1952 United States House of Representatives elections

1952 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; Independent hold
Speaker before election; Sam Rayburn; Democratic	Elected Speaker ; Joseph Martin; Republican

The 1952 United States House of Representatives elections was an election for the United States House of Representatives to elect members to serve in the 83rd United States Congress. They were held for the most part on November 4, 1952, while Maine held theirs on September 8. This was the first election after the congressional reapportionment based on the 1950 census. It also coincided with the election of President Dwight Eisenhower. Eisenhower's Republican Party gained 22 seats from the Democratic Party, gaining a majority of the House. However, the Democrats had almost 250,000 more votes (0.4%) thanks to overwhelming margins in the Solid South, although this election did see the first Republican elected to the House from North Carolina since 1928,^[1] and the first Republicans elected from Virginia since 1930.^[2] It was also the last election when both major parties increased their share of the popular vote simultaneously, largely due to the disintegration of the American Labor Party and other third parties.

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

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Outgoing President Harry Truman's dismal approval rating was one reason why his party lost its House majority. Also, continued uneasiness about the Korean War was an important factor. Joseph Martin (R-Massachusetts) became Speaker of the House, exchanging places with Sam Rayburn (D-Texas), who became the new Minority Leader.

This was the last time Republicans had control in the House of Representatives until 1994, despite the GOP controlling the Presidency for most of the next 4 decades, Democrats performed vastly superior in down-ballot elections, especially in the South, which had started to drift towards Republican Presidential candidates. As of 2024, this is the last time the House changed partisan control during a presidential cycle and the last time both houses did so simultaneously. This marked one of two times in the 20th century that Republicans won a House majority without winning the popular vote, with the other time being in 1996.^[3]

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221	1	213
Republican	I	Democratic

More information Party, Total seats ...

Party		Total seats	Seat change	Seat percentage	Vote percentage	Popular vote
	Democratic Party	213	22	49.0%	49.8%	28,642,537
	Republican Party	221	22	50.8%	49.3%	28,393,794
	Progressive Party	0		0.0%	0.3%	145,171
	Liberal Party	0		0.0%	0.2%	113,631
	Independents	1		0.2%	0.2%	111,780
	American Labor Party	0		0.0%	0.2%	95,597
	Prohibition Party	0		0.0%	0.1%	38,664
	People's Choice Party	0		0.0%	<0.1%	8,853
	Socialist Party	0		0.0%	<0.1%	4,892
	Increase Jobless Pay Party	0		0.0%	<0.1%	3,432
	People's Rights Party	0		0.0%	<0.1%	2,434
	Socialist Workers Party	0		0.0%	<0.1%	1,750
	Square Deal Party	0		0.0%	<0.1%	548
	Independent Citizens Committee	0		0.0%	<0.1%	247
	Socialist Labor Party	0		0.0%	<0.1%	177
	Others	0		0.0%	<0.1%	7,233
Totals		435		100.0%	100.0%	57,570,740
Source: Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk

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More information Popular vote ...

Popular vote

Democratic			49.75%
Republican			49.32%
Others			0.93%

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More information House seats ...

House seats

Republican			50.80%
Democratic			48.97%
Others			0.23%

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More information House seats by party holding majority in state, Change in seats ...

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Four special elections were held to finish terms in the 82nd United States Congress, which would end January 3, 1953.