Year: | 1792 |
Type: | Presidential election year |
Incumbent President: | George Washington (Independent) |
Next Congress: | 3rd |
President Candidate1: | George Washington |
Electoral Vote1: | 132 |
President Map Caption: | Presidential election results map. Green denotes states won by Washington. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes cast by each state. |
Senate Control: | Pro-Administration hold |
Senate Seats Contested: | 10 of 30 seats[1] |
Senate Net Change: | Pro-Administration +1[2] |
House Control: | Anti-Administration gain |
House Seats Contested: | All 105 voting members |
House Net Change: | Anti-Administration +24 |
House Map Caption: | House of Representatives elections |
The 1792 United States elections elected the members of the 3rd United States Congress. Congress was broadly divided between a Pro-Administration faction supporting the policies of George Washington's administration and an Anti-Administration faction opposed to those policies. Due to this, the Federalist Party (generally overlapping with the Pro-Administration faction) and the Democratic-Republican Party (generally overlapping with the Anti-Administration faction) were starting to emerge as the distinct political parties of the First Party System. In this election, the Pro-Administration faction maintained control of the Senate, but lost its majority in the House.
In the presidential election, incumbent President George Washington was re-elected without any major opposition.[3] Washington had considered retirement, but was convinced to seek re-election for the purpose of national unity.[4] Though Washington went unchallenged, Governor George Clinton of New York sought to unseat John Adams as vice president. However, Adams received the second most electoral votes, and so was re-elected to office.[4] Washington remained unaffiliated with any political faction or party throughout his presidency.[5]
In the House, 37 seats were added following the 1790 census. The Anti-Administration faction picked up several seats, narrowly taking the majority from the Pro-Administration faction.[6] However, Frederick Muhlenberg, who leaned closer to the Pro-Administration faction, was elected Speaker of the House.[7]
In the Senate, the Anti-Administration faction picked up one seat, but the Pro-Administration faction maintained a small majority.[8]