1882 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1880 November 7, 1882[a] 1884 →
All 325 seats in theUnited States House of Representatives 163 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader John G. Carlisle J. Warren Keifer Party Democratic Republican Leader's seat Kentucky 6th Ohio 8th Last election 128 seats 151 seats Seats won 196[1][b] 117[1][b] Seat change 68 34 Popular vote 3,968,021 3,376,726 Percentage 48.90% 41.61% Swing 1.22pp 3.33pp   Third party Fourth party   Party Readjuster Greenback Last election 2 seats[c] 10 seats Seats won 4[1][d] 2[1] Seat change 2 8 Popular vote 99,992 248,327 Percentage 1.23% 3.06% Swing 0.61pp 2.49pp   Fifth party Sixth party   Party Liberal Independent Last election 0 seats 1 seats[f] Seats won 1[e] 5[g][h] Seat change 1 4 Popular vote 113,789 282,297 Percentage 1.40% 3.48% Swing New party 2.38pp
Elections results from the 1882 elections
Speaker before election Joseph Keifer Republican ElectedSpeaker John Carlisle Democratic

The1882 United States House of Representatives elections were held for the most part on November 7, 1882, with five states holding theirs early between June and October. They occurred duringPresidentChester A. Arthur's term. Elections were held for 325 seats of theUnited States House of Representatives, representing 38 states, to serve in the48th United States Congress. They were the first elections afterreapportionment following the1880 United States census, increasing the size of the House. Special elections were also held throughout the year.

Arthur'sRepublican Party was badly defeated, losing its majority to the oppositionDemocratic Party after a campaign that focused on the resistance of Republican leaders to reforming thespoils system under which government jobs were handed to supporters of winning candidates. After the election, Arthur agreed with the Democrats to pass thePendleton Civil Service Reform Act, establishing a professional civil service. However, his actions were too late, as the image of the Republican Party as corrupt was already engrained in the minds of voters.

This would nonetheless be the last occasion a Republican was elected to the Housefrom Florida until1954,^[2] forthe disenfrachisement of almost all blacks in the 1890s would leave that state completely devoid of Republican support until the “Hoovercrat” bolt againstAl Smith.^[3] This election also saw the decline of the propaper moneyGreenback Party, and the pick up of several Virginian seats by theReadjuster Party which promotedfiscal responsibility and shunned elitism, though the Virginia-based Readjuster Party all but disappeared following this election and fused withthe state Republican Party.^[4]

Following the1880 census, 32 new seats wereapportioned.^[5] Three States lost 1 seat each, 13 States had no change in apportionment, 14 States gained 1 seat each, 6 States gained 2 seats, 1 State gained 4 seats, and 1 State gained 5 seats. Several States that gained one or more seats did not redistrict immediately, electing the new membersat-large, while one state (Maine) which lost a member also delayed redistricting, electing all of its members at-large for this Congress only.

State	Type	Total seats		Democratic		Republican		Others
		Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Alabama	District	8		7	1	1		0
Arkansas	District + at-large[j]	5	1	5	1	0		0
California	District + 2 at-large[j]	6	2	6	4	0	2	0
Colorado	At-large	1		0		1		0
Connecticut	District	4		3	2	1	2	0
Delaware	At-large	1		1		0		0
Florida	District	2		1		1		0
Georgia	District + at-large[j]	10	1	10	1	0		0
Illinois	District	20	1	9[k]	3	11	2	0
Indiana	District	13		10	5	3	5	0
Iowa[l]	District	11	2	3	2	7	1	1[m]	1
Kansas	District + 4 at-large[j]	7	4	0		7	4	0
Kentucky	District	11	1	9[k]		2	1	0
Louisiana	District	6		5		1		0
Maine[l]	At-large[n]	4	1	0		4	1	0	2[m]
Maryland	District	6		4	1	2	1	0
Massachusetts	District	12	1	3	2	9[g]	1	0
Michigan	District	11	2	6	6	5	4	0
Minnesota	District	5	2	0		5	2	0
Mississippi	District	7	1	5	1	1	1	1[o]	1
Missouri	District	14	1	14	6	0	1	0	4[m]
Nebraska	District[p]	3	2	0		3	2	0
Nevada	At-large	1		1		0		0
New Hampshire	District	2	1	0		2	1	0
New Jersey	District	7		3		4		0
New York	District + at-large[j]	34	1	21	1	13	1	0	1[o]
North Carolina	District + at-large[j]	9	1	7[k]		2	1	0
Ohio[l]	District	21	1	15	10	6	9	0
Oregon[l]	At-large	1		0		1		0
Pennsylvania	District + at-large[j]	28	1	12	5	15	3	1[m]	1
Rhode Island	District	2		0		2		0
South Carolina	District	7	2	6	1	1	1	0
Tennessee	District	10		8	1	2	1	0
Texas	District	11	5	10	5	0		1[o]	[q]
Vermont[l]	District	2	1	0		2	1	0
Virginia	District + at-large[j]	10	1	6	1	0	2	4[d]	4[r]
West Virginia	District	4	1	3		1	1	0
Wisconsin	District	9	1	6	4	3	3	0
Total		325	32	199[1][s] 61.2%	59	118[1][g] 36.3%	26	8[1] 2.8%	2

There were 8 members elected from third parties, 4 from theVirginia-basedReadjuster Party, 2 from the decliningGreenback Party, and 2Independents. The previous election of 1880 had had 10 Greenbacks and 1 Independent.

Five states, with 39 seats among them, held elections before the others:

• June 5, 1882:Oregon
• September 5, 1882:Vermont
• September 8, 1882:Maine
• October 10, 1882:Iowa andOhio

There were four special elections in 1882 during the47th United States Congress.

Elections are listed by date and district.

Missouri gained one seat in reapportionment. After redistricting and the new elections, the delegation went from 7 Democrats, 4 Greenbacks, and 2 Republicans, to a solid slate of 14 Democrats.

The Liberal Anti-Prohibition Party was formed following the failure of the first statewide referendum on Prohibition in 1881. Throughout most of North Carolina, the moribund Republican Party merged into the new party and scored impressive gains in the 1882 elections. By early 1884, however, the LAP was dissolving, and they are listed here synonymously with the Republican Party.