The 1942 United States House of Representatives elections was held in the middle of
President
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Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
's third term. It was the first wartime election in the United States since 1918.
Roosevelt's
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lost 45 seats to the
Republican Party, retaining only a slender majority even though they lost the popular vote by over 1 million votes (3.9%). This would not occur again until
1952
Events January–February
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, when the party who won the popular vote did not also win the House majority. This was the most successful congressional election for Republicans since 1930.
The main factor that led to the Republican gains during this election cycle was popular dissatisfaction with American involvement in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
.
[ , this is the last time the House of Representatives was made up of five parties. This was also the smallest House majority that the Democrats had up until the 2020 elections.
Voter turnout was historically low for the time, which was attributed to the absence of military men and the apathy of workers at war production plants, many of whom had failed to re-register to vote in their new communities or become accustomed to local candidates.][
]
Overall results
Source
Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk
Special elections
Some special elections were held throughout the year.
Elections are listed by date and district.
Alabama
Arizona
Arizona received a second representative in reapportionment; it continued to elect both representatives at large rather than drawing districts.
Arkansas
California
Three new seats were added in reapportionment, increasing the delegation from 20 to 23 seats. Two of the new seats were won by Democrats, one by a Republican. One Republican and one Democratic incumbents lost re-election, and one vacancy was won by a Republican. Therefore, both Democrats and Republicans increased by 2 seats.
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Florida received a 6th seat in reapportionment; it added an at-large district to its 5 districts rather than redrawing them.
Georgia
Idaho
Illinois
Illinois was reapportioned from 27 representatives to 26; it went from electing 2 at-large representatives to 1 without redrawing the other districts.
Indiana
Indiana was redrawn from 12 districts to 11 after reapportionment; most of the districts underwent minor boundary changes, and the old 11th district was divided up, distributing Madison County to the 5th, Hancock County to the 10th, and consolidating the parts of Marion County in the old 11th and Indianapolis-based 12th into a new 11th.[
] This forced incumbents William Larrabee and Raymond S. Springer to run against each other in a district drawn mainly from Springer's old district.
Iowa
Iowa was redistricted from 9 to 8 districts, with the most substantial changes being merging the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th districts in northeastern Iowa down to 2 districts.
Kansas
Kansas was reapportioned from 7 districts to 6, with the central Kansas 4th district losing territory on its north and gaining most of the old 5th district around Wichita.
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Massachusetts was reapportioned from 15 districts down to 14, with the most affected incumbent being Thomas H. Eliot
Thomas Hopkinson Eliot (June 14, 1907 – October 14, 1991) was an American lawyer, politician, and academic who served as chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis and as a congressman in the United States House of Representatives from ...
of the former 9th, whose western Boston suburbs were moved into the 10th and 4th while his Cambridge residence was pulled into the more urban 11th, where he was defeated in the primary by James Michael Curley
James Michael Curley (November 20, 1874 – November 12, 1958) was an American Democratic politician from Boston, Massachusetts. He served four terms as mayor of Boston. He also served a single term as governor of Massachusetts, characterized ...
.
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Redistricted from 5 districts down to 4; the 4th and 1st districts were merged into each other, with the other three districts all gaining some territory on the south.
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
Reapportioned from 1 representative to 2; both of the representatives were elected at large.
New York
North Carolina
North Carolina was reapportioned from 11 seats to 12, and reorganized the existing 10th and 11th districts (in the mountainous west of the state) into three districts.
North Dakota
Ohio
Ohio was reapportioned from 24 seats to 23, and removed one of its two at-large seats while leaving the 22 geographical districts unchanged.
Oklahoma
Oregon
Oregon redistricted from 3 districts to 4 by splitting the old 1st district (the western part of the state except Multnomah County) and putting the southern half (Linn and Lane counties and the counties to the south) into a 4th district.
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania was reapportioned from 34 to 33 representatives, and redistricted from 34 to 32 geographical districts with one new at-large district. The Philadelphia-area districts were left pretty much unchanged, with the removal of one district in north-central Pennsylvania and another in Pittsburgh and compensating adjustments to nearby districts.
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Tennessee was reapportioned from 9 districts to 10, and added an additional district in the central part of the state, allowing Davidson County to have its own district.
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Non-voting delegates
Alaska Territory
See also
* 1942 United States elections
The 1942 United States elections were held on November 3, 1942, and elected the members of the 78th United States Congress. In Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt's unprecedented third mid-term election, the Republican Party picked up se ...
** 1942 United States Senate elections
The 1942 United States Senate elections were held November 3, 1942, midway through Franklin D. Roosevelt's third term as President.
Background
Although this election took place during World War II, the opposition Republican party made major g ...
* 77th United States Congress
The 77th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1941, ...
* 78th United States Congress
The 78th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1943, ...
Notes
References
Sources
Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk
{{Lyndon B. Johnson
United States home front during World War II