The 1802 United States House of Representatives elections in New York were held from April 27 to 29, 1802, to elect 17

U.S. 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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

to represent the State of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

in 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 ...

of the

8th United States Congress The 8th 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, 1803, ...

Background

Ten U.S. Representatives had been elected in April 1800 to a term in the

7th United States Congress The 7th 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, 1801, ...

beginning on March 4, 1801.

Thomas Tillotson Thomas Tillotson (May 5, 1832) was an American physician and politician. Life Born in the Province of Maryland around 1751 or 1752, Tillotson received a thorough education, studied medicine, and practiced. He was the great great nephew of the A ...

and John Bird had resigned their seats, and Theodorus Bailey and

John P. Van Ness Johannes Petrus "John Peter" Van Ness (November 4, 1769 – March 7, 1846) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative from New York from 1801 to 1803 and Mayor of Washington, D.C. from 1830 to 1834. Early life Van Ne ...

were elected to fill the vacancies. Van Ness's seat was declared vacant on January 17, 1803. The other nine representatives' term would end on March 3, 1803. The congressional elections were held together with the State elections in late April 1802, about ten months before the term would start on March 4, 1803, and about a year and three months before Congress actually met on October 17, 1803.

Congressional districts

Until the previous elections, there had been ten congressional districts. After the U.S. census of 1800, Congress re-apportioned the seats, and New York's representation was increased to 17. On March 30, 1802, the

New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an official ...

re-apportioned the congressional districts. *The 1st District comprising

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

and

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

counties. *The 2nd District comprising the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th Ward of

New York County Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

; and Kings and

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

counties. *The 3rd District comprising the 4th, 6th and 7th Ward of New York County. *The 4th District comprising Westchester and Rockland counties. *The

5th District District 5, 5 District or 5th District may refer to: Europe * District 5 (Zürich) * District 5, Düsseldorf * V District, Turku * Districts of Malta#District 5, District 5, an electoral district of Malta * Districts of Malta#District 5 2, Distric ...

comprising

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

. *The 6th District comprising

Dutchess County Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later organ ...

. *The 7th District comprising

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

and

Greene Greene may refer to: Places United States *Greene, Indiana, an unincorporated community *Greene, Iowa, a city *Greene, Maine, a town ** Greene (CDP), Maine, in the town of Greene *Greene (town), New York ** Greene (village), New York, in the town ...

counties. *The

8th District 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of the ...

comprising Columbia County. *The 9th District comprising Albany County. *The 10th District comprising

Rensselaer County Rensselaer County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 161,130. Its county seat is Troy. The county is named in honor of the family of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, the original Dutch owner of the la ...

. *The

11th District 11 (eleven) is the natural number following 10 and preceding 12. It is the first repdigit. In English, it is the smallest positive integer whose name has three syllables. Name "Eleven" derives from the Old English ', which is first attested i ...

comprising Clinton, Saratoga and

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

counties. *The 12th District comprising Washington County. *The 13th District comprising Montgomery and Schoharie counties. *The 14th District comprising

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

and Otsego counties. *The 15th District comprising Herkimer and

Oneida Oneida may refer to: Native American/First Nations * Oneida people, a Native American/First Nations people and one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois Confederacy * Oneida language * Oneida Indian Nation, based in New York * Oneida Na ...

counties. *The 16th District comprising Chenango, Tioga and

Onondaga Onondaga may refer to: Native American/First Nations * Onondaga people, a Native American/First Nations people and one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois League * Onondaga (village), Onondaga settlement and traditional Iroquois capita ...

counties. *The 17th District comprising

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Steuben and

Cayuga Cayuga often refers to: * Cayuga people, a native tribe to North America, part of the Iroquois Confederacy * Cayuga language, the language of the Cayuga Cayuga may also refer to: Places Canada * Cayuga, Ontario United States * Cayuga, Illinois ...

counties. Note: There are now 62 counties in the State of

. The counties which are not mentioned in this list had not yet been established, or sufficiently organized, the area being included in one or more of the abovementioned counties.

Result

12 Democratic-Republicans and 5 Federalists were elected. The incumbents Smith, Mitchill, Van Cortlandt, Thomas and Van Rensselaer were re-elected; the incumbent Van Ness was defeated. Note: The Anti-Federalists called themselves "Republicans." However, at the same time, the Federalists called them "Democrats" which was meant to be pejorative. After some time both terms got more and more confused, and sometimes used together as "Democratic Republicans" which later historians have adopted (with a hyphen) to describe the party from the beginning, to avoid confusion with both the later established and still existing Democratic and

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 ...

parties.

Aftermath and special elections

John Cantine, elected in the 7th D., resigned his seat before the congressional term began. A special election to fill the vacancy was held at the time of the annual State election in April 1803, and was won by Josiah Hasbrouck, of the same party. Isaac Bloom, elected in the 6th D., died on April 26, 1803, before Congress met. A special election to fill the vacancy was held in September 1803, and was won by Daniel C. Verplanck, of the same party. The House of Representatives of the

met for the first time at the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, on October 17, 1803, and Griswold, Hasbrouck, Livingston, McCord, Mitchill, Palmer, Sammons, Sands, Thomas, Van Cortlandt and Verplanck took their seats on this day. Smith took his seat on October 20; Patterson and Root on October 21; Van Rensselaer on October 29; Phelps on November 7; and Tibbits on November 15.''Abridgment of the Debates in Congress from 1789 to 1856''
(Vol. III; pages 50, 52, 78 and 98) John Smith, from the 1st D., resigned his seat effective February 22, 1804, after his election to the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

. A special election to fill the vacancy was held at the time of the annual State election in April 1804, and was won by Samuel Riker, of the same party. Riker took his seat on November 5, 1804. (Note: The vacancy in the 8th Congress and the next term in the 9th Congress were filled at the same election. The candidate with the higher number of votes won the full term, the next best was elected to fill the vacancy. Thus Wickes succeeded Riker on March 4, 1805.) Samuel L. Mitchill, who had been re-elected in the 3rd D. in April 1804 to a third term, beginning on March 4, 1805, resigned his seat on November 22, 1804, after his election to the

. A special election to fill both vacancies (the remainder of his term in the 8th Congress and his seat in the 9th Congress) was held, and were won by

George Clinton, Jr. George Clinton Jr. (June 6, 1771 – September 16, 1809) was an American politician and lawyer who served as a U.S. representative from New York from 1805 to 1809. Early life He was born in New York City on June 6, 1771, the son of Mary De Witt ...

, of the same party. Clinton took his seat in the 8th Congress on February 14, 1805, and remained in office after March 4.

Notes

Sources

''The New York Civil List''
compiled in 1858 (see: pg. 65 for district apportionment; pg. 69 for Congressmen)
Members of the Eighth United States CongressElection result 1st D.
at

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

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1802 Events January–March * January 5 – Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, begins removal of the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon in Athens, claiming they were at risk of destruction during the Ot ...

1802 New York (state) elections