April 24-26, 1810 1812 → 12 5 74,215 62,152 | 9 8 3 3 54.4% 45.6% | |
The 1810 United States House of Representatives elections in New York were held from April 24 to 26, 1810, to elect 17 U.S. Representatives to represent the State of New York in the United States House of Representatives of the 12th United States Congress. At the same time, a vacancy was filled in the 11th United States Congress.
Contents
Background
17 U.S. Representatives had been elected in April 1808 to a term in the 11th United States Congress beginning on March 4, 1809. William Denning never took his seat, and eventually resigned, leaving a vacancy in the 2nd District. The other 16 representatives' term would end on March 3, 1811. The congressional elections were held together with the State elections in late April 1810, about ten months before the term would start on March 4, 1811, and about a year and a half before Congress actually met on November 4, 1811.
Congressional districts
After the U.S. census of 1800, New York's representation in the House was increased to 17 seats. On March 30, 1802, the New York State Legislature had re-apportioned the congressional districts, dividing New York County seemingly at random into two districts. After the election of one Democratic-Republican and one Federalist in 1802, the Dem.-Rep. majority in the State Legislature gerrymandered the two districts together in an Act passed on March 20, 1804, so that two congressmen would be elected on a general ticket by the voters of both districts, assuring the election of two Democratic-Republicans. On April 8, 1808, the State Legislature re-apportioned the districts again, separating the 2nd and the 3rd District, and creating two districts with two seats each to be filled on a general ticket: the 2nd and the 6th.
Due to the double-seat districts, there were then only 15 districts; the 16th and 17th were eliminated.
The districts remained the same as at the previous elections in 1808. Only four new counties were created inside some districts: in the 5th D., Sullivan Co. was split from Ulster Co.; in the 7th D., Schenectady Co. was split from Albany Co.; in the 8th D., Franklin Co. was split from Clinton Co.; and in the 15th D., Niagara Co. was split from Genesee Co.
Note: There are now 62 counties in the State of New York. The counties which are not mentioned in this list had not yet been established, or sufficiently organized, the area being included in one or more of the abovementioned counties.
Result
12 Democratic-Republicans and 5 Federalists were elected to the 12th Congress, and one Democratic-Reopublican to fill the vacancy in the 11th Congress. The incumbents Sage, Emott, Livingston, Sammons, Gold, Tracy and Porter were re-elected. Mitchill was elected to fill the vacancy, and to succeed himself in the next Congress.
Note: The Anti-Federalists called themselves "Republicans." However, at the same time, the Federalists called them "Democrats" which was meant to be pejorative. After some time both terms got more and more confused, and sometimes used together as "Democratic Republicans" which later historians have adopted (with a hyphen) to describe the party from the beginning, to avoid confusion with both the later established and still existing Democratic and Republican parties.
Aftermath and special election
Samuel L. Mitchill took his seat in the 11th United States Congress on December 4, 1810.
The House of Representatives of the 12th United States Congress met for the first time at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., on November 4, 1811, and 16 representatives took their seats on this day. Only Paulding arrived later, and took his seat on November 28, 1811.
Robert Le Roy Livingston resigned his seat on May 6, 1812. A special election to fill the vacancy was held in the former 6th District (the didtricts had been re-apportioned in the meanwhile) at the next congressional election in December 1812, and was won by Thomas P. Grosvenor, of the same party. Grosvenor took his seat on January 29, 1813.