The 1876 United States House of Representatives elections in Florida were held on November 7 for the 45th Congress. These elections were held at the same time as the election for governor and the contentious presidential election, in which Florida was one of four states whose electoral votes were in dispute.
Background In the 1874 elections, both Republican incumbents were initially declared re-elected. In the , Jesse J. Finley (D) successfully contested the re-election of Josiah T. Walls (R), so that at the time of the 1876 elections, Florida had one Democratic and one Republican incumbent.
Election results Both incumbents ran for re-election, and both were defeated. The 1st district changed from Republican to Democratic control while the 2nd changed from Democratic to Republican control, resulting in no net change +1876 United States House election results District Democratic Republican 1st district election results Robert H. M. Davidson 13,162 51.2% William J. Purman (I) 12,565 48.8% 2nd district election results Jesse J. Finley (I) 11,571 50.0% Horatio Bisbee, Jr. 11,574 50.0%
Contested election As in 1874, Democrat Jesse J. Finley challenged the results of the election in the 2nd district. On February 20, 1879, Finley was declared the legitimate winner with a vote of 11,329 - 11,077,Recount and was seated in Bisbee's place, serving from February 20, 1879 - March 3, 1879 when the 45th Congress ended.
See also United States House of Representatives elections, 1876
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