United States House of Representatives elections, 1864

United States House of Representatives elections, 1864

June 5, 1864 - November 7, 1865
All 193 seats to the United States House of Representatives 97 seats were needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader Schuyler Colfax James Brooks Francis Thomas Party Republican Democratic Constitutional Union Leader's seat Indiana-9th New York-8th Maryland-4th Last election 87 seats 72 seats 25 seats Seats won 137 38 18 Seat change 50 34 7
Speaker before election Schuyler Colfax Republican Elected Speaker Schuyler Colfax Republican

Elections to the United States House of Representatives were held in 1864 to elect Representatives to the 39th United States Congress. The election coincided with the presidential election of 1864, in which President Abraham Lincoln was re-elected.

In the midst of the American Civil War, the opposition Democrats were divided between the Copperheads, a group that demanded an immediate negotiated settlement with the Confederate States of America, and the War Democrats, who supported the war. The Democrats lacked a coherent message, and Lincoln's Republican Party gained 50 seats, increasing their majority over the Democrats. The National Union Party (formerly known as the Unionists) lost seven seats, retaining control of 18 seats (some classify the Representatives as including 13 Unconditional Unionists and five Unionists), all from the border states of Maryland, Tennessee, and Kentucky, as well as West Virginia.

Election summaries

One new seat was added for the new State of Nebraska and 8 vacancies were filled by the readmission of Tennessee, the first secessionist state to be readmitted. Three former Confederate States held elections in 1865 that were rejected by Congress.

↓

137	18	38
Republican	Unionist	Democratic

State	Type	Date	Total seats	Republican		Democratic		Unionist
				Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
California	District	November 8, 1864 (Election Day)	3	3		0		0
Delaware	At-large		1	0		1		0
Illinois	District + 1 at-large		14	11	6	3	6	0
Iowa	District		6	6		0		0
Kansas	At-large		1	1		0		0
Maryland	District		5	0		2	1	3	1
Massachusetts	District		10	10		0		0
Michigan	District		6	6	1	0	1	0
Minnesota	District		2	2		0		0
Missouri	District		9	8	7	1	1	0	8
New Jersey	District		5	2	1	3	1	0
New York	District		31	21	7	10	7	0
Wisconsin	District		6	5	2	1	2	0
Indiana	District	October 10, 1864	11	9	5	2	5	0
Maine	District	September 11, 1864	5	5	1	0	1	0
Ohio	District	October 10, 1864	19	17	12	2	12	0
Oregon	At-large	June 5, 1864	1	1		0		0
Pennsylvania	District	October 10, 1864	24	16	4	8	4	0
Vermont	District	September 6, 1864	3	3		0		0
West Virginia	District	October 22, 1864	3	0		0		3
1865 elections
Connecticut	District	April 3, 1865	4	4	1	0	1	0
Kentucky	District	August 7, 1865	9	0		5	5	4	5
Nevada	At-large	November 7, 1865	1	1		0		0
New Hampshire	District	March 14, 1865	3	3	1	0	1	0
Rhode Island	District	April 5, 1865	2	2		0		0
Tennessee	District	August 3, 1865	8	0		0		8	8
1866 election
Nebraska	At-large	June 2, 1866	1	1	1	0		0
Secessionist States not yet readmitted
Alabama	District		6
Arkansas	District		3
Florida	At-large	November 29, 1865	1
Georgia	District		7
Louisiana	District		5
Mississippi	District	October 2, 1865	5
North Carolina	District	November 9, 1865	7
South Carolina	District		4
Texas	District		4
Virginia	District		8
Total			193 50 vacancies	137 71.0%	46	38 19.7%	31	18 9.3%	6

House seats
Republican			70.98%
Democratic			19.69%
Unionist			9.33%

Of the rejected elections, Florida's and Mississippi's claimants' parties are unknown, while North Carolina elected 4 Union and 3 Conservative Representatives.

All Races

California

Note: This was the first election in which California elected representatives from congressional districts.

District	Candidates
California 1	Donald C. McRuer (R) 58.2% Joseph B. Crockett (D) 41.8%
California 2	William Higby (R) 61.3% James W. Coffroth (D) 38.7%
California 3	John Bidwell (R) 55.8% Jackson Temple (D) 44.2%

Ohio

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Ohio 1	George H. Pendleton	Democratic	1856	Retired Republican gain	Benjamin Eggleston (R) 57.0% George E. Pugh (D) 43.0%
Ohio 2	Alexander Long	Democratic	1862	Lost re-nomination Republican gain	Rutherford B. Hayes (R) 58.7% Joseph C. Butler (D) 41,3%
Ohio 3	Robert C. Schenck	Republican	1862	Re-elected	Robert C. Schenck (R) 55.3% David A. Houk (D) 44.7%
Ohio 4	John F. McKinney	Democratic	1862	Lost re-election Republican gain	William Lawrence (R) 56.1% John F. McKinney (D) 43.9%
Ohio 5	Francis C. Le Blond	Democratic	1862	Re-elected	Francis C. Le Blond (D) 55.2% Moses B. Walker (R) 44.8%
Ohio 6	Chilton A. White	Democratic	1860	Lost re-election Republican gain	Reader W. Clarke (R) 55.4% Chilton A. White (D) 44.6%
Ohio 7	Samuel S. Cox	Democratic	1862	Lost re-election Republican gain	Samuel Shellabarger (R) 57.1% Samuel S. Cox (D) 42.9%
Ohio 8	William Johnston	Democratic	1862	Lost re-election Republican gain	James R. Hubbell (R) 54.8% William Johnston (D) 45.2%
Ohio 9	Warren P. Noble	Democratic	1860	Lost re-election Republican gain	Ralph P. Buckland (R) 73.6% Warren P. Noble (D) 26.4%
Ohio 10	James M. Ashley	Republican	1862	Re-elected	James M. Ashley (R) 51.8% Americus V. Rice (D) 48.2%
Ohio 11	Wells A. Hutchins	Democratic	1862	Lost re-election Republican gain	Hezekiah S. Bundy (R) 59.8% Wells A. Hutchins (D) 40.2%
Ohio 12	William E. Finck	Democratic	1862	Re-elected	William E. Finck (D) 53.3% Job E. Stevenson (R) 46.7%
Ohio 13	John O'Neill	Democratic	1862	Retired Republican gain	Columbus Delano (R) 50.5% Charles Follett (R) 49.5%
Ohio 14	George Bliss	Democratic	1862	Lost re-election Republican gain	Martin Welker (R) 55.5% George Bliss (D) 44.5%
Ohio 15	James R. Morris	Democratic	1862	Lost re-election Republican gain	Tobias A. Plants (R) 57.3% James R. Morris (D) 42.7%
Ohio 16	Joseph W. White	Democratic	1882	Lost re-election Republican gain	John Bingham (R) 52.7% Joseph W. White (D) 47.3%
Ohio 17	Ephraim R. Eckley	Republican	1862	Re-elected	Ephraim R. Eckley (R) 59.3% Jonathan H. Wallace (D) 40.7%
Ohio 18	Rufus P. Spalding	Republican	1862	Re-elected	Rufus P. Spalding (R) 68.5% Jeptha Wade (D) 31.5%
Ohio 19	James A. Garfield	Republican	1862	Re-elected	James A. Garfield (R) 74.1% Halsey H. Moses (D) 25.9%

See also

• United States presidential election, 1864
• United States Senate elections, 1864
• 39th United States Congress

External links

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