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Section #19 - Regional violence ends in Kansas as a “Free State” Constitution banning all black residents passes

Chapter 235: Republicans Win The Mid-Term House Elections

August 2, 1858 to November 8, 1859

The Democrats Lose Their Prior Majority

Francis Blair Jr.
Francis Blair, Jr. (1821-1878)

The actual mid-term election voting is strung out between August 2, 1858 and November 8, 1859 – a pattern that will persist until an 1872 bill that concentrates all polling on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

When the returns are all in, the Democrats have lost their majority in the House, surrendering 35 seats in total, with 19 going to a splinter group christened the Southern Opposition Party. Meanwhile the Republicans are the big winners, capturing 116 seats for a plurality position.

Results Of 1858 Elections: The House 
Party# SeatsGain/Loss
Democrats98–35
Republicans116+26
Know Nothings5–9
So. Opposition19+19
Total238

The largest statewide shift in popularity occurs in Buchanan’s home state of Pennsylvania, where his Democrats lose ten races. Gains by the new Southern Opposition faction are concentrated in the mid-South, Tennessee, Kentucky and North Carolina.

Biggest Shifts From 1856 Results In The House
GainersLosers
Pennsylvania Republicans +10 Democrats -10
Tennessee So. Opposition +7 Democrats -4/ KN -3
New York Republicans +5 Democrats -5
Kentucky So. Opposition +5 Democrats -3/KN -2
North Carolina So. Opposition +4 Democrats -3/KN -1
Fall 1858

The Differences By Region Are Foreboding

The results by region reinforce the threat of a Union on the brink of dissolution.

In the slave states of the South, the Republicans win exactly one seat, that in Missouri’s 1st District, won by Francis Preston Blair, Jr.

Conversely in the North, they pile up 115 wins against only 33 going to the Democrats.

Should a portion of these Democratic victories give way in 1860, a new President, chosen entirely on electoral votes in the North, would be a possibility. In effect, a “Northern President.”

House Seats Won In The 1858 Election By State
SoutheastTot SeatsRepublicanDemocratsSo. OppositionKnow Nothing
Virginia 13 12 (-1) 1 (+1) 0
North Carolina 4 (-3) 4 (+4) 0 (-1)
Georgia 2 (+2) 0 (-2)
South Carolina 0
Total35 0 02870
Border
Kentucky 10 5 (-3) 5 (+5) 0 (-2)
Maryland 3
Missouri 5 (+1) 1 (-1)
Delaware 0
Total2411454
Southwest
Tennessee 10 3 (-4) 7 (+7) 0 (-3)
Alabama 0
Mississippi 0
Louisiana 1
Arkansas 0
Texas 0
Florida 0
Total3102371
 
Total South90165195
Northeast
New York3326 (+5)7 (-5)
Pennsylvania2520 (+10)5 (-10)
Massachusetts11110
Maine660
New Jersey53 (+1)2 (-1)
Connecticut44 (+2)0 (-2)
New Hampshire330
Rhode Island220
Vermont330
Total927814
Northwest
Ohio2115 (+2)6 (-2)
Indiana117 (+2)4 (-2)
Illinois945
Michigan440
Total453015
Far West
Wisconsin32 (-1)1 (+1)
California202
Iowa220
Minnesota22 (+2)0 (-2)
Oregon101
Kansas11 (+1)
Total1174
Total North1481153300
Total U.S.23811698195

In the Senate, with only one-third of the seats are in play, the trend is toward the Republicans, although the Democrats still maintain a fairly comfortable majority.

Results Of 1858 Elections: The Senate
Party# SeatsGain/Loss
Democrats38-4
Republicans25+5 
Know Nothings2-2
Total65