U.S. House election, 1888

United States House of Representatives elections, 1888

← 1886 November 6, 1888 1890 →
All 332 seats to the United States House of Representatives 167 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Thomas Brackett Reed John G. Carlisle Party Republican Democratic Leader's seat Maine-1st Kentucky-6th Last election 154 seats 167 seats Seats won 179 152 Seat change 25 15   Third party   Party Labor Last election 2 seats Seats won 1 Seat change 1
Speaker before election John Carlisle Democratic Elected Speaker Thomas Reed Republican Party (United States) Map of U.S. House elections results from 1888 elections for 51st Congress

John Carlisle
Democratic

Thomas Reed
Republican Party (United States)

Elections to the United States House of Representatives held in 1888 were held to choose members of the 51st Congress, and were held at the same time as the election of President Benjamin Harrison.

Harrison's Republican Party gained a majority in the House at the expense of the Democratic Party, even though incumbent President Grover Cleveland actually received more votes than Harrison. The issue of tariffs played a key role in this election. The Democrats, with the support of farmers and laborers, wanted to lower tariffs in order to promote free trade, while the Republicans, backed by industry and big business, believed that higher tariffs were necessary to protect American manufacturing. Especially in industrializing regions, voters chose the Republican view on tariffs, as they gave the party a slim majority in the House.

Seven seats were added, for the six new states of, in order of admission (number of House seats for each new state listed in parentheses): North Dakota (1), South Dakota (2), Montana (1), Washington (1), Idaho (1), and Wyoming (1).

The previous election had 4 third-party candidates, 2 Labor, 1 Greenback, and 1 Independent.