1844 Iowa Council election

1844 Iowa Council election

1844
All 13 seats in the Iowa Territory Council 7 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic Whig Last election 7 6 Seats before 6 6 Seats after 11 2 Seat change 5 4
President of the Iowa Territory Council before election Thomas Cox Democratic Elected President of the Iowa Territory Council Serranus Clinton Hastings Democratic

In the 1844 Iowa Territory Council elections, electors selected councilors to serve in the seventh Iowa Territory Council. All 13 members of the Territory Council were elected. Councilors served one-year terms.

The Iowa Territory existed from July 4, 1838, until December 28, 1846, when Iowa was admitted to the Union as a state. At the time, the Iowa Territory had a Legislative Assembly consisting of an upper chamber (i.e., the Territory Council) and a lower chamber (i.e., the Territory House of Representatives).

Following the previous election in 1843, Democrats held a majority with seven seats to Whigs' six seats. During the sixth session of the Territory Council, Councilor Cox died, causing a vacancy in a Democratic Party seat. Therefore, on election day in 1844, the Democrats and Whigs both had six seats each.

To claim a majority of seats, the Whigs needed to net one seat from Democrats.

Democrats maintained a majority of seats in the Iowa Territory Council following the 1844 general election with the balance of power shifting to Democrats holding 11 seats and Whigs having two seats (a net gain of 5 seat for Democrats, including regaining the vacant seat). Democratic Councilor Serranus Clinton Hastings was chosen as the President of the seventh Territory Council to succeed the deceased Democratic Councilor Thomas Cox in that leadership position.

Summary of Results

Iowa Territory Council District	Incumbent	Party		Elected Councilor	Party		Outcome
1st	Robert M. G. Patterson		Whig	James Brierly		Dem	Dem Gain
	William Patterson		Dem	John Thompson		Dem	Dem Hold
2nd	John D. Elbert		Whig	Paul Brattain		Dem	Dem Gain
	James H. Jenkins		Dem	Henry M. Shelby		Dem	Dem Hold
3rd	Shepherd Leffler		Dem	Shepherd Leffler		Dem	Dem Hold
4th	William Henson Wallace		Whig	John Stephenson		Whig	Whig Hold
5th	Joseph B. Teas		Dem	William Greyer Coop		Dem	Dem Hold
6th	Francis Springer		Whig	Enoch Ross		Whig	Whig Hold
7th	Pleasant Harris		Dem	Serranus Clinton Hastings		Dem	Dem Hold
8th	John Parsons Cook		Whig	William Abbe		Dem	Dem Gain
9th	Robert Christie		Whig	Laurel Summers		Dem	Dem Gain
10th	Thomas Cox		Dem	Philip Burr Bradley		Dem	Dem Gain
	Vacancy after Cox's death
	Francis Gehon		Dem	Stephen Hempstead		Dem	Dem Hold

Source:

Detailed Results

• NOTE: The Iowa General Assembly does not contain detailed vote totals for Territory Council elections in 1844.

See also

• Elections in Iowa

External links

District boundaries for the Iowa Territory Council were redrawn before the 1844 general election:

• Iowa Territory Council Districts 1840-1844 map
• Iowa Territory Council Districts 1845-1846 map