1838 and 1839 United States House of Representatives elections
Elections to the United States House of Representatives for the 26th Congress were held during President Martin Van Buren's term at various dates in different states from July 1838 to November 1839. The Panic of 1837 and consequent economic downturn drove Whig Party gains. Van Buren's Democratic Party had lost popularity and Whig policies of economic nationalism appealed to a larger number of voters. Democrats were able, however, to contain the political fallout by blaming banks for the crisis. The Anti-Masonic Party, influential in New York, Pennsylvania, and other Northern states, lost seats, while the Southern Nullifier Party disappeared. Two Virginia representatives were elected on that state's Conservative Party ticket. Early business of the new House reflected the close partisan division. When Congress first Convened on December 3, 1839, two contingents of New Jersey representatives-elect, one composed of Democrats and the other of Whigs, arrived and both requested to be seated as members. Charging the Whigs with election fraud and facing loss of controlof the House, the Democratic Party majority refused to seat all but one Whig. Massachusetts Representative John Quincy Adams presided as "chairman" of the House after the clerk lost control. Two weeks later, when voting for speaker of the House finally commenced, 11 ballots were needed before Robert M. T. Hunter, a compromise Whig candidate, was elected, receiving 119 votes. The 26th Congress also passed the first Independent Treasury bill.
Connecticut elected its six members April 1, 1839, flipping all six seats from Democratic to Whig.
Mississippi
A special election was held in Mississippi on July 17–18, 1837. Its winners were Democrats John F. H. Claiborne and Samuel J. Gholson. The first session of the 25th Congress was a special session beginning on September 4, 1837, extending to October 16. In November, Mississippi held the regular election. Seargent Smith Prentiss, a Vicksburg lawyer and Whig, unexpectedly launched a vigorous, partisan campaign. He and fellow Whig Thomas J. Word won in an upset. Claiborne and Gholson then argued that the July result entitled them to serve full terms. With the Whig Party newly organizing, the closely divided House, in which Anti-Masons, Nullifiers, and the Independent tended to align more with Whigs and to oppose Democrats, agreed to hear Prentiss. He spoke for nine hours over three days, packing the gallery, drawing Senators, and earning a national reputation for oratory and public admiration from leading Whigs including Senators Clay and Webster. The Elections Committee then required a third election. Scheduled for April 1838, it confirmed the November result. Both Whigs were seated in May late in the second session, also serving for the third session.
Pennsylvania
In the, Charles Naylor's election was unsuccessfully contested by Charles J. Ingersoll. There were three special elections in Pennsylvania during the 26th Congress. The first was in the caused by the death of William W. Potter on October 28, 1839. This vacancy was filled by George McCulloch. The second was in the caused by the resignation of Richard Biddle. This vacancy was filled by Henry M. Brackenridge. The third was in the caused by the death of William S. Ramsey on October 17, 1840. Ramsey had also been re-elected to the 27th Congress and so an additional special election was held the following May to fill the vacancy in the 27th Congress.
