1790–91 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1788 & 1789 April 27, 1790 – October 11, 1791[a] 1792 & 1793 →
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All 67 seats in theUnited States House of Representatives[b] 34 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Jonathan Trumbull Jr. James Madison Party Pro-Administration Anti-Administration Leader's seat Connecticut at-large Virginia 5th Last election 37 seats 28 seats Seats won 39[1][c][d] 30[1][c][e] Seat change 2 2
Results:      Pro-Administration hold     Pro-Administration gain      Anti-Administration hold     Anti-Administration gain      Chesapeake gain      Undistricted territory
Speaker before election Frederick Muhlenberg Pro-Administration ElectedSpeaker Jonathan Trumbull Jr. Pro-Administration

The1790–91 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between April 27, 1790, and October 11, 1791. Each state set its own date for its elections to theHouse of Representatives before or after the first session of the2nd United States Congress convened on October 24, 1791. This was the firstmidterm election cycle, which took place in the middle ofPresidentGeorge Washington's first term. The size of the House increased to 67 seats after the new state of Vermont elected its first representatives.

While formal political parties still did not exist, coalitions of pro-Washington (Pro-Admin.) representatives and anti-Administration representatives each gained two seats as a result of the addition of new states to the union.

SpeakerFrederick Muhlenberg was succeeded byJonathan Trumbull Jr., who became the 2nd Speaker of the House.^[2]

Either five or six incumbents did not seek re-election.

1. Maryland 4:William Smith retired.
2. Virginia 6:Isaac Coles retired.

Aedanus Burke, a U.S. representative fromSouth Carolina's 2nd congressional district, either retired or lost re-election but it is not known.

1. Pennsylvania at-large:George Clymer retired.
2. Pennsylvania at-large:Henry Wynkoop retired.
3. Pennsylvania at-large:Thomas Scott retired.

In this period, each state fixed its own date for congressional general elections, as early as April 27, 1790 (in New York) and as late as October 11, 1791 (in Pennsylvania). 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). The first session of this Congress was convened inPhiladelphia on October 24, 1791.

Kentucky and Vermont became states during the 2nd Congress, adding two seats each.^[3] The legislation admitted Vermont was passed at the end of the 1st Congress taking effect on March 4, 1791, the first day of the 2nd Congress, so that Vermont was represented from the start of the Congress, while Kentucky was unrepresented until the 2nd session.

State	Type	Date	Total seats	Pro- Administration		Anti- Administration
				Seats	Change	Seats	Change
New York	Districts	April 27–29, 1790	6	4	1	2	1
New Hampshire	At-large	August 30, 1790	3	3	1	0	1
Virginia	Districts	September 1, 1790	10	2	1	8	1
Connecticut	At-large	September 20, 1790	5	5		0
Maryland	Mixed[f]	October 4, 1790	6	3	1	3	1
Massachusetts	Districts	October 4, 1790[g]	8	7	1	1	1
South Carolina	Districts	October 12, 1790	5	3	1	2	1
Rhode Island	At-large	October 19, 1790	1	1		0
Delaware	At-large	November 8, 1790	1	1		0
Georgia	District	January 3, 1791	3	0		3
New Jersey	At-large	January 26, 1791	4	4		0
North Carolina	Districts	January 28, 1791	5	2		3
Late elections (after the March 4, 1791, beginning of the term)
Vermont	Districts	July 13, 1791[h]	2	0		2	2
Pennsylvania	Districts	October 11, 1791	8	4	2	4	2
Kentucky	Districts	June 1, 1792	2	0		2	2
Total			67	39 56.5%	3	30 43.5%	1

There were special elections in 1790 and 1791 during the1st United States Congress and2nd United States Congress.New states and newly ratified states are not included as special elections.

Elections are sorted by date then district.

Connecticut elected all five of its representatives at-large on ageneral ticket on September 20, 1790.

There were two subsequentspecial elections.The first was held to fill the vacancy left byPierpont Edwards (Pro-Admin.) declining to serve and was won byJeremiah Wadsworth (Pro-Admin.).The second was held September 19, 1791, to fill the vacancy left byRoger Sherman (Pro-Admin.)'s election to theSenate and was won byAmasa Learned (Pro-Admin.).

Georgia switched to a conventional district system for theSecond Congress. At the time, the districts were not numbered, but are retroactively renumbered as the1st,2nd, and3rd respectively here.

Kentucky was admitted during the 2nd Congress and elected its first representativesin 1792.

Under Maryland law for the election for the1st and2nd Congresses "candidates were elected at-large but had to be residents of a specific district with the statewide vote determining winners from each district."^{[citation needed]}

In Maryland, two local factions briefly emerged, the Chesapeake and Potomac (or Potowmack) "parties". The Potomac faction, consisting of individuals from the small counties ofsouthern Maryland and theEastern Shore, aimed to maintain their status by curbing the increasing influence of the city ofBaltimore and the more populous counties. To do so, they supported the development of thefederal city and acanal on thePotomac River to secure their economic future. Conversely, the Chesapeake faction advocated for Baltimore's growth. Their strategy involved improving theSusquehanna River to channel the lucrative wheat trade fromwestern Maryland and Pennsylvania through Baltimore. They also believed that political representation should reflect population growth patterns rather than be defined by the counties. They feared that a canal on the Potomac River would undermine Baltimore's prosperity by diverting trade to competitors likeGeorgetown, the proposed federal city, andAlexandria.^[7][8]

Temporarily setting aside differences at the national level, the "Chesapeake Ticket" was formed to punish incumbents who had supported the Potomac location for the proposed federal city. A "Potomac Ticket" was organized and led by GovernorSmallwood. Turnout in Baltimore was around 99%, and almost every ballot was cast for the Chesapeake Ticket. Statewide, the ticket won an overwhelming majority, securing all six seats. This victory threatened the county-based rural oligarchy, prompting theHouse of Delegates to transition from a mixed system to a district-based system on December 19, 1790. Under this new system, all of Baltimore's votes would go to just one representative,Hartford County was grouped withKent andCecil Counties, andAnne Arundel County was grouped withPrince George's County andAnnapolis. With the base of the Chesapeake "party" split between three districts, the Chesapeake faction would disappear. The political pattern created by this division would, however, "linger on indefinitely."^[8]

Massachusetts law required a majority for election. This condition was met in four of the eight districts, the remaining four required between 2 and 9 ballots for election.

New York's districts were not numbered at the time, therefore the numbering here is retroactive.

North Carolina ratified the Constitution November 21, 1789, and elected its representatives after admission.

Due to the cession of North Carolina's trans-Appalachian territory to form theSouthwest Territory, the territory of the old5th district was lost. North Carolina retained the same number of Representatives, and so it redistricted for theSecond Congress.

Pennsylvania had elected its Representatives at-large in the 1st Congress, but switched to using districts in the 2nd Congress. Five incumbents ran for re-election, four of whom won, while three others retired leaving three open seats. Two districts had no incumbents residing in them, while one (the8th district) had a single representative who declined to run for re-election and one (the2nd district) had three incumbents, only one of whom ran for re-election.

Rhode Island ratified the Constitution May 29, 1790. It elected its representatives after admission.

Rhode Island held elections for the2nd Congress on October 18, 1790, about six weeks after elections for the1st Congress due to the state's late ratification of the Constitution.

Vermont was admitted at the end of theFirst Congress, with the admission taking effect at the start of theSecond Congress. Vermont was entitled to elect two representatives. Vermont law at the time required a majority to win an office. In the1st district, no candidate won a majority, necessitating a run-off.

• 1790 United States elections
  • List of United States House of Representatives elections (1789–1822)
  • 1790–91 United States Senate elections
• 1st United States Congress
• 2nd United States Congress

• "A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825". Tufts Digital Library, Tufts University. Archived fromthe original on January 29, 2015. RetrievedJanuary 17, 2015.
• Dubin, Michael J. (March 1, 1998).1788 United States Congressional Elections-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.
• "Party Divisions of the House of Representatives* 1789–Present". Office of the Historian, United States House of Representatives. RetrievedJanuary 21, 2015.
• Mapping Early American Elections project team (2019)."Mapping Early American Elections". Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media, George Mason University. RetrievedSeptember 6, 2024.

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

• 1790 United States House of Representatives elections
• 1791 United States House of Representatives elections

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