1886 United States House of Representatives elections

1886 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1884 June 7, 1886 – November 2, 1886[a] 1888 →

All 325 seats in the United States House of Representatives
163 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader John G. Carlisle Thomas Brackett Reed
Party Democratic Republican
Leader's seat Kentucky 6th Maine 1st
Last election 182 seats 141 seats
Seats won 167[1] 152[1]
Seat change Decrease 15 Increase 11
Popular vote 4,126,909 3,858,355
Percentage 48.12% 44.99%
Swing Decrease 1.93% Decrease 2.14%

  Third party Fourth party
 
Party Labor Greenback
Last election 0 seats 1 seat
Seats won 2[1] 1[1]
Seat change Increase 2 Steady
Popular vote 92,851 32,358
Percentage 1.08% 0.38%
Swing New Decrease 0.69%

  Fifth party
 
Party Independent
Last election 1 seat[b]
Seats won 3[c]
Seat change Increase 2
Popular vote 178,314
Percentage 2.08%
Swing Increase 1.28%

Results

Speaker before election

John G. Carlisle
Democratic

Elected Speaker

John G. Carlisle
Democratic

The 1886 United States House of Representatives elections were held for the most part on November 2, 1886, with three states holding theirs early between June and September. They occurred in the middle of President Grover Cleveland's first term. Elections were held for 325 seats of the United States House of Representatives, representing 38 states, to serve in the 50th United States Congress. Special elections were also held throughout the year.

As in many midterm elections, the President's party lost seats to the opposition, in this case, Democrats lost seats to Republicans, although a narrow majority was retained. Many of these Republican pickups were in the industrializing Midwest states, where the debate over tariffs, which were advocated by Republicans to protect domestic industry but opposed by Democrats to allow for free agricultural trade, led to political change. The small Labor Party, supported by industrial workers, gained one seat each in Virginia and Wisconsin, while the Greenback Party maintained its one seat in Iowa (James B. Weaver). One Independent was also elected in North Carolina.


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  1. ^ a b c d Martis 1989, p. 140–141.