1864–65 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1862 & 1863 June 5, 1864– November 7, 1865[a] 1866 & 1867 →
All 192[b][c] seats in theUnited States House of Representatives 97 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Schuyler Colfax James Brooks Party National Union Democratic Leader's seat Indiana 9th New York 8th Last election 99 seats, 49.9%[d] 73 seats, 45.1% Seats won 147 35 Seat change 48 38 Popular vote 2,131,978 1,620,556 Percentage 55.0% 41.8% Swing 5.1pp 3.3pp   Third party Fourth party   Party Conservative Independent Last election 1 seat, 0.3% 2 seats[e] Seats won 9 1[f] Seat change 8 1 Popular vote 88,474 25,631[g] Percentage 2.2% 0.7%[g] Swing 1.9pp 0.6pp
Results      National Union gain     National Union hold      Democratic gain     Democratic hold
Speaker before election Schuyler Colfax Republican-Union ElectedSpeaker Schuyler Colfax National Union

The1864–65 United States House of Representatives elections were held between June 5, 1864, and November 7, 1865, to elect the 192 members and nine non-voting delegates of theHouse of Representatives. TheNational Union Party expanded their existing majority against the backdrop of theAmerican Civil War.^[1]

Candidates listed asRepublicans and Unionists won 99 seats incongressional elections held in 1862 and 1863; threeUnion Democrats and the loneUnconditional Union Democrat fromKentucky subsequentlycrossed the floor to give the Republican-Union coalition a narrow majority during the38th United States Congress.^[2] The wartime coalition of Republicans,War Democrats, andborder stateunionists became the base for the National Union Party that held itsnational convention atBaltimore on June 7, 1864.^[3] Leading Unionists were pessimistic about their party's prospects during the summer of 1864, but thefall of Atlanta led to a dramatic reversal of fortunes ahead of the fall elections.^[4] The Union Party won a "sweeping victory" at the polls, carrying all but three states in the concurrentpresidential election.^[5]

Unionists significantly improved their showing compared to the last elections, contributing three-quarters of the members of the39th United States Congress.^[1] A majority of the members elected fromIndiana and all but two fromOhio were Unionists.^[6] InKentucky,Missouri, andTennessee, the elections were contested by Radical andConservative Unionist factions, resulting in 15 Radical or Unconditional Unionists, 9 Conservatives, and 1 Independent Unionist elected to the39th United States Congress.^[7]

Following theConfederate surrender, the former states of theConfederacy held congressional elections in 1865 and 1866, but only the members from Tennessee were seated by the House. The 10 remaining states were eventually readmitted between 1868 and 1870 during the40th and41st United States Congresses.^[8]

1864–65 United States House of Representatives elections^[9][i]

Parties		Seats				Popular vote
		1862–63	1864–65	±	%	Votes	%
	Union Party	56	132	40	68.75	1,997,418	51.53
	Republican Party	36
	Unconditional Union Party	1	15	14	7.81	134,560	3.47
Others		6	0	6	0.00	—
	National Union Party	99	147	48	76.56	2,131,978	55.00
	Democratic Party	73	35	38	18.23	1,620,556	41.81
	Conservative Party	1	9	8	4.69	88,474	2.28
	Independent Unionist	1	1		0.52	9,409	0.24
	Union Party (Kansas)	0	0		0.00	9,712	0.25
	Independent Democrat	0	0		0.00	695	0.02
Others		9	0	9	0.00	15,527	0.40
Total		183	192	9	100.00	3,876,351	100.00

State	Type	Date	Total seats	Democratic		Conservative		National Union		Others
				Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Oregon	At-large	June 5, 1864	1	0		0		1		0
Vermont	District	September 6, 1864	3	0		0		3		0
Maine	District	September 11, 1864	5	0	1	0		5	1	0
Indiana	District	October 10, 1864	11	3	4	0		8	4	0
Ohio	District		19	2	12	0		17	12	0
Pennsylvania	District		24	8	4	0		16	4	0
West Virginia	District	October 22, 1864	3	0		0		3		0
California	District	November 8, 1864 (Election Day)[j]	3	0		0		3		0
Delaware	At-large		1	1		0		0		0
Illinois	Mixed[k]		14	3	6	0		11	6	0
Iowa	District		6	0		0		6		0
Kansas	At-large		1	0		0		1		0
Maryland	District		5	2	1	0		3	1	0
Massachusetts	District		10	0		0		10		0
Michigan	District		6	0	1	0		6	1	0
Minnesota	District		2	0		0		2		0
Missouri	District		9	1	1	0	1	8[l]	2	0
New Jersey	District		5	3	1	0		2	1	0
New York	District		31	11	6	0		20	6	0
Wisconsin	District		6	1	2	0		5	2	0
Late elections (after the March 4, 1865 beginning of the term)
New Hampshire	District	March 14, 1865	3	0	1	0		3	1	0
Connecticut	District	April 3, 1865	4	0	1	0		4	1	0
Tennessee	District	August 3, 1865	8	0		4	4	4	4	0
Rhode Island	District	April 5, 1865	2	0		0		2		0
Kentucky	District	August 7, 1865	9	0		5	5	4	3	0	8[m]
Nevada	At-large	November 7, 1865	1	0		0		1		0
Seceded states not yet readmitted
Alabama	District	November 6, 1865	6
Arkansas	District	October 9, 1865	3
Florida	At-large	November 29, 1865	1
Georgia	District	November 15, 1865	7
Louisiana	District	November 6, 1865	5
Mississippi	District	October 2, 1865	5
North Carolina	District	November 9, 1865	7
South Carolina	District	November 22, 1865	4
Texas	District	October 15, 1866	4
Virginia	District	October 12, 1865	8
Total[b]			192[c]	35	38	9	8	148	48	0	8
				18.2%		4.7%		77.1%		0.0%

One new seat was added for the new State ofNevada^[10] and 8 vacancies were filled by the readmission ofTennessee, the first Confederate state to be readmitted. Three former Confederate States held elections in 1865 that were rejected by Congress.

Alabama held elections on November 6, 1865, following the end of the Civil War; the winners of the elections were subsequentlynot seated.

SeeNon-voting delegates, below.

Arkansas held successive elections in 1864 and 1865 to fill vacancies in the 38th Congress and elect representatives to the 39th Congress.

Arkansas did not hold elections for the 38th Congress in 1862 or 1863. Late elections were held from March 14–16, 1864, but the winners were not seated by the House.

Arkansas held elections for the 39th Congress on October 9, 1865, following the end of the Civil War, but the winners were not seated by the House.

California elected its members on November 8, 1864.

Seenon-voting delegates, below.

Connecticut elected its members on April 3, 1865, after the start of the term but before Congress convened.

Seenon-voting delegates, below.

Delaware elected its member on November 8, 1864.

Florida held elections on November 29, 1865, following the end of the Civil War; the winners were subsequently not seated by the House.

Georgia held elections on November 15, 1865, following the end of the Civil War; the winners were subsequently not seated by the House.

Seenon-voting delegates, below.

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(December 2020)

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(December 2020)

Kentucky elected its members on August 7, 1865, after the term began but before Congress convened.

Louisiana held successive elections in 1864 and 1865 to fill vacancies in the 38th Congress and elect representatives to the 39th Congress.

Louisiana held no elections for the 38th Congress in 1862 or 1863 as a result of secession. Late elections were held on September 5, 1864, but the elected members were not seated by the House.

Louisiana held elections for the 39th Congress on November 6, 1865, following the end of the Civil War, but the elected members were not seated by the House.

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(December 2020)

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(December 2020)

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(December 2020)

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(December 2020)

Mississippi did not hold elections to the 39th Congress.

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(December 2020)

Seenon-voting delegates, below.

Seenon-voting delegates, below.

On October 31, 1864, the new state of Nevada elected RepublicanHenry G. Worthington to finish the term ending March 3, 1865.

Worthington was not renominated for the next term, however, and on November 7, 1865, RepublicanDelos R. Ashley was elected November 7, 1865 for the term that had already begun but would not formally meet until December 4, 1865.

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(December 2020)

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(December 2020)

Seenon-voting delegates, below.

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(December 2020)

North Carolina did not hold elections to the 39th Congress.

Ohio's delegation swung from 14–5 Democratic to 17-2 Republican as 10 Democratic incumbents lost renomination or re-election.

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(December 2020)

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(December 2020)

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(December 2020)

South Carolina did not hold elections to the 39th Congress.

Elections held late, on August 3, 1865.

Texas did not hold elections to the 39th Congress.

Seenon-voting delegates, below.

Virginia did not hold elections to the 39th Congress.

Seenon-voting delegates, below.

Wisconsin elected six members of congress on Election Day, November 8, 1864.

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(December 2020)

• 1864 United States elections
  • 1864 United States presidential election
  • 1864–65 United States Senate elections
• 38th United States Congress
• 39th United States Congress

• Evening Journal Almanac (1866).The Evening Journal Almanac: 1866. Albany.

• Alexander, Thomas B. (1950).Political Reconstruction in Tennessee. New York: Russell and Russell.
• Dell, Christopher (1975).Lincoln and the War Democrats: The Grand Erosion of Conservative Tradition. Rutherford, NJ: Farleigh Dickenson University Press.ISBN 978-0-8386-1466-2.
• Dubin, Michael J. (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.
• Ficklen, John Rose (1910).History of Reconstruction in Louisiana, through 1868. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.
• Hoig, Stan (1961).The Sand Creek Massacre. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
• Hood, James Larry (July 1978)."For the Union: Kentucky's Unconditional Unionist Congressmen and the Development of the Republican Party in Kentucky, 1863–1865".Register of the Kentucky Historical Society.76 (3):197–215.JSTOR 23378981.
• Idaho State Historical Society (1985)."Idaho Territorial Election Returns, October 10, 1864"(PDF). Reference Series. Boise: Idaho State Historical Society.
• McPherson, James M. (1988).Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. New York: Oxford University.
• Parrish, William E. (1973).A History of Missouri, Volume 3: 1860 to 1875. Columbia: University of Missouri Press.ISBN 978-0-8262-0108-9.
• Sanders, Helen Fitzgerald (1913).A History of Montana. Vol. 1. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company.
• Smith, Adam I. P. (2006).No Party Now: Politics in the Civil War North. New York: Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-518865-3.
• Stone, William Fisk (1918).History of Colorado. Vol. 1. Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Company.
• Thompson; West (1881).History of Nevada. Oakland, California: Oakland, Cal., Thompson and West. RetrievedMay 29, 2018.
• Wagoner, Jay J. (1970).Arizona Territory, 1863–1912: A Political History. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.ISBN 978-0-8165-0176-2.
• "Party Divisions of the House of Representatives* 1789–Present". Office of the Historian, House of United States House of Representatives. RetrievedJanuary 21, 2015.

• 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.

• Office of the Historian (Office of Art & Archives, Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)
• "Elections 1860 - 1869". JoinCalifornia / Election History for the State of California. RetrievedFebruary 12, 2018.

• 1864 United States House of Representatives elections
• 1865 United States House of Representatives elections
• Presidency of Abraham Lincoln
• Schuyler Colfax

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from September 2020
• Pages using bar box without float left or float right
• Articles to be expanded from December 2020
• All articles to be expanded
• All articles with lists with data missing
• Data missing from September 2020