The 1823 United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia were held to choose the state’s delegation to the 18th United States Congress, which convened from March 4 1823 to March 3 1825.
Key facts
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Election date | The statewide election was conducted on August 5 1823. |
| Seats contested | All 22 seats allocated to Virginia in the House of Representatives were up for election. |
| Election type | Regular biennial election for the U.S. House of Representatives. |
| Political context | The election occurred during the “Era of Good Feelings,” when the Democratic‑Republican Party remained the dominant national party, though internal factions were emerging (supporters of President James Monroe, of Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, and of General Andrew Jackson). |
| Outcome overview | The majority of Virginia’s delegation continued to be identified with the Democratic‑Republican Party, with a growing split between Jacksonian and Adams‑Clinton (National Republican) factions. Precise seat‑by‑seat results, including the exact partisan distribution, are not fully detailed in available encyclopedic sources. |
Historical context
- The election followed the 1820 United States Census, which affirmed Virginia’s entitlement to 22 House seats.
- Virginia’s elections were conducted on a single day (August 5, 1823), unlike some other states that spread voting over several weeks.
- The 18th Congress was the last Congress in which the Democratic‑Republican Party operated as a single, largely unchallenged national party before the party split into Jacksonian Democrats and National Republicans (later Whigs).
Notable aspects
- Several incumbents were re‑elected, while a handful of districts saw new representatives due either to retirements or electoral defeats.
- The election reflected the emerging regional and ideological tensions that would later crystallize into the Second Party System of the 1830s.
Limitations of available information
Detailed district‑by‑district results, including vote totals and the exact partisan affiliation of each elected member, are not fully documented in readily accessible encyclopedic references. Consequently, precise numbers for the Jacksonian versus Adams‑Clinton alignment within Virginia’s 1823 delegation remain insufficiently documented in major reference works.
