The 1840âÂÂ41 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between July 6, 1840, and November 2, 1841. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives, before or after the first session of the 27th United States Congress convened on May 31, 1841. Elections were held for all 242 seats, representing 26 states.
In a Whig wave, voters gave the Whig Party a House majority for the first time. Most Americans experienced the Panic of 1837 as a severe economic downturn. Its perceived mishandling by Democratic President Martin Van Buren fueled new support for alternative economic policies favored by Whigs of which voters had previously been skeptical. Collapse of the Anti-Masonic Party in the late 1830s also drove some third-party incumbents into the Whig Party. Newly elected members included Robert M. T. Hunter, Independent of Virginia, and Zadok Casey, Independent Democrat of Illinois.
The previous election had two minor parties, the Anti-Masonic Party with 6 seats and the Conservative Party (of Virginia) with 2 seats, both of which disappeared in this election.
The 1st session of the 27th Congress began May 31, 1841, before Mississippi had elected Representatives, leaving that State unrepresented until the 2nd session.
|- ! | Francis Granger | | Whig | 1838 | | Incumbent resigned March 5, 1841 to become U.S. Postmaster General.<br/>New member elected May 13, 1841 and seated May 21, 1841.<br/>Whig hold. | nowrap |
|- ! | John Greig | | Whig | 1841 | | Incumbent resigned September 25, 1841.<br/>New member elected November 3, 1841 and seated November 27, 1841.<br/>Whig hold. | nowrap |
|- ! rowspan=3 | <br/> | William C. Dawson | | Whig | 1836 | | Incumbent resigned November 13, 1841 to run for Governor of Georgia.<br/>New member elected December 21, 1841.<br/>Democratic gain. | rowspan=3 nowrap |
|- | E. A. Nisbet | | Whig | 1838 | | Incumbent resigned October 12, 1841.<br/>New member elected December 21, 1841.<br/>Democratic gain.
|- | Julius C. Alford | | Whig | 1838 | | Incumbent resigned October 1, 1841.<br/>New member elected December 21, 1841.<br/>Democratic gain.
|- ! | Edward Cross | | Democratic | 1838 | Incumbent reelected. | nowrap |
|- ! | Joseph Trumbull | | Whig | 1839 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |
|- ! | William W. Boardman | | Whig | 1840 <small>(special)</small> | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |
|- ! | Thomas W. Williams | | Whig | 1839 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |
|- ! | Thomas B. Osborne | | Whig | 1839 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |
|- ! | Truman Smith | | Whig | 1839 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |
|- ! | Orrin Holt | | Whig | 1839 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |
See Non-voting delegates, below.
See Non-voting delegates, below.
Maine elected its members September 14, 1840.
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|- ! | Thomas Davee | | Democratic | 1836 | | Incumbent retired.<br/>Whig gain. | nowrap |
Massachusetts held its elections November 9, 1840, but one district went to a second ballot on January 4, 1841.
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|- ! | William Parmenter | | Democratic | 1836 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |
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|- ! | Henry Williams | | Democratic | 1838 | | Incumbent lost re-election.<br/>New member elected on the second ballot.<br/>Whig gain. | nowrap | Second ballot <br/>
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|- ! | John Quincy Adams | | Whig | 1830 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |
Elections held late, from November 1 to 2, 1841.
|- ! rowspan=2 | <br/><small>(2 seats)</small> | Jacob Thompson | | Democratic | 1839 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap rowspan=2 | |- | Albert G. Brown | | Democratic | 1839 | | Incumbent retired.<br/>Democratic hold.
|- ! | Isaac E. Crary | | 1835 | | Incumbent retired.<br>Whig gain. | nowrap |
Elections held late, on May 6, 1841.
|- ! | William B. Carter | | Whig | 1835 | |Incumbent retired.<br/>Whig hold. | nowrap |
|- ! | Abraham McClellan | | Democratic | 1837 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |
|- ! | Joseph L. Williams | | Whig | 1837 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |
|- ! | Julius W. Blackwell | | Democratic | 1839 | |Incumbent lost re-election.<br/>Whig gain. | nowrap |
|- ! | Hopkins L. Turney | | Democratic | 1837 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |
|- ! | William B. Campbell | | Whig | 1837 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |
|- ! | John Bell | | Whig | 1827 | |Incumbent retired to become Secretary of War.<br/>Whig hold. | nowrap |
|- ! | Meredith P. Gentry | | Whig | 1839 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |
|- ! | Harvey M. Watterson | | Democratic | 1839 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |
|- ! | Aaron V. Brown | | Democratic | 1839 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |
|- ! | Cave Johnson | | Democratic | 1839 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |
|- ! | John W. Crockett | | Whig | 1837 | |Incumbent retired to become Attorney General for the 9th district.<br/>Whig hold. | nowrap |
|- ! | Kit Williams | | Whig | 1837 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |
|- ! | Hiland Hall | | Whig | 1833 <small>(special)</small> | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |
|- ! | William Slade | | Whig | 1831 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |
|- ! | Horace Everett | | Whig | 1828 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |
|- ! | John Smith | | 1838 | | Incumbent lost re-election.<br/>Whig gain. | nowrap |
|- ! | Isaac Fletcher | | 1836 | | Incumbent lost re-election.<br/>Whig gain. | nowrap |
|- ! | Francis Mallory | | Whig | 1840 <small>(special)</small> | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |
|- ! | Francis E. Rives | | 1837 | | Incumbent retired.<br/>Democratic hold. | nowrap |
|- ! | John Winston Jones | | 1835 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |
|- ! | George Dromgoole | | 1835 | | Incumbent retired.<br/>Democratic hold. | nowrap |
|- ! | John Hill | | Whig | 1839 | | Incumbent lost re-election.<br/>Democratic gain. | nowrap |
|- ! | Walter Coles | | 1835 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |
|- ! | William L. Goggin | | Whig | 1839 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |
|- ! | Henry A. Wise | | Whig | 1833 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |
|- ! | Robert M. T. Hunter | | Whig | 1837 | | Incumbent re-elected as an Independent.<br/>Independent gain. | nowrap |
|- ! | John Taliaferro | | Whig | 1835 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |
|- ! | John Botts | | Whig | 1839 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |
|- ! | James Garland | | Conservative | 1835 | | Incumbent lost re-election.<br/>Whig gain. | nowrap |
|- ! | Linn Banks | | 1838 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |
|- ! | Charles F. Mercer | | Whig | 1817 | | Incumbent retired.<br/>Whig hold. | nowrap |
|- ! | William Lucas | | 1839 | | Incumbent lost re-election.<br/>Whig gain. | nowrap |
|- ! | Green Berry Samuels | | 1839 | | Incumbent retired.<br/>Democratic hold. | nowrap |
|- ! | Robert Craig | | 1835 | | Incumbent retired.<br/>Whig gain. | nowrap |
|- ! | George W. Hopkins | | Conservative | 1835 | | Incumbent re-elected as a Democrat.<br/>Democratic gain. | nowrap |
|- ! | Andrew Beirne | | 1837 | | Incumbent retired.<br/>Whig gain. | nowrap |
|- ! | Joseph Johnson | | 1835 | | Incumbent retired.<br/>Democratic hold. | nowrap |
|- ! | Lewis Steenrod | | 1839 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |
See Non-voting delegates, below.
|- ! | William W. Chapman | | Democratic | 1838 | | Incumbent's term expired by law.<br/>New delegate elected in 1840.<br/>Democratic hold. | nowrap |
|- ! | Charles Downing | | Democratic | 1836 | Incumbent re-elected on an unknown date. | nowrap |
|- ! | Augustus C. Dodge | | Democratic | 1840 | Incumbent re-elected August 6, 1841. | nowrap |
|- ! | James D. Doty | | Democratic | 1838 | Incumbent re-elected on an unknown date. | nowrap |