1796–97 United States House of Representatives elections

The 1796–97 United States House of Representatives elections took place in the various states between August 12, 1796 (in North Carolina), and October 15, 1797 (in Tennessee). Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives. The size of the House increased to 106 seats after Tennessee became the 16th U.S. state to join the union. The first session of the 5th United States Congress was convened on May 15, 1797, at the proclamation of the new President of the United States, John Adams. Since Kentucky and Tennessee had not yet voted, they were unrepresented until the second session began on November 13, 1797.

Gains for the Federalist Party provided the president with a reliable majority in support of his policies. Many of the Federalist pick-ups in Congress came from the former Middle Colonies (New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware). New England remained heavily Federalist, whereas the South and West favored Democratic-Republican candidates. Federalist trade and infrastructure policies found widespread approval in the Mid-Atlantic states during this era. With the growth of cities in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York, government intervention in the interest of industrialization and mercantilism became more attractive to voting citizens in these areas.

During this period, each state fixed its own date for a congressional general election. Elections to a Congress took place both in the even-numbered year before and in the odd-numbered year when the Congress convened. In some states the congressional delegation was not elected until after the legal start of the Congress (on the 4th day of March in the odd-numbered year).

Election summaries During this period, each state fixed its own date for a congressional general election. Elections took place both in the even-numbered year before and in the odd-numbered year when a Congress convened. In some states, the congressional delegation was not elected until after the legal start of the Congress (on the 4th day of March in the odd-numbered year). The 1st session of the 5th Congress ran May 15 – July 10, 1797, before the states of Kentucky and Tennessee had their elections, causing those states to be unrepresented in the 1st session.

+ ↓ 49 57 Democratic-Republican Federalist

State Type ↑Date Totalseats Democratic-Republican Federalist Seats Change Seats Change Regular elections North Carolina Districts August 12, 1796 10 9 1 New Hampshire At-large August 29, 1796 4 0 1 4 1 Rhode Island At-large August 30, 1796 2 0 2 Vermont Districts September 9, 1796 2 1 1 Connecticut At-large September 19, 1796 7 0 7 Maryland Districts October 3, 1796 8 2 2 6 2 Delaware At-large October 4, 1796 1 0 1 1 1 Pennsylvania Districts October 11, 1796 13 7 2 6 2 South Carolina Districts October 11, 1796 6 3 1 3 1 Georgia At-large November 7, 1796 2 2 0 Massachusetts Districts November 7, 1796 14 3 11 New York Districts December 15, 1796 10 4 1 6 1 New Jersey At-large January 11, 1797 5 0 5 Late elections Virginia Districts March 20, 1797 19 15 2 4 2 Kentucky Districts September 2, 1797 2 2 0 Tennessee At-large October 15, 1797 1 1 0 Total 106 49 10 57 10

Special elections

Elections are sorted by election date, then by district.

Fourth Congress There were special and late elections to the 4th Congress in 1796.

! | Gabriel Duvall | | Democratic-Republican | 1794 | | Incumbent resigned March 28, 1796, having been elected judge of the Supreme Court of Maryland.New member elected April 18, 1796 and seated May 5, 1796.Democratic-Republican hold.Winner was later elected to the next term; see below. | nowrap |

Fifth Congress There were special and late elections to the 5th Congress in 1797.

! | Andrew Jackson | | Democratic-Republican | 1797 | | Incumbent resigned in September 1797 when elected U.S. Senator.New member elected September 26, 1797 and seated November 23, 1797, despite being under the minimum age for service.Democratic-Republican hold. | nowrap |

Connecticut

Connecticut elected its seven representatives at-large on a general ticket.

Delaware

Georgia

Kentucky

Maryland

Two of the four Democratic-Republicans were replaced by Federalists, bringing the Federalists from a 4–4 split to a 6–2 majority.

Massachusetts

Massachusetts's electoral law required a majority for election, necessitating additional trials in three districts.

! | colspan=3 | Vacant | | Incumbent rep.-elect Theodore Sedgwick (F) resigned in June 1796 to become U.S. Senator.Democratic-Republican gain.New member also elected to finish the term on a later ballot; see above. | nowrap |

Third ballot

New Hampshire

In 1796, New Hampshire had a single at-large district with 4 seats. Each voter cast 4 votes and a majority of voters (12.5% of votes) was required to be elected. Since only three candidates received a majority, a run-off was held between the candidates in fourth and fifth place to fill the remaining seat.

New Jersey

| Aaron Kitchell | | Federalist | 1794 (special)

1796–97 United States House of Representatives elections

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