1836 and 1837 United States House of Representatives elections
Elections to the United States House of Representatives for the 25th Congress were held at various dates in different states from July 1836 to November 1837. Though Democrat Martin Van Buren was elected President in November 1836, Democrats lost seats. The newly organizing Whigs benefited from regional candidacies and issues and voter fatigue with outgoing two-term President Andrew Jackson. Jackson, a flamboyant public personality with a record of high-profile leadership and historic military success, often clashed with Congress and the Supreme Court. By comparison, Van Buren, a brilliant partisan organizer and political operative, was less charismatic in looks and demeanor. Voter support for the minor Anti-Masonic and Nullifier parties ebbed, but remained significant. One Independent, John Pope, was elected from Kentucky.
Note: In some sources, parties are listed as "Democrats" and "Whigs." However, they are listed here as "Jacksonian" and "Anti-Jacksonian" to conform to the party names as they were regarded during the 24thUnited States Congress.
25th Congress
Alabama
Arkansas
24th Congress
The new state of Arkansas was admitted to the Union on June 15, 1836 and elected its sole at-large member August 1, 1836. He was seated December 5, 1836, to finish the term that would end the following March.
25th Congress
Arkansas elected its member October 2, 1837, this time for a full term.
Connecticut
Connecticut went from six at-large seats to six districts for the first time. Elections were held April 3, 1837, after the new term began but before the Congress convened. All incumbents from the were re-elected in districts.
Delaware
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Mississippi
A special election was held in Mississippi on July 17–18, 1837. Its winners were Democrats John F. H. Claiborne and Samuel J. Gholson. The first session of the 25th Congress was a special session beginning on September 4, 1837, extending to October 16. In November, Mississippi held the regular election. Seargent Smith Prentiss, a Vicksburg lawyer and Whig, unexpectedly launched a vigorous, partisan campaign. He and fellow Whig Thomas J. Word won in an upset. Claiborne and Gholson then argued that the July result entitled them to serve full terms. With the Whig Party newly organizing, the closely divided House, in which Anti-Masons, Nullifiers, and the Independent tended to align more with Whigs and to oppose Democrats, agreed to hear Prentiss. He spoke for nine hours over three days, packing the gallery, drawing Senators, and earning a national reputation for oratory and public admiration from leading Whigs including Senators Clay and Webster. The Elections Committee then required a third election. Scheduled for April 1838, it confirmed the November result. Both Whigs were seated in May late in the second session, also serving for the third session.
