1788 United States House of Representatives election in Pennsylvania explained

Election Name:United States House of Representatives election in Pennsylvania, 1788
Country:Pennsylvania
Type:legislative
Ongoing:no
Next Election:United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania, 1791
Next Year:1791
Seats For Election:All 8 Pennsylvania seats to the United States House of Representatives
Election Date:November 26, 1788
Party1:Pro-Administration Party (United States)
Seats1:6
Popular Vote1:8,707
Percentage1:54.0%
Party2:Anti-Administration Party (United States)
Seats2:2
Popular Vote2:7,417
Percentage2:46.0%

An election to the United States House of Representatives was held in Pennsylvania on November 26, 1788, for the 1st Congress.

Background

The United States Constitution was adopted on September 17, 1787, by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, and then ratified by the States. Pennsylvania's legislature ratified the Constitution on December 12, 1787, by a vote of 46–23. On July 8, 1788, the Congress of the Confederation passed a resolution calling the first session of the 1st United States Congress for March 4, 1789, to convene at New York City and the election of senators and representatives in the meanwhile by the States.

Election

Pennsylvania's legislature scheduled the election for November 26, 1788, and provided for the election to be held on an at-large basis, an attempt by the Federalist-dominated legislature to prevent anti-Federalist Representatives from being elected in frontier districts. Both parties submitted tickets with 8 candidates each. The large German population in Pennsylvania tended to vote for German candidates, giving the Anti-Federalist Muhlenberg and Hiester enough votes to gain seats.[1]

1788 United States House election results
colspan="3" Pro-Administration colspan="3" Anti-Administration
Frederick Muhlenberg8,7077.49%Peter Muhlenberg7,4176.38%
Henry Wynkoop8,2467.09%Daniel Hiester7,4036.37%
Thomas Hartley8,1637.02%William Findley6,5865.66%
George Clymer8,0946.96%William Irvine6,4925.58%
Thomas Fitzsimons8,0866.95%Charles Pettit6,4815.57%
Thomas Scott8,0686.94%William Montgomery6,3485.46%
John Allison7,0676.08%Blair McClenachan6,2235.35%
Stephen Chambers7,0506.06%Robert Whitehall5,8505.03%

See also

References

  1. http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=280017 Ourcampaigns.com article on this election