The 1798–99 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between April 24, 1798 in New York and August 1, 1799 in Tennessee. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives, with some after the official start of the 6th United States Congress on March 4, 1799, but before the start of the first session of this Congress in Philadelphia on December 2, 1799.[2] These elections were held during PresidentJohn Adams term. It was the last congressional session before the move to the new capital at Washington, D.C. Elections were held for all 106 seats, representing 16 states.
President Adams, a Federalist elected two years prior in the election of 1796, remained popular during a time of national economic growth,[citation needed] and the Federalists made a modest gain of three seats at the expense of the opposition Democratic-Republicans, the party of Vice President and future President Thomas Jefferson. This resulted in an increased Federalist majority in the House, 60-46 seats.
The Federalist party squandered its popularity by passing a series of controversial new laws in the summer of 1798, including the Naturalization Act of 1798 and the Alien and Sedition Acts. Their passage seriously injured the chances of President Adams and Federalist congressional candidates in the elections of 1800.
Incumbent resigned sometime in 1798. New member elected October 9, 1798 and seated December 4, 1798.[3] Democratic-Republican gain. Winner also elected to the next term on the same day; see below.
Incumbent died June 4, 1798. New member elected August 2, 1798 and seated December 10, 1798.[3] Democratic-Republican hold. New member also elected to the next term one week later; see below.
Incumbent died July 31, 1798. New member elected October 9, 1798 and seated December 3, 1798.[3] Federalist gain. Winner elected to the next term on the same day; see below.
Incumbent died September 5, 1798. New member elected October 22, 1798 and seated December 3, 1798.[3] Federalist hold. Winner had already been elected to the next term; see below.
Incumbent resigned October 2, 1798. New member elected November 1, 1798 and seated December 3, 1798.[3] Democratic-Republican hold. Winner later elected to the next term; see below.
Massachusetts required a majority for election. This was not met in the 5th district and 7th district necessitating additional ballots in those districts.
New Jersey switched to district representation for this election. The districts were not numbered at the time, but are retroactively numbered here as 1–5. New Jersey would go back to an at-large district the following election.
Incumbent George Ege (F) resigned in October 1797. New member elected October 10, 1797 and seated December 1, 1797. Democratic-Republican gain. Winner was also elected to finish the current term; see above.
^ An additional trial was held in one district due to majority requirement not being on the first vote, and was held on December 4, 1798
^ Additional trials required in 2 districts due to majority requirement not being met on first vote, additional trials were held January 17, April 1, June 6, and August 29, 1799
^Eggleston "was elected by a majority of more than two to one…"[6]
^ abcd Only candidates with at least 1% of the vote listed
^Milledge had declined to run for re-election. As a result, many Democratic-Republican voters cast their votes for Baldwin and one of the Federalists, giving the Federalists enough votes to win both seats. Milledge nevertheless received some votes.
^ abcdefgSource does not give numbers of votes or has incomplete data
^"MD District 7". April 3, 2006. Retrieved September 11, 2018 – via OurCampaigns.com.
^"NY District 1". April 7, 2006. Retrieved August 16, 2018 – via OurCampaigns.com.
^Cox, Harold E. (January 6, 2007). "6th Congress 1799–1801"(PDF). Wilkes University Election Statistics Project.[
^"TN-Initial District". January 15, 2011. Retrieved August 16, 2018 – via Our Campaigns.
^Smith, William Henry (1882). The St. Clair Papers The Life and Public Services of Arthur St. Clair : Soldier of the Revolutionary War, President of the Continental Congress; and Governor of the North-western Territory : with His Correspondence and Other Papers · Volume 1. Harvard University. p. 214.
Mapping Early American Elections project team (2019). "Mapping Early American Elections". Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media, George Mason University. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
External links
Office of the Historian (Office of Art & Archives, Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)
