United States House of Representatives elections, 1792
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August 27, 1792 - September 6, 1793
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Elections to the Federalist Party, whose members and sympathizers are identified as pro-Administration on this page. In response, followers of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison created the opposition Democratic-Republican Party, who are identified as anti-Administration on this page. The Federalists promoted urbanization, industrialization, mercantilism, centralized government, and a broad interpretation of the United States Constitution. In contrast, Democratic-Republicans supported the ideal of an agrarian republic made up of self-sufficient farmers and small, localized governments with limited power.
Despite nearly unanimous support for Washington as a presidential candidate, Jeffersonian ideas edged out Hamiltonian principles at the ballot box for congressional candidates, with the Democratic-Republicans taking 24 seats more than they had prior to the organization of their political movement. Most of the increase was due to the addition of new seats in Western regions as a result of the United States census of 1790. Dominated by agrarian culture, these Western territories offered strong support to Democratic-Republican congressional candidates. As a result, they secured a thin majority in the legislature.
Election summaries
In this period, each state fixed its own date for a congressional general election, as early as August 1792 (in New Hampshire and Rhode Island) and as late as September 1793 (in Kentucky). 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), but as the first session of Congress typically began in November or December, the elections took place before Congress actually met. The 3rd Congress first met on December 2, 1793.
These were the first elections held after reapportionment following the first census. Thirty-six new seats were added,[1] with 1 state losing 1 seat, 3 states having no change, and the remaining 11 states gaining between 1 and 9 seats. This was the first apportionment based on actual census data, the apportionment for the 1st and 2nd Congresses being set by the Constitution using estimated populations.
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54
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51
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Anti-Administration
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Pro-Administration
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State
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Type
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Date
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Total
seats
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Anti-
Administration
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Pro-
Administration
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Seats
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Change
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Seats
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Change
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Seats
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Change
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Connecticut
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At-large
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September 17, 1792
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7
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 2
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0
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7
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2
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Delaware
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At-large
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October 2, 1792
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1
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1
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1
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0
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 1
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Georgia
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At-large[2]
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October 1, 1792
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2
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1
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2
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1
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0
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Maryland
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District[3]
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October 1, 1792
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8
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2
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4
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1
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4
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1
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Massachusetts
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Mixed[4]
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November 2, 1792[5]
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14
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6
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3
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2
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11
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4
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New Hampshire
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At-large
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August 27, 1792
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4
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1
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1
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1
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3
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New Jersey
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At-large
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October 9, 1792
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5
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1
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0
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5
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1
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Pennsylvania
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At-large[2]
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October 9, 1792
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13
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5
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8
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4
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5
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1
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Rhode Island
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At-large
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August 28, 1792
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2
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1
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0
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1
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2
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1793 elections
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Kentucky
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District (2)
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September 6, 1793
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2
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2
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0
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New York
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District (10)
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January 2, 1793
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10
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4
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3
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1
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7
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3
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North Carolina
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District (10)
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February 15, 1793
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10
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5
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9
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6
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1
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1
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South Carolina
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District (6)
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February 5, 1793
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6
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1
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5
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3
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1
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2
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Vermont
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District (2)
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January 7, 1793[6]
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2
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2
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0
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Virginia
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District (19)
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March 18, 1793
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19
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9
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15
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7
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4
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2
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Total
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105
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36
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54
51.4%
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24
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51
48.6%
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12
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House seats
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Anti-Administration
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51.43%
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Pro-Administration
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48.57%
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House composition
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P
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Majority→
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Majority→
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Late elections to the 2nd Congress
Kentucky was admitted to the union near the end of the 2nd Congress and elected two representatives to serve during the last sessions of that Congress.
Greenup took his seat on November 9, 1792 and Orr on November 8, 1792.[8]
Complete returns
The first delegate was elected from the Southwest Territory to the 3rd Congress in 1794.
Connecticut gained two seats in reapportionment following the 1790 census.
Three special elections followed the 1792 elections in Connecticut after Representatives-elect Sturges and Huntington resigned before the start of Congress and Mitchell was elected to the Senate.
Delaware's apportionment did not change following the Census of 1790. As in the 1st and 2nd Congresses, each voter cast votes for two separate candidates, at least one of whom had to be from a different county as the voter.
John Patten (A) was initially declared the winner, but the election was challenged by Henry Latimer. The results of the election were subsequently reversed and Henry Latimer (P) took Delaware's seat in the Third Congress
Following the Census of 1790, Georgia's apportionment was decreased from 3 seats to 2 (the only state whose representation decreased after the Census of 1790). Georgia switched from separate districts to at-large seats.
Maryland increased from 6 to 8 representatives after the Census of 1790. The previous mixed district/at-large system was replaced with a conventional district system.
John Francis Mercer (A) of the 2nd district resigned April 13, 1794 and was replaced in a special election by Gabriel Duvall (A).
Uriah Forrest (P) of the 3rd district resigned November 8, 1794 and was replaced in a special election by Benjamin Edwards (P).
Following the Census of 1790, Massachusetts' representation increased from 8 to 14 Representatives and was redistricted into 4 plural districts, plus a single at-large district. The 4th district covered the District of Maine (the modern-day State of Maine). The plural districts were concurrent tickets rather than a single general ticket, though the 1st and 2nd districts appear to have also had a general ticket alongside the more specific tickets.
As before, a majority was required for election, in those districts where a majority was not achieved, additional ballots were required.
New Hampshire increased from 3 seats to 4 seats after the Census of 1790.
Following the Census of 1790, New Jersey's apportionment increased from 4 to 5 seats.
Abraham Clark (P) died on September 15, 1794. The resulting vacancy was filled in a special election by Aaron Kitchell (P)
Due to re-apportionment following the Census of 1790, New York's congressional delegation grew from 6 to 10. Three incumbents ran for re-election, two of whom won, and the other three incumbents retired. With the increase following re-apportionment, this left seven open seats.
Silas Talbot (P) of the 10th district subsequently resigned from the House to take a Naval appointment June, 1794, no special election held so his seat was vacant for part of the Third Congress
Following the Census of 1790, North Carolina's apportionment increased from 5 to 10 seats.
Pennsylvania switched from using districts to electing its representatives on an at-large basis for the 3rd Congress, just as it had done for the 1st Congress. This would be the last time that Pennsylvania would elect all of its Representatives at-large. Due to re-apportionment following the Census of 1790, Pennsylvania's delegation increased from 8 representatives to 13.
Rhode Island gained a second representative from the results of the Census of 1790. Rhode Island did not divide itself into districts, but elected two at-large representatives on separate tickets.
South Carolina gained one representative as a result of the Census of 1790, increasing from 5 to 6.
On October 6, 1794, Alexander Gillon (A) of the 5th district died. A special election was held to fill the resulting vacancy, which elected Robert Goodloe Harper (P)
Vermont's had no apportionment in the House of Representatives before the census of 1790 because it was not admitted to the Union until 1791. Vermont's election laws at the time required a majority to win election to the House of Representatives. If no candidate won a majority, a runoff election was held, which happened in Vermont's 1st district.
Virginia gained 9 Representatives from the Census of 1790, and in addition, the old 2nd district was lost after its territory became the new State of Kentucky. There were, therefore, 10 new districts created for the 3rd Congress.
See also
References
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Unless otherwise noted, election data are from A New Nation Votes and Ourcampaigns.com
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^ 1 Stat. 253
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^ a b Changed from district method
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^ Changed from combined at-large/district method
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^ 3 Plural districts plus 1 Representatives elected at-large
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^ Majority required for election, two additional trials were held on January 14, 1793 and April 1, 1793
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^ Majority required for election which was not met in one of the districts, a second trial was held on March 20, 1793
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^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai Source does not give numbers of votes or has incomplete data
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^ http://artandhistory.house.gov/house_history/bioguide-front/2.pdf footnotes 12 and 13
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^ a b c d Elected in subsequent special election
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^ Election successfully contested
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^ Successfully contested election
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^ Also elected in a special election to fill vacancy left when Seney resigned his seat in December, 1792
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^ a b Only candidates with at least 1% of the vote listed
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^ Election was subsequently challenged by Van Rensselaer who claimed electoral irregularities, election was upheld by the House
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^ a b source does not give full name
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^ Wilkes University Elections Statistics Project
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^ Four individuals received 1 vote each
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^ Election unsuccessfully contested by Trigg
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^ Had previously been Anti-Administration, but switched to Pro-Administration/Federalist from this point on
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^ Had been Anti-Administration in the previous election
External links
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http://clerk.house.gov/art_history/house_history/index.html
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