United States House of Representatives elections, 1788 and 1789

United States House of Representatives elections, 1788-89

December 22, 1788 - March 5, 1789
All 59 seats to the United States House of Representatives 30 seats were needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Frederick Muhlenberg James Madison Party Pro-Administration Anti-Administration Leader's seat Pennsylvania-AL Virginia-5th Seats won 37 28 Popular vote 16,282 14,714 Percentage 52.5% 47.5%
Results:   Federalist majority   Anti-Federalist majority   Even split
Speaker before election None Elected Speaker Frederick Muhlenberg Pro-Administration

Elections to the United States House of Representatives for the 1st Congress were held in 1788 and 1789, coinciding with the election of George Washington as first President of the United States. The dates and methods of election were set by the states. Actual political parties did not yet exist, but new members of Congress were informally categorized as either "pro-Administration" (i.e., pro-Washington and pro-Hamilton) or "anti-Administration".

The first session of the first House of Representatives came to order in Federal Hall, New York City on March 4, 1789, with only thirteen members present. The requisite quorum (thirty members out of fifty-nine) was not present until April 1, 1789. The first order of business was the election of a Speaker of the House. On the first ballot, Frederick Muhlenberg was elected Speaker by a majority of votes. The business of the first session was largely devoted to legislative procedure rather than policy.

Election summaries

In the 18th and much of the 19th century, each state set its own date for elections. In many years, elections were even held after the legal start of the Congress, although typically before the start of the first session. In the elections for the 1st Congress, five states held elections in 1788, electing a total of 29 Representatives, and six held elections in 1789, electing a total of 30 seats. Two states, North Carolina and Rhode Island, did not ratify the Constitution until November 21, 1789 and May 29, 1790 respectively, well after the Congress had met for the first time, and, consequently, elected representatives late, in 1790, leaving North Carolina unrepresented in the 1st session and Rhode Island in the 1st and 2nd sessions of a total of 3 sessions.

State	Type	Date	Total seats	Pro- Administration	Anti- Administration
1788 elections
Connecticut	At-large	December 22, 1788	5	5	0
Massachusetts	District (8)	December 18, 1788	8	6	2
New Hampshire	At-large	December 15, 1788	3	2	1
Pennsylvania	At-large	November 26, 1788	8	6	2
South Carolina	District (5)	November 24–25, 1788	5	2	3
1789 elections
Delaware	At-large	January 7, 1789	1	1	0
Georgia	At-large/District (3)	February 9, 1789	3	0	3
Maryland	At-large/District (6)	January 7–11, 1789	6	2	4
New Jersey	At-large	February 11, 1789	4	4	0
New York	District (6)	March 3–5, 1789	6	3	3
Virginia	District (10)	February 2, 1789	10	3	7
1790 elections
North Carolina	District (5)	February, 1790	5	2	3
Rhode Island	At-large	August 31, 1790	1	1	0
Total			65	37 56.9%	28 43.1%

House composition

Beginning of the 1st Congress

	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
A	A	A	A	A	A	P	P	P	P
Majority →									P
P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P

End of the 1st Congress

Six seats were filled late because North Carolina and Rhode Island ratified the Constitution late. One pro-Administration representative resigned and the seat remained open at the end of the Congress.

A	A
A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
A	A	A	A	A	A	V	P	P	P
Majority →									P
P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
P	P

Key:	A = Anti-Administration P = Pro-Administration V = Vacant

Complete returns

The states of North Carolina and Rhode Island ratified the Constitution late and thus elected representatives to the 1st Congress in 1790.

Connecticut

District	Result	Candidates
Connecticut at-large 5 seats on a general ticket	Pro-Administration win	√ Benjamin Huntington (P) √ Roger Sherman (P) √ Jonathan Sturges (P) √ Jonathan Trumbull, Jr. (P) √ Jeremiah Wadsworth (P) John Chester Jesse Root Jedediah Strong Erastus Wolcott James Hillhouse (P) John Treadwell Stephen Mix Mitchell (P)
	Pro-Administration win
	Pro-Administration win
	Pro-Administration win
	Pro-Administration win

Delaware

Delaware had a single representative at this time. Under the law at the time, each voter cast two votes for representative, at least one of whom had to be from a different county.

District	Result	Candidates
Delaware At-Large	Pro-Administration win	√ John M. Vining (P) 43.6% Rhoads Shankland (A) 23.9% Gunning Bedford, Jr. 15.0% Joshua Clayton (P) 13.2% Allen MacLean 4.4%

Georgia

Georgia had a mixed at-large/district system for the 1st Congress. Representatives were elected at-large, but for three district-based seats.

District	Result	Candidates
Georgia 1 Called the Lower district	Anti-Administration win	√ James Jackson (A) 50.9% William Houstoun 33.6% Henry Osborne 14.5% James Seagrove 0.6% Others 0.4%
Georgia 2 Called the Middle district	Anti-Administration win	√ Abraham Baldwin (A) 69.% Henry Osborne 15.2% Joseph Sumner 10.4% Isaac Briggs 2.7% William Houstoun 1.5% James Jackson 0.6% Others 0.5%
Georgia 3 Called the Upper district	Anti-Administration win	√ George Mathews (A) 96.5% Henry Osborne 2.0% Anthony Wayne 0.7% Joseph Sumner 0.4% Others 0.7%

Maryland

At the time, Maryland had a mixed district/at-large system similar to Georgia's. Under Maryland law, "candidates were elected at-large but had to be residents of a specific district with the statewide vote determining winners from each district."

District	Result	Candidates
Maryland 1	Anti-Administration win	√ Michael J. Stone (A) 65.4% George Dent (P) 34.6%
Maryland 2	Anti-Administration win	√ Joshua Seney (A) 100%
Maryland 3	Anti-Administration win	√ Benjamin Contee (A) 70.1% John F. Mercer (A) 29.9%
Maryland 4	Anti-Administration win	√ William Smith (A) 69.1% Samuel Sterett (A) 30.9%
Maryland 5	Pro-Administration win	√ George Gale (P) 70.7% John Done 23.8% William V. Murray (P) 5.5%
Maryland 6	Pro-Administration win	√ Daniel Carroll (P) 74.8% Abraham Faw 25.2%

Massachusetts

Massachusetts required a majority vote, necessitating additional votes if no one won a majority. This was necessary in 4 of the districts.

Massachusetts House Elections, 1788
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Pro-Administration	6 elected	6,232	54.4
	Anti-Administration	2 elected	5,228	45.6

District	Result	Candidates
		First ballot	Second ballot	Third ballot	Fourth ballot	Fifth ballot
Massachusetts 1	Pro-Administration win	√ Fisher Ames (P) 50.7% Samuel Adams (A) 32.3% Sam Aster 4.3% Charles Jarvisa 2.8% Benjamin Austin 2.7% John Adams (P) 1.9% Others 5.3%
Massachusetts 2	Pro-Administration win	Benjamin Goodhue (P) 38.6% Jonathan Jackson (P) 26.6% Nathan Daneseg 20.1% Samuel Holten 13.8%	√ Benjamin Goodhue (P) 67.0% Jonathan Jackson (P) 33.0%
Massachusetts 3	Anti-Administration win	Nathaniel Gorham 36.4% Elbridge Gerry (A) 26.1% Joseph Bradley Varnum (A) 17.2% John Brooks (P) 7.2% James Winthrop 3.4% Loammi Baldwin 2.9% Others 4.4%	√ Elbridge Gerry (A) 61.1% Joseph Bradley Varnum (A) 19.6% William Hulberg 11.0% James Winthrop (A) 4.4% Ebenezer Bridge 2.8% Others 1.2%
Massachusetts 4	Pro-Administration win	Theodore Sedgwick (P) 35.6% Samuel Lyman (P) 14.7% William Whiting 13.4% Thomson J. Skinner (A) 10.4% William Williams 8.7% John Worthington 7.3% John Bacon 4.1%	Theodore Sedgwick (P) 45.7% William Whiting 36.9% Thomson J. Skinner (A) 14.9% John Bacon (A) 2.5%	Samuel Lyman (P) 32.9% Theodore Sedgwick (P) 30.6% William Whiting 22.9% Thomson J. Skinner (A) 12.8%	Theodore Sedgwick (P) 47.0% Samuel Lyman (P) 39.3% William Whiting 11.7%	√ Theodore Sedgwick (P) 50.2% Samuel Lyman (P) 47.8% John Bacon 1.3%
Massachusetts 5	Pro-Administration win	√ George Partridge (P) 90.4% Others 9.6%
Massachusetts 6	Pro-Administration win	√ George Thatcher (P) 62.1% Josiah Thacker 19.2% Nathan Willing 7.7%
Massachusetts 7	Pro-Administration win	√ George Leonard (P) 54.0% Phanuel Bishop (A) 26.0% David Cobb (P) 18.3%
Massachusetts 8	Anti-Administration win	Jonathan Grout (A) 35.3% Tim Paine 29.8% Artemas Ward (P) 15.1% Moses Gill 5.8% Abiel Wilder 3.8% John Sprague 3.3% Others 4.9%	Tim Paine (P) 45.4% Jonathan Grout 42.1% Artemas Ward (P) 11.3% Others 1.2%	√ Jonathan Grout (A) 55.7% Tim Paine 37.1% Artemas Ward (P) 7.2%

New Hampshire

New Hampshire electoral law required a candidate to receive votes from a majority of voters for election (16.7% of votes). No candidate won such a majority on the first ballot, so a second election had to be held, on February 2, 1789

District	Result	Candidates
		First ballot	Second ballot
New Hampshire at-large 3 seats on a general ticket	Pro-Administration win	Benjamin West (P) 15.4% Samuel Livermore (A) 14.6% Paine Wingate (P) 13.4% Abiel Foster (P) 8.0% John Sullivan 7.1% Nicholas Gilman (P) 5.6% Joshua Atherton 5.2% Nathaniel Peabody 5.1% Peirse Long 4.4% Benjamin Bellows 3.4% Others 17.9%	√ Benjamin West (P) 33.0% √ Samuel Livermore (A) 26.2% √ Nicholas Gilman (P) 19.5% Abiel Foster (P) 19.5% John Sullivan 1.9%
	Anti-Administration win
	Pro-Administration win

Benjamin West did not serve, resigning before the start of the 1st Congress. A special election was held to fill the resulting vacancy which was won by Abiel Foster (P)

New Jersey

District	Result	Candidates
New Jersey At-Large 4 seats on a general ticket	Pro-Administration win	√ James Schureman (P) 19.9% √ Elias Boudinot (P) 13.0% √ Lambert Cadwalader (P) 12.5% √ Thomas Sinnickson (P) 12.0% Abraham Clark (P) 10.5% Jonathan Dayton (P) 9.9% Robert Hoops 3.7% Whitten Cripps 3.4% Benjamin Van Cleve 2.9% James Parker 2.5% John Witherspoon 12.5% Thomas Henderson (P) 1.7% Robert L. Hooper 1.4% Josiah Hornblower 1.0%
	Pro-Administration win
	Pro-Administration win
	Pro-Administration win

The election of all four representatives was contested, but the records that explained the precise grounds on which the election was contested have been lost due to the burning of Washington in the War of 1812. It is known to have related to questions of regularity and procedure. All four representatives' elections were ruled valid.

New York

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in New York, 1789

New York held elections to the 1st Congress on March 3 and 4, 1789. At the time, districts were unnumbered. They are retroactively numbered in this section.

District	Result	Candidates
New York 1	Anti-Administration win	√ William Floyd (A) 100%
New York 2	Pro-Administration win	√ John Laurance (P) 85.7% John Broome (A) 13.2% Philip Pell (A) 1.2%
New York 3	Pro-Administration win	√ Egbert Benson (P) 50.4% Theodorus Bailey (A) 49.6%
New York 4	Anti-Administration win	√ John Hathorn (A) 100%
New York 5	Pro-Administration win	√ Peter Silvester (P) 51.2% Matthew Adgate 47.2% John Williams 1.6%
New York 6	Anti-Administration win	√ Jeremiah Van Rensselaer (A) 54.5% Abraham Ten Broeck (P) 45.5%

Pennsylvania

Main article: United States House of Representatives election in Pennsylvania, 1788

Pennsylvania held elections to the 1st Congress on November 26, 1788. For this first election (and again in 1792 election for the 3rd Congress), Pennsylvania chose to elect all of its representatives on a single statewide general ticket, an attempt by the pro-Administration-majority legislature to prevent anti-Administration candidates from winning seats.

District	Result	Candidates
Pennsylvania At-Large 8 seats on a general ticket	Pro-Administration win	√ Frederick Muhlenberg (P) 7.49% √ Henry Wynkoop (P) 7.09% √ Thomas Hartley (P) 7.02% √ George Clymer (P) 6.96% √ Thomas Fitzsimons (P) 6.95% √ Thomas Scott (P) 6.94% √ Peter Muhlenberg (A) 6.38% √ Daniel Hiester (A) 6.37% John Allison (P) 6.08% Stephen Chambers (P) 6.06% William Findley (A) 5.66% William Irvine (A) 5.58% Charles Pettit (A) 5.57% William Montgomery (A) 5.46% Blair McClenachan (A) 5.35% Robert Whitehall (A) 5.03%
	Pro-Administration win
	Pro-Administration win
	Pro-Administration win
	Pro-Administration win
	Pro-Administration win
	Anti-Administration win
	Anti-Administration win

South Carolina

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina, 1788

District	Result	Candidates
South Carolina 1 Also known as the Charleston Division	Pro-Administration win	√ William L. Smith (P) 53.1% Alexander Gillon (A) 31.4% David Ramsay (P) 15.5%
South Carolina 2 Also known as the Beaufort Division	Anti-Administration win	√ Aedanus Burke (A) 99.3%
South Carolina 3 Also known as the Georgetown Division	Pro-Administration win	√ Daniel Huger (P) 75.0% John Page 25.0%
South Carolina 4 Also known as the Camden Division	Anti-Administration win	√ Thomas Sumter (A) 100.0%
South Carolina 5 Also known as the Ninety-Six Division	Anti-Administration win	√ Thomas Tudor Tucker (A) 100%

In the 1st district, William L. Smith (P)'s election was contested by David Ramsay (P) who claimed that Smith had not been a citizen for the required 7 years at the time of his election, the House Committee on Elections ruled in Smith's favor

Virginia

District	Result	Candidates
Virginia 1	Pro-Administration win	√ Alexander White (P) 100%
Virginia 2	Anti-Administration win	√ John Brown (A)
Virginia 3	Anti-Administration win	√ Andrew Moore (A) George Hancock (P)
Virginia 4	Pro-Administration win	√ Richard Bland Lee (P) John Pope
Virginia 5	Anti-Administration win	√ James Madison, Jr. (A) 57.4% James Monroe (A) 42.6%.
Virginia 6	Anti-Administration win	√ Isaac Coles (A)
Virginia 7	Anti-Administration win	√ John Page (A) Spencer Roane Meriwether Smith Arthur Lee Francis Corbin
Virginia 8	Anti-Administration win	√ Josiah Parker (A) 48.1% Thomas Mathews 39.7% Isaac Avery 12.1%
Virginia 9	Anti-Administration win	√ Theodorick Bland (A) Edward Carrington Thomas Rivers Sterling Edmunds Thomas Stith Charles B. Jones Creed Taylor William Ronald William Macon
Virginia 10	Pro-Administration win	√ Samuel Griffin (P) Benjamin Harrison Miles Selden, Jr.

Theodorick Bland (A) of the 9th district died in office and a special election was held to fill the resulting vacancy, which elected William B. Giles (A).

See also

• United States elections, 1789
  • List of United States House of Representatives elections, 1789–1822
  • United States Senate elections, 1788 and 1789
  • United States presidential election, 1788–89
• 1st United States Congress
• History of the United States Constitution#The New Government

External links

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