1796 United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania

Background

Thirteen Representatives (9 Democratic-Republicans and 4 Federalists) had been elected in 1794. One Representative, Daniel Hiester (DR) of the resigned on July 1, 1796. His seat was vacant at the time of the 1796 election, and was filled in a special election held at the same time.

Congressional districts

Pennsylvania was divided into 12 districts, one of which (the ) was a plural district, with 2 Representatives. These districts remained in use until redistricting after the census of 1800.

• The consisted of the City of Philadelphia
• The consisted of Philadelphia County
• The consisted of Chester and Delaware Counties
• The (2 seats) consisted of Montgomery, Bucks and Northampton Counties
• The consisted of Berks and Luzerne County
• The consisted of Northumberland and Dauphin Counties
• The consisted of Lancaster County
• The consisted of York County
• The consisted of Mifflin and Cumberland County
• The consisted of Bedford, Huntingdon and Franklin Counties
• The consisted of Westmoreland and Fayette Counties
• The consisted of Allegheny and Washington Counties

The counties that made up the 5th district did not border each other. That district was therefore made up of two separate pieces rather than being a single contiguous entity

Note: Many of these counties covered much larger areas than they do today, having since been divided into numerous counties

Election results

11 incumbents (7 Democratic-Republicans and 4 Federalists) ran for re-election. Frederick Muhlenberg (DR) of the did not run for re-election. Of the incumbents who ran for re-election, 9 (5 Democratic-Republicans and 4 Federalists) were re-elected. Overall, 7 Democratic-Republicans and 6 Federalists were elected, a net gain of 2 seats for the Federalists.

Special Elections

George Ege (F) of the resigned in October, 1797 and was replaced in a special election held October 10, 1797

With Hiester's election, the Democratic-Republicans gained 1 seat, increasing their majority to 8-5

John Swanwick (DR) of the died on August 1, 1798, and Samuel Sitgreaves (F) of the resigned on August 29, 1798. Special elections were held in those districts on October 9, 1798, the same day as the elections to the 6th Congress.

Both also won election to the 6th Congress. The 1st district changed from Democratic-Republican to Federalist while the 4th district changed from Federalist to Democratic-Republican, leaving no net change in seats for the remainder of the 5th Congress.

References

• Electoral data are from the Wilkes University Election Statistics Project

References

1. Elected in subsequent special election