Mapping Early American Elections

5th Congress: Rhode Island 1796

Rhode Island elected two Federalists to the Fifth Congress.

Rhode Island used a statewide at-large method for electing members to Congress, though each of the two representatives were elected on separate tickets. The candidates for the two different tickets are distinguished below in the district column.

Benjamin Bourne would resign before taking his seat in Congress and a special election would elect Elisha R. Potter to fill his seat.

In 1797, Rhode Island held a special election in which Thomas Tillinghast replaced Elisha R. Potter, who resigned his seat.

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.

New Nation Votes Data

• RI US Congress 1796 Ticket 1
• RI US Congress 1796 Ticket 2