United States House of Representatives elections, 1894

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The U.S. House election, 1894 was a realigning election--a major Republican landslide that set the stage for the decisive Election of 1896. The elections of members of the United States House of Representatives in 1894 came in the middle of President Grover Cleveland's second term. The nation was in its deepest economic depression ever following the Panic of 1893, so economic issues were at the forefront. In the spring a major coal strike damaged the economy of the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic. It was accompanied by violence; the miners lost and many moved toward the Populist party. No sooner was the coal strike over than Eugene V. Debs led a nationwide railroad strike, called the Pullman Strike. It shut down the nation's transportation system west of Detroit for weeks, until President Cleveland's use of federal troops ended the strike. Debs went to prison (for disobeying a court order). Illinois' Governor John Peter Altgeld, a Democrat, broke bitterly with Cleveland.

The Democratic Party was crushed everywhere outside the South, losing more than half its seats to the Republican Party. The Democrats lost 125 seats in the election while the Republicans won 130 seats. This makes the 1894 election the largest midterm election victory in the entire history of the United States.

The main issues revolved around the severe economic depression, which the Republicans blamed on the conservative Bourbon Democrats led by Cleveland. Cleveland supporters lost heavily, weakening their hold on the party and setting the stage for a silverite takeover in 1896. The Populist party ran candidates in the South and Midwest, but generally lost ground. The Democrats tried to raise a religious issue, claiming the GOP was in cahoots with the American Protective Association. The allegations seem to have fallen flat as Catholics moved toward the GOP. [Jensen (1971) ch 9]. Democrat William Jennings Bryan lost the Senate race in Nebraska, but came back to win the 1896 presidential nomination.

1 Overall results
2 California
3 See also
4 References
- 4.1 Primary sources
- 4.2 Scholarly studies

[edit] Overall results

Party	Total Seats (change)		Seat percentage
Democratic Party	93	-125	26.0%
Independents	0	-2	0.0%
Other	1	+0	0.2%
Populist Party	9	-2	2.5%
Republican Party	254	+130	71.1%
Totals	357	+1	100.0%

80.1-100% Republican	80.1-100% Democratic
60.1-80% Republican	60.1-80% Democratic


House seats by party holding plurality in state

6+ Republican gain	6+ Democratic gain
3-5 Republican gain	3-5 Democratic gain
1-2 Republican gain	1-2 Democratic gain
no net change	1-2 Populist gain

[edit] California

District	Incumbent	Party	Elected	Status	Opponent
California 1	Thomas J. Geary	Democratic	1890	Running	John All Barham (R) 41.1% Thomas J. Geary (D) 37% Robert F. Grigsby (PP) 19.7% J. R. Gregory (Proh.) 2.2%
California 2	Anthony Caminetti	Democratic	1890	Running	Grove L. Johnson (R) 43% Anthony Caminetti (D) 35.1% Burdett Cornell (PP) 19.9% Elam Biggs (Proh.) 1.9%
California 3	Warren B. English	Democratic	1894	Running	Samuel G. Hilborn (R) 45.5% Warren B. English (D) 37.8% W. A. Vann (PP) 14.9% L. B. Scranton (Proh.) 1.8%
California 4	James G. Maguire	Democratic	1892	Running	James G. Maguire (D) 48.3% Thomas B. Shannon (R) 32% B. K. Collier (PP) 18.4% Joseph Rowell (Proh.) 1.3%
California 5	Eugene F. Loud	Republican	1890	Running	Eugene F. Loud (R) 35.7% Joseph P. Kelly (D) 22.9% James T. Rogers (PP) 20.9% James Denman (I) (D) 18.2% Robert Summers (Proh.) 2.3%
California 6	Marion Cannon	Populist	1892	Retiring	James McLachlan (R) 44.3% George S. Patton (D) 27.6% W. C. Bowman (PP) 23.1% J. E. McComas (Proh.) 5%
California 7	William W. Bowers	Republican	1890	Running	William W. Bowers (R) 42.9% William H. Alford (D) 28.2% J. L. Gilbert (PP) 25% W. H. Somers (Proh.) 3.9%