Jacksonians benefitted from the president's continued popularity and the tight party organization of the nascent Democratic Party to win a large majority of House seats for the new Congress. Their primary opponents, the Anti-Jacksonians, were coalescing and unifying as the Whig Party, reducing the influence of single-issue parties, the Anti-Masonic Party (an anti-Masonry movement) and the Nullifier Party (a John C. Calhoun-led states' rights party that supported South Carolina during the Nullification Crisis in 1832 and 1833). The Whig Party evolved from the National Republican Party and these minor parties. It appealed to diverse opponents of Jackson, including voters who perceived him as autocratic and brash, voters supporting greater spending and development on institutions and infrastructure, anti-Masons, and former Federalists. As the balance of power in the House remained unchanged, with Jacksonians holding 142 seats, this was the smallest loss by a President's party in the House as a result of the so-called six-year itch.
