The 1874–75 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between June 1, 1874, and September 7, 1875. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives before the first session of the 44th United States Congress convened on December 6, 1875. Elections were held for all 292 seats, representing 37 states. These elections were held in the middle of President Ulysses S. Grant's second term with a deep economic depression underway. It was an important turning point, as the Republicans lost heavily and the Democrats gained control of the House. It signaled the imminent end of Reconstruction, which Democrats opposed. Historians emphasize the factors of economic depression and attacks on the Grant administration for corruption as key factors in the vote. With the election following the Panic of 1873, Grant's Republican Party was crushed in the elections, losing their majority and almost half their seats to the Democratic Party. This was the first period of Democratic control since the pre-war era. The economic crisis and the inability of Grant to find a solution led to his party's defeat. This was the second-largest swing in the history of the House (only behind the 1894 elections), and is the largest House loss in the history of the Republican Party. In the south, the Democrats continued their systematic destruction of the Republican coalition. In the South, Scalawags moved into the Democratic Party. The Democratic landslide signaled the imminent end of Reconstruction, which Democrats opposed and a realignment of the Republican coalition that had dominated American politics since the late 1850s. While the ongoing end of Reconstruction in the South was one of the main reasons for the shift, turn-of-the-century historian James Ford Rhodes explored the multiple causes of the results in the North: "In the fall elections of 1874 the issue was clearly defined: Did the Republican President Ulysses S. Grant and Congress deserve the confidence of the country? and the answer was unmistakably No ... The Democrats had won a signal victory, obtaining control of the next House of Representatives which would stand Democrats 168, Liberals and Independents 14, Republicans 108 as against the two-thirds Republican majority secured by the election of 1872. Since 1861 the Republicans had controlled the House and now with its loss came a decrease in their majority in the Senate ..." Rhodes continues: "The political revolution from 1872 to 1874 was due to the failure of the Southern policy of the Republican party, to the Credit Mobilier and Sanborn contract scandals, to corrupt and inefficient administration in many departments and to the persistent advocacy of Grant by some close friends and hangers-on for a third presidential term. Some among the opposition were influenced by the President's backsliding in the cause of civil service reform, and others by the failure of the Republican party to grapple successfully with the financial question. The depression, following the financial Panic of 1873, and the number of men consequently out of employment weighed in the scale against the party in power. In Ohio, the result was affected by the temperance crusade in the early part of the year. Bands of women of good social standing marched to saloons before which or in which they sang hymns and, kneeling down, prayed that the great evil of drink might be removed. Sympathizing men wrought with them in causing the strict law of the State against the sale of strong liquor to be rigidly enforced. Since Republicans were in the main the instigators of the movement, it alienated from their party a large portion of the German American vote."

Special elections

Election summaries

Election dates

In 1845, Congress passed a law providing for a uniform nationwide date for choosing Presidential electors. This law did not affect election dates for Congress, which remained within the jurisdiction of State governments, but over time, the states moved their congressional elections to this date as well. In 1874–75, there were still 10 states with earlier election dates, and 3 states with later election dates:

Alabama

Arkansas

! AR's 1st congressional district William H. Rogers (Republican) 36.0% ! AR's 2nd congressional district John M. Clayton (Republican) 46.3% ! AR's 3rd congressional district William J. Hynes (Republican) 35.0% ! AR's 4th congressional district Charles H. Lander (Republican) 9.2%

Arizona Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

California

! California's 1st congressional district ✅ William Adam Piper (Democratic) 49.1% Ira P. Rankin (Republican) 26.8% John F. Swift (Independent) 24.1% ! California's 2nd congressional district ✅ Horace F. Page (Republican) 43.4% Henry Larkin (Democratic) 38.7% Charles A. Tuttle (Independent) 17.8% ! California's 3rd congressional district ✅ John K. Luttrell (Democratic) 46.7% C. B. Denio (Republican) 36.1% Charles F. Reed (Independent) 17.1% ! California's 4th congressional district ✅ Peter D. Wigginton (Democratic) 48.8% Sherman O. Houghton (Republican) 34.6% J. S. Thompson (Independent) 16.7%

Colorado Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Connecticut

! Connecticut's 1st congressional district Joseph R. Hawley (Republican) Edwin B. Lyon (Prohibition) ! Connecticut's 2nd congressional district Stephen Kellogg (Republican) 45.9% Calvin S. Harrington (Prohibition) 2.1% ! Connecticut's 3rd congressional district Lafayette S. Foster (Democratic) 45.7% Elisha H. Palmer (Prohibition) 3.2% ! Connecticut's 4th congressional district Robert Hubbard (Republican) 43.3% Dwight M. Hodge (Prohibition) 2.3%

Delaware

Florida

! FL's 1st congressional district ✅ William J. Purman (Republican) 53.0% John Henderson (Democratic) 47.0% ! FL's 2nd congressional district ✅ Josiah T. Walls (Republican) 51.1% Jesse J. Finley (Democratic) 48.9%

Georgia

Idaho Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

! Massachusetts's 1st congressional district Louis Lapham (Democratic) 28.94% Robert Carter Pitman (Independent) 2.19% ! Massachusetts's 2nd congressional district Edward Avery (Democratic) 40.93% ! Massachusetts's 3rd congressional district Benjamin Dean (Democratic) 38.08% ! Massachusetts's 4th congressional district Rufus S. Frost (Republican) 47.07% ! Massachusetts's 5th congressional district Daniel W. Gooch (Republican) 35.09% ! Massachusetts's 6th congressional district Benjamin Butler (Republican) 47.06% ! Massachusetts's 7th congressional district James C. Ayer (Republican) 45.23% ! Massachusetts's 8th congressional district John M. S. Williams (Republican) 47.80% ! Massachusetts's 9th congressional district Eli Thayer (Democratic) 48.74% ! MA's 10th congressional district ✅ Julius Seelye (Independent) 41.79% Charles A. Stevens (Republican) 39.53% Henry C. Hill (Democratic) 18.68% ! MA's 11th congressional district ✅ Chester W. Chapin (Democratic) 65.77% Henry Alexander (Republican) 34.23%

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

! MS's 1st congressional district ✅ Lucius Q. C. Lamar (Democratic) 100% ! MS's 2nd congressional district Albert R. Howe (Republican) 40.59% ! MS's 3rd congressional district Ridgley C. Powers (Republican) 31.90% ! MS's 4th congressional district Jason Niles (Republican) 33.43% ! MS's 5th congressional district ✅ Charles E. Hooker (Democratic) 59.91% James Hill (Republican) 40.09% ! MS's 6th congressional district Roderick Seal (Democratic) 49.47%

Missouri

Montana Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Nebraska

! NE At-large James W. Savage (Democratic) 23.26% James W. Davis (Independent) 11.34% James G. Miller (Prohibition) 2.71%

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

New York

North Carolina

Ohio

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

! SC's 1st congressional district ✅ Joseph Rainey (Republican) 51.4% Samuel Lee (Ind. Republican) 48.6% ! SC's 2nd congressional district ✅ Edmund W. M. Mackey (Ind. Republican) 54.1% Charles W. Buttz (Republican) 45.9% ! SC's 3rd congressional district ✅ Solomon L. Hoge (Republican) 56.1% Samuel McGowan (Conservative) 43.9% ! SC's 4th congressional district ✅ Alexander S. Wallace (Republican) 53.2% Joseph B. Kershaw (Conservative) 46.8% ! SC's 5th congressional district ✅ Robert Smalls (Republican) 79.4% J. P. M. Epping (Ind. Republican) 19.9% Others 0.7%

Tennessee

! TN's 1st congressional district ✅ William McFarland (Democratic) 55.54% Roderick R. Butler (Republican) 44.46% ! TN's 2nd congressional district ✅ Jacob M. Thornburgh (Republican) 51.54% Alfred Caldwell (Democratic) 48.47% ! TN's 3rd congressional district ✅ George G. Dibrell (Democratic) 65.71% D. M. Nelson (Republican) 31.60% William B. Stokes (Independent) 2.70% ! TN's 4th congressional district ✅ John W. Head (Democratic) 100% ! TN's 5th congressional district ✅ John M. Bright (Democratic) 72.48% William H. Wisener (Republican) 27.16% J. D. Putnam (Independent) 0.36% ! TN's 6th congressional district ✅ John F. House (Democratic) 62.40% Horace Harrison (Republican) 37.60% ! TN's 7th congressional district ✅ Washington C. Whitthorne (Democratic) 78.13% Theodore H. Gibbs (Republican) 14.32% G. W. Blackburn (Independent Republican) 7.55% ! TN's 8th congressional district ✅ John D. C. Atkins (Democratic) 66.36% T. C. Muse (Republican) 33.64% ! TN's 9th congressional district ✅ William P. Caldwell (Democratic) 72.05% David A. Nunn (Republican) 27.95% ! TN's 10th congressional district Barbour Lewis (Republican) 39.62%

Texas

Utah Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Vermont

! Vermont's 1st congressional district Homer W. Heaton (Democratic) 18.7% Charles W. Willard (Republican) 11.8% ! Vermont's 2nd congressional district Dudley C. Denison (Ind. Republican) 44.7% Luke P. Poland (Republican) 36.6% Charles Davenport (Democratic) 12.5% John B. Mead (Ind. Republican) 4.2% Second ballot✅ Dudley C. Denison (Ind. Republican) 58.7% Luke P. Poland (Republican) 29.9% Alexander McLane (Democratic) 11.3% ! Vermont's 3rd congressional district John Edwards (Democratic) 28.7%

Virginia

! VA's 1st congressional district ✅ Beverly B. Douglas (Democratic) 50.7% James Beverley Sener (Republican) 49.3% ! VA's 2nd congressional district ✅ John Goode (Democratic) 49.4% James H. Platt Jr. (Republican) 48.9% Robert Norton (Republican) 1.6% ! VA's 3rd congressional district ✅ Gilbert C. Walker (Democratic) 55.3% Rush Bargess (Republican) 44.5% R. A. Paul (Unknown) 0.2% ! VA's 4th congressional district ✅ William H. H. Stowell (Republican) 63.9% William Hodges Mann (Democratic) 35.9% C. H. Porter (Independent) 0.2% ! VA's 5th congressional district ✅ George Cabell (Democratic) 57.1% Christopher Thomas (Republican) 42.9% ! VA's 6th congressional district ✅ J. Randolph Tucker (Democratic) 65.2% J. Foote Johnson (Republican) 34.8% ! VA's 7th congressional district ✅ John T. Harris (Democratic) 73.6% John F. Lewis (Republican) 25.5% John F. Early (Unknown) 0.5% Charles T. O'Ferrall (Independent) 0.4% ! VA's 8th congressional district ✅ Eppa Hunton (Democratic) 51.4% James Barbour (Republican) 48.6% ! VA's 9th congressional district ✅ William Terry (Democratic) 48.4% Fayette McMullen (Independent) 40.6% George W. Henderlite (Republican) 10.9%

Washington Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

West Virginia

! WV's 1st congressional district Nathan Goff Jr. (Republican) 49.67% ! WV's 2nd congressional district Alexander Boteler (Republican) 40.32% John Hagans (Independent) 2.17% ! WV's 3rd congressional district John Witcher (Republican) 36.41%

Wisconsin

! WI's 1st congressional district ✅ Charles G. Williams (Republican) 56.9% Nicholas D. Fratt (Democratic) 43.1% ! WI's 2nd congressional district ✅ Lucien B. Caswell (Republican) 50.5% Amasa G. Cook (Democratic) 49.5% ! WI's 3rd congressional district ✅ Henry S. Magoon (Republican) 52.7% Charles F. Thompson (Democratic) 47.3% ! WI's 4th congressional district ✅ William Pitt Lynde (Democratic) 55.8% Harrison Ludington (Republican) 44.2% ! WI's 5th congressional district ✅ Samuel D. Burchard (Democratic) 61.5% Hiram Barber (Republican) 38.5% ! WI's 6th congressional district ✅ Alanson M. Kimball (Republican) 50.2% Gabriel Bouck (Democratic) 49.8% ! WI's 7th congressional district ✅ Jeremiah M. Rusk (Republican) 57.4% David C. Fulton (Democratic) 42.6% ! WI's 8th congressional district ✅ George W. Cate (Democratic) 50.0% Alexander S. McDill (Republican) 50.0%

Wyoming Territory

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Non-voting delegates

! Arizona Territory At-large ! Dakota Territory At-large Moses K. Armstrong (Democratic) 32.26% ! Colorado Territory At-large Henry P. H. Bromwell (Republican) 44.7% ! Idaho Territory At-large Thomas W. Bennett (Independent) 48.98% ! Montana Territory At-large Cornelius Hedges (Republican) 44.43% ! New Mexico Territory At-large ! Utah Territory At-large ! Washington Territory At-large ! Wyoming Territory At-large Joseph M. Carey (Republican) 43.47%