1880 United States House of Representatives elections

1880 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1878 & 1879 June 1, 1880 – November 2, 1880 1882 →

All 293 seats in the United States House of Representatives
147 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Joseph Keifer Samuel Randall
Party Republican Democratic
Leader's seat Ohio 4th Pennsylvania 3rd
Last election 132 seats 141 seats
Seats won 151[1][a] 128[1][a]
Seat change Increase 19 Decrease 13
Popular vote 4,080,609 4,330,113
Percentage 44.94% 47.68%
Swing Increase 5.38% Increase 3.48%

  Third party Fourth party
 
Party Greenback Readjuster
Last election 13 seats 0 seats
Seats won 10[1][a] 2[2]
Seat change Decrease 3 Increase 2
Popular vote 504,097 56,058
Percentage 5.55% 0.62%
Swing Decrease 6.74% New

  Fifth party
 
Party Independent
Last election 7 seats[b]
Seats won 2[c]
Seat change Decrease 5
Popular vote 99,511
Percentage 1.10%
Swing Decrease 1.65%

Results
     Democratic gain      Democratic hold
     Republican gain      Republican hold
     Independent gain      Independent hold
     Greenback gain      Greenback hold
     Readjuster gain

Speaker before election

Samuel Randall
Democratic

Elected Speaker

Joseph Keifer
Republican

The 1880 United States House of Representatives elections were held for the most part on November 2, 1880, with five states holding theirs early between June and October. They coincided with the 1880 presidential election which was won by James A. Garfield, who was a member of the House at the time. Elections were held for 293 seats of the United States House of Representatives, representing 38 states, to serve in the 47th United States Congress. This was the first time that every state held their regular House elections on or before Election Day. Special elections were also held throughout the year.

Issues such as Civil War loyalties, tariffs, graft and corruption dominated the year's elections, though none became substantive as a national issue. The economy was growing stronger after emerging from a long Depression. It was in this political environment that Garfield's Republican Party gained 19 seats and regained control of the House from the Democratic Party. The Greenback Party, an emerging party of workers and farmers, also lost seats in these elections, after gaining more than a dozen two years earlier.[3][4]

  1. ^ a b c Martis 1989, pp. 134–135
  2. ^ Martis 1989, pp. 136–137.
  3. ^ Kennedy, Robert C. "A Midsummer-Night's Dream Nomination". The Learning Network: The New York Times on the web. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
  4. ^ Hartman, Dorothy W. "Politics of the 1870s and 1880s". connerprairie.org. Fishers, Indiana: Conner Prairie. Retrieved August 11, 2019.


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