1948 United States House of Representatives elections

1948 United States House of Representatives elections
All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives; 218 seats needed for a majority
Speaker before election; Joseph Martin; Republican	Elected Speaker ; Sam Rayburn; Democratic

The 1948 United States House of Representatives elections were elections for the United States House of Representatives to elect members to serve in the 81st United States Congress. They were held for the most part on November 2, 1948, while Maine held theirs on September 13. These elections coincided with President Harry S. Truman's election to a full term. Truman had campaigned against a "do-nothing"' Republican Party Congress that had opposed his initiatives and was seen as counterproductive. The Democratic Party regained control of both the House and Senate in this election.^[2]^[3]^[4] For Democrats, this was their largest gain since 1932.

Quick Facts All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives 218 seats needed for a majority, Majority party ...

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These were the last elections until 1980 when a member of a political party other than the Democrats, Republicans, or an independent had one or more seats in the chamber. As of 2023^[update], this is the last time the Democrats gained more than 50 seats in a U.S. House election.

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263	1	171
Democratic	^[a]	Republican

More information Party, Total seats ...

Party		Total seats	Change	Seat percentage	Vote percentage^[5]	Popular vote
	Democratic Party	263	75	60.5%	52.6%	24,217,516
	Republican Party	171	75	39.3%	45.4%	20,894,960
	American Labor Party	1		0.2%	0.9%	409,789
	Progressive Party	0		0.0%	0.8%	362,514
	Prohibition Party	0		0.0%	0.1%	32,648
	Independent	0		0.0%	0.1%	29,419
	Liberal Party	0		0.0%	0.1%	27,394
	Socialist Party	0		0.0%	<0.1%	20,473
	Socialist Workers Party	0		0.0%	<0.1%	2,496
	Communist Party	0		0.0%	<0.1%	775
	Socialist Labor Party	0		0.0%	<0.1%	48
	Others	0		0.0%	<0.1%	12,593
Totals		435		100.0%	100.0%	46,010,625

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More information Popular vote ...

Popular vote

American Labor			0.89%
Democratic			52.63%
Republican			45.41%
Others			1.07%

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More information House seats ...

House seats

American Labor			0.23%
Democratic			60.46%
Republican			39.31%

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More information House seats by party holding plurality in state ...

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Sorted by election date, then by district.

More information District, Vacated by ...

District	Vacated by			Reason for Vacancy	Candidates
District	Representative	Party	First elected	Reason for Vacancy	Candidates
New York 24	Benjamin J. Rabin	Democratic	1944	Incumbent resigned December 31, 1947 to become a New York Supreme Court justice. New member elected February 17, 1948. American Labor gain. Winner later lost re-election; see below.	▌Y Leo Isacson (American Labor) 55.88% ▌Karl Propper (Democratic) 31.01% ▌Dean Alfange (Liberal) 9.46% ▌Joseph DeNigris (Republican) 3.65%^[6]
Virginia 4	Patrick H. Drewry	Democratic	1920 (special)	Incumbent died December 21, 1947. New member elected February 17, 1948. Democratic hold. Winner later re-elected to the next term; see below.	▌Y Watkins Abbitt (Democratic) 49.03% ▌Morton G. Goode (Democratic) 39.11% ▌Robert W. Arnold (Democratic) 8.76% ▌T. Robert Cocks (Republican) 3.10%^[7]
Kentucky 2	Earle Clements	Democratic	1944	Incumbent resigned January 6, 1948 to become Governor of Kentucky. New member elected April 17, 1948. Democratic hold. Winner later re-elected to the next term; see below.	▌Y John Whitaker (Democratic) 97.73% Scattering 2.27%^[8]
Kentucky 9	John Robsion	Republican	1918	Incumbent died February 17, 1948. New member elected April 24, 1948. Republican hold. Winner later re-elected to the next term; see below.	▌Y William Lewis (Republican) 96.18% Scattering 3.82%^[9]
Missouri 10	Orville Zimmerman	Democratic	1934	Incumbent died April 7, 1948. New member elected November 2, 1948. Democratic hold. Winner also elected to the next term; see below.	▌Y Paul C. Jones (Democratic) 71.40% ▌W. K. Dillon (Republican) 28.60%^[10]
Virginia 6	J. Lindsay Almond	Democratic	1946 (special)	Incumbent resigned April 17, 1948 to become Attorney General of Virginia. New member elected November 2, 1948. Democratic hold. Winner also elected to the next term; see below.	▌Y Clarence G. Burton (Democratic) 65.24% ▌John Strickler (Republican) 34.76%^[11]
Texas 15	Milton H. West	Democratic	1933 (special)	Incumbent announced retirement but then died October 28, 1948. New member elected December 4, 1948. Democratic hold. Winner had already been elected to the next term; see below.	▌Y Lloyd Bentsen (Democratic) Uncontested^[12]