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1798–99 United States House of Representatives elections

The 1798–99 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between April 24, 1798 in New York and August 1, 1799 in Tennessee. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives, with some after the official start of the 6th United States Congress on March 4, 1799, but before the start of the first session of this Congress in Philadelphia on December 2, 1799.[2] These elections were held during President John Adams term. It was the last congressional session before the move to the new capital at Washington, D.C. Elections were held for all 106 seats, representing 16 states.

President Adams, a Federalist elected two years prior in the election of 1796, remained popular during a time of national economic growth,[citation needed] and the Federalists made a modest gain of three seats at the expense of the opposition Democratic-Republicans, the party of Vice President and future President Thomas Jefferson. This resulted in an increased Federalist majority in the House, 60-46 seats.

The Federalist party squandered its popularity by passing a series of controversial new laws in the summer of 1798, including the Naturalization Act of 1798 and the Alien and Sedition Acts. Their passage seriously injured the chances of President Adams and Federalist congressional candidates in the elections of 1800.

The House that met during this Congress would ultimately elect Thomas Jefferson over Aaron Burr in the presidential election of 1800.

Election summaries

Special elections

There were special elections in 1798 and 1799 during the 5th United States Congress and 6th United States Congress.

Elections are sorted here by date then district.

5th Congress

6th Congress

Connecticut

Delaware

Georgia

Kentucky

Maryland

Massachusetts

Massachusetts required a majority for election. This was not met in the 5th district and 7th district necessitating additional ballots in those districts.

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Jersey switched to district representation for this election. The districts were not numbered at the time, but are retroactively numbered here as 1–5. New Jersey would go back to an at-large district the following election.

New York

Between the 1796 and 1798 elections, New York re-districted. This marked the first time that its districts were numbered.

North Carolina

Northwest Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

Rhode Island used at-large districts, but elected the candidates on separate tickets instead of using a general ticket.

South Carolina

Tennessee

Vermont

Majority vote required to win, necessitating a run-off election in the 1st (Western) district.

Virginia

Non-voting delegates

See also

Notes

  1. ^ An additional trial was held in one district due to majority requirement not being on the first vote, and was held on December 4, 1798
  2. ^ Additional trials required in 2 districts due to majority requirement not being met on first vote, additional trials were held January 17, April 1, June 6, and August 29, 1799
  3. ^ Eggleston "was elected by a majority of more than two to one…"[6]
  4. ^ a b c d Only candidates with at least 1% of the vote listed
  5. ^ Milledge had declined to run for re-election. As a result, many Democratic-Republican voters cast their votes for Baldwin and one of the Federalists, giving the Federalists enough votes to win both seats. Milledge nevertheless received some votes.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Source does not give numbers of votes or has incomplete data

References

  1. ^ a b "Party Divisions of the House of Representatives, 1789 to Present | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives". history.house.gov. Retrieved 2024-07-05.
  2. ^ "Sixth Congress (membership roster)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 6, 2014. Retrieved February 1, 2015.
  3. ^ a b c d e 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.
  4. ^ a b Cox, Harold E. (January 13, 2007). "5th Congress 1797–1798" (PDF). Wilkes University Election Statistics Project.
  5. ^ "NC District 10 - Special Election". August 7, 2008. Retrieved September 11, 2018 – via OurCampaigns.com.
  6. ^ "Virginia 1798 U.S. House of Representatives, District 9, Special". A New Nation Votes. Tufts University. Archived from the original on August 20, 2020. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  7. ^ "MD District 7". April 3, 2006. Retrieved September 11, 2018 – via OurCampaigns.com.
  8. ^ "NY District 1". April 7, 2006. Retrieved August 16, 2018 – via OurCampaigns.com.
  9. ^ Cox, Harold E. (January 6, 2007). "6th Congress 1799–1801" (PDF). Wilkes University Election Statistics Project.[
  10. ^ "TN-Initial District". January 15, 2011. Retrieved August 16, 2018 – via Our Campaigns.
  11. ^ Smith, William Henry (1882). The St. Clair Papers The Life and Public Services of Arthur St. Clair : Soldier of the Revolutionary War, President of the Continental Congress; and Governor of the North-western Territory : with His Correspondence and Other Papers · Volume 1. Harvard University. p. 214.

Bibliography

External links