1868–69 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1866 & 1867 June 1, 1868 – August 2, 1869[a][b] 1870 & 1871 →
All 243[c] seats in theUnited States House of Representatives 122 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader James Blaine Michael Kerr Party Republican Democratic Leader's seat Maine 3rd Indiana 3rd Last election 175 seats 47 seats Seats won 171 67 Seat change 4 20 Popular vote 3,050,307 2,598,042 Percentage 51.81% 44.13% Swing 3.55pp 3.44pp   Third party Fourth party   Party Conservative Independent Last election 2 seats 2 seats Seats won 5 0 Seat change 3 2 Popular vote 187,553 58,332 Percentage 3.19% 0.99% Swing 1.19pp 0.77pp
Results of the 1868–69 U.S. House of Representatives elections. Shades of red indicate seats won by the Republican Party; shades of blue indicate seats won by the Democratic Party; shades of orange indicate seats won by the Conservative Party.
Speaker before election Theodore M. Pomeroy Republican ElectedSpeaker James Blaine Republican

The1868–69 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between June 1, 1868, to August 2, 1869. Each state set its own date for its elections to theHouse of Representatives before or after the first session of the41st United States Congress convened on March 4, 1869. They coincided with the1868 United States presidential election, which was won byUlysses S. Grant. Elections were held for all 243 seats, representing 37 states. All of the formerConfederate states were represented in Congress for the first time since they seceded from the Union.

TheDemocrats gained 20 seats, but Grant'sRepublican Party retained a commanding majority in theReconstruction era following theAmerican Civil War, holding onto a firm legitimacy through an association with victory. As more Southern states exited Reconstruction, more Democratic seats appeared in the South. However, Democratic gains in the South were limited, as the Republican powerbrokers of Reconstruction held a great deal of influence. The smallConservative Party of Virginia also picked up several seats in Virginia, as it had support among wealthy Southern leaders who wanted to increase the region's power.

Mississippi,Texas, andVirginia were readmitted during this Congress, leaving Congress without vacant State delegations for the first time since 1860.Georgia had been partially readmitted in the previous Congress, but was not initially admitted to the 41st Congress. With Georgia's final readmission in 1870, all formerConfederate states were once more represented in Congress.

State	Type	Total seats	Democratic		Conservative		Republican
			Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Alabama[e]	District	6	2	2	0		4	2
Arkansas	District	3	1	1	0		2	1
California	District	3	2		0		1
Connecticut[e]	District	4	1	2	0		3	2
Delaware	At-large	1	1		0		0
Florida[f]	At-large	1	0		0		1
Georgia[g]	District	7[h]	4	2	0		3	1
Illinois	District + 1 at-large	14	4	1	0		10	1
Indiana[f]	District	11	4	1	0		7	1
Iowa[f]	District	6	0		0		6
Kansas	At-large	1	0		0		1
Kentucky	District	9[h]	9	2	0		0	1
Louisiana	District	5	0	1	0		5	1
Maine[f]	District	5	0		0		5
Maryland	District	5	5	2	0	1	0	1
Massachusetts	District	10	0		0		10
Michigan	District	6	0		0		6
Minnesota	District	2	1	1	0		1	1
Mississippi[g]	District	5	0		0		5	5
Missouri	District	9	2	1	0		7	1
Nebraska[f]	At-large	1	0		0		1
Nevada	At-large	1	0		0		1
New Hampshire[e]	District	3	0		0		3
New Jersey	District	5	3	1	0		2	1
New York	District	31	12	2	0		19	2
North Carolina	District	7	1	1	0	1	6
Ohio[f]	District	19	6	3	0		13	3
Oregon[f]	At-large	1	1	1	0		0	1
Pennsylvania[f]	District	24	6		0		18
Rhode Island	District	2	0		0		2
South Carolina	District	4	0		0		4
Tennessee	District	8	0		0		8
Texas[g]	District	4	1	1	0		3	3
Vermont[f]	District	3	0		0		3
Virginia[g]	District	8	0		5	5	3	3
West Virginia[f]	District	3	0		0		3
Wisconsin	District	6	1		0		5
Total[c]		243	67 27.6%	22	5 2.1%	3	171 70.4%	6

Mississippi heldrejected elections on July 1, 1868. New (accepted) elections were held December 1, 1869.

In 1845, Congress passed a law providing for auniform nationwide date for choosing presidential electors. This law did not affect election dates for Congress, which remained within the jurisdiction of State governments, but over time, the States moved their congressional elections to that date. 1868 was the first year in which the majority of States (20 of 37) held their elections on that date. There were still 9 states which held elections before that date and 4 that held regular elections after that date, in addition to 4 readmitted states that held elections after that date.

• Early dates (1868):
  • June 1:Oregon
  • September 1:Vermont
  • September 14:Maine
  • October 13:Indiana,Iowa,Nebraska,Ohio,Pennsylvania
  • October 22:West Virginia
• ▌Late dates (regular elections):
  • December 29, 1868:Florida
  • March 9, 1869:New Hampshire
  • April 5, 1869:Connecticut
  • August 2, 1869:Alabama
• Readmitted states:
  • July 6, 1869:Virginia
  • December 1, 1869:Mississippi (also held elections to the 42nd Congress on the same day)
  • December 3, 1868:Texas
  • December 20–22, 1870:Georgia

There were special elections in 1868 and 1869 to the40th United States Congress and41st United States Congress.

Special elections are sorted by date then district.

Readmission of state are treated here as regular (late) elections, not special elections.

Readmission of state are treated here as regular (late) elections, not special elections.

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California elections

← 1867 November 3, 1868 1871 →
All 3 seats
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic Republican Last election 2 1 Seats won 2 1 Seat change Popular vote 54,548 53,873 Percentage 50.3% 49.7%
Democratic hold   Republican hold

California's delegation remained at two Democrats and one Republican.

Seenon-voting delegates, below.

Seenon-voting delegates, below.

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United States House of Representatives elections in Florida, 1868^[9]

← 1865 May 5, 1868 and December 29, 1868 1870 →
Florida's single seat in theU.S. House of Representatives
Majority party Minority party Third party   Party Republican Democratic Independent Seats won 1 0 0 Popular vote 14,108 7,915 2,276 Percentage 58.1% 32.6% 9.4%

Florida had been unrepresented in Congress since January 21, 1861, when its sole member and both senators withdrew from Congress following the secession of Florida from the Union. Following the end of theCivil War, an election had been held in1865, but it was rejected by Congress. In 1868, Congress readmitted Florida followingReconstruction.

The first election, for the duration of the 40th congress, was held May 5, 1868.^[10]

Hamilton was seated on July 1, 1868,^[11] during the 2nd session of the 40th Congress.

Florida elected its one at-large member on December 29, 1868, re-electing Hamilton, who had just been elected in May to finish the current term.^[12]

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Seenon-voting delegates, below.

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Mississippi elected its members July 1, 1868, but that election was later rejected by the House.

Mississippi then held new elections December 1, 1869 both: to finish the term in the 40th Congress and to the next term (starting in 1871) in the 41st Congress. Both elections had the same vote totals and were accepted by the House. The new members were seated in 1870.

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

Seenon-voting delegates, below.

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

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

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

Seenon-voting delegates, below.

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

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

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

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

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Seenon-voting delegates, below.

Seenon-voting delegates, below.

Wisconsin elected six members of congress on Election Day, November 3, 1868.

The election date is speculative.^[46]

On July 25, 1868, an act of Congress gave Wyoming Territory the authority to elect acongressional delegate, although the first delegate did not take his seat until 1869.^[48]

• 1868 United States elections
  • 1868 United States presidential election
  • 1868–69 United States Senate elections
• 40th United States Congress
• 41st United States Congress

• Ben. Perley Poore (1869). "Massachusetts".Congressional Directory for the First Session of the Forty-First Congress (2nd ed.). Washington DC: Government Printing Office.hdl:2027/nyp.33433081796686.
• Dubin, Michael J. (March 1, 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.
• 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.
• "Party Divisions of the House of Representatives* 1789–Present". Office of the Historian, House of United States House of Representatives. RetrievedJanuary 21, 2015.

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

• 1868 United States House of Representatives elections
• 1869 United States House of Representatives elections
• Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant
• William A. Wheeler

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