1888 United States House of Representatives elections

Elections to the United States House of Representatives held in 1888 were held to choose members of the 51st Congress, and were held at the same time as the election of President Benjamin Harrison.

1888 United States House of Representatives elections
June 6, September 4, September 10, and November 6, 1888[lower-alpha 1]
All 332 seats in the United States House of Representatives[lower-alpha 2]
167 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Thomas Brackett Reed John G. Carlisle
Party Republican Democratic
Leader's seat Maine 1st Kentucky 6th
Last election 152 seats 167 seats
Seats won 179[1][lower-alpha 3] 152[1][lower-alpha 3]
Seat change 27 15
Popular vote 5,408,259 5,558,964
Percentage 47.36% 48.68%
Swing 2.37% 0.56%
  Third party Fourth party
 
Party Labor Independent
Last election 2 seats 2 seats[lower-alpha 4]
Seats won 1[1] 0
Seat change 1 2
Popular vote 161,225 61,520
Percentage 1.41% 0.54%
Swing 0.33% 1.54%
Map of U.S. House elections results from 1888 elections for 51st Congress on election day (a number of Southern seats were later successfully contested and the results overturned)
Speaker before election

John Carlisle
Democratic

 Elected Speaker

Thomas Reed
Republican

Harrison's Republican Party gained a majority in the House at the expense of the Democratic Party, even though incumbent President Grover Cleveland actually received more votes counted than Harrison. However, as in other elections in the period, widespread vote suppression and fraud was common on behalf of Democrats and against black Republicans in the South. The Republican House majority in uncontested elections unseated a number of initially reported as victorious Democratic candidates in favor of Republican candidates who contested their election loss. The issue of tariffs played a key role in this election. The Democrats, with the support of farmers and laborers, wanted to lower tariffs in order to promote free trade, while the Republicans, backed by industry and big business, believed that higher tariffs were necessary to protect American manufacturing. Especially in industrializing regions, voters chose the Republican view on tariffs, as they gave the party a slim majority in the House.

Election summaries

Seven seats were added, for the six new states of, in order of admission (number of House seats for each new state listed in parentheses): North Dakota (1), South Dakota (2), Montana (1), Washington (1), Idaho (1), and Wyoming (1).

↓
179 1 152
Republican [lower-alpha 5] Democratic
State Type Total
seats		 Republican Democratic
Seats Change Seats Change
Alabama District 8 1 1 7 1
Arkansas District 5[lower-alpha 6] 1 3
California District 6 4 2
Colorado At-large 1 1 0
Connecticut District 4 3 1 1 1
Delaware At-large 1 0 1
Florida District 2 0 2
Georgia District 10 0 10
Illinois District 20 13 1 7 1
Indiana District 13 3 4 10 4
Iowa District 11[lower-alpha 7] 10 1 1
Kansas District 7 7 0
Kentucky District 11 2 1 9 1
Louisiana District 6 1 1 5 1
Maine[lower-alpha 8] District 4 4 0
Maryland District 6 3 2 3 2
Massachusetts District 12 10 2 2 2
Michigan District 11 9 3 2 3
Minnesota District 5 5 3 0 3
Mississippi District 7 0 7
Missouri District 14 4 2 10 2
Nebraska District 3 3 1 0 1
Nevada At-large 1 1 0
New Hampshire District 2 2 1 0 1
New Jersey District 7 4 1 3 1
New York District 34 19 1 15 1
North Carolina District 9[lower-alpha 9] 3 2 6 2
Ohio District 21 16 1 5 1
Oregon[lower-alpha 8] At-large 1 1 0
Pennsylvania District[lower-alpha 10] 28 21 1 7 1
Rhode Island District 2 2 0
South Carolina District 7 1 1 6 1
Tennessee District 10 3 1 7 1
Texas District 11 0 11
Vermont[lower-alpha 8] District 2 2 0
Virginia District 10[lower-alpha 11] 4 2 6 3
West Virginia District 4 2 1 2 1
Wisconsin District 9[lower-alpha 11] 7 2 1
1889 elections (New States)
Montana At-large 1 1 1 0
North Dakota At-large 1 1 1 0
South Dakota At-large 2 2 2 0
Washington At-large 1 1 1 0
1890 elections (New States)
Idaho At-large 1 1 1 0
Wyoming At-large 1 1 1 0
Total[lower-alpha 2] 332 179[1]
53.9%		 17 152[1]
45.8%		 6
Popular vote
Democratic
 
 48.68%
Independent
 
 0.54%
Labor
 
 1.41%
Republican
 
 47.36%
Others
 
 2.01%
House seats
Democratic
 
 45.78%
Labor
 
 0.30%
Republican
 
 53.92%

The previous election had 4 third-party candidates, 2 Labor, 1 Greenback, and 1 Independent.


Election dates

All states elected their members November 6, 1888 except, three states, with 7 seats among them:

Arizona Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Arkansas
District Incumbent This race
Member Party First elected Results Candidates
Arkansas 1 Poindexter Dunn Democratic 1878 Incumbent retired.
New member elected.
Democratic hold.
Arkansas 2 Clifton R. Breckinridge Democratic 1882 Incumbent re-elected.
Arkansas 3 Thomas C. McRae Democratic 1884 Incumbent re-elected.
Arkansas 4 John H. Rogers Democratic 1884 Incumbent re-elected.
  • Y John H. Rogers (Democratic) 57.8%
  • Isaac McCacken (Independent) 42.2%
Arkansas 5 Samuel W. Peel Democratic 1884 Incumbent re-elected.
  • Y Samuel W. Peel (Democratic) 68.9%
  • Edward P. Watson (Independent) 22.0%
  • John Gates (Republican) 9.1%

In the 1st district, initial returns showed William H. Cate (Democratic) winning the election, but the election was contested by Lewis P. Featherstone (Labor), and on May 5, 1890, he was declared the winner.

In the 2nd district, Clifton R. Breckinridge (Democratic) was initially declared re-elected. John M. Clayton successfully contested the election, but was assassinated before the contest was complete, so the House declared the seat vacant. Breckinridge was subsequently re-elected November 4, 1890 to finish the term.

California
Main article: 1888 United States House of Representatives elections in California
See also: List of United States Representatives from California
District Incumbent This race
Member Party First elected Results Candidates
California 1 Thomas Larkin Thompson Democratic 1886 Incumbent lost re-election.
New member elected.
Republican gain.
  • Y John J. De Haven (Republican) 49.9%
  • Thomas L. Thompson (Democratic) 49%
  • W. D. Reynolds (Independent) 1.1%
California 2 Marion Biggs Democratic 1886 Incumbent re-elected.
  • Y Marion Biggs (Democratic) 50.6%
  • John A. Eagon (Republican) 46.6%
  • S. M. McLean (Prohibition) 2.4%
  • J. F. McSwain (Independent) 0.4%
California 3 Joseph McKenna Republican 1884 Incumbent re-elected.
  • Y Joseph McKenna (Republican) 56.0%
  • Ben Morgan (Democratic) 41.2%
  • W. W. Smith (Prohibition) 1.9%
  • S. Solon Holl (Independent) 1.0%
California 4 William W. Morrow Republican 1884 Incumbent re-elected.
  • Y William W. Morrow (Republican) 50.8%
  • Robert Ferral (Democratic) 48.6%
  • Frank M. Pixley (Socialist) 0.6%
California 5 Charles N. Felton Republican 1884 Incumbent retired.
New member elected.
Democratic gain.
California 6 William Vandever Republican 1886 Incumbent retired.
New member elected.
Republican hold
  • Y William Vandever (Republican) 52.5%
  • Reel B. Terry (Democratic) 43.7%
  • J. G. Miller (Prohibition) 3.5%
  • Alfred Daggett (Know Nothing) 0.2%

Florida
Main article: 1888 United States House of Representatives elections in Florida
See also: List of United States Representatives from Florida
District Incumbent This race
Member Party First elected Results Candidates
Florida 1 Robert H. M. Davidson Democratic 1876 Incumbent re-elected.
Florida 2 Charles Dougherty Democratic 1884 Incumbent retired.
New member elected.
Democratic hold
  • Y Robert Bullock (Democratic) 53.5%
  • Frederick S. Goodrich (Republican) 46.5%

Idaho Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Montana Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

New Mexico Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Ohio
Main article: 1888 United States House of Representatives elections in Ohio
See also: List of United States Representatives from Ohio
District Incumbent This race
Member Party First elected Results Candidates[2]
Ohio 1 Benjamin Butterworth Republican 1884 Incumbent re-elected.
Ohio 2 Charles Elwood Brown Republican 1884 Incumbent retired.
New member elected.
Republican hold.
Ohio 3 Elihu S. Williams Republican 1886 Incumbent re-elected.
Ohio 4 Samuel S. Yoder Democratic 1886 Incumbent re-elected.
  • Y Samuel S. Yoder (Democratic) 60.6%
  • Robert L. Mattingly (Republican) 39.4%
Ohio 5 George E. Seney Democratic 1886 Incumbent re-elected.
Ohio 6 Melvin M. Boothman Republican 1886 Incumbent re-elected.
Ohio 7 James E. Campbell Democratic 1886 Incumbent retired.
New member elected.
Republican gain.
Ohio 8 Robert P. Kennedy Republican 1886 Incumbent re-elected.
Ohio 9 William C. Cooper Republican 1884 Incumbent re-elected.
Ohio 10 Jacob Romeis Republican 1884 Incumbent lost re-election.
New member elected.
Democratic gain.
Ohio 11 Albert C. Thompson Republican 1886 Incumbent re-elected.
Ohio 12 Jacob J. Pugsley Republican 1886 Incumbent re-elected.
Ohio 13 Joseph H. Outhwaite Democratic 1884 Incumbent re-elected.
Ohio 14 Charles P. Wickham Republican 1886 Incumbent re-elected.
Ohio 15 Charles H. Grosvenor Republican 1886 Incumbent re-elected.
Ohio 16 Beriah Wilkins Democratic 1886 Incumbent retired.
New member elected.
Democratic hold.
  • Y James W. Owens (Democratic) 55.2%
  • Edwin L. Lybarger (Republican) 44.8%
Ohio 17 Joseph D. Taylor Republican 1886 Incumbent re-elected.
Ohio 18 William McKinley Republican 1886 Incumbent re-elected.
Ohio 19 Ezra B. Taylor Republican 1880 (s) Incumbent re-elected.
Ohio 20 George W. Crouse Republican 1886 Incumbent retired.
New member elected.
Republican Hold
Ohio 21 Martin A. Foran Democratic 1882 Incumbent retired.
New member elected.
Republican gain.

South Carolina
Main article: 1888 United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina
See also: List of United States Representatives from South Carolina
District Incumbent This race
Member Party First elected Results Candidates
South Carolina 1 Samuel Dibble Democratic 1882 Incumbent re-elected.
  • Y Samuel Dibble (Democratic) 86.7%
  • S. W. McKinlay (Republican) 13.1%
  • Others 0.2%
South Carolina 2 George D. Tillman Democratic 1878 Incumbent re-elected.
  • Y George D. Tillman (Democratic) 86.8%
  • Seymour E. Smith (Republican) 11.4%
  • Others 1.8%
South Carolina 3 James S. Cothran Democratic 1886 Incumbent re-elected.
South Carolina 4 William H. Perry Democratic 1884 Incumbent re-elected.
South Carolina 5 John J. Hemphill Democratic 1882 Incumbent re-elected.
South Carolina 6 George W. Dargan Democratic 1882 Incumbent re-elected.
South Carolina 7 William Elliott Democratic 1884 Incumbent re-elected.

In the 7th district, Elliott was initially declared re-elected, but Miller successfully challenged the election and was seated in his place in September 1890.

Utah Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Washington Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Wyoming Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Non-voting delegates
See also: Non-voting members of the United States House of Representatives
District Incumbent This race
Delegate Party First elected Results Candidates
Arizona Territory at-large
Idaho Territory at-large
Montana Territory at-large Joseph K. Toole Democratic 1884 Incumbent retired.
New member elected.
Republican gain.
New Mexico Territory at-large
Utah Territory at-large
Washington Territory at-large
Wyoming Territory at-large

See also

Notes
  1. Regulars only, not including Specials.
  2. Includes late elections.
  3. There are significant discrepancies between the party counts provided by Martis (pp. 142–43) and Dubin (p. 285) in regards to the 51st Congress, mainly due to the fact that Martis counts the results of many later contested elections (which were generally decided in favor of the challenging Republican candidate, resulting in the unseating of a number of Democratic members). Dubin records 169 Republicans and 161 Democrats on the first day of the 1st session of the 51st Congress; Dubin reports 177 Republicans, 154 Democrats, and one Labor Party member at the start of the 2nd session of the 51st Congress, figures that nearly match Martis' numbers.
  4. Including 2 Independent Republicans, John Alexander Anderson elected to Kansas's 5th congressional district, and Albert R. Anderson to Iowa's 8th congressional district.
  5. There was 1 labor member.
  6. After a contested election, Lewis P. Featherstone of the Labor Party was declared the winner in Arkansas's 1st congressional district.
  7. Previous election had 1 Greenback Party Representative.
  8. Elections held early.
  9. Previous election had 1 Independent.
  10. At-large seat eliminated in redistricting.
  11. Previous election had 1 Labor Party member.

References
  1. Martis, pp. 142–143.
  2. Smith, Joseph P, ed. (1898). History of the Republican Party in Ohio. I. Chicago: the Lewis Publishing Company. pp. 567, 568.
  3. https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=300407

Bibliography
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