Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

s to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

were held in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

on October 9, 1798, for the 6th Congress.

Background

Thirteen Representatives (7

Democratic-Republicans The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

and 6

Federalists The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of de ...

) had been elected in

1796 Events January–March * January 16 – The first Dutch (and general) elections are held for the National Assembly of the Batavian Republic. (The next Dutch general elections are held in 1888.) * February 1 – The capital ...

. One seat had changed from Federalist to Democratic-Republican in a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

in 1797. Two more seats, one held by a Democratic-Republican and one by a Federalist, had become vacant in August, 1798, and were still vacant at the time of the 1798 elections

Congressional districts

Pennsylvania was divided into 12 districts, one of which (the ) was a

plural district The plural (sometimes list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated pl., pl, or ), in many languages, is one of the values of the grammatical number, grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than the ...

, with 2 Representatives. These districts remained in use until redistricting after the Census of 1800. *The consisted of the City of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

*The consisted of

Philadelphia County Philadelphia County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the most populous county in Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, Philadelphia County had a population of 1,603,797. The county is the second smallest county in Pennsyl ...

*The consisted of

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

and

Delaware Counties The U.S. state of Delaware is divided into three counties, the fewest of any state in the United States: New Castle, Kent and Sussex. The origin of the county boundaries goes back to their former court districts. The powers of the counties' legi ...

*The (2 seats) consisted of Montgomery,

Bucks Bucks may refer to: Places * Buckinghamshire, England, abbreviated Bucks * Bucks, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community * Bucks, Illinois, United States, an unincorporated community * Bucks, Michigan, an unincorporated community ...

and Northampton Counties *The consisted of Berks and

Luzerne County Luzerne County is a county in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water. It is Northeastern Pennsylvania's second-largest county by total area. As of ...

*The consisted of

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

and Dauphin Counties *The consisted of Lancaster County *The consisted of York County *The consisted of Mifflin and

Cumberland County Cumberland County may refer to: Australia * Cumberland County, New South Wales * the former name of Cumberland Land District, Tasmania, Australia Canada *Cumberland County, Nova Scotia United Kingdom *Cumberland, historic county *Cumberlan ...

*The consisted of

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...

and Franklin Counties *The consisted of Westmoreland and Fayette Counties *The consisted of Allegheny and Washington Counties The counties that made up the 5th district did not border each other. That district was therefore made up of two separate pieces rather than being a single contiguous entity Note: Many of these counties covered much larger areas than they do today, having since been divided into numerous counties. The boundaries of the districts are based on the counties' 1790 borders.

Election results

There were two vacancies and 11 incumbents at the time of the 1798 elections. The two vacancies were filled by special elections held at the same time as the general election.

Blair McClenachan Blair McClenachan (1734May 8, 1812) was an Ireland-born American merchant and politician from Pennsylvania. He served one term in the United States House of Representatives from 1797 to 1799. Previously, he served in the Pennsylvania House of ...

(DR) of the and

William Findley William Findley (c. 1741 – April 4, 1821) was an Irish-born farmer and politician from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. He served in both houses of the state legislature and represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. House from 1791 until 1799 and ...

(DR) of the did not run for re-election. The remaining 9 incumbents (5 Democratic-Republicans and 4 Federalists) ran for re-election. 8 Democratic-Republicans and 5 Federalists were elected, a net increase of 1 seat for the Democratic-Republicans over the 1796 elections.

Special election

Thomas Hartley Thomas Hartley (September 7, 1748December 21, 1800) was an American lawyer, soldier, and politician from York, Pennsylvania. Early life and education Hartley was born in Colebrookdale Township in the Province of Pennsylvania. At 18 years of ...

(F) of the 8th district died on December 21, 1800. A special election was held January 15, 1801 to fill the vacancy. {, class=wikitable , +1801 United States House election results , - ! District ! colspan="3" ,

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

! colspan="3" , Other , - , , ,

John Stewart John Stewart may refer to: Business * John Aikman Stewart (1822–1926), American banker * John Killough Stewart (1867–1938), businessman and philanthropist in Queensland, Australia * John K. Stewart (1870–1916), American entrepreneur and inve ...

, , 476 , {{Party shading/Democratic-Republican , 87.8% , Scattering , 66 , 12.2% Stewart had already been elected in the 1800 elections

References

*Electoral data are fro
the Wilkes University Election Statistics Project

1798 Events January–June * January – Eli Whitney contracts with the U.S. federal government for 10,000 muskets, which he produces with interchangeable parts. * January 4 – Constantine Hangerli enters Bucharest, as Prince of Wa ...

Background

Congressional districts

Election results

Special election

See also

References