The 1984 United States House of Representatives elections was an election for the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

on November 6, 1984, to elect members to serve in the

99th United States Congress The 99th 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, 19 ...

. They coincided with the

re-election The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be a ...

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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

in a landslide. This victory also yielded gains for Reagan's Republican Party in the House, where they picked up a net of sixteen seats from the Democratic Party. Despite Reagan's extremely large electoral victory, the Democrats nonetheless retained a commanding majority in the House and actually gained seats in the Senate. These elections were the last until 2020 when a member of a political party other than the Democrats, Republicans, or an independent had one or more seats in the chamber. This would be the last time for eight years that the Democrats experienced a net loss of seats in the House.

Overall results

411 incumbent members sought reelection, but 3 were defeated in primaries and 16 defeated in the general election for a total of 392 incumbents winning.

Retiring incumbents

Twenty-two representatives retired. Sixteen of those seats were held by the same party, six seats changed party.

Democrats

Nine Democrats retired. Four of those seats were held by Democrats and five were won by Republicans.

Democratic held

# :

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...

: to run for U.S. Senate. Was succeeded by Kenneth J. Gray. # : James Shannon: to run for U.S. Senate. Was succeeded by Chester G. Atkins. # :

Geraldine Ferraro Geraldine Anne Ferraro (August 26, 1935 March 26, 2011) was an American politician, diplomat, and attorney. She served in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 1985, and was the Democratic Party's nominee for vice presiden ...

: to run for Vice President. Was succeeded by

Thomas Manton Thomas Manton (1620–1677) was an English Puritan clergyman. He was a clerk to the Westminster Assembly and a chaplain to Oliver Cromwell. Early life Thomas Manton was baptised 31 March 1620 at Lydeard St Lawrence, Somerset, a remote sout ...

. # :

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...

: to run for U.S. Senate. Was succeeded by Bart Gordon.

Republican gain

# : Ray Kogovsek. Was succeeded by Michael L. Strang. # :

Tom Harkin Thomas Richard Harkin (born November 19, 1939) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Iowa from 1985 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Pa ...

: to run for U.S. Senate. Was succeeded by Jim Ross Lightfoot. # : Norman D'Amours: to run for U.S. Senate. Was succeeded by Bob Smith. # : Richard Ottinger. Was succeeded by Joe DioGuardi. # : Kent Hance: to run for U.S. Senate. Was succeeded by

Larry Combest Larry Ed Combest (born March 20, 1945) is a retired American Republican politician who represented Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1985 to 2003. Early life Combest was born in Memphis, Texas, a small town in West Texas and the ...

Republicans

Twelve Republicans retired. Eleven of those seats were held by Republicans and one was won by a Democrat.

Republican held

# : Jack Edwards. Was succeeded by Sonny Callahan. # :

John N. Erlenborn John Neal Erlenborn (February 8, 1927 – October 30, 2005) was an American lawyer and Republican Party (United States), Republican member of the U.S. Congressional Delegations from Illinois, representing the 14th (then after United States Cong ...

. Was succeeded by Harris Fawell. # : Tom Corcoran: to run for U.S. Senate. Was succeeded by John E. Grotberg. # : Larry Winn. Was succeeded by Jan Meyers. # : Harold S. Sawyer. Was succeeded by Paul B. Henry. # : Barber Conable. Was succeeded by Fred J. Eckert. # : James G. Martin: to run for Governor of North Carolina. Was succeeded by Alex McMillan. # :

Phil Gramm William Philip Gramm (born July 8, 1942) is an American economist and politician who represented Texas in both chambers of United States Congress, Congress. Though he began his political career as a Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, Gr ...

: to run for U.S. Senate. Was succeeded by

Joe Barton Joseph Linus Barton (born September 15, 1949) is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he represented in the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives from 1985 t ...

. # :

Ron Paul Ronald Ernest Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American author, activist, and 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 as for Texas' ...

: to run for U.S. Senate. Was succeeded by

Tom DeLay Thomas Dale DeLay (; born April 8, 1947) is an American author and retired politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives. A Republican Party (United States), Republican, DeLay represented Texas's 22nd congress ...

. # : David Daniel Marriott: to run for Governor of Utah. Was succeeded by David Smith Monson. # : J. Kenneth Robinson. Was succeeded by D. French Slaughter Jr. # : Joel Pritchard. Was succeeded by John Miller.

Democratic gain

# :

Ed Bethune Edwin Ruthvin Bethune Jr. (born December 19, 1935), known as Ed Bethune, is an American lawyer, lobbyist, and novelist in Little Rock, Arkansas, who was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Arkansas from 1979–1 ...

: to run for U.S. Senate. Was succeeded by Tommy F. Robinson.

Defeated incumbents

In primary election

Democrats

Three Democrats lost renomination. # : Katie Hall lost to challenger Pete Visclosky. # : Frank Harrison lost to challenger Paul Kanjorski. # : Abraham Kazen lost to challenger Albert Bustamante.

In the general election

Democrats

Thirteen Democrats lost re-election. #: James F. McNulty Jr. lost to

Jim Kolbe James Thomas Kolbe (June 28, 1942 – December 3, 2022) was an American politician who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives. He represented Arizona's 5th congressional district from 1985 to 2003 and its 8 ...

. #: Jerry M. Patterson lost to Bob Dornan. #: William R. Ratchford lost to

John G. Rowland John Grosvenor Rowland (born May 24, 1957) is an American former politician, author, and radio host who served as the 86th governor of Connecticut from 1995 to 2004. Rowland served three terms representing Connecticut's 5th congressional distri ...

. #: Elliott H. Levitas lost to Pat Swindall. #: Clarence Long lost to Helen Delich Bentley. #: Donald J. Albosta lost to

Bill Schuette William Duncan Schuette ( ; born October 13, 1953) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 53rd attorney general of Michigan from 2011 to 2019. He was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for Senate in 1990 and for Governor of Mi ...

. #: Joseph Minish lost to Dean Gallo. #: Ike Franklin Andrews lost to Bill Cobey. #: Charles Robin Britt lost to

Howard Coble John Howard Coble (March 18, 1931 – November 3, 2015) was an American politician who was the U.S. representative for , serving from 1985 to 2015. He was a member of the Republican Party. The district includes all or portions of ten counties in ...

. #: James M. Clarke lost to Bill Hendon. #: Jack Hightower lost to Beau Boulter. #: Bill Patman lost to Mac Sweeney. #: Tom Vandergriff lost to

Dick Armey Richard Keith Armey (; born July 7, 1940) is an American economist and politician. He was a United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from Texas's (1985–2003) and Party Leaders of the United States House of Representatives, ...

Republicans

Three Republicans lost re-election. #: George V. Hansen lost to Richard H. Stallings. #: Dan Crane lost to Terry L. Bruce. #: Lyle Williams lost to

Jim Traficant Jim or JIM may refer to: Names * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy People and horses * Jim, the nickname of Yelkanum Seclamatan (died April 1911), Na ...

Special elections

There were three special elections to the 98th Congress in 1984, two of which were held on the same day as the general election for the next term. Elections are sorted here by date then district.

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

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

West Virginia

Wisconsin

, - ! ,

Les Aspin Leslie Aspin Jr. (July 21, 1938 – May 21, 1995) was an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party politician and economist who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Wisconsin's 1st co ...

, , Democratic ,

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

, Incumbent re-elected. , nowrap , , - ! , Robert Kastenmeier , , Democratic ,

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

, Incumbent re-elected. , nowrap , , - ! , Steve Gunderson , , Republican ,

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

, Incumbent re-elected. , nowrap , , - ! , Jerry Kleczka , , Democratic ,

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, Incumbent re-elected. , nowrap , , - ! , Jim Moody , , Democratic ,

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

, Incumbent re-elected. , nowrap , , - ! ,

Tom Petri Thomas Evert Petri (born May 28, 1940) is an American politician who was the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 1979 to 2015; he is a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party. Early lif ...

, , Republican , 1979 , Incumbent re-elected. , nowrap , , - ! , Dave Obey , , Democratic , 1969 , Incumbent re-elected. , nowrap , , - ! ,

Toby Roth Tobias Anton Roth Sr. (born October 10, 1938) is a retired American businessman, lobbyist, and Republican Party (United States), Republican politician from Appleton, Wisconsin. He served 18 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing ...

, , Republican ,

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

, Incumbent re-elected. , nowrap , , - ! ,

Jim Sensenbrenner Frank James Sensenbrenner Jr. (; born June 14, 1943) is an American politician who represented in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 2021 (numbered as the 9th district until 2003). He is a member of the Republican Party. ...

, , Republican ,

, Incumbent re-elected. , nowrap ,

Wyoming

Non-voting delegates

, - ! American Samoa at-large , Fofō Iosefa Fiti Sunia , ,

, Incumbent re-elected. , nowrap , , - ! District of Columbia at-large , Walter Fauntroy , ,

, Incumbent re-elected. , nowrap , , - ! Guam at-large , Antonio Borja Won Pat , ,

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

, , Incumbent lost re-election.
Republican gain. , nowrap , , - ! Puerto Rico at-large ,

Baltasar Corrada del Río Baltasar Corrada del Río (April 10, 1935 – March 11, 2018) was a Puerto Rican politician. He held various high political offices in the island, including President of the Puerto Rico Civil Rights Commission, Resident Commissioner (1977–198 ...

, , New Progressive/
Democratic ,

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

, , Incumbent retired to run for mayor of San Juan.
New resident commissioner elected.
PPD gain. , nowrap , , - ! U.S. Virgin Islands at-large ,

Ron de Lugo Ronald de Lugo (August 2, 1930 – July 14, 2020) was an American politician. He was the first Delegate from the United States Virgin Islands to the United States House of Representatives. Ron de Lugo's parents were Puerto Ricans. His grandfathe ...

, ,

1978 (retired)

, Incumbent re-elected. , nowrap ,

Notes

References

Works cited

* *
Federal Elections 84: Election Results for U.S. President, the U.S. Senate, and the U.S. House of Representatives
'. Washington, D.C.:

Federal Election Commission The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent agency of the United States government that enforces U.S. campaign finance laws and oversees U.S. federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Campaign ...

. 1985. pp. 27–118. Archived fro
the original
on November 5, 2021. {{1984 United States elections Presidency of Ronald Reagan John Conyers Larry Craig John Dingell Dick Durbin Barney Frank Al Gore Ed Markey John McCain Chuck Schumer

Overall results

Retiring incumbents

Democrats

Democratic held

Republican gain

Republicans

Republican held

Democratic gain

Defeated incumbents

In primary election

Democrats

In the general election

Democrats

Republicans

Special elections

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

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

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Non-voting delegates

See also

Notes

References

Works cited