United States House of Representatives elections, 1864

United States House of Representatives elections, 1864

← 1862 June 5, 1864 - November 7, 1865 1866 →
All 193 seats to the United States House of Representatives 97 seats were needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader Schuyler Colfax James Brooks Francis Thomas Party Republican Democratic Unionist Leader's seat Indiana-9th New York-8th Maryland-4th Last election 87 seats 72 seats 25 seats Seats won 137 38 18 Seat change 50 34 7
Speaker before election Schuyler Colfax Republican Elected Speaker Schuyler Colfax Republican Party (United States) Map of U.S. House elections results from 1864 elections for 39th Congress

Schuyler Colfax
Republican

Schuyler Colfax
Republican Party (United States)

Elections to the United States House of Representatives were held in 1864 to elect Representatives to the 39th United States Congress. The election coincided with the presidential election of 1864, in which President Abraham Lincoln was re-elected.

In the midst of the American Civil War, the opposition Democrats were divided between the Copperheads, a group that demanded an immediate negotiated settlement with the Confederate States of America, and the War Democrats, who supported the war. The Democrats lacked a coherent message, and Lincoln's Republican Party gained 50 seats, increasing their majority over the Democrats. The National Union Party (formerly known as the Unionists) lost seven seats, retaining control of 18 seats (some classify the Representatives as including 13 Unconditional Unionists and five Unionists), all from the border states of Maryland, Tennessee, and Kentucky, as well as West Virginia.

One new seat was added for the new State of Nevada and 8 vacancies were filled by the readmission of Tennessee, the first secessionist state to be readmitted. Three former Confederate States held elections in 1865 that were rejected by Congress.