United States House election, 1842

United States House of Representatives elections, 1842

← 1840 August 1, 1842 - February 14, 1844 1844 →
All 223 seats to the United States House of Representatives 122 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader John Jones John White Henry Y. Cranston Party Democratic Whig Law and Order Leader's seat Virginia-6th Kentucky-6th Rhode Island-1st Last election 99 seats 142 seats 0 seats Seats won 148 73 2 Seat change 49 69 2
Speaker before election John White Whig Elected Speaker John Jones Democratic

John White
Whig

John Jones
Democratic

Elections to the United States House of Representatives for the 28th Congress were held at various dates in different states between August 1, 1842 (Missouri) and February 14, 1844 (Maryland).

Just one election cycle after the Whig Party gained control of Congress, they lost their majority. Whig president William Henry Harrison died within a month of taking office and his successor, John Tyler, was disliked by members of both parties. Tyler's widespread unpopularity lead to an enormous defeat for his party, and the Whigs lost almost 70 seats, winning just 73 seats (including William Wright who was elected to New Jersey's 5th District as an "Independent Whig"). This gave the Democrats, who won 148 seats (including Henry Nes who was elected to Pennsylvania's 15th District as an "Independent Democrat") a majority. With the economy rebounding, rural voters also chose the Democratic ticket in a turn away from the Whig policies of economic nationalism. The Law and Order Party, formed in response to the Dorr Rebellion in Rhode Island, also won two seats.

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