United States House of Representatives elections, 1858

The U.S. House election, 1858 was an election for the United States House of Representatives in 1858.

The Republicans gained control of the House for the first time in 1858, benefiting from the continued breakdown in the anti-immigration and anti-Catholic American Party of the Know Nothing Movement and internal strife within the Democratic Party. The Republicans were actually several seats short of a true majority, but were able to muster up enough support from members of other parties to have authority. The deeply divided Democrats continued to fall apart due to the slavery issue, losing a number of seats, and the American Party all but collapsed. A number of former Whigs who were dissatisfied with their short membership in the Republican Party, as well as some former Know Nothings, formed the Opposition Party, which generally allied more with the Republicans than Democrats.

Overall results

California

Note: From statehood to 1864, California's representatives were elected at-large, with the top two vote-getters winning election from 1849 to 1858; in 1860 when California gained a seat in the House the top three vote-getters were elected.

ee also

http://clerk.house.gov/histHigh/Congressional_History/index.html

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