The 1876 United States House of Representatives elections in Florida were held on November 7 for the

45th Congress The 45th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1877, ...

. These elections were held at the same time as the election for governor and the contentious

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

, in which Florida was one of four states whose electoral votes were in dispute.

Background

In the

1874 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes The Bronx. * January 2 – Ignacio María González becomes head of state of the Dominican Republic for the first time. * January 3 – Third Carlist War &ndas ...

elections, both

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

incumbents were initially declared re-elected. In the ,

Jesse J. Finley Jesse Johnson Finley (November 18, 1812 – November 6, 1904) was a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War and a member of the United States House of Representatives from Florida, following the reco ...

(D) successfully contested the re-election of Josiah T. Walls (R), so that at the time of the 1876 elections, Florida had one Democratic and one Republican incumbent.

Election results

Both incumbents ran for re-election, and both were defeated. The 1st district changed from Republican to Democratic control while the 2nd changed from Democratic to Republican control, resulting in no net change {, class=wikitable , +1876 United States House election results , - ! District ! colspan="3" , Democratic ! colspan="3" ,

, - , , ,

Robert H. M. Davidson Robert Hamilton McWhorta Davidson (September 23, 1832 – January 18, 1908) was a U.S. Representative from Florida. Biography Born near Quincy, Florida, Davidson attended the common schools and the Quincy Academy in Quincy, Florida. He studied ...

, , 13,162 , , 51.2% ,

William J. Purman William James Purman (April 11, 1840 – August 14, 1928) was a U.S. Representative from Florida. A Republican, he also served in the Florida Senate and in the Florida House of Representatives. Early life Purman was born in Millheim, Centre ...

(I) , 12,565 , 48.8% , - , ,

(I) , 11,571 , 50.0% , , Horatio Bisbee, Jr. , , 11,574 , {{Party shading/Republican , 50.0%

Contested election

As in

, Democrat

challenged the results of the election in the 2nd district. On February 20, 1879, Finley was declared the legitimate winner with a vote of 11,329 - 11,077,Recount
/ref> and was seated in Bisbee's place, serving from February 20, 1879 - March 3, 1879 when the 45th Congress ended.

References

1876 Events January–March * January 1 ** The Reichsbank opens in Berlin. ** The Bass Brewery Red Triangle becomes the world's first registered trademark symbol. * February 2 – The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs i ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

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 ...

Background

Election results

Contested election

See also

References