The 1996 United States House of Representatives elections was an election for the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...
on November 5, 1996, which coincided with the re-election of
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
. Democrats won the popular vote by almost 60,000 votes (0.07%) and gained a net of two
seats from the Republicans, but the Republicans retained an overall majority of seats in the House for the first time since
1928
Events January
* January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA.
* January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...
.
Although the Republicans lost 3 seats, 1 of them included an Independent who would caucus with them and switch to the Republicans. This resulted in a 227 Republican majority to the Democrats' 208 minority which also included an Independent caucusing with them. A total of 12 Freshman Republicans who were elected in the 1994
Republican Revolution
The "Republican Revolution", "Revolution of '94", or "Gingrich Revolution" are political slogans that refer to the Republican Party (GOP) success in the 1994 U.S. mid-term elections, which resulted in a net gain of 54 seats in the House of ...
were defeated in the election. The election is similar to the
1952 elections, although, in terms of the total vote this result remains one of the closest in U.S. history.
This remains the last election in which Republicans won a majority of seats in the New Jersey delegation.
Special elections
Results summary
Source
Election Statistics – Office of the Clerk
Retiring incumbents
50 incumbents retired: 29 Democrats and 21 Republicans, giving the Republicans a net gain of 6 seats from the Democrats.
Democrats
Democratic hold
# :
Blanche Lincoln
# :
Ray Thornton
# :
Anthony Beilenson
Anthony Charles Beilenson (October 26, 1932 – March 5, 2017) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a Democratic Congressman from Southern California. He served ten terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1977 un ...
# :
Pat Schroeder
Patricia Nell Scott Schroeder (born July 30, 1940) is an American politician who represented Colorado in the United States House of Representatives from 1973 to 1997. A member of the Democratic Party, Schroeder was the first female U.S. Repres ...
# :
Pete Peterson
Douglas Brian "Pete" Peterson (born June 26, 1935) is an American politician and diplomat. He served as a United States Air Force pilot during the Vietnam War and spent over six years as a prisoner of the North Vietnamese army after his plane w ...
# :
Sam Gibbons
Sam Melville Gibbons (January 20, 1920 – October 10, 2012) was an American politician from the U.S. state, state of Florida, who served in the Florida State House of Representatives, Florida State Senate, and the U.S. House of Representatives. ...
# :
Harry Johnston
# :
Cardiss Collins
# :
Andrew Jacobs Jr.
Andrew Jacobs Jr. (February 24, 1932 – December 28, 2013) was an American lawyer and politician. A Democrat, he served as an Indiana state legislator and Congressman. Jacobs was a member of the United States House of Representatives for thir ...
# :
Gerry Studds
# :
Robert Torricelli
Robert Guy Torricelli (born August 27, 1951), is an American attorney and former politician. A Democrat, Torricelli served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey's 9th district from 1983 to 1997 and as a United States sen ...
, to
run for U.S. Senator
# :
Charlie Rose
Charles Peete Rose Jr. (born January 5, 1942) is an American former television journalist and talk show host. From 1991 to 2017, he was the host and executive producer of the talk show '' Charlie Rose'' on PBS and Bloomberg LP.
Rose also co-an ...
# :
Jack Reed, to
run for U.S. Senator
# :
Harold Ford Sr.
Harold Eugene Ford Sr. (born May 20, 1945) is an American politician and Democratic Party (United States), Democratic former member of the United States House of Representatives representing the area of Memphis, Tennessee, for 11 terms—from 197 ...
# :
Jim Chapman Jim Chapman may refer to:
* Jim Chapman (congressman) (born 1945), American businessman and politician
** Jim Chapman Lake, a lake in Texas named after the politician
* Jim Chapman (footballer) (born 1965), Scottish footballer
* Jim Chapman (Intern ...
, to
run for U.S. Senator
# :
Charlie Wilson
# :
Kika de la Garza
Eligio "Kika" de la Garza II (September 22, 1927March 13, 2017) was an American politician who served as the Democratic representative for the 15th congressional district of Texas from January 3, 1965, to January 3, 1997.
Biography
De la Garza ...
# :
Ronald D. Coleman
# :
Lewis F. Payne Jr.
Republican gain
# :
Glen Browder
John Glen Browder (born January 15, 1943) is a former member of the United States House of Representatives from Alabama's 3rd congressional district. Browder was born in Sumter, South Carolina and graduated in 1961 from Edmunds High School in ...
, to
run for U.S. Senator
# :
Tom Bevill
Tom Donald Fike Bevill (March 27, 1921 – March 28, 2005) was an American attorney, politician, and Democratic fifteen-term U.S. congressman who represented Alabama's 4th Congressional District and Alabama's 7th congressional district from 1967 ...
# :
Dick Durbin, to
run for U.S. Senator
# :
Cleo Fields
Cleo Fields (born November 22, 1962) is an American attorney and politician who represented in the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 1997 and ran unsuccessfully for governor of Louisiana in 1995. He serves as a state senator fo ...
# :
Sonny Montgomery
Gillespie V. "Sonny" Montgomery (August 5, 1920 – May 12, 2006) was an American soldier and politician from Mississippi who served in the Mississippi Senate and U.S. House of Representatives from 1967 to 1997. He was also a retired major genera ...
# :
Rick Hill
Richard Hill (born December 30, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Montana. He was the Republican nominee for Governor of Montana in 2012.
Early life and e ...
# :
William K. Brewster
William Kent Brewster (November 8, 1941 – October 3, 2022) was an American pharmacist and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, Brewster was a U.S. Congressman from from 1991 to 1997 and served in the Oklahoma House of Representat ...
# :
Tim Johnson, to
run for U.S. Senator
# :
John Bryant, to
run for U.S. Senator
# :
Pete Geren
Republicans
Republican hold
# :
Tim Hutchinson, to
run for U.S. Senator
# :
Carlos Moorhead
# :
Wayne Allard, to
run for U.S. Senator
# :
John Myers
# :
Pat Roberts, to
run for U.S. Senator
# :
Sam Brownback, to
run for U.S. Senator
# :
Jan Meyers
Janice Lenore Meyers ( née Crilly; July 20, 1928 – June 21, 2019) was an American Republican party politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives from Kansas.
Biography
Meyers was born in Lincoln, Nebraska. She attended ...
# :
Mel Hancock
Melton D. "Mel" Hancock (September 14, 1929 – November 6, 2011) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Missouri's 7th congressional district.
Early life
Hancock was born in Cape Fair, Stone County, Missouri and ...
# :
Barbara Vucanovich
Barbara Farrell Vucanovich (June 22, 1921 – June 10, 2013) was an American Republican politician who was the first Latina elected to the United States House of Representatives, in which she served representing Nevada from 1983 to 1997.
Ba ...
# :
Bill Zeliff, to
run for Governor
# :
Dick Zimmer, to
run for U.S. Senator
# :
Wes Cooley
# :
Bill Clinger
William Floyd Clinger Jr. (April 4, 1929 – May 28, 2021) was an American attorney and Republican politician who represented northwest and north-central Pennsylvania in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1979 to 1997.
Early life and educ ...
# :
Robert Smith Walker
Robert Smith Walker (born December 23, 1942) is a former American politician who represented Pennsylvania in the United States House of Representatives as a Republican from 1977 until his retirement in 1997. He was known for his fiery rhetoric ...
# :
Jimmy Quillen
# :
Jack Fields
Jack Milton Fields Jr. (born February 3, 1952) is a Texas businessman and a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from a Houston-based district.
Early life
Fields was born in Humble, a northern suburb of Hous ...
# :
Enid Greene
Enid Greene Mickelsen, formerly Enid Greene Waldholtz (born June 5, 1958), is an American politician from the state of Utah who served one term in the United States House of Representatives. She was the third woman and first Republican woman elec ...
Democratic gain
# :
Jim Ross Lightfoot
James Ross Lightfoot (born September 27, 1938) is an American businessman-broadcaster who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa.
Early life
Lightfoot was born in the Florence Crittenton Home for Unwed Mothers ...
, to
run for U.S. Senator
# :
Jimmy Hayes, to
run for U.S. Senator
# :
Steve Gunderson
Steven Craig Gunderson (born May 10, 1951) is an American former politician who was a Republican U.S. Representative for representing Wisconsin's 3rd congressional district from 1981 to 1997, when he was succeeded by Democrat Ron Kind. After lea ...
# :
Toby Roth
Tobias Anton "Toby" Roth (born October 10, 1938) is a former Republican U.S. Representative from Wisconsin.
Roth represented Wisconsin's 8th congressional district. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1979, first being ...
Incumbents defeated
In primary elections
Democrats
# :
Barbara-Rose Collins lost to
Carolyn Kilpatrick
Carolyn Jean Cheeks Kilpatrick (born June 25, 1945) is a former American politician who was U.S. Representative for from 1997 to 2011. She is a member of the Democratic Party. In August 2010 she lost the Democratic primary election to Hansen Cl ...
, who later won the general election
Republicans
# :
Greg Laughlin lost to
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American author, activist, physician and retired politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977 and again from 1979 to 1985, as well ...
, who later won the general election
In the general elections
21 seats switched parties in the November elections, giving the Democrats a net gain of 15 seats from the Republicans.
Democrats who lost to Republicans
# :
Mike Ward lost to
Anne Northup
# :
Harold Volkmer
Harold Lee Volkmer (April 4, 1931 – April 16, 2011) was an American politician from Missouri. He was a Democrat who served 20 years in the United States House of Representatives.
Early life and career
Volkmer grew up in Jefferson City, Missour ...
lost to
Kenny Hulshof
# :
Bill Orton
William Orton (September 22, 1948 – April 18, 2009) was an American Democratic politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Utah from 1991 to 1997.
Biography
Early life and education
Born in North Ogd ...
lost to
Chris Cannon
Republicans who lost to Democrats
# :
William P. Baker
William Pond Baker (born June 14, 1940, in Oakland, California) is an American businessman and politician who served two terms as a United States Congressman from California from 1993 to 1997.
Biography
He attended San Jose State University, ...
lost to
Ellen Tauscher
Ellen O'Kane Tauscher (November 15, 1951 – April 29, 2019) was an American businesswoman, diplomat, and Democratic Party politician who was the U.S. representative for California's 10th congressional district from 1997 to 2009. From 2009 to 2012 ...
# :
Andrea Seastrand lost to
Walter Capps
Walter Holden Capps (May 5, 1934 – October 28, 1997) was an American academic and politician. He served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, representing California's 22nd congressional district from January 1 ...
# :
Bob Dornan lost to
Loretta Sanchez
Loretta Lorna Sanchez (born January 7, 1960) is an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1997 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she was first elected in 1996, when she defeated long-serving Repu ...
# :
Gary Franks
Gary Alvin Franks (born February 9, 1953) is an American politician who was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Connecticut for six years, from 1991 until 1997. He is the first African-American elected to the U.S. Congress from Con ...
lost to
James H. Maloney
# :
Michael Patrick Flanagan
Michael Patrick Flanagan (born November 9, 1962) is a former captain in the United States Army, a practicing attorney, and a Republican Party politician from Chicago, Illinois.
Flanagan is best known for his victory over eighteen-term Congress ...
lost to
Rod Blagojevich
Rod Blagojevich ( , born December 10, 1956), often referred to by his nicknames "Blago" or "B-Rod", is an American former politician, political commentator, and convicted felon who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009, when ...
# :
James B. Longley Jr.
James Bernard Longley Jr. (born July 7, 1951) is an American politician from Maine. A U.S. Republican Party, Republican, he served one term in the United States House of Representatives representing Maine's 1st congressional district, Maine's 1st ...
lost to
Tom Allen
# :
Peter I. Blute
Peter I. Blute (born January 28, 1956) is a former American politician who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives. He served two terms, between January 3, 1993, and January 3, 1997, representing Massachusetts ...
lost to
Jim McGovern
# :
Peter G. Torkildsen
Peter Gerard Torkildsen (born January 28, 1958) is an American Republican Party politician from Massachusetts. He represented the 13th Essex district, including his hometown of Danvers, in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1985 ...
lost to
John F. Tierney
John F. Tierney (born September 18, 1951) is an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts from 1997 to 2015. He is a Democrat who represented the state's , which includes the state's North Shore and Cape Ann ...
# :
Dick Chrysler
Richard "Dick" Chrysler (born April 29, 1942) is an Amway distributor and former politician from the U.S. state of Michigan.
Chrysler was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and graduated from Brighton High School in Brighton, Michigan. He became vi ...
lost to
Debbie Stabenow
# :
William J. Martini
William John Martini (born February 10, 1947 in Passaic, New Jersey) is a Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, having been in active service from November 14, 2002, to February 10, ...
lost to
Bill Pascrell
William James Pascrell Jr. (born January 25, 1937) is an American politician who is the U.S. representative for , having served in this position since January 2013. A member of the Democratic Party and a native of Paterson, New Jersey, Pascrel ...
# :
Dan Frisa
Daniel Frisa (born April 27, 1955) is an American lawyer and former Republican politician. He was a United States Congressman and a state legislator from New York.
Born in Queens, New York, Frisa attended East Meadow, New York, public schools a ...
lost to
Carolyn McCarthy
Carolyn McCarthy ( Cook; born January 5, 1944) is an American politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 1997 to 2015. She is a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Par ...
# :
David Funderburk
David Britton Funderburk (born April 28, 1944) is an American politician and diplomat who served as the Ambassador of the United States to Romania from 1981 to 1985. He later served as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives fro ...
lost to
Bob Etheridge
# :
Fred Heineman lost to
David Price in a rematch of the 1994 election.
# :
Frank Cremeans
Frank Arnold Cremeans (April 5, 1943 – January 2, 2003) was an American small-businessman who represented Ohio in the United States House of Representatives as a Republican. He served one term in Congress, from 1995 to 1997.
Cremeans was ...
lost to
Ted Strickland
Theodore Strickland (born August 4, 1941) is an American politician who was the 68th governor of Ohio, serving from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives, representing ...
# :
Martin Hoke
Martin R. Hoke (born May 18, 1952) is an American Republican politician, former member of the Ohio Casino Control Commission, and former member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio.
Biography
Hoke was born in Lakewood, Ohio, a ...
lost to
Dennis Kucinich
Dennis John Kucinich (; born October 8, 1946) is an American politician. A U.S. Representative from Ohio from 1997 to 2013, he was also a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States in 2004 and 2008. He ran for ...
# :
Jim Bunn
James Lee Bunn (born December 12, 1956) is an American politician from Oregon. A native of Yamhill County, he served in the Oregon State Senate before election to the United States House of Representatives where he served one term. A Republican, h ...
lost to
Darlene Hooley
Darlene Kay Olson Hooley (born April 4, 1939) is an American politician and former Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Oregon who represented the state's .
A high school teacher by profession, she served as a city counc ...
# :
Steve Stockman
Stephen Ernest Stockman (born November 14, 1956) is an American politician who is a member of the Republican Party and a convicted felon. He served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 9th congressional district from 1995 to 1997 and for Texas' ...
lost to
Nick Lampson
# :
Randy Tate
Randall John "Randy" Tate (born November 23, 1965) is an American politician and a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Washington.
Tate grew up in suburban Seattle and graduated with an Associate of Arts ...
lost to
Adam Smith
Adam Smith (baptized 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as "The Father of Economics"——— ...
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
*Jo Ann Emerson was elected as a Republican in a special to serve the remaining months of the term and was elected as an Independent caucusing with Republicans due to Missouri state law. She later switched to the Republican Party a few days after the start of the new Congress.
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
, these were the last elections in which the Republican Party won a majority of congressional districts from
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
.
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
See also
*
104th United States Congress
The 104th 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, D.C. from January 3, 199 ...
*
105th United States Congress
The 105th 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, 1997, ...
Notes
References
{{United States House of Representatives elections