1860 and 1861 United States House of Representatives elections
District Incumbent Party First elected Result Candidates
Illinois 1 Elihu B. Washburne Republican 1852 Incumbent re-elected √ Elihu B. Washburne ( Republican ) 70.56% Theodore A. C. Beard ( Democratic ) 29.39%
Illinois 2 John F. Farnsworth Republican 1856 Incumbent retired . New member elected . Republican hold √ Isaac N. Arnold ( Republican ) 64.43% Augustus N. Herrington ( Democratic ) 35.42%
Illinois 3 Owen Lovejoy Republican 1856 Incumbent re-elected √ Owen Lovejoy ( Republican ) 60.01% Robert N. Murray ( Democratic ) 38.20% William N. Murry ( Independent ) 1.79%
Illinois 4 William Kellogg Republican 1856 Incumbent re-elected √ William Kellogg ( Republican ) 54.65% Robert G. Ingersoll ( Democratic ) 45.35%
Illinois 5 Isaac N. Morris Democratic 1856 Incumbent retired . New member elected . Democratic hold √ William A. Richardson ( Democratic ) 53.58% Benjamin M. Prentiss ( Republican ) 46.42%
Illinois 6 John A. McClernand Democratic 1859 ( Special ) Incumbent re-elected √ John A. McClernand ( Democratic ) 56.63% Henry Case ( Republican ) 43.38%
Illinois 7 James C. Robinson Democratic 1858 Incumbent re-elected √ James C. Robinson ( Democratic ) 54.07% James T. Cunningham ( Republican ) 45.93%
Illinois 8 Philip B. Fouke Democratic 1858 Incumbent re-elected √ Philip B. Fouke ( Democratic ) 55.24% Joseph Gillespie ( Republican ) 44.33% Willis D. Green ( Independent ) 0.43%
Illinois 9 John A. Logan Democratic 1858 Incumbent re-elected √ John A. Logan ( Democratic ) 80.03% David T. Linegar ( Independent ) 19.97%
Illinois
Main article : 1860 United States House of Representatives elections in Illinois See also : List of United States Representatives from Illinois Illinois elected its members on the November 6 , 1860 Election Day .
Elections to the United States House of Representatives for the 37th Congress were held at various dates in different states from August 1860 to October 1861. These elections spanned the Presidential election of 1860, won by Abraham Lincoln. Building on their successes in 1858, Republican candidates won increasing percentages in the House. After secessionist vacancies, their caucus of 108 amounted to 59% of the House, and with another 16% in the Unionist caucus, they had over a two-thirds super-majority to govern. Following Lincoln's election and before his inauguration, seven secessionist states declared rebellion and Jefferson Davis mobilized 100,000 troops in defense of the Confederacy. Lincoln responded with a call-up of 75,000 troops to reoccupy federal property in port cities. That motivated another four border states to declare secession, forming the Confederacy that fought the American Civil War. Seceding states cancelled elections to Federal office, and all but a few of their Representatives departed. Twenty-three representatives to U.S. 37th Congress came from five slave-holding states represented in the Confederacy: Missouri, Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, and Louisiana. The rebellion left seventeen vacancies in those states. Meanwhile for the duration of the conflict those same five states sent full delegations to the Confederate Congress even though over half their Congressional districts were federally occupied or disrupted by the end of 1862. Overwhelmingly, seceding states had Democratic representation, so despite losing seats to Democrats in the North, this state-by-state mass departure left Republicans with a clear House majority.