Election to the United States House of Representatives in 1888

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The election to the 1888 House of Representatives took place on November 6, 1888. The House of Representatives was elected in the United States . An earlier date in 1888 was chosen in three states. The election was part of the general election to the 51st United States Congress that year, which also elected a third of US Senators . At the same time, the presidential election of 1888 took place, which the Republican Benjamin Harrison won.

At the time of the election, the United States consisted of 38 states. In the course of the legislative period, six more states were added. The number of MPs to be elected was 332. The distribution of seats was based on the 1880 census .

In the elections, the trend in favor of the Republicans that had already been evident two years earlier continued. They gained 27 seats and now have an absolute majority in the House of Representatives with 179 seats. With 152 seats, the Democrats only had a role in the opposition. The reason for this change in favor of the Republicans was the discussion about customs laws, especially in states of the North and Midwest. These laws were designed to protect local industries from cheap imports, and were backed by Republicans and opposed by Democrats. This rejection cost the Democrats another vote. Unlike in 1886, this time they could no longer defend their majority.

Only men were entitled to vote and eligible for election. Women were still banned from voting at the federal level until 1920. In the southern states in particular, the right to vote was restricted by laws that linked the right to vote to a certain tax revenue. As a result, poor whites, but above all many African-Americans, were excluded from voting.

Election result

Total: 332 (325)

The results of the last election two years earlier are in brackets. Changes during the legislative period that do not affect the elections as such are not included in these figures, but are noted in the article on the 51st Congress in the section on the members of the House of Representatives under the relevant 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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