1838–39 United States House of Representatives elections

The 1838–39 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between July 2, 1838, and November 5, 1839. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives before the first session of the 26th United States Congress convened on December 2, 1839. They occurred during President Martin Van Buren's term. Elections were held for all 242 seats, representing 26 states.

The Panic of 1837 and consequent economic downturn drove Whig Party gains. Van Buren's Democratic Party had lost popularity and the Whig policies of economic nationalism appealed to a larger number of voters. The Democrats were able, however, to contain the political fallout by blaming banks for the crisis. The Anti-Masonic Party, influential in New York, Pennsylvania, and other areas of the Northern United States, lost seats, while the Nullifier Party of the Southern United States disappeared. Two Virginia representatives were elected on that state's Conservative Party ticket.

Early business of the new House reflected the close partisan division. When Congress first Convened on December 3, 1839, two contingents of New Jersey representatives-elect, one composed of Democrats and the other of Whigs, arrived and both requested to be seated as members. Charging the Whigs with election fraud and facing loss of control of the House, the Democratic Party majority (119 to 118 Whigs from outside New Jersey) refused to seat all but one Whig. Massachusetts Representative John Quincy Adams presided as "chairman" of the House after the clerk lost control. Two weeks later, when voting for speaker of the House finally commenced, 11 ballots were needed before Robert M. T. Hunter, a compromise Whig candidate, was elected, receiving 119 votes (out of 232 cast). This congress also enacted the first Independent Treasury bill.

Election summaries

+ ↓ 125 8 109 Democratic Whig

State Type Date Totalseats Democratic Whig Others Seats Change Seats Change Seats Change Louisiana Districts July 2–4, 1838 3 0 1 3 1 0 Illinois Districts August 6, 1838 3 2 1 1 1 0 Missouri At-large August 6, 1838 2 2 0 0 Vermont Districts September 1, 1838 5 2 1 3 1 0 Maine Districts September 10, 1838 8 6 2 0 Arkansas At-large October 1, 1838 1 1 0 0 Georgia At-large October 1, 1838 9 0 8 9 8 0 New Jersey At-large October 8, 1838 6 5 5 1 5 0 South Carolina Districts October 8–9, 1838 9 8 6 1 0 6 Ohio Districts October 9, 1838 19 11 3 8 3 0 Pennsylvania Districts October 9, 1838 28 17 5 1 6 1 Michigan At-large November 6, 1838 1 1 0 0 New York Districts November 5–7, 1838 40 19 11 21 11 0 Massachusetts Districts November 12, 1838 12 2 10 0 Delaware At-large November 13, 1838 1 1 1 0 1 0 New Hampshire At-large March 12, 1839 5 5 0 0 Connecticut Districts April 1, 1839 6 0 6 6 6 0 Virginia Districts May 23, 1839 21 12 3 7 1 2 2 Kentucky Districts August 1, 1839 13 2 1 11 0 1 Tennessee Districts August 1, 1839 13 6 3 7 3 0 Alabama Districts August 5, 1839 5 3 2 0 Indiana Districts August 5, 1839 7 5 4 2 4 0 North Carolina Districts August 8, 1839 13 8 3 5 3 0 Rhode Island At-large August 27, 1839 2 0 2 0 Maryland Districts October 3, 1839 8 5 1 3 1 0 Mississippi At-large November 4–5, 1839 2 2 2 0 2 0 Total 242 125 3 109 9 8 6

Special elections

There were special elections in 1838 and 1839 to the 25th United States Congress and 26th United States Congress.

Special elections are listed by date then district.

25th Congress

| New member elected March 8, 1838.

| New member elected April 28, 1838.

| New member elected May 29, 1838.

| Samuel J. Gholson | | Democratic | 1836

| New member elected October 9, 1838.

| New member elected November 5, 1838.

26th Congress

| New member elected November 20, 1839.

Alabama

Arkansas

Connecticut

Connecticut elected its six members April 1, 1839, flipping all six seats from Democratic to Whig.

Delaware

Florida Territory See Non-voting delegates, below.

Georgia

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa Territory See Non-voting delegates, below.

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Elections were held November 12, 1838, but one district's election went to a fourth ballot in 1839, after the March 4, 1839 start of the term but before the House convened in December 1839.

Fourth ballot

Michigan

Mississippi

A special election was held in Mississippi on July 17–18, 1837. Its winners were Democrats John F. H. Claiborne and Samuel J. Gholson. The first session of the 25th Congress was a special session beginning on September 4, 1837, extending to October 16. In November, Mississippi held the regular election. Seargent Smith Prentiss, a Vicksburg lawyer and Whig, unexpectedly launched a vigorous, partisan campaign. He and fellow Whig Thomas J. Word won in an upset. Claiborne and Gholson then argued that the July result entitled them to serve full terms. With the Whig Party newly organizing, the closely divided House, in which Anti-Masons, Nullifiers, and the Independent tended to align more with Whigs and to oppose Democrats, agreed to hear Prentiss. He spoke for nine hours over three days, packing the gallery, drawing Senators, and earning a national reputation for oratory and public admiration from leading Whigs including Senators Clay and Webster. The Elections Committee then required a third election. Scheduled for April 1838, it confirmed the November result. Both Whigs were seated in May late in the second session, also serving for the third session.

Missouri

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New York

North Carolina

Ohio

Pennsylvania

! | Arnold Plumer | | Democratic | 1836

1838–39 United States House of Representatives elections

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