Mapping Early American Elections


2nd Congress: Maryland 1790

This page includes an interactive map. A text version of the same election data is available in the table below the map.

Maryland’s elections to the second Congress featured the brief rise of two local parties, the Chesapeake and Potomac parties. Four of the Federalist incumbents sought re-election as part of the Potomac Party, while one incumbent, Joshua Seney, represented the Chesapeake Party. In the second congressional election, voters elected all six candidates from the Chesapeake Party, including Seney.

Maryland used a state-wide at-large system for electing members to Congress. Candidates had to be residents of a specific Congressional district.

Votes tallied for the cities of Baltimore and Annapolis are shown separately, and they are in addition to the votes reported for Baltimore County and Anne Arundel County.

Congressional election results, 2nd Congress: Maryland 1790
District Candidate Party Vote Percentage Elected
At-large Samuel Sterett Chesapeake 16,420 16.2% Elected
At-large William Pinkney Chesapeake 10,456 10.3% Elected
At-large Joshua Seney Chesapeake 9,887 9.7% Elected
At-large William Vans Murray Chesapeake 9,647 9.5% Elected
At-large Philip Key Chesapeake 9,640 9.5% Elected
At-large Upton Sheredine Chesapeake 9,388 9.2% Elected
At-large Daniel Carroll Potomac 7,532 7.4% Not elected
At-large George Gale Potomac 7,464 7.3% Not elected
At-large Michael Jenifer Stone Potomac 7,318 7.2% Not elected
At-large James Tilghman Potomac 7,286 7.2% Not elected
At-large Benjamin Contee Potomac 6,528 6.4% Not elected

In most cases, only candidates who received more than 5 percent of the vote in a district are reported. Other candidates are reported as a group, but only if they in aggregate received more than 5 percent of the vote. In addition, percentages for each district may not add up to 100 percent due to rounding. The term Dissenting Republican includes various breakaway factions of the Democratic-Republican party.

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