1974 United States House of Representatives elections

1974 United States House of Representatives elections
All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives; 218 seats needed for a majority
	Results:; Democratic hold Democratic gain; Republican hold Republican gain
Speaker before election; Carl Albert; Democratic	Elected Speaker ; Carl Albert; Democratic

The 1974 United States House of Representatives elections were elections for the United States House of Representatives on November 5, 1974, to elect members to serve in the 94th United States Congress. They occurred in the wake of the Watergate scandal, which had forced President Richard Nixon to resign in favor of Gerald Ford. This scandal, along with high inflation,^[1] allowed the Democrats to make large gains in the midterm elections, taking 48 seats from the Republicans (an additional seat was gained, for a net gain of 49, when Representative Joe Moakley from Massachusetts switched his party affiliation back to Democrat after winning his 1972 election as an independent), and increasing their majority above the two-thirds mark. Altogether, there were 93 freshmen representatives in the 94th Congress when it convened on January 3, 1975 (76 of them Democrats). Those elected to office that year later came to be known collectively as "Watergate Babies."^[2] The gain of 49 Democratic seats was the largest pickup by the party since 1958. Only four Democratic incumbents lost their seats.

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

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As of 2024^[update], this was the last time the Democrats gained 45 or more seats in a House election.

391 incumbent members sought reelection, but 8 were defeated in primaries and 40 defeated in the general election for a total of 343 incumbents winning. This was the lowest number and percentage of incumbents who won reelection between 1954 and 1992.^[3]

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291	144
Democratic	Republican

Summary of the November 5, 1974, United States House of Representatives election results^[4]

More information Parties, Seats ...

Parties		Seats				Popular vote
Parties		1972	1974	+/-	Strength	Vote	%	Change
	Democratic Party	242	291	+49	66.9%	30,054,097	57.5%	+5.4%
	Republican Party	192	144	-48	33.1%	21,271,332	40.7%	-5.8%
	Independents	1	0	-1	-	340,501	0.7%	+0.5%
	American Party	0	0	-	-	238,265	0.5%	+0.2%
	Conservative Party	0	0	-	-	115,980	0.2%	-0.1%
	Liberal Party	0	0	-	-	56,714	0.1%	-0.1%
	Peace and Freedom Party	0	0	-	-	35,984	0.1%	-
	U.S. Labor Party	0	0	-	-	26,342	0.1%	+0.1%
	Economic Justice Party	0	0	-	-	16,932	<0.1%	-
	Constitution Party	0	0	-	-	16,822	<0.1%	-
	Socialist Workers Party	0	0	-	-	13,982	<0.1%	-0.1%
	George Wallace Party	0	0	-	-	11,943	<0.1%	-
	Communist Party	0	0	-	-	10,627	<0.1%	-
	Socialist Labor Party	0	0	-	-	10,564	<0.1%	-
	Liberty Union Party	0	0	-	-	9,961	<0.1%	-
	Independent Citizens' Action Party	0	0	-	-	9,520	<0.1%	-
	Prohibition Party	0	0	-	-	8,387	<0.1%	-
	Life, Liberty, Justice Party	0	0	-	-	8,199	<0.1%	-
	Human Rights Party	0	0	-	-	6,700	<0.1%	-
	National Democratic Party	0	0	-	-	5,723	<0.1%	-0.1%
	Good Neighbor Party	0	0	-	-	4,266	<0.1%	-
	Politicians Are Crooks Party	0	0	-	-	3,460	<0.1%	-
	Libertarian Party	0	0	-	-	3,099	<0.1%	-
	Independent Vermonters Party	0	0	-	-	2,641	<0.1%	-
	New Leadership Party	0	0	-	-	1,778	<0.1%	-
	Regular Democracy Party	0	0	-	-	1,451	<0.1%	-
	Public Congress Party	0	0	-	-	1,241	<0.1%	-
	Integrity in Government Party	0	0	-	-	1,182	<0.1%	-
	Anti-monopoly Party	0	0	-	-	1,177	<0.1%	-
	Christian Party	0	0	-	-	583	<0.1%	-
	United Citizens Party	0	0	-	-	529	<0.1%	-
	Others	0	0	-	-	6,543	<0.1%	-
Total		435	435	0	100.0%	52,313,457	100.0%	-

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More information Popular vote ...

Popular vote

Democratic			57.45%
Republican			40.66%
Others			1.89%

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More information House seats ...

House seats

Democratic			66.90%
Republican			33.10%

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

House seats by party holding plurality in state
80+% Democratic	80+% Republican
60+% to 80% Democratic	60+% to 80% Republican
Up to 60% Democratic	Up to 60% Republican

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