Election to the United States House of Representatives in 1846

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The election to the United States House of Representatives in 1846 took place from August 2, 1846. The House of Representatives was elected on various election days in the United States . The election was part of the general election for the 30th United States Congress that year, which also elected a third of US Senators . Since the elections took place around the middle of the term of office of President James K. Polk ( Midterm Election ), they were also considered a vote on the previous policy of the President.

At the time of the election, the United States consisted of 29 states ( Texas and Iowa had since been added). The number of MPs to be elected was 230. The distribution of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1840 census .

In the elections, the Democrats lost 32 seats, an absolute and even a relative majority. On the other hand, the United States Whig Party was able to conquer these majorities with a significant gain of 37 seats. The American Party , which had moved into the House of Representatives with six MPs two years earlier, lost five of those seats. The dominant campaign theme was the Mexican-American War , which was judged differently in different American regions. This war met with great approval in the West, and there the Democrats were able to maintain their position. In the east, however, people were more critical of the war. Since the Democrats in Congress, with a few exceptions, had backed the war, they lost above average in this region. Another factor behind the Whig Party outcome was the emerging discussion of slavery , which tended to harm the Democrats. It is worth mentioning that in these elections the hitherto little known nationwide Abraham Lincoln was elected to the House of Representatives for the Whig Party.

Women and slaves were neither eligible nor eligible to vote. Free African Americans were also excluded from voting in many states .

Election result

Total: 230

The results of the last election two years earlier are in brackets. Changes in the course of the legislative period that do not affect the elections themselves are not included in these figures, but are noted in the article on the 30th Congress in the section on the members of the House of Representatives under the corresponding names of the representatives. The same applies to elections in states that did not join the Union until after the beginning of the legislative period. As a result, the sources sometimes contain different information, as changes during the legislative period were sometimes incorporated into the figures and sometimes not.

See also

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