United States House of Representatives elections, 1890

United States House of Representatives elections, 1890

November 4, 1890
All 332 seats to the United States House of Representatives 167 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Charles Frederick Crisp Thomas Brackett Reed Party Democratic Republican Last election 152 seats 179 seats Seats won 238 86 Seat change 86 93   Third party   Leader Thomas E. Watson Party Populist Last election 0 seats Seats won 8 Seat change 8
Speaker before election Thomas Reed Republican Elected Speaker Charles Crisp Democratic

Elections to the United States House of Representatives were held in 1890 for members of the 52nd Congress, taking place in the middle of President Benjamin Harrison's term.

A stagnant economy which became worse after the Panic of 1890, combined with a lack of support for then Representative William McKinley's (defeated in the election) steep tariff act, which favored large industries at the expense of consumers, led to a sharp defeat for Harrison's Republican Party, giving a large majority to the Democratic Party and presaging Harrison's defeat in 1892. The Republican-controlled Congress was highly criticized for its lavish spending, and it earned the unflattering nickname of The Billion Dollar Congress. Democrats promised to cut the outlandish budget.

Furthermore, aggressive Republican promotion of controversial English-only education laws enacted by Wisconsin and Illinois in 1889, accompanied by a surge in nativist and anti-Catholic sentiment within the state parties, had greatly hollowed out the party's support base in these former strongholds. A rare multi-confessional alliance of mainly German clergy rallied their flocks in defense of language and faith to the Democratic Party, which tore through incumbent Republican majorities in both states, capturing a total of 11 formerly Republican seats between them alone. Bitterly divisive struggles over temperance laws had also been alienating immigrants from the increasingly prohibitionist Republican Party across the Midwest more broadly. Dramatic losses in the previous year's gubernatorial elections in Iowa and Ohio (which would lose another 14 Republican congressional seats between them during this election) were due in no small part to wet immigrant communities, especially Germans, expressing their resentment toward Republican efforts to ban or otherwise curtail alcohol consumption by throwing their support behind the Democratic candidates.

This election also saw the Populist Party, a coalition of farmers and laborers who wanted to overhaul the nation's financial system, make a small mark on Congress.

Election summaries

↓

238	8	86
Democratic	P	Republican

State	Type	Total seats	Democratic		Republican		Populist
			Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Alabama	District	8	8	1	0	1	0
Arkansas	District	5	5	2	0	1	0	1
California	District	6	2		4		0
Colorado	At-large	1	0		1		0
Connecticut	District	4	3	2	1	2	0
Delaware	At-large	1	1		0		0
Florida	District	2	2		0		0
Georgia	District	10	10		0		0
Idaho	At-large	1	0		1		0
Illinois	District	20	14	7	6	7	0
Indiana	District	13	11	1	2	1	0
Iowa	District	11	6	5	5	5	0
Kansas	District	7	0		2	5	5	5
Kentucky	District	11	10	1	1	1	0
Louisiana	District	6	6	1	0	1	0
Maine	District	4	0		4		0
Maryland	District	6	6	3	0	3	0
Massachusetts	District	12	7	5	5	5	0
Michigan	District	11	8	6	3	6	0
Minnesota	District	5	3	3	1	4	1	1
Mississippi	District	7	7		0		0
Missouri	District	14	14	4	0	4	0
Montana	At-large	1	1	1	0	1	0
Nebraska	District	3	1	1	0	3	2	2
Nevada	At-large	1	0		1		0
New Hampshire	District	2	2	2	0	2	0
New Jersey	District	7	5	2	2	2	0
New York	District	34	23	8	11	8	0
North Carolina	District	9	8	2	1	2	0
North Dakota	At-large	1	0		1		0
Ohio	District	21	14	9	7	9	0
Oregon	At-large	1	0		1		0
Pennsylvania	District	28	11	4	17	4	0
Rhode Island	District	2	2	2	0	2	0
South Carolina	District	7	7		0		0
South Dakota	At-large	2	0		2		0
Tennessee	District	10	8	1	2	1	0
Texas	District	11	11		0		0
Vermont	District	2	0		2		0
Virginia	District	10	10	4	0	4	0
Washington	At-large	1	0		1		0
West Virginia	District	4	4	2	0	2	0
Wisconsin	District	9	8	6	1	6	0
Wyoming	At-large	1	0		1		0
Total		332	238 71.7%	74	86 25.9%	83	8 2.4%	9

House seats
Democratic			71.69%
Republican			25.90%
Populist			2.41%

The previous election of 1888 saw the election of one Labor Party representative in Arkansas.

File:52 us house membership.png House seats by party holding plurality in state   80.1-100% Democratic     80.1-100% Republican   60.1-80% Democratic   60.1-80% Populist   60.1-80% Republican   Up to 60% Democratic     Up to 60% Republican

File:52 us house changes.png Net gain in party representation   6+ Democratic gain     6+ Republican gain   3-5 Democratic gain   3-5 Populist gain   3-5 Republican gain   1-2 Democratic gain   1-2 Populist gain   1-2 Republican gain   no net change

Early election dates

In 1890, five states, with 9 seats among them, held elections early:

• June 3 Oregon
• September 2 Vermont
• September 8 Maine
• September 11 Idaho
• October 1 Wyoming

Idaho and Wyoming held elections for both the outgoing 51st Congress and the incoming 52nd Congress in 1890, having been admitted that year, and held future elections on the standard election day.

Separate races

• December 9, 1890: Thomas J. Geary (D) elected to finish the term of John J. De Haven (R), who had resigned October 1, 1890.

Complete returns

California

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in California, 1890

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
California 1	Vacant			Democratic gain.	√ Thomas J. Geary (Democratic) 49.3% John A. Barham (Republican) 48.8% L. B. Scranton (Prohibition) 1.9%
California 2	Marion Biggs	Democratic	1886	Incumbent retired. Democratic hold.	√ Anthony Caminetti (Democratic) 49% George I. Blanchard (Republican) 48.6% J. S. Witherell (Prohibition) 2.4%
California 3	Joseph McKenna	Republican	1884	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Joseph McKenna (Republican) 55.4% John P. Irish (Democratic) 42.5% O. O. Felkner (Prohibition) 2.1%
California 4	William W. Morrow	Republican	1884	Incumbent retired. Republican hold.	√ John T. Cutting (Republican) 49.2% Robert Ferral (Democratic) 45.1% Thomas V. Cator (Socialist) 5.6% Joseph Rowell (Prohibition) 0.2%
California 5	Thomas J. Clunie	Democratic	1888	Incumbent lost re-election. Republican gain.	√ Eugene F. Loud (Republican) 52.8% Thomas J. Clunie (Democratic) 45.9% E. F. Howe (Prohibition) 1.3%
California 6	William Vandever	Republican	1886	Incumbent retired. Republican hold.	√ William W. Bowers (Republican) 51.1% W. J. Curtis (Democratic) 44.1% O. R. Dougherty (Prohibition) 4.8%

Florida

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Florida, 1890

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Florida 1	Robert H. M. Davidson	Democratic	1876	Incumbent lost renomination. Democratic hold.	√ Stephen R. Mallory, Jr. (Democratic) 78.5% Harrison Reed (Republican) 21.5%
Florida 2	Robert Bullock	Democratic	1888	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Robert Bullock (Democratic) 58.8% Joseph Stripling (Republican) 41.2%

Ohio

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Ohio, 1890

The Ohio Legislature redistricted the state between censuses. Coupled with other Democratic gains, this redistricting gave the Democrats a nine-seat net gain.

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Ohio 1	Benjamin Butterworth	Republican	1884	Incumbent retired. Republican hold.	√ Bellamy Storer (Republican) 53.7% Otway Cosgrove (Democratic) 46.3%
Ohio 2	John A. Caldwell	Republican	1888	Incumbent re-elected.	√ John A. Caldwell (Republican) 60.6% Alexander Long (Democratic) 39.4%
Ohio 3	Elihu S. Williams	Republican	1886	Incumbent retired. Republican loss.	√ George W. Houk (Democratic) 53.3% Henry Lee Morey (Republican) 46.7%
	Henry Lee Morey Redistricted from the 7th district	Republican	1888	Incumbent lost re-election. Democratic gain.
Ohio 4	Samuel S. Yoder	Democratic	1886	Incumbent retired. Democratic hold.	√ Martin K. Gantz (Democratic) 51.8% William P. Orr (Republican) 48.2%
Ohio 5	George E. Seney	Democratic	1886	Incumbent retired. Democratic hold.	√ Fernando C. Layton (Democratic) 55.8% Lawrence W. Stroup (Republican) 44.2%
Ohio 6	Melvin M. Boothman	Republican	1886	Incumbent retired. Democratic gain.	√ Dennis D. Donovan (Democratic) 52.4% Joseph H. Brigham (Republican) 47.6%
Ohio 7	William E. Haynes Redistricted from the 10th district	Democratic	1888	Incumbent re-elected.	√ William E. Haynes (Democratic) 51.6% James M. Ashley (Republican) 48.4%
Ohio 8	Robert P. Kennedy	Republican	1886	Incumbent retired. Democratic gain.	√ Darius D. Hare (Democratic) 50.3% Charles Foster (Republican) 49.7%
Ohio 9	William C. Cooper	Republican	1884	Incumbent retired. Republican loss.	√ Joseph H. Outhwaite (Democratic) 54.1% Thomas B. Wilson (Republican) 45.9%
	Joseph H. Outhwaite Redistricted from the 13th district	Democratic	1884	Incumbent re-elected.
Ohio 10	Open seat			New seat Republican gain.	√ Robert E. Doan (Republican) 54.4% John Quincy Smith (Democratic) 45.6%
Ohio 11	Albert C. Thompson	Republican	1886	Lost renomination Democratic gain.	√ John M. Pattison (Democratic) 55.0% DeWitt Clinton Loudon (Republican) 45.0%
Ohio 12	Jacob J. Pugsley	Republican	1886	Incumbent retired. Republican hold.	√ William H. Enochs (Republican) 63.2% Ezra V. Dean (Democratic) 36.8%
Ohio 13	Open seat			New seat Democratic gain.	√ James I. Dungan (Democratic) 52.4% William T. Lewis (Republican) 47.6%
Ohio 14	Charles Preston Wickham	Republican	1886	Incumbent retired. Republican loss.	√ James W. Owens (Democratic) 54.9% Samuel Slade (Republican) 45.1%
	James W. Owens Redistricted from the 16th district	Democratic	1888	Incumbent re-elected.
Ohio 15	Charles H. Grosvenor	Republican	1886	Lost renomination Democratic gain.	√ Michael D. Harter (Democratic) 55.2% George L. Sackett (Republican) 44.8%
Ohio 16	William McKinley Redistricted from the 18th district	Republican	1886	Incumbent lost re-election. Democratic gain.	√ John G. Warwick (Democratic) 50.4% William McKinley (Republican) 49.6%
Ohio 17	Open seat			New seat Democratic gain.	√ Albert J. Pearson (Democratic) 51.2% Christian L. Poorman (Republican) 58.8%
Ohio 18	Joseph D. Taylor Redistricted from the 17th district	Republican	1886	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Joseph D. Taylor (Republican) 59.1% Henry H. McFadden (Democratic) 40.9%
Ohio 19	Ezra B. Taylor	Republican	1880	Incumbent re-elected.	√ Ezra B. Taylor (Republican) 61.9% Thomas E. Hoyt (Democratic) 38.1%
Ohio 20	Martin L. Smyser	Republican	1888	Lost renomination Republican hold.	√ Vincent A. Taylor (Republican) 60.6% Harlan L. Stewart (Democratic) 39.4%
Ohio 21	Theodore E. Burton	Republican	1888	Incumbent lost re-election. Democratic gain.	√ Tom L. Johnson (Democratic) 55.3% Theodore E. Burton (Democratic) 44.7%

South Carolina

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina, 1890

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
South Carolina 1	Samuel Dibble	Democratic	1882	Incumbent retired. Democratic hold.	√ William H. Brawley (Democratic) 84.2% William D. Crum (Republican) 15.7% Others 0.1%
South Carolina 2	George D. Tillman	Democratic	1878	Incumbent re-elected.	√ George D. Tillman (Democratic) 85.5% Seymour E. Smith (Republican) 14.3% Others 0.2%
South Carolina 3	James S. Cothran	Democratic	1886	Incumbent retired. Democratic hold.	√ George Johnstone (Democratic) 91.4% John R. Tolbert (Republican) 8.2% Others 0.4%
South Carolina 4	William H. Perry	Democratic	1884	Incumbent retired. Democratic hold.	√ George W. Shell (Democratic) 81.9% J. F. Ensor (Republican) 17.8% Others 0.3%
South Carolina 5	John J. Hemphill	Democratic	1882	Incumbent re-elected.	√ John J. Hemphill (Democratic) 87.1% G. G. Alexander (Republican) 12.2% Others 0.7%
South Carolina 6	George W. Dargan	Democratic	1882	Incumbent retired. Democratic hold.	√ Eli T. Stackhouse (Democratic) 78.8% Edmund H. Deas (Republican) 20.5% Others 0.7%
South Carolina 7	Thomas E. Miller	Republican	1888	Incumbent lost re-election. Democratic gain.	√ William Elliott (Democratic) 44.4% Thomas E. Miller (Republican) 38.8% E. M. Brayton (Independent Republican) 16.5% Others 0.3%

See also

• United States Senate elections, 1890
• 52nd United States Congress

External links

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