1898 United States House of Representatives elections

1898 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1896 June 6, September 6, September 12, and November 8, 1898[a] 1900 →
All 357 seats in the United States House of Representatives 179 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader David Henderson James Richardson Party Republican Democratic Leader since March 4, 1899 March 4, 1899 Leader's seat Iowa 3rd Tennessee 5th Last election 206 seats 124 seats Seats won 187[1] 161[1] Seat change 19 37 Popular vote 5,305,230 4,828,592 Percentage 48.55% 44.18% Swing 0.22% 3.19%   Third party Fourth party   Party Populist Silver Republican Last election 22 2 Seats won 5[1] 2[1] Seat change 17 Popular vote 463,059 60,805 Percentage 4.24% 0.56% Swing 2.62% 0.46%   Fifth party Sixth party   Party Silver Independent Last election 1 1 Seats won 1[1] 1[b] Seat change Popular vote 5,766 96,537 Percentage 0.05% 0.88% Swing 0.31%
Speaker before election Thomas Reed Republican Elected Speaker David Henderson Republican

The 1898 United States House of Representatives elections were held for the most part on November 8, 1898, with Oregon, Maine, and Vermont holding theirs early in either June or September. They were held during the middle of President William McKinley's first term. Elections were held for 357 seats of the United States House of Representatives, representing 45 states, to serve in the 56th United States Congress. Special elections were also held throughout the year.

As in many midterm elections, the President's Republican Party lost seats, but was able to hold a majority over the Democratic Party. The Populist Party also lost many seats, as their movement began to decline. This was likely because many Populists rallied behind William Jennings Bryan's increasingly powerful branch of the Democratic Party, which built the rural economic issues advocated by Populists into their platform. As a result, the Democrats won a number of Western seats as well many in the Mid-Atlantic.

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