April 24, 1798 - August 1, 1799 1800 → 60 46 Start date 1798 | 57 seats 49 seats 3 3 | |
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Winner Theodore Sedgwick | ||
Elections to the United States House of Representatives for the 6th Congress took place in 1798 and 1799, the earliest in New York in April 1798, and the latest in Tennessee in August 1799, after the official start of the 6th Congress on March 4, 1799, but before the start of the first session of this Congress in Philadelphia on December 2, 1799. It was the last congressional session before the move to the new capital at Washington, D.C..
Contents
- Connecticut
- Georgia
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New York
- Pennsylvania
- Vermont
- Virginia
- References
President John Adams, a Federalist elected two years prior in the election of 1796, remained popular during a time of national economic growth, and the Federalists made a modest gain of three seats at the expense of the opposition Democratic-Republicans, the party of Vice President and future President Thomas Jefferson. This resulted in an increased Federalist majority in the House, 60-46 seats.
The Federalist party squandered its popularity by passing a series of controversial new laws in the summer of 1798, including the Naturalization Act of 1798 and the Alien and Sedition Acts. Their passage seriously injured the chances of President Adams and Federalist congressional candidates in the elections of 1800.
The House that met during this Congress would ultimately elect Thomas Jefferson over Aaron Burr in the presidential election of 1800.
Connecticut
John Allen (F) declined to serve in the 6th Congress and was replaced in a special election by Elizur Goodrich (F).
Jonathan Brace (F) resigned in May 1800 and was replaced in a special election by John Cotton Smith (F)
Georgia
John Milledge (DR) had declined to run for re-election. As a result, many Democratic-Republican voters cast their votes for Baldwin and one of the Federalists, giving the Federalists enough votes to win both seats.
On January 11, 1801, James Jones (F) died. His seat remained vacant for the remainder of the 6th Congress.
Maryland
Joshua Seney (DR) of the 7th district died October 28, 1798, before the start of Congress, a special election was held for his successor which was won by Joseph H. Nicholson (DR).
Massachusetts
Massachusetts's electoral law required a majority for election. This was not met in the 5th and 7th districts necessitating additional ballots in those districts.
Three vacancies occurred in Massachusetts's representation during the 6th Congress. The first occurred in the 10th district when Samuel Sewall (F) resigned and was filled by Nathan Read (F). The second occurred in the 4th district when Dwight Foster (F) resigned upon being elected to the Senate and was filled by Levi Lincoln Sr. (DR). The third occurred in the 3rd district when Samuel Lyman (F) resigned and was filled by Ebenezer Mattoon (F)
New Hampshire
Peleg Sprague (F) declined to serve, James Sheafe (F) was elected to fill his seat.
On June 12, 1800, William Gordon (F) resigned to accept a position as New Hampshire Attorney General, and a special election was held to fill the resulting vacancy, which was won by Samuel Tenney (F)
New Jersey
New Jersey switched to district representation for this election. The districts were not numbered at the time, but are retroactively numbered here as 1–5. New Jersey would go back to an at-large district the following election.
New York
Between the 1796 and 1798 elections, New York re-districted. This marked the first time that its districts were numbered.
On October 25, 1799, Jonathan N. Havens (DR) of the 1st district died. A special election was held which elected John Smith (DR) to replace him.
Pennsylvania
One vacancy occurred in the 8th district when Thomas Hartley (F) died on December 21, 1800. This vacancy was filled in a special election by John Stewart (DR).
Vermont
The state's election laws required a candidate to win a majority to take office, necessitating a run-off election in the 1st (Western) district.
Virginia
On June 7, 1800, John Marshall (F) of the 13th district resigned upon being named Secretary of State and was replaced in a special election by Littleton W. Tazewell (DR)