California's at-large congressional district

After statehood was achieved on September 9, 1850 and until 1865, California elected its congressional representatives statewide at-large — two representatives from September 11, 1850 to 1861, and 3 representatives from 1861 to 1865.

California's at-large congressional district
Obsolete district
Created	1849 1883
Eliminated	1865 1885
Years active	1849-1865 1883-1885

Also, from 1883 to 1885, California elected two of its six representatives to the United States House of Representatives statewide at-large.

List of members representing the district

Congress and years			Seat A				Seat B				Seat C
			Member	Party	Electoral history		Member	Party	Electoral history		Member	Party	Electoral history
31st	September 11, 1850 – March 3, 1851		George W. Wright (San Francisco)	Independent	Elected in 1849. Retired.		Edward Gilbert (San Francisco)	Democratic	Elected in 1849. Retired.
32nd	March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1853		Edward C. Marshall (Sonora)	Democratic	Elected late in 1851. Retired.		Joseph W. McCorkle (Marysville)	Democratic	Elected late in 1851. Lost renomination.
33rd	March 3, 1853 – March 3, 1855		Milton Latham (Sacramento)	Democratic	Elected in 1852. Retired.		James A. McDougall (San Francisco)	Democratic	Elected in 1852. Lost re-election.
34th	March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857		James W. Denver (Weaverville)	Democratic	Elected in 1854. Retired.		Philemon T. Herbert (Mariposa City)	Democratic	Elected in 1854. Retired after manslaughter acquittal
35th	March 4, 1857 – March 3, 1859		Joseph C. McKibbin (Downieville)	Democratic	Elected in 1856. Lost re-election.		Charles L. Scott (Sonora)	Democratic	Elected in 1856. Re-elected in 1859. Retired.
36th	March 4, 1859 – March 3, 1861		John C. Burch (Weaverville)	Democratic	Elected in 1859. Retired.
37th	March 4, 1861 – June 3, 1862		Timothy Phelps (San Mateo)	Republican	Elected in 1861. Retired.		Aaron A. Sargent (Nevada City)	Republican	Elected in 1861. Retired.		Vacant
	June 3, 1862 – March 3, 1863										Frederick F. Low (San Francisco)	Republican	Elected in 1861 but not permitted by the House to take his seat. Subsequently qualified under special Act of Congress. Retired.
38th	March 4, 1863 – March 3, 1865		Cornelius Cole (Santa Cruz)	Republican	Elected in 1863. [data missing]		William Higby (Mokelumne Hill)	Republican	Elected in 1863. Redistricted to the 2nd district.		Thomas B. Shannon (Quincy)	Republican	Elected in 1863. Retired.
39th 40th 41st 42nd 43rd 44th 45th 46th 47th	March 4, 1865 – March 3, 1883		Seat eliminated				Seat eliminated				Seat eliminated
48th	March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1885		John R. Glascock (Oakland)	Democratic	Elected in 1882. Lost re-election in the 3rd district.	Charles A. Sumner (San Francisco)	Democratic	Elected in 1882. Lost re-election in the 2nd district.

Election results

In these elections, the top two vote-getters (three from 1861 to 1863) were elected to the House.

1849

The election was held November 13, 1849.

1849 United States House of Representatives election in California
Party	Votes	Percentage	Seats	+/–
Independent	20,481	79.44%	1	+1
Democratic	5,300	20.56%	1	+1
Totals	25,781	100.00%	2	—

1849 California's at-large congressional district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	George Washington Wright	5,451	22.0
	Democratic	Edward Gilbert	5,300	20.6
	Independent	Rodman M. Price	4,040	16.3
	Independent	Lewis Dent	2,129	8.3
	Independent	P. A. Morse	2,066	8.2
	Independent	E. J. C. Kewen	1,826	7.3
	Independent	William M. Shepard	1,773	7.2
	Independent	William E. Shannon	1,327	5.4
	Independent	Peter O. Halstead	1,271	2.4
	Independent	L. W. Hastings	215	0.9
	Independent	Pierson B. Reading	167	0.7
	Independent	W. H. Russell	96	0.4
	Independent	J. S. Thompson	72	0.3
	Independent	Kimball H. Dimmick	48	0.2
Total votes			25,781	100.0
Turnout

1851

The 1851 election was held October 7, 1851.

1851 United States House of Representatives election in California
Party	Votes	Percentage	Seats	+/–
Democratic	48,784	53.92%	2	+1
Whig	41,684	46.08%	0	0
Independent	0	0.00%	0	–1
Totals	90,468	100.00%	2	—

1851 California's at-large congressional district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward C. Marshall	24,469	27.0
	Democratic	Joseph McCorkle	24,315	26.9
	Whig	E. J. Kewen	21,460	23.7
	Whig	B. J. Moore	20,224	22.4
Total votes			90,468	100.0
Turnout

1852

The election was held November 2, 1852.

1852 United States House of Representatives election in California
Party	Votes	Percentage	Seats	+/–
Democratic	79,268	53.38%	2	0
Whig	69,232	46.62%	0	0
Totals	148,500	100.00%	2	—

1852 California's at-large congressional district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Milton S. Latham	39,881	26.9
	Democratic	James A. McDougall	39,387	26.5
	Whig	P. L. Edwards	34,933	23.5
	Whig	G. B. Tingley	34,299	23.1
Total votes			148,500	100.0
Turnout

1854

The election was held September 6, 1854.

1854 United States House of Representatives election in California
Party	Votes	Percentage	Seats
Democratic	95,178	58.0%	2
Whig	69,152	42.0%	0
Totals	164,330	100.0%	2

1854 California's at-large congressional district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	James W. Denver	36,819	22.4
	Democratic	Philemon T. Herbert	36,542	22.4
	Whig	G. W. Bowie	34,741	21.1
	Whig	Cal Bonham	34,411	20.9
	Democratic	J. Churchman	10,006	6.1
	Democratic	James A. McDougall (Incumbent)	9,968	6.1
	Democratic	Milton S. Latham (Incumbent)	1,843	1.1
Total votes			164,330	100.0
Turnout

1856

The election was held November 4, 1856.

1856 United States House of Representatives election in California
Party	Votes	Percentage	Seats
Democratic	101,708	47.0%	2
Know Nothing	71,403	33.0%	0
Republican	43,139	20.0%	0
Totals	216,250	100.0%	2

1856 California's at-large congressional district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Joseph C. McKibbin	50,895	23.5
	Democratic	Charles L. Scott	50,813	23.5
	Know Nothing	B. C. Whitman	36,078	16.7
	Know Nothing	A. B. Dibble	35,325	16.3
	Republican	L. P. Rankin	21,975	10.2
	Republican	J. D. Turner	21,164	9.8
Total votes			216,250	100.0
Turnout

1859

The election was held September 7, 1859.

United States House of Representatives election in California,
Party	Votes	Percentage	Seats
Democratic	161,106	79.4%	2
Republican	41,739	20.6%	0
Totals	202,845	100.0%	2

1859 California's at-large congressional district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John C. Burch	57,665	28.4
	Democratic	Charles L. Scott	56,998	28.1
	Democratic	Joseph C. McKibbin (Incumbent)	43,474	21.4
	Republican	Edward D. Baker	41,438	20.4
	Democratic	S. A. Booker	2,969	1.5
	Republican	P. H. Sibley	301	0.1
Total votes			202,845	100.0
Turnout

1861

The election was held September 4, 1861.

1861 United States House of Representatives election in California
Party	Votes	Percentage	Seats	+/–
Democratic	180,719	56.1%	0	-2
Republican	141,402	43.9%	3	+3
Totals	322,121	100.0%	3	—

1861 California's at-large congressional district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Timothy Guy Phelps	51,651	21.8
	Republican	W. L. Dudley	50,692	21.4
	Democratic	H. Edgerton	35,449	15.0
	Democratic	Joseph C. McKibbin	35,401	15.0
	Democratic	D. O. Shattuck	31,712	13.4
	Democratic	H. P. Barbers	31,591	13.4
Total votes			236,496	100.0
Turnout

California's at-large congressional election for seat added by reapportionment, 1861

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Frederick F. Low	39,059	45.6
	Democratic	F. Gunhal	24,036	28.1
	Democratic	J. R. Gitchell	22,530	26.3
Total votes			85,625	100.0
Turnout

1863

The election was held September 2, 1863.

1863 United States House of Representatives election in California
Party	Votes	Percentage	Seats
Republican	194,882	69.1%	0
Democratic	87,087	30.9%	0
Totals	281,969	100.0%	3

1863 California's at-large congressional district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Cornelius Cole	65,085	23.1
	Republican	Thomas B. Shannon	64,914	23.0
	Republican	William Higby	64,883	23.0
	Democratic	John B. Weller	43,567	15.5
	Democratic	John Bigler	43,520	15.4
Total votes			281,969	100.0
Turnout

1882

California elected two at-large representatives in addition to its four representatives in districts in 1882. For these results see 1882 United States House of Representatives elections in California.

See also

• Political party strength in California
• Political party strength in U.S. states

References

• Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
• California Elections Page 1849
• California Elections Page 1850
• California Elections Page 1852
• California Elections Page 1854
• California Elections Page 1856
• California Elections Page 1858
• California Elections Page 1861
• California Elections Page 1862

Sources

• Dubin, Michael J. (1998). United States Congressional elections, 1788-1997 : the official results of the elections of the 1st through 105th Congresses. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1998.

External links

• California Legislative District Maps (1911-Present)
• RAND California Election Returns: District Definitions
• Our Campaigns - United States - California - CA - At Large