1840–41 United States House of Representatives elections

The 1840–41 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between July 6, 1840, and November 2, 1841. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives, before or after the first session of the 27th United States Congress convened on May 31, 1841. Elections were held for all 242 seats, representing 26 states.

1840–41 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1838 & 1839 July 6, 1840 – November 2, 1841 1842 & 1843 →
All 242 seats in the United States House of Representatives 122 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader John White John Jones Party Whig Democratic Leader's seat Kentucky 9th Virginia 3rd Last election 116 seats 126 seats Seats won 142 98 Seat change 26 28 Popular vote 1,089,609 1,021,051 Percentage 51.04% 47.83% Swing 1.31pp 2.18pp   Third party   Party Independent Last election 0 seats Seats won 2[a] Seat change 2 Popular vote 18,063 Percentage 0.85% Swing 0.44pp
Results:      Democratic hold      Democratic gain      Whig hold      Whig gain      Independent gain      Independent Democrat gain
Speaker before election Robert M. T. Hunter Whig Elected Speaker John White Whig

In a Whig wave, voters gave the Whig Party a House majority for the first time. Most Americans experienced the Panic of 1837 as a severe economic downturn. Its perceived mishandling by Democratic President Martin Van Buren fueled new support for alternative economic policies favored by Whigs of which voters had previously been skeptical. Collapse of the Anti-Masonic Party in the late 1830s also drove some third-party incumbents into the Whig Party. Newly elected members included Robert M. T. Hunter, Independent of Virginia,^[1][2][3] and Zadok Casey, Independent Democrat of Illinois.^[4][5]

Election summaries

↓

Chart showing seating arrangement

98	2	142
Democratic	[b]	Whig

State	Type	Date	Total seats	Democratic		Whig
				Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Louisiana	Districts	July 6–8, 1840	3	1	1	2	1
Missouri	At-large	August 3, 1840	2	2		0
Illinois	Districts	August 7, 1840	3	2[c]		1
Vermont	Districts	September 4, 1840	5	0	2	5	2
Maine	Districts	September 14, 1840	8	4	2	4	2
Arkansas	At-large	October 5, 1840	1	1		0
Georgia	At-large	October 6, 1840	9	0		9
South Carolina	Districts	October 12–13, 1840	9	8		1
Ohio	Districts	October 13, 1840	19	7	4	12	4
Pennsylvania	District (25[d])	October 13, 1840	28	15	2	13	8
New York	District (33[e])	November 2–4, 1840	40	21	2	19	2
Connecticut	Districts	November 3, 1840	6	0		6
Michigan	At-large	November 3, 1840	1	0	1	1	1
New Jersey	At-large	November 3, 1840	6	0	5	6	5
Massachusetts	Districts	November 9, 1840	12	1	1	11	1
Delaware	At-large	November 10, 1840	1	0	1	1	1
1841 elections
New Hampshire	At-large	March 9, 1841	5	5		0
Rhode Island	At-large	April 21, 1841	2	0		2
Virginia[f]	Districts	April 23, 1841	21[f]	10	2	10	3
Kentucky	Districts	April 26, 1841	13	2		11
Indiana	Districts	May 3, 1841	7	1	4	6	4
Tennessee	Districts	May 6, 1841	13	5	1	8	1
North Carolina	Districts	May 13, 1841	13	5	3	8	3
Maryland	District (7[g])	May 17, 1841	8	2	3	6	3
Alabama	At-large[h]	May 20, 1841	5	5	2	0	2
Mississippi	At-large	November 1–2, 1841	2	2		0
Total			242	99[c] 40.9%	26	142 59.5%	33

Popular vote Whig   51.04% Democratic   47.83% Others   1.13%

House seats Whig   58.68% Democratic   40.50% Independent   0.83%

The previous election had two minor parties, the Anti-Masonic Party with 6 seats and the Conservative Party (of Virginia) with 2 seats, both of which disappeared in this election.

The 1st session of the 27th Congress began May 31, 1841, before Mississippi had elected Representatives, leaving that State unrepresented until the 2nd session.

Special elections

26th Congress

• Connecticut's 2nd congressional district: 1840
• Georgia's at-large congressional district: January 1841 (one of the at-large seat)
• Indiana's 7th congressional district: 1840
• Massachusetts's 6th congressional district: 1840
• Ohio's 4th congressional district: 1840
• Pennsylvania's 22nd congressional district: 1840
• Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district: 1840

27th Congress

• Maine's 4th congressional district: 1841
• Massachusetts's 5th congressional district: 1841
• Pennsylvania's 2nd congressional district: 1841
• Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district: 1841
• Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district: 1841
• Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district (again): 1841
• Pennsylvania's 20th congressional district: 1841

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
New York 26	Francis Granger	Whig	1838	Incumbent resigned March 5, 1841 to become U.S. Postmaster General. New member elected May 13, 1841 and seated May 21, 1841. Whig hold.	▌Y John Greig (Whig) 53.36% ▌Bowen Whiting (Democratic) 43.30% ▌Hiram Pitts (Liberty) 3.34%[6]
New York 26	John Greig	Whig	1841 (special)	Incumbent resigned September 25, 1841. New member elected November 3, 1841 and seated November 27, 1841. Whig hold.	▌Y Francis Granger (Whig) 53.36% ▌Bowen Whiting (Democratic) 45.14% ▌Hiram Pitts (Liberty) 3.96%[7]
Georgia at-large (Three of the at-large seats)	William C. Dawson	Whig	1836 (special)	Incumbent resigned November 13, 1841 to run for Governor of Georgia. New member elected December 21, 1841. Democratic gain.	Elected on a general ticket: ▌Y Mark A. Cooper (Democratic) 17.26% ▌Y Walter T. Colquitt (Democratic) 17.14% ▌Y Edward J. Black (Democratic) 16.96% ▌Charles Dougherty (Whig) 16.32% ▌George R. Gilmer (Whig) 16.18% ▌Augustus R. Wright (Whig) 16.14%[8]
	E. A. Nisbet	Whig	1838	Incumbent resigned October 12, 1841. New member elected December 21, 1841. Democratic gain.
	Julius C. Alford	Whig	1838	Incumbent resigned October 1, 1841. New member elected December 21, 1841. Democratic gain.

Alabama

See also: List of United States representatives from Alabama

Arkansas

1840 Arkansas at-large election

← 1838 October 5, 1840 1842 →

Nominee Edward Cross Absalom Fowler Party Democratic Whig Popular vote 7.876 5,788 Percentage 57.6% 42.4%

County Results Cross:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%      80-90%      >90% Fowler:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%      80-90%

U.S. Representative before election Edward Cross Democratic Elected U.S. Representative Edward Cross Democratic

See also: List of United States representatives from Arkansas

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
Arkansas at-large	Edward Cross	Democratic	1838	Incumbent reelected.	▌Y Edward Cross (Democratic) 57.6% ▌Absalom Fowler (Whig) 42.4%[9]

Connecticut

See also: List of United States representatives from Connecticut

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates[10]
Connecticut 1	Joseph Trumbull	Whig	1839	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Joseph Trumbull (Whig) 56.7% ▌Thomas H. Seymour (Democratic) 42.6%
Connecticut 2	William W. Boardman	Whig	1840 (special)	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y William W. Boardman (Whig) 53.2% ▌Charles A. Ingersoll (Democratic) 44.7%
Connecticut 3	Thomas W. Williams	Whig	1839	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Thomas W. Williams (Whig) 55.2% ▌Erastis Coit (Democratic) 44.5%
Connecticut 4	Thomas B. Osborne	Whig	1839	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Thomas B. Osborne (Whig) 55.4% ▌Thomas T. Whittlesey (Democratic) 44.3%
Connecticut 5	Truman Smith	Whig	1839	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Truman Smith (Whig) 55.4% ▌John C. Smith Jr. (Democratic) 43.8%
Connecticut 6	Orrin Holt	Whig	1839	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y John H. Brockway (Whig) 56.6% ▌Chauncey F. Cleveland (Democratic) 43.4%

Delaware

See also: List of United States representatives from Delaware

Florida Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Georgia

See also: List of United States representatives from Georgia

Illinois

See also: List of United States representatives from Illinois

Indiana

See also: List of United States representatives from Indiana

Iowa Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Kentucky

See also: List of United States representatives from Kentucky

Louisiana

See also: List of United States representatives from Louisiana

Maine

See also: List of United States representatives from Maine and 1840 United States Senate election in Maine

Maine elected its members September 14, 1840.

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
Maine 1
Maine 2
Maine 3
Maine 4
Maine 5
Maine 6
Maine 7
Maine 8	Thomas Davee	Democratic	1836	Incumbent retired. Whig gain.	▌Y Elisha H. Allen (Whig) 51.90% ▌Hannibal Hamlin (Democratic) 46.62%[11]

Maryland

See also: List of United States representatives from Maryland

Massachusetts

Massachusetts held its elections November 9, 1840, but one district went to a second ballot on January 4, 1841.

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
Massachusetts 1
Massachusetts 2
Massachusetts 3
Massachusetts 4	William Parmenter	Democratic	1836	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y William Parmenter (Democratic) 50.34% ▌Nathan Brooks (Whig) 48.35% ▌David Goodale (Unknown) 1.31%[12]
Massachusetts 5
Massachusetts 6
Massachusetts 7
Massachusetts 8
Massachusetts 9
Massachusetts 10	Henry Williams	Democratic	1838	Incumbent lost re-election. New member elected on the second ballot. Whig gain.	First ballot (November 9, 1840) ▌Henry Williams (Democratic) 49.75% ▌Nathaniel B. Borden (Whig) 49.60% ▌Otis Thompson (Unknown) 0.65%[13] Second ballot (January 4, 1841) ▌Y Nathaniel B. Borden (Whig) 52.41% ▌Henry Williams (Democratic) 45.26% ▌George W. Johnson (Unknown) 2.33%[14]
Massachusetts 11
Massachusetts 12	John Quincy Adams	Whig	1830	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y John Quincy Adams (Whig) 54.60% ▌William M. Jackson (Democratic) 45.40%[15]

Mississippi

See also: List of United States representatives from Mississippi

Elections held late, from November 1 to 2, 1841.

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
Mississippi at-large (2 seats)	Jacob Thompson	Democratic	1839	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Jacob Thompson (Democratic) 26.86% ▌Y William M. Gwin (Democratic) 26.74% ▌Adam L. Benjamin (Whig) 23.38% ▌William Harley (Whig) 23.03%[16]
	Albert G. Brown	Democratic	1839	Incumbent retired. Democratic hold.

Michigan

See also: List of United States representatives from Michigan

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
Michigan at-large	Isaac E. Crary	Democratic	1835	Incumbent retired. Whig gain.	▌Y Jacob M. Howard (Whig) 51.5% ▌Alpheus French (Democratic) 48.5%[17]

Missouri

See also: List of United States representatives from Missouri

New Hampshire

See also: List of United States representatives from New Hampshire

New Jersey

See also: List of United States representatives from New Jersey

North Carolina

See also: List of United States representatives from North Carolina

New York

See also: List of United States representatives from New York

Ohio

See also: List of United States representatives from Ohio

Pennsylvania

See also: List of United States representatives from Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

See also: List of United States representatives from Rhode Island

South Carolina

See also: List of United States representatives from South Carolina

Tennessee

Elections held late, on May 6, 1841.

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
Tennessee 1	William B. Carter	Whig	1835	Incumbent retired. Whig hold.	▌Y Thomas D. Arnold (Whig) 90.21% ▌Robert J. McKinney (Unknown) 5.65% ▌Jeremiah Jack (Unknown) 4.14%[18]
Tennessee 2	Abraham McClellan	Democratic	1837	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Abraham McClellan (Democratic) 53.00% ▌William T. Senter (Whig) 47.00%[19]
Tennessee 3	Joseph L. Williams	Whig	1837	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Joseph L. Williams (Whig) 97.41% Scattering 2.59%[20]
Tennessee 4	Julius W. Blackwell	Democratic	1839	Incumbent lost re-election. Whig gain.	▌Y Thomas J. Campbell (Whig) 49.26% ▌Julius W. Blackwell (Democratic) 48.50% ▌William Stone (Unknown) 2.24%[21]
Tennessee 5	Hopkins L. Turney	Democratic	1837	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Hopkins L. Turney (Democratic) 67.98% ▌John L. Goodall (Whig) 32.02%[22]
Tennessee 6	William B. Campbell	Whig	1837	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y William B. Campbell (Whig) 87.44% ▌Jesse Skein (Unknown) 10.74% Scattering 1.82%[23]
Tennessee 7	John Bell	Whig	1827	Incumbent retired to become Secretary of War. Whig hold.	▌Y Robert L. Caruthers (Whig) 72.29% ▌John Hall (Democratic) 27.71%[24]
Tennessee 8	Meredith P. Gentry	Whig	1839	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Meredith P. Gentry (Whig) 70.10% ▌Thomas Hogan (Democratic) 29.90%[25]
Tennessee 9	Harvey M. Watterson	Democratic	1839	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Harvey M. Watterson (Democratic) 54.81% ▌Terry H. Cahal (Whig) 45.19%[26]
Tennessee 10	Aaron V. Brown	Democratic	1839	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Aaron V. Brown (Democratic) 80.96% ▌Ebenezer J. Shields (Whig) 15.63% Scattering 3.41%[27]
Tennessee 11	Cave Johnson	Democratic	1839	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Cave Johnson (Democratic) 74.25% ▌N. H. Allen (Whig) 25.75%[28]
Tennessee 12	John W. Crockett	Whig	1837	Incumbent retired to become Attorney General for the 9th district. Whig hold.	▌Y Milton Brown (Whig) 61.19% ▌Stephen C. Davatt (Democratic) 38.81%[29]
Tennessee 13	Kit Williams	Whig	1837	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Kit Williams (Whig) 57.29% ▌Levin H. Coe (Democratic) 42.71%[30]

Vermont

See also: List of United States representatives from Vermont

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates[31]
Vermont 1	Hiland Hall	Whig	1833 (special)	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Hiland Hall (Whig) 59.2% ▌Daniel Kellogg (Democratic) 40.4%
Vermont 2	William Slade	Whig	1831 (special)	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y William Slade (Whig) 68.6% ▌Charles Linsley (Democratic) 30.9%
Vermont 3	Horace Everett	Whig	1828	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Horace Everett (Whig) 58.5% ▌Truman B. Ransom (Democratic) 40.0%
Vermont 4	John Smith	Democratic	1838	Incumbent lost re-election. Whig gain.	▌Y Augustus Young (Whig) 55.9% ▌John Smith (Democratic) 43.6%
Vermont 5	Isaac Fletcher	Democratic	1836	Incumbent lost re-election. Whig gain.	▌Y John Mattocks (Whig) 60.1% ▌Isaac Fletcher (Democratic) 38.4%

Virginia

See also: List of United States representatives from Virginia

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates[32]
Virginia 1	Francis Mallory	Whig	1840 (special)	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Francis Mallory (Whig) 81.9% ▌Archibald Atkinson (Democratic) 11.3% ▌James Walters (Unknown) 6.8%
Virginia 2	Francis E. Rives	Democratic	1837	Incumbent retired. Democratic hold.	▌Y George B. Cary (Democratic) 56.5% ▌[FNU] Collier (Whig) 43.5%
Virginia 3	John Winston Jones	Democratic	1835	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y John Winston Jones (Democratic) 69.5% ▌Junius E. Leigh (Unknown) 23.2% ▌Thomas Miller (Unknown) 7.3%
Virginia 4	George Dromgoole	Democratic	1835	Incumbent retired. Democratic hold.	▌Y William Goode (Democratic) 75.0% ▌Richard H. Baptist (Unknown) 25.0%
Virginia 5	John Hill	Whig	1839	Incumbent lost re-election. Democratic gain.	▌Y Edmund W. Hubard (Democratic) 50.4% ▌John Hill (Whig) 49.6%
Virginia 6	Walter Coles	Democratic	1835	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Walter Coles (Democratic) 50.5% ▌Vincent Witcher (Whig) 49.5%
Virginia 7	William L. Goggin	Whig	1839	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y William L. Goggin (Whig) 56.5% ▌Archibald Stuart (Democratic) 43.5%
Virginia 8	Henry A. Wise	Whig	1833	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Henry A. Wise (Whig) ▌William Todd (Democratic)
Virginia 9	Robert M. T. Hunter	Whig	1837	Incumbent re-elected as an Independent. Independent gain.	▌Y Robert M. T. Hunter (Independent) 53.4% ▌[FNU] Corbin (Whig) 36.1% ▌[FNU] Braxton (Democratic) 10.4%
Virginia 10	John Taliaferro	Whig	1835	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y John Taliaferro (Whig) 54.2% ▌Robert O. Grayson (Democratic) 45.8%
Virginia 11	John Botts	Whig	1839	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y John Botts (Whig) 73.2% ▌[FNU] Goodall (Unknown) 26.8%
Virginia 12	James Garland	Conservative	1835	Incumbent lost re-election. Whig gain.	▌Y Thomas W. Gilmer (Whig) 51.6% ▌James Garland (Conservative) 42.0% ▌[FNU] Holladay (Unknown) 6.5%
Virginia 13	Linn Banks	Democratic	1838 (special)	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Linn Banks (Democratic) 50.1% ▌William Smith (Democratc) 49.9%
Virginia 14	Charles F. Mercer	Whig	1817	Incumbent retired. Whig hold.	▌Y Cuthbert Powell (Whig) 62.9% ▌B. Shreve (Democratic) 37.1%
Virginia 15	William Lucas	Democratic	1839	Incumbent lost re-election. Whig gain.	▌Y Richard W. Barton (Whig) 52.2% ▌William Lucas (Democratic) 47.8%
Virginia 16	Green Berry Samuels	Democratic	1839	Incumbent retired. Democratic hold.	▌Y William A. Harris (Democratic) 36.8% ▌Samuel C. Williams (Democratic) 30.1% ▌James M. H. Beale (Democratic) 19.5% ▌Gabriel T. Barbee (Unknown) 13.7%
Virginia 17	Robert Craig	Democratic	1835	Incumbent retired. Whig gain.	▌Y Alexander H. H. Stuart (Whig) 53.6% ▌James McDowell Jr. (Democratic) 46.4%
Virginia 18	George W. Hopkins	Conservative	1835	Incumbent re-elected as a Democrat. Democratic gain.	▌Y George W. Hopkins (Democratic) 60.9% ▌J. Watson (Whig) 39.1%
Virginia 19	Andrew Beirne	Democratic	1837	Incumbent retired. Whig gain.	▌Y George W. Summers (Whig) 92.6% ▌Augustus Caperton (Unknown) 7.4%
Virginia 20	Joseph Johnson	Democratic	1835	Incumbent retired. Democratic hold.	▌Y Samuel L. Hays (Democratic) 59.2% ▌Augustine J. Smith (Whig) 40.8%
Virginia 21	Lewis Steenrod	Democratic	1839	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Lewis Steenrod (Democratic) 100%

Wisconsin Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Non-voting delegates

See also: Non-voting members of the United States House of Representatives

26th Congress

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
Iowa Territory at-large	William W. Chapman	Democratic	1838	Incumbent's term expired by law. New delegate elected in 1840. Democratic hold.	▌Y Augustus C. Dodge (Democratic) ▌Alfred Rich (Whig) (615-vote margin)[33]

27th Congress

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
Florida Territory at-large	Charles Downing	Democratic	1836	Incumbent re-elected on an unknown date.	▌Y Charles Downing (Democratic) [data missing]
Iowa Territory at-large	Augustus C. Dodge	Democratic	1840	Incumbent re-elected August 6, 1841.	▌Y Augustus C. Dodge (Democratic) 4838 votes ▌Alfred Rich (Whig) 4315 votes[34]
Wisconsin Territory at-large	James D. Doty	Democratic	1838	Incumbent re-elected on an unknown date.	▌Y James D. Doty (Democratic) [data missing]

See also

• 1840 United States elections
  • List of United States House of Representatives elections (1824–1854)
  • 1840 United States presidential election
  • 1840–41 United States Senate elections
• 26th United States Congress
• 27th United States Congress

Notes

1. Includes one Independent from Virginia, and one Independent Democrat from Illinois.
2. There was 1 Independent and 1 Independent Democrat.
3. Including one Independent Democrat elected to Illinois's 2nd congressional district.
4. Includes 3 plural districts
5. Includes 5 plural districts
6. Robert M. T. Hunter was elected as an Independent in Virginia's 9th congressional district, and so is not included in the figures here. Hunter had previously run in earlier elections as a Whig.
7. Includes 1 plural district
8. Changed from district