1832 United States elections

Last updated

1832 United States elections
1830          1831         1832         1833          1834
Presidential election year
Incumbent president Andrew Jackson (Democratic)
Next Congress 23rd
Presidential election
Partisan controlDemocratic hold
Popular vote marginDemocratic +16.8%
Electoral vote
Andrew Jackson (D)219
Henry Clay (NR)49
ElectoralCollege1832.svg
1832 presidential election results. Blue denotes states won by Jackson, light yellow denotes state won by Clay, teal denotes states won by Floyd, and orange denotes states won by Wirt. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state.
Senate elections
Overall controlAnti-Jacksonian gain
Seats contested18 of 52 seats [1]
Net seat changeAnti-Jacksonian +1 [2]
House elections
Overall controlDemocratic hold
Seats contestedAll 240 voting members
Net seat changeDemocratic +17 [2]

Elections for the 23rd United States Congress, were held in 1832 and 1833. Taking place during the Second Party System and a political conflict over the re-authorization of the Second Bank of the United States, the elections were contested between Andrew Jackson's Democratic Party and opponents of Jackson, including the National Republicans. Though the Democrats retained the presidency and the House, they lost their Senate majority. The Anti-Masonic Party also fielded the first notable presidential candidacy from a third party. [3]

In the presidential election, Democratic President Andrew Jackson easily defeated National Republican Senator Henry Clay from Kentucky. [4] Anti-Masonic candidate William Wirt received 7% of the popular vote, the strongest popular vote showing by a third party up to that point, while Nullifier John Floyd was the first third-party candidate to win electoral votes. [4] Jackson was the last president to win a second term until Abraham Lincoln won a second term in 1864. The first presidential nominating conventions took place during this election. [3] Also, for the first time, every state but South Carolina chose its presidential electors via statewide popular vote.

Following the 1830 census, the House increased in size, adding 27 seats. Opponents of Jackson maintained the same number of seats, but the Democrats won several seats, increasing their majority. [5]

In the Senate, the anti-Jackson faction won moderate gains, taking the majority in the Senate. [6]

See also

References

  1. Not counting special elections.
  2. 1 2 Congressional seat gain figures only reflect the results of the regularly-scheduled elections, and do not take special elections into account.
  3. 1 2 "Presidential elections". History.com. History Channel. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  4. 1 2 "1832 Presidential Election". The American Presidency Project. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  5. "Party Divisions of the House of Representatives". United States House of Representatives. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  6. "Party Division in the Senate, 1789-Present". United States Senate. Retrieved June 25, 2014.