California's at-large congressional district

After statehood was achieved on September 9, 1850 and until 1865, California elected its congressional representatives statewide at-large — two representatives from September 11, 1850 to 1861, and 3 representatives from 1861 to 1865.

Also, from 1883 to 1885, California elected two of its six representatives to the United States House of Representatives statewide at-large.

List of members representing the district[]

Congress and years			Seat A				Seat B				Seat C
			Member	Party	Electoral history		Member	Party	Electoral history		Member	Party	Electoral history
31st	September 11, 1850 – March 3, 1851		George Wright	Independent	Elected in 1849. Retired.		Edward Gilbert	Democratic	Elected in 1849. Retired.
32nd	March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1853		Edward C. Marshall	Democratic	Elected late in 1851. Retired.		Joseph W. McCorkle	Democratic	Elected late in 1851. Lost renomination.
33rd	March 3, 1853 – March 3, 1855		Milton Latham	Democratic	Elected in 1852. Retired.		James A. McDougall	Democratic	Elected in 1852. Lost re-election.
34th	March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857		James W. Denver	Democratic	Elected in 1854. Retired.		Philemon T. Herbert	Democratic	Elected in 1854. Retired after manslaughter acquittal
35th	March 4, 1857 – March 3, 1859		Joseph C. McKibbin	Democratic	Elected in 1856. Lost re-election.		Charles L. Scott	Democratic	Elected in 1856. Re-elected in 1859. Retired.
36th	March 4, 1859 – March 3, 1861		John C. Burch	Democratic	Elected in 1859. Retired.
37th	March 4, 1861 – June 3, 1862		Timothy Phelps	Republican	Elected in 1861. Retired.		Aaron A. Sargent	Republican	Elected in 1861. Retired.		Vacant
	June 3, 1862 – March 3, 1863										Frederick F. Low	Republican	Elected in 1861 but not permitted by the House to take his seat. Subsequently qualified under special Act of Congress.[citation needed] Retired.
38th	March 4, 1863 – March 3, 1865		Cornelius Cole	Republican	Elected in 1863. [data unknown/missing]		William Higby	Republican	Elected in 1863. Redistricted to the 2nd district.		Thomas B. Shannon	Republican	Elected in 1863. Retired.
39th 40th 41st 42nd 43rd 44th 45th 46th 47th	March 4, 1865 – March 3, 1883		Seat eliminated				Seat eliminated				Seat eliminated
48th	March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1885		John R. Glascock	Democratic	Elected in 1882. Lost re-election in the 3rd district.	Charles A. Sumner	Democratic	Elected in 1882. Lost re-election in the 2nd district.

Election results[]

Elections in California
show Federal government U.S. President 1852 1856 1860 1864 1868 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 Dem GOP 2000 Dem GOP 2004 Dem GOP 2008 Dem GOP 2012 Dem GOP 2016 Dem GOP 2020 Dem GOP U.S. Senate 1849 1850 1852 sp 1856 1857 sp 1860 1860 sp 1868 1872 1873 1873 sp 1878 1880 1885 1886 sp 1887 1891 1891 sp 1893 1895 sp 1897 1900 sp 1903 1905 1909 1911 1914 1916 1920 1922 1926 1928 1932 1934 1938 1940 1944 1946 1946 sp 1950 1952 1954 sp 1956 1958 1962 1964 1968 1970 1974 1976 1980 1982 1986 1988 1992 1992 sp 1994 1998 2000 2004 2006 2010 2012 2016 2018 2022 2024 U.S. House of Representatives 1849 1851 1852 1854 1856 1859 1861 1863 1864 1867 1868 1871 1872 1875 1876 1879 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 12th sp 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1987 5th sp 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2001 32nd sp 2002 2004 2005 5th sp 48th sp 2006 50th sp 2007 36th sp 2008 12th sp 2009 10th sp 32nd sp 2010 2011 36th sp 2012 2014 2016 2017 34th sp 2018 2020 25th sp 2022 v t
show State government (executive) Governor 1849 1851 1853 1855 1857 1859 1861 1863 1867 1871 1875 1879 1882 1886 1890 1894 1898 1902 1906 1910 1914 1918 1922 1926 1930 1934 1938 1942 1946 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2003 (recall) 2006 2010 2014 2018 2021 (recall) 2022 Lieutenant governor 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 Attorney General 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 Secretary of State 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 Treasurer 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 Controller 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 Insurance Commissioner 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 Superintendent of Public Instruction 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 State Board of Equalization 2018 v t
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In these elections, the top two vote-getters (three from 1861 to 1863) were elected to the House.

1849[]

The election was held November 13, 1849.

1849 United States House of Representatives election in California
Party	Votes	Percentage	Seats	+/–
Independent	20,481	79.44%	1	+1
Democratic	5,300	20.56%	1	+1
Totals	25,781	100.00%	2	—

1849 California's at-large congressional district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	George Washington Wright	5,451	22.0
	Democratic	Edward Gilbert	5,300	20.6
	Independent	Rodman M. Price	4,040	16.3
	Independent	Lewis Dent	2,129	8.3
	Independent	P. A. Morse	2,066	8.2
	Independent	E. J. C. Kewen	1,826	7.3
	Independent	William M. Shepard	1,773	7.2
	Independent	William E. Shannon	1,327	5.4
	Independent	Peter O. Halstead	1,271	2.4
	Independent	L. W. Hastings	215	0.9
	Independent	Pierson B. Reading	167	0.7
	Independent	W. H. Russell	96	0.4
	Independent	J. S. Thompson	72	0.3
	Independent	Kimball H. Dimmick	48	0.2
Total votes			25,781	100.0
Turnout

1851[]

The 1851 election was held October 7, 1851.

1851 United States House of Representatives election in California
Party	Votes	Percentage	Seats	+/–
Democratic	48,784	53.92%	2	+1
Whig	41,684	46.08%	0	0
Independent	0	0.00%	0	–1
Totals	90,468	100.00%	2	—

1851 California's at-large congressional district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward C. Marshall	24,469	27.0
	Democratic	Joseph McCorkle	24,315	26.9
	Whig	E. J. Kewen	21,460	23.7
	Whig	B. J. Moore	20,224	22.4
Total votes			90,468	100.0
Turnout

1852[]

The election was held November 2, 1852.

1852 United States House of Representatives election in California
Party	Votes	Percentage	Seats	+/–
Democratic	79,268	53.38%	2	0
Whig	69,232	46.62%	0	0
Totals	148,500	100.00%	2	—

1852 California's at-large congressional district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Milton S. Latham	39,881	26.9
	Democratic	James A. McDougall	39,387	26.5
	Whig	P. L. Edwards	34,933	23.5
	Whig	G. B. Tingley	34,299	23.1
Total votes			148,500	100.0
Turnout

1854[]

The election was held September 6, 1854.

1854 United States House of Representatives election in California
Party	Votes	Percentage	Seats
Democratic	95,178	58.0%	2
Whig	69,152	42.0%	0
Totals	164,330	100.0%	2

1854 California's at-large congressional district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	James W. Denver	36,819	22.4
	Democratic	Philemon T. Herbert	36,542	22.4
	Whig	G. W. Bowie	34,741	21.1
	Whig	Cal Bonham	34,411	20.9
	Democratic	J. Churchman	10,006	6.1
	Democratic	James A. McDougall (Incumbent)	9,968	6.1
	Democratic	Milton S. Latham (Incumbent)	1,843	1.1
Total votes			164,330	100.0
Turnout

1856[]

The election was held November 4, 1856.

1856 United States House of Representatives election in California
Party	Votes	Percentage	Seats
Democratic	101,708	47.0%	2
Know Nothing	71,403	33.0%	0
Republican	43,139	20.0%	0
Totals	216,250	100.0%	2

1856 California's at-large congressional district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Joseph C. McKibbin	50,895	23.5
	Democratic	Charles L. Scott	50,813	23.5
	Know Nothing	B. C. Whitman	36,078	16.7
	Know Nothing	A. B. Dibble	35,325	16.3
	Republican	L. P. Rankin	21,975	10.2
	Republican	J. D. Turner	21,164	9.8
Total votes			216,250	100.0
Turnout

1859[]

The election was held September 7, 1859.

United States House of Representatives election in California,
Party	Votes	Percentage	Seats
Democratic	161,106	79.4%	2
Republican	41,739	20.6%	0
Totals	202,845	100.0%	2

1859 California's at-large congressional district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John C. Burch	57,665	28.4
	Democratic	Charles L. Scott	56,998	28.1
	Democratic	Joseph C. McKibbin (Incumbent)	43,474	21.4
	Republican	Edward D. Baker	41,438	20.4
	Democratic	S. A. Booker	2,969	1.5
	Republican	P. H. Sibley	301	0.1
Total votes			202,845	100.0
Turnout

1861[]

The election was held September 4, 1861.

1861 United States House of Representatives election in California
Party	Votes	Percentage	Seats	+/–
Democratic	180,719	56.1%	0	-2
Republican	141,402	43.9%	3	+3
Totals	322,121	100.0%	3	—

1861 California's at-large congressional district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Timothy Guy Phelps	51,651	21.8
	Republican	W. L. Dudley	50,692	21.4
	Democratic	H. Edgerton	35,449	15.0
	Democratic	Joseph C. McKibbin	35,401	15.0
	Democratic	D. O. Shattuck	31,712	13.4
	Democratic	H. P. Barbers	31,591	13.4
Total votes			236,496	100.0
Turnout

California's at-large congressional election for seat added by reapportionment, 1861

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Frederick F. Low	39,059	45.6
	Democratic	F. Gunhal	24,036	28.1
	Democratic	J. R. Gitchell	22,530	26.3
Total votes			85,625	100.0
Turnout

1863[]

The election was held September 2, 1863.

1863 United States House of Representatives election in California
Party	Votes	Percentage	Seats
Republican	194,882	69.1%	0
Democratic	87,087	30.9%	0
Totals	281,969	100.0%	3

1863 California's at-large congressional district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Cornelius Cole	65,085	23.1
	Republican	Thomas B. Shannon	64,914	23.0
	Republican	William Higby	64,883	23.0
	Democratic	John B. Weller	43,567	15.5
	Democratic	John Bigler	43,520	15.4
Total votes			281,969	100.0
Turnout

1882[]

California elected two at-large representatives in addition to its four representatives in districts in 1882. For these results see 1882 United States House of Representatives elections in California.

See also[]

• Political party strength in California
• Political party strength in U.S. states

References[]

• Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
• California Elections Page 1849
• California Elections Page 1850
• California Elections Page 1852
• California Elections Page 1854
• California Elections Page 1856
• California Elections Page 1858
• California Elections Page 1861
• California Elections Page 1862

Sources[]

• Dubin, Michael J. (1998). United States Congressional elections, 1788-1997 : the official results of the elections of the 1st through 105th Congresses. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1998.

External links[]

• California Legislative District Maps (1911-Present)
• RAND California Election Returns: District Definitions
• Our Campaigns - United States - California - CA - At Large