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United States House of Representatives elections, 1789
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The U.S. House elections, 1789 were the first elections for the United States House of Representatives in 1789, which coincided with the election of President George Washington. Some candidates were chosen in 1788, others in 1789. Dates and manners of elections 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 on March 4, 1789. The requisite quorum was not present until April 1, 1789. The first order of business was to elect a Speaker. On the first ballot, Frederick Muhlenberg was elected Speaker by a majority of votes. The business of the first session was largely a matter of procedure rather than policy.
It should be noted that in this period each state fixed its own date for a congressional general election. This article covers all such state elections to the 1st Congress. Elections to a Congress took place both in the even-numbered year before and in the odd-numbered year when the Congress convened. In some states the congressional delegation was not elected until after the legal start of the Congress (on the 4th day of March in the odd numbered year).
Election dates
| State |
Type |
Date |
Total
seats1 |
Pro-Administration |
Anti-Administration |
| Connecticut |
At-Large (x5) |
December 22, 1788 |
5 |
5 |
0 |
| Delaware |
At-Large (x1) |
January 7, 1789 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
| Georgia |
At-Large/District 2 (3x1) |
February 9, 1789 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
| Maryland |
At-Large/District 3 (6x1) |
January 7–11, 1789 |
6 |
2 |
4 |
| Massachusetts |
District 4 (8x1) |
December 18, 1788 |
8 |
6 |
2 |
| New Hampshire |
At-Large 5 (x3) |
December 15, 1788 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
| New Jersey |
At-Large (x4) |
February 11-April 27, 1789 |
4 |
4 |
0 |
| New York |
District (6x1) |
March 3–5, 1789 |
6 |
3 |
3 |
| North Carolina 6 |
District (5x1) |
February 4-5; March 8–9, 1790 |
5 |
2 |
3 |
| Pennsylvania |
At-Large (x8) |
November 26, 1788 |
8 |
6 |
2 |
| Rhode Island 7 |
At-Large (x1) |
August 31, 1790 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
| South Carolina |
District (5x1) |
November 24–25, 1788 |
5 |
2 |
3 |
| Virginia |
District (10x1) |
February 2, 1789 |
10 |
3 |
7 |
| Totals |
A-L:22, A-L/D:9, D:34 |
1788 - 1790 |
65 |
37 |
28 |
Overall results
See also
References
- ^ Initial apportionment of U.S. House seats set out in the text of the constitution of 1787.
- ^ GA had three Congressmen elected by the whole state electorate, who had to choose one candidate from each district.
- ^ MD had six Congressmen elected by the whole state electorate, who had to choose one candidate from each district.
- ^ MA had a majority vote requirement for election. Four Congressmen were elected in the general election and four in subsequent trials.
- ^ NH had a majority vote requirement for election. No Congressmen were elected in the general election and three were returned at a subsequent trial.
- ^ NC ratified the constitution on November 21, 1789.
- ^ RI ratified the constitution on May 29, 1790. It had a majority vote requirement for victory, which was met at the general election.
- ^ Office of the Clerk
- Source for election dates: United States Congressional Elections, 1788-1997: The Official Results, by Michael J. Dubin (McFarland and Company, 1998).
External links
