The 1866–67 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between June 4, 1866, and September 6, 1867. They occurred during President Andrew Johnson's term just one year after the American Civil War ended when the Union defeated the Confederacy. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives. Members were elected before or after the first session of the 40th United States Congress convened on March 4, 1867, including the at-large seat from the new state of Nebraska. Ten secessionist states still had not yet been readmitted, and therefore were not seated. The 1866 elections were a decisive event in the early Reconstruction era, in which President Johnson faced off against the Radical Republicans in a bitter dispute over whether Reconstruction should be lenient or harsh toward the vanquished white South. Most of the congressmen from the former Confederate states were either prevented from leaving the state or were arrested on the way to the capital. A Congress consisting of mostly Radical Republicans sat early in the Capitol and aside from the delegation from Tennessee who were allowed in, the few Southern Congressmen who arrived were not seated.

Background

Johnson, a War Democrat, had been elected Vice President in the 1864 presidential election as the running mate of Abraham Lincoln, a Republican. (The Republicans had chosen not to re-nominate Hannibal Hamlin for a second term as vice president). Lincoln and Johnson ran together under the banner of the National Union Party, which brought together Republicans (with the exception of some hard-line abolitionist Radical Republicans who backed John C. Frémont, who eventually dropped out of the race after brokering a deal with Lincoln) and the War Democrats (the minority of Democrats who backed Lincoln's prosecution of the war, as opposed to the Peace Democrats, or Copperheads, who favored a negotiated settlement with the Confederates). After the assassination of Lincoln, Johnson became president. He immediately became embroiled in a dispute with the Radical Republicans over the conditions of Reconstruction; Johnson favored a lenient Reconstruction, while Radical Republicans wanted to continue the military occupation of the South and force Southern states to give freedmen (the newly freed slaves) civil rights (and the right to vote).

Campaign and results

Johnson stumped the country in a public speaking tour known as the Swing Around the Circle; he generally supported Democrats but his speeches were poorly received. The Republicans won in a landslide, capturing enough seats to override Johnson's vetoes. Only the border states of Delaware, Maryland, and Kentucky voted for Democrats. Recently Reconstructed Tennessee sent a Republican delegation. The other 10 ex-Confederate states did not vote. As a percentage of the total number of seats available in the House of Representatives, the Republican majority attained in the election of 1866 has never been exceeded in any subsequent Congress. The Democratic Party was able to achieve similar success only in the political environment of the era of the Great Depression in the 1930s.

Election summaries

Seven secessionist states were readmitted during this Congress, filling 32 vacancies, but are not included in this table if they were not elected within 1866 through 1867. The party affiliations of the 4 Representatives elected in Texas's rejected elections are unknown.

Special elections

39th Congress

! KY's 5th congressional district ! KY's 6th congressional district R. R. Carpenter (Unknown) 10.8% ! KY's 3rd congressional district P. B. Hawkins (National Union) 25.7% ! NY's 3rd congressional district Simeon B. Chittenden (Republican) 45.6%

40th Congress

! KY's 3rd congressional district J. R. Curd (Republican) 13.6% W. T. Jackman (Independent) 9.8% ! OH's 2nd congressional district Richard Smith (Republican) 47.3% Charles Reemelin (Democratic) 0.6% ! PA's 12th congressional district Winthrop W. Ketcham (Republican) 48.8% ! MO's 3rd congressional district James H. Chase (Republican) 47.3% ! NY's 21st congressional district John Stryker (Democratic) 48.5%

California

! CA's 1st congressional district ✅ Samuel Beach Axtell (Democratic) 57.3% Timothy Guy Phelps (Republican) 42.7% ! CA's 2nd congressional district ✅ William Higby (Republican) 52.1% James W. Coffrot (Democratic) 47.9% ! CA's 3rd congressional district ✅ James A. Johnson (Democratic) 50.6% Chancellor Hartson (Republican) 49.4%

Colorado Territory

See non-voting delegates, below.

Connecticut

! Connecticut's 1st congressional district Henry C. Deming (Republican) 48.9% ! Connecticut's 2nd congressional district Cyrus Northrop (Republican) 47.6% ! Connecticut's 3rd congressional district Earl Martin (Democratic) 44.6% ! Connecticut's 4th congressional district P. T. Barnum (Republican) 48.0%

Dakota Territory

See non-voting delegates, below.

Delaware

Idaho Territory

See non-voting delegates, below.

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

! Massachusetts's 1st congressional district Matthias Elias (Democratic) 15.83% ! Massachusetts's 2nd congressional district Abijah M. Ide (Democratic) 20.40% ! Massachusetts's 3rd congressional district William Henry Aspinwall (Democratic) 28.43% P. R. Quincy (Workingman) 5.06% ! Massachusetts's 4th congressional district Joseph M. Wightman (Democratic) 28.71% ! Massachusetts's 5th congressional district William D. Northend (Democratic) 23.93% ! Massachusetts's 6th congressional district Frederick O. Prince (Democratic) 25.04% ! Massachusetts's 7th congressional district Leverett Saltonstall (Democratic) 22.66% ! Massachusetts's 8th congressional district William A. Williams (Democratic) 17.38% ! Massachusetts's 9th congressional district Levi Haywood (Democratic) 12.94% ! Massachusetts's 10th congressional district Abijah W. Chapin (Democratic) 34.00%

Michigan

Minnesota

Missouri

Montana Territory

See non-voting delegates, below.

Nebraska

There were two elections in the new state of Nebraska in 1866: on June 6 for the remainder of the current term, and October 9 for the next term.

39th Congress

! NE At-large John R. Brooke (Democratic) 49.16%

40th Congress

! NE At-large Algernon Paddock (Democratic) 45.64%

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico Territory

See non-voting delegates, below.

New York

Ohio

Democrats gained one seat this election in Ohio. It was later contested and awarded to the Republican for a net gain of zero. ! Ohio's 1st congressional district George H. Pendleton (Democratic) 47.7% ! Ohio's 2nd congressional district Theodore Cook (Democratic) 43.8% ! Ohio's 3rd congressional district Durbin Ward (Democratic) 48.2% ! Ohio's 4th congressional district John F. McKinney (Democratic) 45.4% ! Ohio's 5th congressional district Moses B. Walker (Republican) 44.6% ! Ohio's 6th congressional district William Howard (Democratic) 47.0% ! Ohio's 7th congressional district Thomas Miller (Democratic) 45.7% ! Ohio's 8th congressional district William P. Reid (Democratic) 45.7% ! Ohio's 9th congressional district Thomas P. Finefrock (Democratic) 47.8% ! Ohio's 10th congressional district Henry S. Commager (Democratic) 46.6% ! Ohio's 11th congressional district Oscar F. Moore (Democratic) 43.8% ! Ohio's 12th congressional district Wells S. Jones (Republican) 43.8% ! Ohio's 13th congressional district Columbus Delano (Republican) 49.5% ! Ohio's 14th congressional district James B. Young (Democratic) 46.6% ! Ohio's 15th congressional district Martin Dewey Follett (Democratic) 45.6% ! Ohio's 16th congressional district Charles H. Mitchner (Democratic) 47.2% ! Ohio's 17th congressional district Louis Schaefer (Democratic) 40.0% ! Ohio's 18th congressional district Oliver Payne (Democratic) 35.6% ! Ohio's 19th congressional district David C. Coolman (Democratic) 28.7%

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

Tennessee

Elections held late, on August 1, 1867. ! TN's 1st congressional district ✅ Roderick R. Butler (Republican) 86.82% James White (Conservative) 12.85% James Powell (Republican) 0.33% ! TN's 2nd congressional district ✅ Horace Maynard (Republican) 78.83% John Williams (Conservative) 21.17% ! TN's 3rd congressional district ✅ William B. Stokes (Republican) 83.25% Eli G. Fleming (Conservative) 16.75% ! TN's 4th congressional district ✅ James Mullins (Republican) 51.85% Edmund Cooper (Conservative) 25.42% ! TN's 5th congressional district ✅ John Trimble (Republican) 72.09% Balie Peyton (Conservative) 24.37% D. H. Mason (Independent Republican) 3.54% ! TN's 6th congressional district ✅ Samuel M. Arnell (Republican) 77.79% Dorsey B. Thomas (Conservative) 22.21% ! TN's 7th congressional district ✅ Isaac R. Hawkins (Republican) 83.60% William P. Coldwell (Conservative) 16.40% ! TN's 8th congressional district ✅ David A. Nunn (Republican) 59.41% John W. Leftwich (Conservative) 40.59%

Utah Territory

See non-voting delegates, below.

Vermont

! Vermont's 1st congressional district Samuel Wells (Democratic) 27.1% ! Vermont's 2nd congressional district Charles M. Chase (Democratic) 26.2% Others Peter T. Washburn (Republican) 0.4% Hampden Cutts (Unknown) 0.3% Julius Converse (Republican) 0.3% D. C. Denison (Republican) 0.2% ! Vermont's 3rd congressional district Portus Baxter (Republican) 46.8% Romeo H. Hoyt (Republican) 28.8% Waldo Brigham (Democratic) 21.7% J. S. Adams (Republican) 1.0% J. H. Woodward (Republican) 0.6% O. G. Wheeler (Republican) 0.5% Second ballot✅ Worthington C. Smith (Republican) 50.9% Asa O. Aldis (Republican) 24.8% Waldo Brigham (Democratic) 23.8% Portus Baxter (Republican) 0.2%

Washington Territory

See non-voting delegates, below.

West Virginia

! WV's 1st congressional district D. D. Johnson (Democratic) 45.17% ! WV's 2nd congressional district E. W. Andrews (Democratic) 38.35% Daniel Polsley (Republican) 0.35% ! WV's 3rd congressional district John H. Oley (Democratic) 41.23%

Wisconsin

Wisconsin elected six members of congress on Election Day, November 4, 1866. ! Wisconsin's 1st congressional district ✅ Halbert E. Paine (Republican) 58.8% James S. Brown (Democratic) 41.2% ! Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district ✅ Benjamin F. Hopkins (Republican) 61.5% John J. Pease (Democratic) 38.5% ! Wisconsin's 3rd congressional district ✅ Amasa Cobb (Republican) 62.9% Noah Virgin (Democratic) 37.1% ! Wisconsin's 4th congressional district ✅ Charles A. Eldredge (Democratic) 56.6% Orin Hatch (Republican) 43.4% ! Wisconsin's 5th congressional district ✅ Philetus Sawyer (Republican) 60.5% Morgan Lewis Martin (Democratic) 39.5% ! Wisconsin's 6th congressional district Republican hold. ✅ Cadwallader C. Washburn (Republican) 66.4% Gilbert L. Park (Democratic) 33.6%

Non-voting delegates

! Colorado Territory At-large ! Dakota Territory At-large ! Idaho Territory At-large ✅ Edward D. Holbrook (Democratic) 55.45% J. M. Kirkpatrick (Republican) 44.55% ! Montana Territory At-large ✅ James M. Cavanaugh (Democratic) 54.95% Wilbur F. Sanders (Republican) 45.05% ! New Mexico Territory At-large ! Utah Territory At-large ! Washington Territory At-large