United States House of Representatives elections, 1902

1900 ←

November 4, 1902^[1]

→ 1904

All 386 seats to the United States House of Representatives 194 seats were needed for a majority

	Majority party	Minority party

Leader	Joseph Cannon	John Sharp Williams
Party	Republican	Democratic
Leader's seat	Illinois-18th	Mississippi-8th
Last election	198 seats	153 seats
Seats won	209	176
Seat change	11	23

Speaker before election

David Henderson
Republican

Elected Speaker

Joseph Cannon
Republican

Elections to the United States House of Representatives in 1902 occurred in the middle of President Theodore Roosevelt's first term, about a year after the assassination of President William McKinley in September 1901.

Due to the increase in the size of the House, both Roosevelt's Republican Party and the opposition Democratic Party gained seats. The Democrats increased their share of the House, but not by enough to regain control. With a stable economy and no cornerstone issue, Democratic gains can mostly be linked to the effects of redistricting. Many of the new seats were in areas that featured a high number of immigrants, either Eastern and Southern Europeans industrial workers or Northern European farmers. New immigrant groups trended Democratic. The Populist Party disappeared from the House, with its supporters almost unanimously switching to the Democratic Party. Notable freshmen included future Vice President and Speaker John Nance Garner (D-Texas).

1 Election summaries
2 Complete returns
3 See also
4 External links
5 References

Election summaries [edit]

29 new seats were added in reapportionment following the 1900 Census.^[2] No states lost seats, 16 had no change in apportionment, 14 gained 1 seat, 3 gained 2 seats, and 3 gained 3 seats. Two of the states that gained representation elected the new seat at-large.

State	Type	Total seats		Republican		Democratic		Silver Republican
State	Type	Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Alabama	District	9		0		9		0
Arkansas	District	7	1	0		7	1	0
California	District	8	1	5	2	3	3	0
Colorado	District +at-large^[3]	3^[4]	1	2	2	0		1
Connecticut	District +at-large^[3]	5	1	5	1	0		0
Delaware	At-large	1		0	1	1	1	0
Florida	District	3	1	0		3	1	0
Georgia	District	11		0		11		0
Idaho	At-large	1^[4]		1	1	0		0
Illinois	District	25	3	17	6	8	3	0
Indiana	District	13		9		4		0
Iowa	District	11		10	1	1	1	0
Kansas	District +at-large	8		8	1	0	1	0
Kentucky	District	11		1	1	10	1	0
Louisiana	District	7	1	0		7	1	0
Maine^[5]	District	4		4		0		0
Maryland	District	6		5	1	1	1	0
Massachusetts	District	14	1	10		4	1	0
Michigan	District	12		11	1	1	1	0
Minnesota	District	9	2	8	1	1	1	0
Mississippi	District	8	1	0		8	1	0
Missouri	District	16	1	1	1	15	2	0
Montana	At-large	1^[4]		1	1	0		0
Nebraska	District	6^[6]		5	3	1	1	0
Nevada	At-large	1		0		1		0
New Hampshire	District	2		2		0		0
New Jersey	District	10	2	7	1	3	1	0
New York	District	37	3	20	1	17	4	0
North Carolina	District	10	1	0	2	10	3	0
North Dakota	District^[7]	2	1	2	1	0		0
Ohio	District	21		17		4		0
Oregon^[5]	District	2		2		0		0
Pennsylvania	District^[8]	32	2	28	2	4		0
Rhode Island	District	2		1	1	1	1	0
South Carolina	District	7		0		7		0
South Dakota	At-large	2		2		0		0
Tennessee	District	10		2		8		0
Texas	District	16	3	0		16	3	0
Utah	At-large	1		1		0		0
Vermont^[5]	District	2		2		0		0
Virginia	District	10		1	1	9	1	0
Washington	At-large	3	1	3	1	0		0
West Virginia	District	5	1	5	1	0		0
Wisconsin	District	11	1	10		1	1	0
Wyoming	At-large	1		1		0		0
Total		386	29	209 54.1%	11	176 45.8%	23	1 0.3%

The previous election had 5 Populists, which party completely disappeared in the 1902 elections.

Three states, with 8 seats between them, held elections early in 1902:

June 2 Oregon
September 2 Vermont
September 8 Maine

House seats by party holding plurality in state
80.1-100% Democratic	80.1-100% Republican
60.1-80% Democratic	60.1-80% Republican
Up to 60% Democratic	Up to 60% Republican

6+ Democratic gain	6+ Republican gain
3-5 Democratic gain	3-5 Republican gain
1-2 Democratic gain	1-2 Republican gain
no net change

Complete returns [edit]

Party abbreviations:

California [edit]

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in California, 1902

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
California 1	Samuel D. Woods Redistricted from the 2nd district	Republican	1900	Retired Republican hold	James N. Gillett (R) 50.5% Thomas S. Ford (D) 46.7% M. E. Shore (S) 1.9% W. O. Clark (Pr) 0.9%
California 2	Frank Coombs Redistricted from the 1st district	Republican	1900	Lost re-election Democratic gain	Theodore A. Bell (D) 49.2% Frank Coombs (R) 48.3% G. H. Rogers (S) 1.7% W. P. Fassett (Pr) 0.8%
California 3	Victor H. Metcalf	Republican	1898	Re-elected	Victor H. Metcalf (R) 66.2% Calvin B. White (D) 27.7% M. W. Wilkins (S) 5% T. H. Montgomery (Pr) 1.1%
California 4	Julius Kahn	Republican	1898	Lost re-election Democratic gain	Edward J. Livernash (D) 49.2% Julius Kahn (R) 48.7% William Costley (S) 1.9% Joseph Rowell (Pr) 0.2%
California 5	Eugene F. Loud	Republican	1890	Lost re-election Democratic gain	William J. Wynn (D) 56.5% Eugene F. Loud (R) 41.2% Joseph Lawrence (S) 1.5% Frank W. Caton (Pr) 0.7%
California 6	James C. Needham Redistricted from the 7th district	Republican	1898	Re-elected	James C. Needham (R) 53.5% Gaston N. Ashe (D) 42.5% J. L. Cobb (S) 2.5% L. C. Jolley (Pr) 1.4%
California 7	James McLachlan Redistricted from the 6th district	Republican	1900	Re-elected	James McLachlan (R) 64.8% Carl A. Johnson (D) 27% George H. Hewes (S) 4.2% Frederick F. Wheeler (Pr) 4%
California 8	None (District created)			New district Republican gain	Milton J. Daniels (R) 51.9% William E. Smythe (D) 40.8% Noble A. Richardson (S) 5.4% Ellsworth Leonardson (Pr) 2%

Florida [edit]

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Florida, 1902

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Florida 1	Stephen M. Sparkman	Democratic	1894	Re-elected	Stephen M. Sparkman (D) 100%
Florida 2	Robert Wyche Davis	Democratic	1896	Re-elected	Robert Wyche Davis (D) 100%
Florida 3	None (District created)			Democratic win	William B. Lamar (D) 100%

South Carolina [edit]

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina, 1902

District	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
South Carolina 1	William Elliott	Democratic	1886 1896	Retired to run for the Senate Democratic hold	George Swinton Legaré (D) 95.5% Aaron P. Prioleau (R) 4.5%
South Carolina 2	W. Jasper Talbert	Democratic	1892	Retired to run for Governor Democratic hold	George W. Croft (D) 94.9% W. S. Dixon (R) 5.0% Others 0.1%
South Carolina 3	Asbury Latimer	Democratic	1892	Retired to run for the Senate Democratic hold	Wyatt Aiken (D) 98.9% John Scott (R) 1.1%
South Carolina 4	Joseph T. Johnson	Democratic	1900	Re-elected	Joseph T. Johnson (D) 98.7% L. W. C. Blalock (R) 1.3%
South Carolina 5	David E. Finley	Democratic	1898	Re-elected	David E. Finley (D) 99.3% C. P. T. White (R) 0.7%
South Carolina 6	Robert B. Scarborough	Democratic	1900	Re-elected	Robert B. Scarborough (D) 100%
South Carolina 7	Asbury F. Lever	Democratic	1901 (special)	Re-elected	Asbury F. Lever (D) 96.2% Alexander D. Dantzler (R) 3.8%

External links [edit]

The Republican Campaign Textbook 1902

References [edit]

Unless otherwise noted, electoral data are from Ourcampaigns.com

^ 3 states held elections on earlier dates
^ Apportionment Act of 1901
^ ^a ^b Additional seat elected at-large due to State delaying redistricting
^ ^a ^b ^c Previous election had 1 Populist
^ ^a ^b ^c Elections held early
^ Previous election had 2 Populists
^ Changed from at-large
^ At-large seats eliminated in redistricting

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