United States House of Representatives elections, 1844

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July 1, 1844 - November 4, 1845

1846 →

All 227 seats to the United States House of Representatives
115 seats were needed for a majority

	Majority party	Minority party	Third party

Leader	John Davis	Samuel Finley Vinton	Lewis Charles Levin
Party	Democratic	Whig	Know Nothing
Leader's seat	Indiana-6th	Ohio-12th	Pennsylvania-1st
Last election	148 seats	73 seats	0 seats
Seats won	142	79	6
Seat change	6	6	6

Speaker before election

John Jones
Democratic

Elected Speaker

John Davis
Democratic

John Jones
Democratic

John Davis
Democratic

Elections to the United States House of Representatives for the 29th Congress were held at different dates in the various states from July 1, 1844 (Louisiana) to November 4, 1845 (Mississippi). All 227 members of the House of Representatives elected took their seats when Congress convened December 1, 1845. The elections mostly coincided with the 1844 presidential election, won by dark horse Democratic candidate James K. Polk, who won on a campaign advocating territorial expansion. The new states of Florida, Texas and Iowa were added during this Congress. Florida had actually been admitted on the last day of the 28th Congress, but was not represented until the 29th. Iowa and Texas both elected their first representatives in 1846.

Despite Polk's victory, the Democrats had a net loss of six Representatives. They still retained a large majority of 142-79 over their major rivals, the Whigs. The American Party, based on the nativist "Know Nothing" movement characterized by opposition to immigration and anti-Catholicism, gained six seats, its first in Congress. The fragmentation of votes by this new party, combined with a generally negative political environment cause by dislike of outgoing President John Tyler, contributed to the slight Democratic loses.

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