 0 Total 228 108 34 116 37 4 2

Special elections

29th Congress

30th Congress

Alabama

Elections were held August 2, 1847, after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1847.

Arkansas

Arkansas elected its sole member August 3, 1846.

Connecticut

Elections were held April 5, 1847, after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1847.

Delaware

The election was held November 10, 1846.

Florida

The election was held October 5, 1846.

Georgia

Elections were held October 5, 1846.

Illinois

Elections were held August 3, 1846.

Indiana

Elections were held August 2, 1847, after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1847.

Iowa

Elections to the 29th Congress

Elections for the new state were held October 26, 1846.

Elections to the 30th Congress

Elections were held August 2, 1847, after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1847.

Kentucky

Elections were held August 2, 1847, after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1847.

Louisiana

Elections were held November 2, 1847, after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the term, but before the House first convened in December 1847.

Maine

Elections were held September 14, 1846.

Maryland

Elections were held October 6, 1847 elections were after the March 4, 1847 beginning of the new term, but still before the Congress convened in December 1847.

Massachusetts

Elections were held November 9, 1846.

Michigan

Elections were held November 3, 1846.

! | James B. Hunt | | 1843

1846–47 United States House of Representatives elections

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