1884 United States elections

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1884 United States elections
1882          1883          1884          1885          1886
Presidential election year
Election dayNovember 4
Incumbent presidentChester A. Arthur (Republican)
Next Congress49th
Presidential election
Partisan controlDemocratic gain
Popular vote marginDemocratic +0.6%
Electoral vote
Grover Cleveland (D)219
James G. Blaine (R)182
1884 United States presidential election in California1884 United States presidential election in Oregon1884 United States presidential election in Nevada1884 United States presidential election in Colorado1884 United States presidential election in Nebraska1884 United States presidential election in Kansas1884 United States presidential election in Texas1884 United States presidential election in Minnesota1884 United States presidential election in Iowa1884 United States presidential election in Missouri1884 United States presidential election in Arkansas1884 United States presidential election in Louisiana1884 United States presidential election in Wisconsin1884 United States presidential election in Illinois1884 United States presidential election in Michigan1884 United States presidential election in Indiana1884 United States presidential election in Ohio1884 United States presidential election in Kentucky1884 United States presidential election in Tennessee1884 United States presidential election in Mississippi1884 United States presidential election in Alabama1884 United States presidential election in Georgia1884 United States presidential election in Florida1884 United States presidential election in South Carolina1884 United States presidential election in North Carolina1884 United States presidential election in Virginia1884 United States presidential election in West Virginia1884 United States presidential election in Maryland1884 United States presidential election in Delaware1884 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania1884 United States presidential election in New Jersey1884 United States presidential election in New York1884 United States presidential election in Connecticut1884 United States presidential election in Rhode Island1884 United States presidential election in Maryland1884 United States presidential election in Vermont1884 United States presidential election in New Hampshire1884 United States presidential election in Maine1884 United States presidential election in Massachusetts1884 United States presidential election in Maryland1884 United States presidential election in Delaware1884 United States presidential election in New Jersey1884 United States presidential election in Connecticut1884 United States presidential election in Rhode Island1884 United States presidential election in Massachusetts1884 United States presidential election in Vermont1884 United States presidential election in New Hampshire
1884 presidential election results. Red denotes states won by Blaine, blue denotes states won by Cleveland. Numbers indicate the electoral votes won by each candidate.
Senate elections
Overall controlRepublican hold
Seats contested27 of 76 seats[1]
Net seat changeDemocratic -2[2]
House elections
Overall controlDemocratic hold
Seats contestedAll 325 voting members
Net seat changeRepublican +24[2]
1884 House of Representatives election results

  Democratic seat
  Republican seat

  Independent seat

The 1884 United States elections were held on November 4, electing the members of the 49th United States Congress. The election took place during the Third Party System. The Democratic Governor Grover Cleveland of New York defeated Republican Secretary of State James G. Blaine in the presidential election. In Congress, the Republicans retained control of the Senate while Democrats maintained control of the House of Representatives. This marks the last election in U.S. history in which the Democratic president came to office without unified control of Congress.

In the presidential election, Democratic Governor Grover Cleveland of New York defeated Republican former Secretary of State James G. Blaine.[3] Though Cleveland won the popular vote by less than 1%, he won by a fairly comfortable margin in the electoral college. Cleveland won the South and the critical state of New York, while Blaine took most of the rest of the country. This was the most recent example of an incumbent president being denied nomination by his party for another term, as Blaine defeated President Chester A. Arthur at the 1884 Republican National Convention. Cleveland took the Democratic nomination on the second ballot of the 1884 Democratic National Convention, defeating Delaware Senator Thomas F. Bayard and several other candidates. Cleveland's win made him the first Democratic president to win an election since the 1856 election, although Andrew Johnson served out Lincoln's term from 1865 to 1869.

Republicans picked up several seats in the House, but Democrats continued to command a majority in the chamber.[4] In the Senate, Republicans made moderate gains and established a clear majority.[5]

This marks one of four occasions where a newly elected president entered office with a divided legislature, occurring again in 1860, 1876, and 1980. 1860 is the only other occasion where the president's party held the House, but not the Senate. A divided Congress also occurred after the 1984 and 2012 elections. This is the only time a Democratic president didn't assume office with a government trifecta.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  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. ^ "1884 Presidential Election". The American Presidency Project. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  4. ^ "Party Divisions of the House of Representatives". United States House of Representatives. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  5. ^ "Party Division in the Senate, 1789-Present". United States Senate. Retrieved 25 June 2014.