1898 United States elections

1898 United States elections
← 1896          1897          1898          1899          1900 →
Midterm elections
Election dayNovember 8
Incumbent presidentWilliam McKinley (Republican)
Next Congress56th
Senate elections
Overall controlRepublican hold
Seats contested30 of 90 seats[1]
Net seat changeRepublican +8[2]
Results of the elections:
     Democratic gain      Democratic hold
     Republican gain      Republican hold
     Silver hold      Legislature failed to elect
House elections
Overall controlRepublican hold
Seats contestedAll 357 voting seats
Net seat changeDemocratic +37[2]
Gubernatorial elections
Seats contested28
Net seat changeRepublican +1
1898 gubernatorial election results

     Democratic gain      Democratic hold
     Republican gain      Republican hold

     Populist hold      Silver hold

The 1898 United States elections occurred in the middle of Republican President William McKinley's first term, during the Fourth Party System. The elections took place shortly after the Spanish–American War. Members of the 56th United States Congress were chosen in this election. Republicans retained control of both houses of Congress.

Democrats picked up several seats in the House at the expense of Republicans and the Populist Party. However, Republicans continued to control the chamber with a slightly diminished majority.[3]

In the Senate, Republicans picked up several seats at the expense of the Democrats, growing the Republican majority. Several Senators continued to affiliate with third parties.[4]

The elections helped Democrats further incorporate the remaining elements of the Populist Party, many of whom had been attracted to the Democratic Party after the 1896 candidacy of William Jennings Bryan. Republican Senate gains helped ensure ratification of the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Spanish–American War and left the US in control of Cuba, the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ Not counting special elections.
  2. ^ a b Congressional seat gain figures only reflect the results of the regularly-scheduled elections, and do not take special elections into account.
  3. ^ "Party Divisions of the House of Representatives". United States House of Representatives. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  4. ^ "Party Division in the Senate, 1789-Present". United States Senate. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  5. ^ Busch, Andrew (1999). Horses in Midstream. University of Pittsburgh Press. pp. 155–156.


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