1852–53 United States House of Representatives elections

1852–53 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1850 & 1851 August 2, 1852 – November 8, 1853 1854 & 1855 →
All 234 seats in the United States House of Representatives 118 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Linn Boyd Joseph R. Chandler Party Democratic Whig Leader's seat Kentucky 1st Pennsylvania 2nd Last election 120 seats 82 seats Seats won 150 68 Seat change 30 14 Popular vote 1,566,004 1,308,031 Percentage 49.82% 41.61% Swing 6.51% 0.28%   Third party Fourth party   Party Free Soil Union Last election 4 seats 15 seats Seats won 4 5[a] Seat change 10 Popular vote 125,271 22,139 Percentage 3.99% 0.70% Swing 0.87% 3.99%   Fifth party Sixth party   Party Southern Rights Independent Last election 8 seats 4 seats[c] Seats won 4[b] 3[d] Seat change 4 1 Popular vote 20,326 87,826 Percentage 0.65% 2.79% Swing 3.48%
Speaker before election Linn Boyd Democratic Elected Speaker Linn Boyd Democratic

The 1852–53 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between August 2, 1852, and November 8, 1853. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives before the first session of the 33rd United States Congress convened on December 5, 1853. The size of the House increased to 234 seats following the congressional reapportionment based on the 1850 United States census.

Democrats increased their House majority while electing national compromise candidate Franklin Pierce, a Northerner favorable to Southern interests, to the Presidency. Effects of the Compromise of 1850 temporarily had reduced sectional tensions, and both major parties, Democrats and Whigs, unified around the 1852 presidential campaign, with Whig unity more tenuous. Two small parties, the Union and Southern Rights parties, collapsed before this election, while the Free Soil Party, opposing slavery in the Western territories, retained four seats. One Independent, Caleb Lyon, was elected from New York.

Following the 1850 census, the House was reapportioned. In the initial apportionment bill, the number of seats was unchanged at 233,^[1] but later one seat was added to California's delegation, increasing the total apportionment to 234, due to returns from California being determined to be incomplete.^[2]

State	Type	Date	Total seats		Democratic		Free Soil		Whig		Others
			Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Iowa	Districts	August 2, 1852	2		1	1	0		1	1	0
Missouri	Districts	August 2, 1852	7	2	3	1	0		4	1	0
Vermont	Districts	September 7, 1852	3	1	0	1	0		3		0
Maine	Districts	September 13, 1852	6	1	3	2	0		3	1	0
Florida	At-large	October 5, 1852	1		1	1	0		0	1	0
Indiana	Districts	October 12, 1852	11	1	10	2	0		1	1	0
Ohio	Districts	October 12, 1852	21		12	1	2	1	7	2	0
Pennsylvania	Districts	October 12, 1852	25	1	16	1	0		9		0
California	At-large	November 2, 1852 (Election Day)[e]	2		2		0		0		0
Illinois	Districts		9	2	5[f]	1	0		4	3	0
Michigan	Districts		4	1	4	3	0		0	2	0
New Jersey	Districts		5		4		0		1		0
New York	Districts		33	1	21	4	1	1	10	7	1[g]	1
Wisconsin	Districts		3		3	1	0	1	0		0
Delaware	At-large	November 8, 1852	1		1		0		0		0
Massachusetts	Districts	November 8, 1852	11	1	1		1	1	9	2	0
South Carolina	Districts	February 28 – March 1, 1853	6	1	6	1	0		0		0
Late elections (after the March 4, 1853 beginning of the term)
New Hampshire	Districts	March 8, 1853	3	1	3	1	0		0	2	0
Connecticut	Districts	April 4, 1853	4		4	1	0		0	1	0
Rhode Island	Districts	April 6, 1853	2		2	1	0		0	1	0
Virginia	Districts	May 26, 1853	13	2	13		0		0	2	0
Arkansas	Districts	August 1, 1853	2	1	2	1	0		0		0
Kentucky	Districts	August 1, 1853	10		5		0		5		0
Texas	Districts	August 1, 1853	2		2		0		0		0
North Carolina	Districts	August 4, 1853	8	1	5	2	0		3	3	0
Tennessee	Districts	August 4, 1853	10	1	5	2	0		5	1	0
Alabama	Districts	August 8, 1853	7		6	2	0		1	1	0	1[h]
Georgia	Districts	October 3, 1853	8		6	6	0		2	2	0	8[i]
Louisiana	Districts	November 1, 1853	4		3	1	0		1	1	0
Maryland	Districts	November 2, 1853	6		4	2	0		2	2	0
Mississippi	District + 1 at-large	November 7–8, 1853	5	1	5	5	0		0		0	4[j]
Total			234	1	158[f] 67.5%	28	4 1.7%		71 30.3%	15	1 0.4%	12

Note: From statehood to 1864, California's representatives were elected at-large, with the top two vote-getters winning election from 1849 to 1858; in 1860 when California gained a seat in the House the top three vote-getters were elected.

Election was held November 8, 1852.

The elections were held November 8, 1852. However, many of the districts went to a December 13, 1852 second ballot.

Elections held late, from November 7 to 8, 1853

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
Mississippi at-large	None (new district)			New seat. Democratic gain.	▌Y William Barksdale (Democratic) 54.27% ▌Alexander B. Bradford (Whig) 45.73%[12]
Mississippi 1	Benjamin D. Nabers	Union	1851	Incumbent lost re-election as a Whig. Democratic gain.	▌Y Daniel B. Wright (Democratic) 51.64% ▌Benjamin D. Nabers (Whig) 48.36%[13]
Mississippi 2	John A. Wilcox	Union	1851	Incumbent lost re-election as a Whig. Democratic gain.	▌Y William S. Barry (Democratic) 50.73% ▌John A. Wilcox (Whig) 49.27%[14]
Mississippi 3	John D. Freeman	Union	1851	Incumbent retired. Democratic gain.	▌Y Otho R. Singleton (Democratic) 55.65% ▌Alexander K. McLung (Whig) 44.35%[15]
Mississippi 4	Albert G. Brown	Southern Rights	1847	Incumbent retired. Democratic gain.	▌Y Wiley P. Harris (Democratic) 100%[16]

Elections held late, on August 4, 1853.

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
Tennessee 1	Andrew Johnson	Democratic	1842	Incumbent retired to run for Governor. Democratic loss.	▌Y Brookins Campbell (Democratic) 37.11% ▌Nathaniel G. Taylor (Whig) 36.14% ▌Albert G. Watkins (Whig) 26.75%[17]
	Albert G. Watkins Redistricted from the 2nd district	Whig	1849	Incumbent lost re-election. Democratic gain.
Tennessee 2	William M. Churchwell Redistricted from the 3rd district	Democratic	1851	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y William M. Churchwell (Democratic) 56.64% ▌Horace Maynard (Whig) 43.36%[18]
Tennessee 3	None (new district)			New seat. Democratic gain.	▌Y Samuel A. Smith (Democratic) 55.49% ▌T. Nixon Vandyke (Whig) 44.52%[19]
Tennessee 4	John H. Savage	Democratic	1849	Incumbent retired. Democratic loss.	▌Y William Cullom (Whig) 50.14% ▌Erasmus L. Gardner (Democratic) 49.86%[20]
	William Cullom Redistricted from the 8th district	Whig	1851	Incumbent re-elected.
Tennessee 5	None (new district)			New seat. Whig gain.	▌Y Charles Ready (Whig) 57.86% ▌Thomas Barry (Democratic) 42.14%[21]
Tennessee 6	William H. Polk	Independent Democratic	1851	Incumbent retired. Independent Democratic loss.	▌Y George W. Jones (Democratic) 100%[22]
	George W. Jones Redistricted from the 5th district	Democratic	1842	Incumbent re-elected.
Tennessee 7	Meredith P. Gentry	Whig	1845	Incumbent retired. Whig hold.	▌Y Robert M. Bugg (Whig) 52.52% ▌S. C. Pavott (Democratic) 47.48%[23]
Tennessee 8	None (new district)			New seat. Whig gain.	▌Y Felix Zollicoffer (Whig) 52.96% ▌Samuel P. Allison (Democratic) 47.04%[24]
Tennessee 9	Isham G. Harris	Democratic	1849	Incumbent retired. Democratic loss.	▌Y Emerson Etheridge (Whig) 96.90% ▌Christopher H. Williams (Whig) 3.10%[25]
	Christopher H. Williams Redistricted from the 11th district	Whig	1849	Incumbent lost re-election. Whig hold.
Tennessee 10	Frederick P. Stanton	Democratic	1845	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Frederick P. Stanton (Democratic) 50.03% ▌Edwin M. Yerger (Whig) 49.97%[26]

• 1852 United States elections
  • List of United States House of Representatives elections (1824–1854)
  • 1852 United States presidential election
  • 1852–53 United States Senate elections
• 32nd United States Congress
• 33rd United States Congress

• Dubin, Michael J. (March 1, 1998). United States Congressional Elections, 1788-1997: The Official Results of the Elections of the 1st Through 105th Congresses. McFarland and Company. ISBN 978-0786402830.
• Martis, Kenneth C. (January 1, 1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress, 1789-1989. Macmillan Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0029201701.
• Moore, John L., ed. (1994). Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections (Third ed.). Congressional Quarterly Inc. ISBN 978-0871879967.
• "Party Divisions of the House of Representatives* 1789–Present". Office of the Historian, House of United States House of Representatives. Retrieved January 21, 2015.

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