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2020 United States House of Representatives elections

House elections for the 117th U.S. Congress From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2020 United States House of Representatives elections
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The 2020 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 3, 2020, to elect representatives from all 435 congressional districts across each of the 50 U.S. states to the 117th United States Congress, as well as six non-voting delegates from the District of Columbia and the inhabited U.S. territories. Special House elections were also held on various dates throughout 2020.

Quick Facts All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives 218 seats needed for a majority, Majority party ...
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In the 2018 United States House of Representatives elections, the Democrats had won 235 seats. Leading up to the 2020 elections, the Democrats were projected by many polls to expand their majority by up to 15 seats due to the unpopularity of then-President Donald Trump. While Democrats ultimately retained control of the House following the 2020 elections, Republicans made a net gain of 14 seats[2] and the Democrats entered 2021 with a narrow 222–213 House majority.[3][4] This was the first time since 2004 that the Republican Party made net gains in the House during a presidential election year. This led to Democrats' smallest majority since 1942. As of 2024, this remains the last time that the Democrats have won a majority in the United States House of Representatives.

Republicans exceeded expectations in the 2020 House elections, winning back a number of seats that they lost in 2018 while successfully defending competitive seats that Democrats had hoped to flip. No Republican incumbent was defeated for re-election, while 13 incumbent Democrats were ousted by Republicans; also, several successful Democratic candidates won by smaller-than-expected margins. Many have cited Trump's presence on the ballot as having fueled high Republican turnout,[3][5][6][7] while others have emphasized the Republican Party's efforts to promote their female and minority candidates.[8][9][10][11]

This constitutes the 11th election since the Civil War in which the victorious presidential party lost seats in the House, after the elections of 1868, 1884, 1892, 1896, 1908, 1960, 1988, 1992, 2000, and 2016.

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Electoral system

Forty-seven states used the first-past-the-post voting plurality system to elect their representatives. Instant-runoff voting was used in one state (Maine) and runoff system was used in two states (Georgia and Louisiana).

Results summary

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Federal

The 2020 election results are compared below to the November 2018 election, in which only 434 seats were filled (the election results in one constituency were voided). The results summary below does not include blank and over/under votes which were included in the official results.

222 213
Democratic Republican
More information Parties, Popular vote ...

Per states

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Maps

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Retirements

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Retiring incumbents by district
     Democratic incumbent ran
     Democratic incumbent retired or lost renomination
     Republican incumbent ran
     Republican incumbent retired or lost renomination
     Libertarian incumbent retired
     Vacant district

36 incumbents did not seek re-election either to retire or to seek other positions.

Democrats

Nine Democrats did not seek re-election.

  1. California 53: Susan Davis retired.
  2. Hawaii 2: Tulsi Gabbard retired to run for U.S. president.
  3. Indiana 1: Pete Visclosky retired.
  4. Iowa 2: Dave Loebsack retired.
  5. Massachusetts 4: Joe Kennedy III retired to run for U.S. senator.
  6. New Mexico 3: Ben Ray Luján retired to run for U.S. senator.
  7. New York 15: José Serrano retired.
  8. New York 17: Nita Lowey retired.
  9. Washington 10: Denny Heck retired to run for lieutenant governor of Washington.

Libertarians

One Libertarian did not seek re-election.

  1. Michigan 3: Justin Amash retired.

Republicans

26 Republicans did not seek re-election.

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Resignations

Four incumbents resigned in 2020, all of them Republicans, with no special elections to fill the vacant seats before the November election.

Republicans

  1. California 50: Duncan Hunter resigned January 13 after pleading guilty to one count of misusing campaign funds. Seat won by Republican Darrell Issa.[12]
  2. Georgia 14: Tom Graves resigned October 4; he had initially planned to retire at the end of the term. Seat won by Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene.[13]
  3. North Carolina 11: Mark Meadows resigned March 30 to become White House Chief of Staff. Seat won by Republican Madison Cawthorn.[14]
  4. Texas 4: John Ratcliffe resigned May 22 to become Director of National Intelligence. Seat won by Republican Pat Fallon.[15]
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Incumbents defeated

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In primary elections

Eight incumbents lost renomination in 2020, the most in a non-redistricting year since 1974.[16]

Democrats

Three Democrats lost renomination.

  1. Illinois 3: Dan Lipinski lost renomination to Marie Newman, who went on to win the general election.[17]
  2. Missouri 1: Lacy Clay lost renomination to Cori Bush, who went on to win the general election.[18]
  3. New York 16: Eliot Engel lost renomination to Jamaal Bowman, who went on to win the general election.[19]

Republicans

Five Republicans lost renomination.

  1. Colorado 3: Scott Tipton lost renomination to Lauren Boebert, who won the general election.[20]
  2. Florida 15: Ross Spano lost renomination to Scott Franklin, who won the general election.[21]
  3. Iowa 4: Steve King lost renomination to Randy Feenstra, who won the general election.[22]
  4. Kansas 2: Steve Watkins lost renomination to Jake LaTurner, who won the general election.[23]
  5. Virginia 5: Denver Riggleman lost renomination in a district convention to Bob Good, who won the general election.[24]

In general elections

Democrats

Thirteen Democrats, twelve of whom were freshmen, lost re-election to Republicans.

  1. California 21: TJ Cox (first elected in 2018) lost to David Valadao.
  2. California 39: Gil Cisneros (first elected in 2018) lost to Young Kim.
  3. California 48: Harley Rouda (first elected in 2018) lost to Michelle Steel.
  4. Florida 26: Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (first elected in 2018) lost to Carlos Giménez.
  5. Florida 27: Donna Shalala (first elected in 2018) lost to Maria Elvira Salazar.
  6. Iowa 1: Abby Finkenauer (first elected in 2018) lost to Ashley Hinson.
  7. Minnesota 7: Collin Peterson (first elected in 1990) lost to Michelle Fischbach.
  8. New Mexico 2: Xochitl Torres Small (first elected in 2018) lost to Yvette Herrell.
  9. New York 11: Max Rose (first elected in 2018) lost to Nicole Malliotakis.
  10. New York 22: Anthony Brindisi (first elected in 2018) lost to Claudia Tenney.
  11. Oklahoma 5: Kendra Horn (first elected in 2018) lost to Stephanie Bice.
  12. South Carolina 1: Joe Cunningham (first elected in 2018) lost to Nancy Mace.
  13. Utah 4: Ben McAdams (first elected in 2018) lost to Burgess Owens.

Republicans

No Republicans lost re-election.

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Open seats that changed parties

Democratic seats won by Republicans

One Democratic seat was won by a Republican.

  1. Iowa 2: Won by Mariannette Miller-Meeks.

Libertarian seats won by Republicans

One Libertarian seat was won by a Republican.

  1. Michigan 3: Won by Peter Meijer.

Republican seats won by Democrats

Three Republican seats were won by Democrats.

  1. Georgia 7: Won by Carolyn Bourdeaux.
  2. North Carolina 2: Won by Deborah K. Ross.
  3. North Carolina 6: Won by Kathy Manning.
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Open seats that parties held

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Crossover seats

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This is a list of congressional seats that voted for one party in the 2020 presidential election and another in the 2020 House elections.

Democratic

Seven districts were won by Donald Trump in the presidential election and Democrats in the House elections:

More information District, Incumbent ...

Republican

Nine districts were won by Joe Biden in the presidential election and Republicans in the House elections:

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Closest races

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Seventy-seven races were decided by 10% or lower.

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Election ratings

Special elections

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There were five special elections in 2020 to the 116th United States Congress, listed here by date and district.

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Election dates

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These are the election dates for the regularly scheduled general elections.

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Alabama

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Alabama's results
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Alaska

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Alaska's result by state house district
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Arizona

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Arizona's results
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Arkansas

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Arkansas's results
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California

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California's results
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Colorado

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Colorado's results
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Connecticut

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Connecticut's results
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Delaware

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Delaware's result by county
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Florida

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Florida's results
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Georgia

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Georgia's results
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Hawaii

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Hawaii's results
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Idaho

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Illinois

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Illinois's results
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Indiana

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Indiana's results
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Iowa

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Iowa's results
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Kansas

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Kentucky

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Kentucky's results
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Louisiana

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Louisiana's results
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Maine

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Maine's results
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Maryland

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Maryland's results
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Massachusetts

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Massachusetts's results
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Michigan

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Michigan's results
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Minnesota

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Minnesota's results
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Mississippi

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Mississippi's results
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Missouri

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Montana

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Montana's result by county
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Nebraska

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Nevada

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Nevada's results
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New Hampshire

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New Hampshire's results
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New Jersey

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New Mexico

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New York

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North Carolina

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North Dakota

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North Dakota's result by county
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Ohio

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Ohio's results
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Oklahoma

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Oregon

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Oregon's results
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Pennsylvania

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Rhode Island

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Rhode Island's results
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South Carolina

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South Carolina's results
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South Dakota

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South Dakota's result by county
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Tennessee

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Texas

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Utah

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Utah's results
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Vermont

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Vermont's result by county
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Virginia

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Washington

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West Virginia

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Wisconsin

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Wisconsin's results
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Wyoming

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Wyoming's result by county
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Non-voting delegates

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American Samoa

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District of Columbia

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Guam

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Northern Mariana Islands

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Puerto Rico

The Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico is the only member of the United States House of Representatives who is elected for a four-year term.

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United States Virgin Islands

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See also

Notes

  1. As well as the 6 non-voting delegates.
  2. Letlow died from COVID-19 on December 29, 2020 before taking office.[25]
  3. This seat was the tipping point seat for a Democratic majority.
  4. Under California's "jungle primary" system, the general election was between two Democrats.
  5. Polling locations in the Florida Panhandle that are in the Central Time Zone close at 8:00pm Eastern.
  6. Due to the primary system used in Louisiana, a December 5 runoff election determined the winner of any race where no candidate received more than 50% of the vote on November 3, 2020.
  7. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Guam cancelled its August 29, 2020, primary elections. All three certified candidates appeared on the November 3, 2020 ballot with a runoff held on November 17, 2020.[32]
  8. Because of a lack of ballots at about half of Puerto Rico's 110 voting locations, the August 9 primaries were suspended until August 16.[33]
  9. Amash was elected as Republican. He left the party in 2019 and joined the Libertarian Party in April 2020.
  10. Van Drew was elected as a Democrat and switched to the Republican Party in December 2019.

References

Further reading

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