1820 Maine's at-large congressional district special election

A special election was held in Maine's at-large congressional district on November 7, 1820 to fill a vacancy left by the resignation of John Holmes. Holmes had been elected under the authority of the State of Massachusetts to that state's former 14th district, part of the District of Maine. When, on March 15, 1820, the former District was granted statehood as the State of Maine, Holmes was elected one of its first two Senators. Under the act admitting Maine as a state, seven seats were moved from Massachusetts to Maine for the 17th Congress, and any vacancies in the 16th Congress that arose in seats held by residents of Maine were to be filled by residents of the new state.[1]

The special election was held on the same date as the general elections for the 17th Congress.

Election results
Candidate Party Votes[2] Percent
Joseph Dane Federalist 929 53.6%
Alexander Rice Democratic-Republican 662 38.2%
Isaac Lyman Unknown 78 4.5%
William Moody Unknown 46 2.3%
Others 17 1.0%

Dane took his seat on December 11, 1820[3]

See also

References
  1. "… in the election of Representatives in the Seventeenth Congress, the State of Massachusetts shall be entitled to choose 13 Representatives only; and the State of Maine shall be entitled to choose seven Representatives, That if the seat of any of the Representatives in the present Congress (Sixteenth), who were elected in and under the authority of the State of Massachusetts, and who are now inhabitants of the State of Maine, shall be vacated by death, resignation, or otherwise, such vacancy shall be supplied by a successor, who shall, at the time of his election, be an inhabitant of the State of Maine."
  2. Election details from Ourcampaigns.com
  3. 16th Congress Membership roster Archived March 9, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
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