1896 United States House of Representatives elections

1896 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1894 November 3, 1896[a] 1898 →
All 357 seats in the United States House of Representatives 179 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Thomas Brackett Reed Joseph Weldon Bailey Party Republican Democratic Leader's seat Maine 1st Texas 4th Last election 254 seats 93 seats Seats won 206[1] 124[1] Seat change 48 31 Popular vote 6,655,919 5,594,384 Percentage 48.77% 40.99% Swing 0.50% 3.27%   Third party Fourth party   Party Populist Silver Republican Last election 9 seats New Party Seats won 22[1] 3[1] Seat change 13 3 Popular vote 935,636 139,132 Percentage 6.86% 1.02% Swing 4.16% Pre-creation   Fifth party Sixth party   Party Silver Independent Republican Last election 1 0 Seats won 1[1] 1 Seat change 1 Popular vote 6,429 72,945 Percentage 0.05% 0.53% Swing 0.01% 0.20%
Results:      Democratic gain      Republican gain      Democratic hold      Republican hold      Populist gain      Populist hold      Silver Republican gain
Speaker before election Thomas Reed Republican Elected Speaker Thomas Reed Republican

The 1896 United States House of Representatives elections were held for the most part on November 3, 1896, with Oregon, Maine, and Vermont holding theirs early in either June or September. They coincided with the election of President William McKinley. Elections were held for 357 seats of the United States House of Representatives, representing 45 states, to serve in the 55th United States Congress. The size of the House increased by one seat after Utah gained statehood on January 4, 1896. Special elections were also held throughout the year.

The Republican Party maintained its large majority in the House but lost 48 seats, mostly to the Democratic and Populist parties. The Republican losses were most likely due to the extraordinary gains that party made in the prior elections,^{[citation needed]} when many normally Democratic districts voted Republican due to the severity of and fallout from the Panic of 1893. The Democratic Party recovered in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern districts dominated by Catholic and working-class voters. In the Western United States, the Populist Party made large gains and several Republicans broke away over the national party platform's endorsement of a gold standard.

This election marked the zenith of the Populist Party. The Populists would lose most of their seats in the 1898 elections and thereafter slowly fade from prominence.

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