1828 United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania

United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania, 1828

← 1826 October 14, 1828 1830 →
All 26 Pennsylvania seats to the United States House of Representatives
Majority party Minority party Third party   Party Jacksonian Anti-Jacksonian Anti-Masonic Last election 20 6 0 Seats won 24 1 1 Seat change 4 5 1

Elections to the United States House of Representatives in Pennsylvania for the 21st Congress were held October 14, 1828. Members of three different parties were elected to the 21st Congress, the first time in US history that a third party won seats. The new Anti-Masonic Party won a total of 5 seats, 1 of which was in Pennsylvania.

Background[]

In the previous election, 20 Jacksonians and 5 Anti-Jacksonians had been elected with one vacancy, which was filled in a special election by an Anti-Jacksonian, for a total of 20 Jacksonians and 6 Anti-Jacksonians.

Congressional districts[]

Pennsylvania was divided into 18 districts, 6 of which were plural districts

• The 1st district consisted of southern Philadelphia County
• The 2nd district consisted of the City of Philadelphia
• The 3rd district consisted of northern Philadelphia County
• The 4th district (3 seats) consisted of Chester, Delaware and Lancaster Counties
• The 5th district consisted of Montgomery County
• The 6th district consisted of Dauphin and Lebanon Counties
• The 7th district (2 seats) consisted of Berks, Lehigh, and Schuylkill Counties
• The 8th district (2 seats) consisted of Bucks, Northampton, Pike, and Wayne Counties
• The 9th district (3 seats) consisted of Bradford, Columbia, Luzerne, Lycoming, McKeane, Northumberland, Potter, Susquehanna, and Tioga Counties
• The 10th district consisted of York County
• The 11th district (2 seats) consisted of Adams, Cumberland, Franklin, and Perry Counties
• The 12th district consisted of Centre, Clearfield, Huntingdon, Mifflin, and Union Counties
• The 13th district consisted of Bedford, Cambria, and Somerset Counties
• The 14th district consisted of Fayette and Greene Counties
• The 15th district consisted of Washington County
• The 16th district (2 seats) consisted of Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, and Butler Counties
• The 17th district consisted of Indiana, Jefferson, and Westmoreland Counties
• The 18th district consisted of Crawford, Erie, Mercer, Venango, and Warren Counties

Note: Several of these counties covered larger areas than today, having since been divided into smaller counties

Election results[]

20 incumbents (15 Jacksonians and 5 Anti-Jacksonians) ran for re-election, of whom 12 (all Jacksonians) were re-elected. The incumbents Charles Miner (AJ) of the 4th district, George Kremer (J), Espy Van Horne (J), and Samuel McKean (J) of the 9th district, John Mitchell (J) of the 12th district and Robert Orr, Jr. (J) of the 16th district did not run for re-election.

A total of 8 seats changed parties. One seat changed from Jacksonian control to Anti-Masonic control, one changed from Jacksonian to Anti-Jacksonian, and six changed from Anti-Jacksonian to Jacksonian, for a net change of five seats lost by the Anti-Jacksonians, four gained by the Jacksonians, and one gained by the Anti-Masonics.

Special elections[]

Two special elections were held in 1829 for the 21st Congress. The first was held on October 13, 1829 in the 8th district to fill two vacancies caused by the resignations of Samuel D. Ingham (J) and George Wolf (J) before the first meeting of the 21st Congress. Wolf's resignation was due to his having been elected Governor of Pennsylvania.^[4] The second was held on December 15, 1829 in the 16th district, to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of William Wilkins (AM) on November 9, 1829, before the first session of the 21st Congress began.

No seat changed parties after these special elections.

References[]

• 1828 Wilkes University Election Statistics Project