1862 and 1863 United States House of Representatives elections
Elections to the United States House of Representatives were held during President Abraham Lincoln's first term at various dates in different states from June 1862 to November 1863. Republicans lost 22 seats and the majority, while Democrats gained 28. The Civil War to date had been only weakly successful for the Union, but had wrought major, disruptive change in the size and reach of the Federal Government, which before the war had been small and little seen beyond post offices, customs houses in ports, and scattered military posts. The Republican Party was also relatively new, yet had led the Union down a radical path of rapid industrialization and destructive total war. Voters turned on the Administration. Points of dissatisfaction included failure to deliver a speedy victory at times verging on military incompetence, rising inflation, new taxes, rumors of corruption, suspension of habeas corpus, conscription or the draft law, and racist fear of a future in which larger numbers of free African-Americans would compete for jobs and depress wages. For example, expressing a typical sentiment, the Cincinnati Gazette editorialized that voters "are depressed by the interminable nature of this war, as so far conducted, and by the rapid exhaustion of the national resources without progress." Short of a majority, Republicans retained control with the support of the Unionist Party. In September 1862, President Lincoln warned the South that he planned by executive order, and as a war measure, to liberate all slaves in rebelling states as of January 1, 1863. The popularity of emancipation varied by region. It was more popular in New England and areas near the Great Lakes, and less popular in cities with large immigrant populations and in the southern portion of the North. Democrats hailed the elections as a repudiation of emancipation, but the results did not alter Lincoln's plan or hamper prosecution of the war. In Lincoln's home district of Springfield, Illinois, John T. Stuart, a Democrat and one of Lincoln's former law partners, defeated the Republican incumbent. Racism, including fear of an influx freed slaves and a desire by white voters to prevent black suffrage, helped drive the result. The sitting House Speaker, Galusha Grow of Pennsylvania, also lost re-election. He would return to the House in 1894.
Election summaries
The eight Representatives remaining from [|Tennessee] and [|Virginia] in the 37th Congress were absent from the 38th Congress. Other seceded states remained unrepresented, leaving 58 vacancies Upon admission, [|West Virginia] was allotted three Representatives and during the second session one seat was added for the new state of [|Nevada]. Reapportionment transpired according to the 1860 Census, under the 1850 Apportionment Act providing a total of 233 seats. A later Act added eight seats, increasing the total to 241.
Special elections
California
Note: From statehood to 1866, California's representatives were elected state-wide at-large, with the top two vote-getters winning election from 1849 to 1858. In 1860, when California gained a seat, the top three vote-getters were elected.
Ohio
Virginia
Virginia elected its members May 28, 1863, but they were all disqualified.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin elected six members of congress on Election Day, November 4, 1862. Three of these seats were newly apportioned. 2nd district incumbent Luther Hanchett was redistricted into the new 6th district, won election there, but died three weeks after the general election—a special election was held December 30, 1862, to replace him.
