Results: Federalist hold Federalist gain Democratic-Republican hold Democratic-Republican gain Dissident Republican hold Dissident Republican Gain Undistricted
The 1806–07 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between April 29, 1806 (in New York) and August 4, 1807 (in Tennessee). Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives before the first session of the 10th United States Congress convened on October 26, 1807. They occurred during Thomas Jefferson's second term. Elections were held for all 142 seats, representing 17 states.
The Democratic-Republicans continued to build on their huge supermajority. They were actually able to take over two more seats than they had in the previous Congress, which they controlled by a margin of better than three to one. Commitment to agrarian policy allowed the Democratic-Republicans to dominate rural districts, which represented the bulk of the nation. On the other hand, supporters of the Federalists, even in their traditional base of support in the urban centers of coastal New England, continued to lament the ineffectiveness of their party and its lack of electoral appeal.
With a net change of 2 seats between the two parties, this was the smallest net change in US history in the House of Representatives until 2024.
Incumbent resigned November 1805 after being elected Governor of North Carolina. New member elected. Democratic-Republican hold. Successor seated February 24, 1806.[1] Winner was later elected to the next term; see below.
Incumbent resigned sometime in August 1806. New member elected September 15, 1806 and seated December 1, 1806. Federalist hold. Winner declined to run for the next term; see below.
Incumbent resigned sometime in 1806. New member elected September 15, 1806 and seated September 1, 1806. Democratic-Republican hold. Winner was later elected to the next term; see below.
Incumbent resigned sometime in 1806. New member elected before December 6, 1806 and seated January 26, 1807. Democratic-Republican hold. Winner had already been elected to the next term; see below.
Incumbent resigned March 1, 1806. New member elected October 4, 1806 and seated December 3, 1806. Democratic-Republican hold. Winner also elected to the next term; see below.
Incumbent resigned July 1, 1806. New member elected in early November 1806 and seated December 1, 1806.[6] Democratic-Republican hold. Winner later elected to the next term; see below.
Incumbent/member-elect died February 3, 1807. Seat remained unfilled in the 9th Congress. New member elected June 1–2, 1807 and seated October 26, 1807.[7] Democratic-Republican hold.
Incumbent resigned July 13, 1807 to become Massachusetts Attorney General. New member elected in 1807 and seated November 2, 1807.[7] Democratic-Republican hold.
New Jersey elected its members October 14–15, 1806. The Federalists ran a mixed ticket consisting of 2 Federalists (Aaron Ogden and John Beatty) and 4 Democratic-Republicans (William Helms, Ebenezer Elmer, George Maxwell, and Adam Boyd), one of whom (William Helms) was also on the Democratic-Republican ticket. The Federalists capitalized on resentment over the replacement on the official Democratic-Republican ticket of Ebenezer Elmer, from South Jersey, with Thomas Newbold from Monmouth County and the retention of James Sloan. This ticket was formed too late to gain sufficient support, but the Federalists did do much better in state elections that year than they had in previous elections.[10]
New York elected representatives to the 10th Congress on April 29 – May 1, 1806. This was the second and last election in which Districts 2 and 3 were elected on a joint ticket. New York redistricted in the next election.
Ohio elected its member October 14, 1806. Both candidates were Democratic-Republicans, but from election articles published in The Scioto Gazette it was suggested that James Pritchard was the candidate of the Ohio Quids and that in a few counties, notably Columbiana and Jefferson, he was also supported by the Federalists.
Rhode Island elected its members August 26, 1806. Rhode Island law required a majority of votes to win. In this election, only one candidate won a majority on the first ballot, and so a run-off election was required to choose the second seat.
As in the previous congress, there were three territories with non-voting delegates in the 10th Congress. In Indiana Territory, the legislature elected the delegate. The source used did not have information about Mississippi or Orleans Territory. Mississippi used popular election in 1808, while Orleans Territory elected its delegate by the legislature in 1808, suggesting Orleans probably used legislative election this year, too.
Mapping Early American Elections project team (2019). "Mapping Early American Elections". Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media, George Mason University. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
External links
Office of the Historian (Office of Art & Archives, Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)
