United States House of Representatives elections, 1896

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The U.S. House election, 1896 was an election for the United States House of Representatives in 1896 which coincided with the election of President William McKinley.

In spite of McKinley's victory over William Jennings Bryan, backed by the Democratic and Populist parties, both those parties gained seats from McKinley's Republican Party. This is most likely a reaction to the extraordinary Republican gains in 1894, in which many normally Democratic districts switched parties due to the severity of and fallout from the Panic of 1893. Many Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern regions that were dominated by Catholic and working-class voters, switched to Republican in 1894, but returned to the Democratic Party during this election cycle. The Populist Party also made huge gains as Republicans were ousted in Western states. Despite this, the Republicans did maintain a strong majority in the House. Also, several Western Republicans split with the party in 1896, joining the tiny Silver Republican Party, which advocated a silver standard.

This election marked the zenith of the Populist Party, which would go on to lose most of its seats in the 1898 election and thereafter slowly fade from prominence.

[edit] Overall results

Party	Total Seats (change)		Seat percentage
Republican Party	206	-48	57.7%
Democratic Party	124	+31	34.7%
Populist Party	22	+13	6.1%
Silver Republican Party	3	+3	0.9%
Silver Party	1	+0	0.2%
Independent	1	+1	0.2%
Totals	357	+0	100.0%

80.1-100% Republican	80.1-100% Democratic
60.1-80% Republican	60.1-80% Democratic

	60.1-80% Populist
80.1-100% Populist
House seats by party holding plurality in state

6+ Republican gain	6+ Democratic gain
3-5 Republican gain	3-5 Democratic gain
1-2 Republican gain	1-2 Democratic gain
1-2 Populist gain	3-5 Populist gain
no net change

[edit] California

District	Incumbent	Party	Elected	Status	Opponent
California 1	John All Barham	Republican	1894	Running	John All Barham (R) 49.7% Fletcher A. Cutler (D) 45.5% George W. Montieth (PP) 4.2% B. F. Taylor (Proh.) 0.7%
California 2	Grove L. Johnson	Republican	1894	Running	Marion De Vries (D) 55.5% Grove L. Johnson (R) 42.3% F. E. Coulter (Proh.) 2.2%
California 3	Samuel G. Hilborn	Republican	1894	Defeated in primary	Samuel G. Hilborn (R) 54% Warren B. English (D) 44% John H. Eustice (SL) 1.1% William Shafer (Proh.) 0.9%
California 4	James G. Maguire	Democratic	1892	Running	James G. Maguire (D) 61% Thomas B. O'Brien (R) 35% E. T. Kingsley (SL) 3.1% Joseph Rowell (Proh.) 1%
California 5	Eugene F. Loud	Republican	1890	Running	Eugene F. Loud (R) 59.5% Joseph P. Kelly (D) 32.2% A. H. Kinne (PP) 4.7% Henry Daniels (SL) 2.3% T. H. Lawson (Proh.) 1.2%
California 6	James McLachlan	Republican	1892	Running	Charles A. Barlow (P) 48.9% James McLachlan (R) 47.6% Henry Clay Needham (Proh.) 2.4% Job Harriman (SL) 1.1%
California 7	William W. Bowers	Republican	1890	Running	Curtis H. Castle (P) 46.7% William W. Bowers (R) 46.1% William H. Carlson (I) 5.2% James W. Webb (Proh.) 2%