1845 Florida's at-large congressional district special election

A special election to the United States House of Representatives for Florida's at-large congressional district was held October 6, 1845.^[1]

1845 Florida's at-large congressional district special election

← 1845 October 6, 1845 1846 →

Nominee Edward Carrington Cabell William Henry Brockenbrough Party Whig Democratic Popular vote 2,523 2,472 Percentage 50.51% 49.49%

Representative-elect before election David Levy Yulee Democratic Elected U.S. Representative Edward Carrington Cabell Whig

1845 Florida's at-large congressional district special election recount

January 24, 1846

Nominee William Henry Brockenbrough Edward Carrington Cabell Party Democratic Whig Popular vote 2,669 2,632 Percentage 50.35% 49.65%

County results Brockenbrough:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Cabell:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      No Votes

Representative before election Edward Carrington Cabell Whig Elected Representative William Henry Brockenbrough Democratic

The winning candidate would serve a less-than-two-year term in the United States House of Representatives to represent Florida in the 29th Congress from October 6, 1845, to March 4, 1847.

The election was initially called for the Whig candidate, Edward Carrington Cabell, and Cabell was seated in the House of Representatives. However, a recount found the winner to actually be the Democratic candidate, William Henry Brockenbrough. Brockenbrough was seated immediately on January 24, 1846.^[2][3]

Background

In the 1845 congressional election, David Levy Yulee, a Democrat, was elected to the United States House of Representatives. However, Yulee was jointly elected by the Florida Legislature to the United States Senate, and so resigned from the House of Representatives before taking his seat in order to take his seat in the Senate.^[4]

Candidates

Democratic

Nominee

• William Henry Brockenbrough, former territorial senator

Whig

Nominee

• Edward Carrington Cabell, lawyer^[5]

General election

Original results

1845 Florida's at-large congressional district special election^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Edward Carrington Cabell	2,523	50.51%	+1.23%
	Democratic	William Henry Brockenbrough	2,472	49.49%	-1.23%
Majority			51	1.02%	-19.63%
Turnout			4,995	100.00%
	Whig gain from Democratic

Recount results

1845 Florida's at-large congressional district special election recount^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	William Henry Brockenbrough	2,669	50.35%	+0.86%
	Whig	Edward Carrington Cabell (incumbent)	2,632	49.65%	-0.86%
Majority			37	0.70%	-0.32%
Turnout			5,301	100.00%
	Democratic gain from Whig

See also

• 1844 and 1845 United States House of Representatives elections
• 1846 and 1847 United States House of Representatives elections

References

1. "FL At Large - Special Election Race - Oct 06, 1845". Our Campaigns. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
2. "FL At Large - Special Election Recount Race - Jan 24, 1846". Our Campaigns. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
3. (PDF). United States House of Representatives. March 9, 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 9, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
4. "FL At Large - Initial Election Race - May 26, 1845". Our Campaigns. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
5. "CABELL, Edward Carrington 1816 – 1896". Congressional Biographical Directory. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
6. "FL At Large - Special Election". Our Campaigns. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
7. "FL At Large - Special Election Recount". Our Campaigns. Retrieved October 16, 2020.

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