April 26, 1808 - May 5, 1809 1810 → 94 48 Start date 1808 | 116 seats 26 seats 22 22 | |
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Winner Joseph Bradley V | ||
Elections to the United States House of Representatives for the 11th Congress were held in the various states between April 1808 (in New York) and May 1809 (in Tennessee). The Congress first met on May 22, 1809.
Contents
- Connecticut
- Kentucky
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- New Jersey
- New York
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- Virginia
- Non voting delegates
- References
Although the Democratic-Republicans maintained control of the presidency (under James Madison) and Congress after the election of 1808, Federalists made significant gains in the House, mainly due to the unpopularity of the Embargo Act of 1807. In particular, voters in New England, who often had ties to the shipping or manufacturing industries, overwhelmingly chose to send Federalists to Washington. Economic stagnation due to the closing of the export market and fears that Democratic-Republican policies had the potential for leading America into a naval war with France or Britain were key issues that allowed for a brief Federalist resurgence. The Democratic-Republicans were left with a majority under two-thirds for the first time since the election of 1800.
Connecticut
Samuel W. Dana (F) resigned on May 10, 1810, having been elected to the Senate and was replaced by Ebenezer Huntington (F)
Kentucky
In the 5th district, Benjamin Howard (DR) resigned on April 10, 1810 to become Governor of Louisiana Territory and was replaced in a special election by William T. Barry (DR)
Maryland
On May 10, 1810, Roger Nelson (DR) of the 4th district resigned and was replaced in a special election by Samuel Ringgold (DR).
In the 7th district, John Brown (DR) resigned some time after being re-elected after appointment as Clerk of Court of Queen Anne's County and was replaced in a special election, for both the remainder of the 11th Congress and for the 12th Congress, by Robert Wright (DR).
Massachusetts
In the 7th district, there were 430 votes for "Charles Turner" which were counted separately from Charles Turner, Jr. (DR). This caused the vote tally to be William Baylies (F) 1,828 (49.4%), Charles Turner, Jr. (DR) 1,443 (39.0%), "Charles Turner" 430 (11.6%). As no candidate had a majority, a second election was held on January 19, 1809 which elected Baylies with 54.3% of the vote. Turner successfully contested this election, and was subsequently declared the winner based on the first ballot, with the second invalidated. He was seated June 8, 1809
In the 10th district, Jabez Upham (F) resigned sometime in 1810 and was replaced in a special election by Joseph Allen (F).
In the 11th district, William Stedman (F) resigned July 10, 1810 and was replaced in a special election by Abijah Bigelow (F)
New Jersey
Cox died on September 12, 1810. The resulting vacancy was filled in a special election by John A. Scudder (DR).
New York
Between the 1806 and 1808 elections, New York went through a re-districting that reduced the number of districts to 15 by creating two plural districts with two seats each.
William Denning (DR) in the 2nd district never took his seat and eventually resigned. The exact date of his resignation has been lost, but a replacement was chosen in a special election held at the same time as the 1810 elections by Samuel L. Mitchill (DR)
Pennsylvania
Benjamin Say (DR) of the 1st district subsequently resigned sometime in 1809 and was replaced in a special election by Adam Seybert (DR)
Rhode Island
At the same time as the general election for the House of Representatives, a special election was held to fill the vacancy left by Knight's death.
South Carolina
In the 1st district, Robert Marion (DR) resigned on December 4, 1810 and was replaced in a special election by Langdon Cheves (DR)
Virginia
In the 1st district, John G. Jackson (DR) resigned September 28, 1810 due to injuries received after a duel with fellow Congressman Joseph Pearson (F) of North Carolina and was replaced by William McKinley (DR) in a special election.
In the 21st district, Wilson C. Nicholas (DR) resigned on November 27, 1809, and was replaced in a special election by David S. Garland (DR).
Non-voting delegates
Three territories sent non-voting delegates to the 11th Congress.
In Indiana Territory, Thomas Randolph unsuccessfully contested the election of Jennings. This was the first election for Delegate in Indiana Territory to be decided by popular vote rather than by the legislature. Mississippi Territory also elected its delegate by popular vote. Orleans Territory retained legislative election of its delegate.