April 24-26, 1798 1800 → 6 4 18,281 18,589 Start date 1798 | 4 6 2 2 49.6% 50.4% | |
The 1798 United States House of Representatives elections in New York were held from April 24 to 26, 1798, to elect ten U.S. Representatives to represent the State of New York in the United States House of Representatives of the 6th United States Congress.
Contents
Background
Ten U.S. Representatives had been elected in December 1796 to a term in the 5th United States Congress beginning on March 4, 1795. Their term would end on March 3, 1799. After three winter elections (January 1793, December 1794 and December 1796), the New York State Legislature moved the congressional elections back to be held together with the State elections in late April (like in 1790), about ten months before the term would start on March 4, 1799, and about a year and a half before Congress actually met on December 2, 1799.
Congressional districts
On January 27, 1789, the New York State Legislature had divided the State of New York into six congressional districts which were not numbered. On December 18, 1792, the Legislature divided the State into ten districts, which were still not numbered. On March 27, 1797, the Legislature re-apportioned the districts, taking into account the new counties which had been created in the meanwhile, and for the first time the districts were numbered.
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
6 Democratic-Republicans and 4 Federalists were elected. Of the incumbents, Havens, Livingston, Van Cortlandt, Elmendorf and Glen were re-elected; Brooks and Williams were defeated; and Hezekiah L. Hosmer, John E. Van Alen and James Cochran did not run for re-election.
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
The House of Representatives of the 6th United States Congress met for the first time at Congress Hall in Philadelphia on December 2, 1799, and nine representatives took their seats on this day.
Special election
Jonathan N. Havens, who had been re-elected to a third term, died on October 25, 1799, shortly before Congress met. A special election to fill the vacancy was held in the 1st District in December 1799, and was won by John Smith, of the same party as Havens. Smith took his seat on February 27, 1800.