United States House of Representatives elections, 1882

The U.S. House election, 1882 was an election for the United States House of Representatives in 1882 which occurred during President Chester A. Arthur's term.

Arthur's Republican Party was badly defeated, losing its majority to the opposition Democratic Party after a campaign that focused on the resistance of Republican leaders to reforming the Spoils system under which government jobs were handed to supporters of winning candidates. After the election, Arthur agreed with the Democrats to pass the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, establishing a professional civil service. However, his actions were too late, as the image of the Republican Party as corrupt was already engrained in the minds of voters. This election also saw the decline of the pro-paper money Greenback Party and the pick up of several Virginian seats by the Readjuster Party, which promoted fiscal responsibility and shunned elitism.

Overall results

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California

ee also

*48th United States Congress

sequence
list=U.S. House elections
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Primary sources

* Republican Congressional Committee, "The Republican Campaign Text Book for 1882" (1882) [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=LCCN01018792&id=Xvg8EZs-c8oC&dq=%22solid+south%22&pg=PR1&printsec=4&lpg=PR1 online]