| Election Name: | 1844 Iowa Council election |
| Country: | Iowa |
| Flag Image: | Flag of Iowa (variant).svg |
| Type: | legislative |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1843 Iowa Council election |
| Previous Year: | 1843 |
| Next Election: | 1845 Iowa Council election |
| Next Year: | 1845 |
| Seats For Election: | All 13 seats in the Iowa Territory Council |
| Majority Seats: | 7 |
| Election Date: | 1844 |
| Party1: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Last Election1: | 7 |
| Seats Before1: | 6 |
| Seat Change1: | 5 |
| Seats After1: | 11 |
| Party2: | Whig Party (US) |
| Last Election2: | 6 |
| Seats Before2: | 6 |
| Seat Change2: | 4 |
| Seats After2: | 2 |
| President of the Iowa Territory Council | |
| Before Election: | Thomas Cox |
| Before Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| After Election: | Serranus Clinton Hastings |
| After Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
In the 1844 Iowa Territory Council elections, electors selected councilors to serve in the seventh Iowa Territory Council. All 13 members of the Territory Council were elected. Councilors served one-year terms.
The Iowa Territory existed from July 4, 1838, until December 28, 1846, when Iowa was admitted to the Union as a state. At the time, the Iowa Territory had a Legislative Assembly consisting of an upper chamber (i.e., the Territory Council) and a lower chamber (i.e., the Territory House of Representatives).
Following the previous election in 1843, Democrats held a majority with seven seats to Whigs' six seats. During the sixth session of the Territory Council, Councilor Cox died, causing a vacancy in a Democratic Party seat. Therefore, on election day in 1844, the Democrats and Whigs both had six seats each.
To claim a majority of seats, the Whigs needed to net one seat from Democrats.
Democrats maintained a majority of seats in the Iowa Territory Council following the 1844 general election with the balance of power shifting to Democrats holding 11 seats and Whigs having two seats (a net gain of 5 seat for Democrats, including regaining the vacant seat). Democratic Councilor Serranus Clinton Hastings was chosen as the President of the seventh Territory Council to succeed the deceased Democratic Councilor Thomas Cox in that leadership position.
| Iowa Territory Council District | Incumbent | Party | Elected Councilor | Party | Outcome | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Robert M. G. Patterson | Whig | James Brierly | Dem | Dem Gain | |||
| William Patterson | Dem | John Thompson | Dem | Dem Hold | ||||
| 2nd | John D. Elbert | Whig | Paul Brattain | Dem | Dem Gain | |||
| James H. Jenkins | Dem | Henry M. Shelby | Dem | Dem Hold | ||||
| 3rd | Shepherd Leffler | Dem | Shepherd Leffler | Dem | Dem Hold | |||
| 4th | William Henson Wallace | Whig | John Stephenson | Whig | Whig Hold | |||
| 5th | Joseph B. Teas | Dem | William Greyer Coop | Dem | Dem Hold | |||
| 6th | Francis Springer | Whig | Enoch Ross | Whig | Whig Hold | |||
| 7th | Pleasant Harris | Dem | Serranus Clinton Hastings | Dem | Dem Hold | |||
| 8th | John Parsons Cook | Whig | William Abbe | Dem | Dem Gain | |||
| 9th | Robert Christie | Whig | Laurel Summers | Dem | Dem Gain | |||
| 10th | Thomas Cox | Dem | Philip Burr Bradley | Dem | Dem Gain | |||
| Vacancy after Cox's death | ||||||||
| Francis Gehon | Dem | Stephen Hempstead | Dem | Dem Hold | ||||
Source:[1]
District boundaries for the Iowa Territory Council were redrawn before the 1844 general election: