The 1994 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 8, 1994, to elect U.S. Representatives to serve in the

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, 19 ...

. They occurred in the middle of President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

's first term. In what was known as the

Republican Revolution The "Republican Revolution", "Revolution of '94", or "Gingrich Revolution" are political slogans that refer to the Republican Party's (GOP) success in the 1994 U.S. midterm elections, which resulted in a net gain of 54 seats in the House o ...

, a 54-seat swing in membership from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party resulted in the latter gaining a majority of seats in the House of Representatives for the first time since

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

. It was also the largest seat gain for the party since

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

, and the largest for either party since

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

, and characterized a

political realignment A political realignment is a set of sharp changes in party-related ideology, issues, leaders, regional bases, demographic bases, and/or the structure of powers within a government. In the fields of political science and political history, this is ...

in American politics. Democrats had run the House since

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

, and for all but four years ( 1947–49 and 1953–55) since

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

. In 1994, the Republican Party ran against President Clinton's proposed healthcare reform. The Republicans argued that Clinton had abandoned the centrist

New Democrat New Democrats may refer to: * New Democratic Party, a social democratic party in Canada * New Democrats (United States), the ideological centrist faction of the Democratic Party ** New Democrat Coalition, the related caucus in the United States H ...

platform he campaigned on during the 1992 presidential election and reverted to big government solutions. The GOP ran on

Newt Gingrich Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1 ...

Contract with America The Contract with America was a legislative agenda advocated by the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party during the 1994 United States House of Representatives elections, 1994 congressional election campaign. Written by Newt Gingri ...

. The incumbent

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hung ...

, Democrat Tom Foley, lost re-election in his district, becoming the first sitting speaker to be defeated since

Galusha Grow Galusha Aaron Grow (August 31, 1823 – March 31, 1907) was the 24th speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1861 to 1863. Elected as a Democrat in the 1850 congressional elections, he switched to the newly organized ...

1863 Events January * January 1 – Abraham Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation during the third year of the American Civil War, making the abolition of slavery in the Confederate States of America an official war goal. The signing ...

. Other major upsets included the defeat of powerful long-serving representatives such as Ways and Means chairman

Dan Rostenkowski Daniel David Rostenkowski (January 2, 1928 – August 11, 2010) was a United States Representative from Chicago, serving for 36 years, from 1959 to 1995. He became one of the most powerful legislators in Congress, especially in matters of t ...

and Judiciary chairman Jack Brooks. In total, 34 incumbents, all Democrats, were defeated. Republicans also won a number of seats held by retiring Democrats. No Republican incumbents lost re-election, but Democrats won four open Republican-held seats. NFL Hall of Famer

Steve Largent Stephen Michael Largent (born September 28, 1954) is an American former professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports) ...

was elected in Oklahoma and singer

Sonny Bono Salvatore Phillip "Sonny" Bono ( ; February 16, 1935 – January 5, 1998) was an American singer, songwriter, actor, and politician. In partnership with his second wife, Cher, he formed the singing duo Sonny & Cher. A member of the Republican Pa ...

was elected in California.

Robert H. Michel Robert Henry Michel (; March 2, 1923 – February 17, 2017) was an American Republican Party politician who was a member of the United States House of Representatives for 38 years. He represented central Illinois' 18th congressional distric ...

, the Republican minority leader, chose to retire due to pressure from the more conservative members of the Republican caucus.

Dick Cheney Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American former politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He has been called vice presidency o ...

had served as the Minority Whip and Michel supported having

Edward Rell Madigan Edward Rell "Ed" Madigan (January 13, 1936 – December 7, 1994) was a businessman and a Republican Party politician from Lincoln, Illinois. He served almost twenty years in the United States House of Representatives and was U.S. secretary ...

replace him, but the position was instead given to Gingrich, who would later be selected to become speaker. The incumbent Democratic majority leader,

Dick Gephardt Richard Andrew Gephardt (; born January 31, 1941) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and politician who represented in the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he was House majority lead ...

, became minority leader. The new House leadership, under the Republicans, promised to bring a dozen legislative proposals to a vote in the first 100 days of the session, although the

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

did not always follow suit. In a significant political realignment, the South underwent a dramatic transformation. Before the election, House Democrats outnumbered House Republicans in the South. Afterwards, with the Republicans having picked up a total of 19 Southern seats, they were able to outnumber Democrats in the South for the first time since

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

. The Republicans would go on to remain the majority party of the House for the following 12 years, until the 2006 elections. The Republicans have won at least 200 seats in almost every House election since, with the exceptions of

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

. , this is the last congressional election in which Democrats won a House seat in

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

, as well as the last time Republicans won any House seats in

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

Voting patterns

Republican gains, 1992–1994

:Source: Data from exit-poll surveys by Voter Research and Surveys and Mitofsky International published in ''The New York Times'', November 13, 1994, p. 24.

Religious right

Evangelicals were an important group within the electorate and a significant voting block in the Republican party. The national exit poll by Mitofsky International showed 27% of all voters identified themselves as a born-again or evangelical Christians, up from 18% in 1988 and 24% in 1992. Republican House candidates outpolled Democrats among white evangelicals by a massive 52 points, 76% to 24%. According to a survey sponsored by the Christian Coalition, 33 percent of the 1994 voters were "religious conservatives," up from 24 percent in 1992 and 18 percent in 1988 (''CQ Weekly Report''), November 19, 1994, p. 3364; in the 1994 exit poll, 38 percent identified themselves as "conservatives," compared with 30 percent in 1992.''Hotline'', November 12, 1994. Party identification and ideology by selected religious groups 1994
:Source: Mitofsky International exit poll in Klinkner, p. 121.

Overall results

Ross Perot Henry Ross Perot ( ; June 27, 1930 – July 9, 2019) was an American businessman, politician, and philanthropist. He was the founder and chief executive officer of Electronic Data Systems and Perot Systems. He ran an Independent politician ...

's organization United We Stand America issued a report card for each member of Congress. 169 Democrats, 2 Republicans, and one independent received a failing grade. Perot went on ''

Larry King Live ''Larry King Live'' is an American television talk show broadcast by CNN from June 3, 1985 to December 16, 2010. Hosted by Larry King, it was the network's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly. Ma ...

'' in October and called for the Democrats to lose their majority in the U.S. House. He endorsed the Republican opponent of Speaker Tom Foley. Source
Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk

Maps

File:1994 US House of Representatives Election by States.svg, Popular vote by states File:1994 House Results by winners share of vote.svg, House results shaded by winners share of vote File:104 us house membership.png, House seats by party holding plurality in state File:104 us house changes.png, Net changes to U.S. House seats after the 1994 elections

Incumbents defeated

In primary elections

Democrats

* : Mike Synar lost to Virgil R. Cooper, who later lost the general election to Republican

Tom Coburn Thomas Allen Coburn (March 14, 1948 – March 28, 2020) was an American politician and medical doctor, physician who served as a United States senator from Oklahoma from 2005 to 2015. A Republican Party (United States), Republican, Coburn ...

* : Lucien E. Blackwell lost to

Chaka Fattah Chaka Fattah (born Arthur Wesley Davenport; November 21, 1956) is an American politician who served as a Democratic Party (United States), Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House for from 1995 to 2016. The d ...

, who later won the general election * :

Craig Washington Craig Anthony Washington (born October 12, 1941) is an American lawyer and Democratic Party politician from Texas who served in the Texas State Senate and the United States House of Representatives. The son of Roy and Azalia Washington, Washi ...

lost to

Sheila Jackson Lee Sheila Jackson Lee ( Jackson; January 12, 1950 – July 19, 2024) was an American lawyer and politician who was the U.S. representative for , from 1995 until her death in 2024. The district includes most of central Houston. She was a member of ...

, who later won the general election

Republicans

* : David A. Levy lost to Dan Frisa, who later won the general election

In the general elections

Democrats

Thirty-four incumbent Democrats (including 16 "freshmen") were defeated in 1994. Democrats from

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

lost the most seats (5). * : Karan English * :

Dan Hamburg Daniel Hamburg (born October 6, 1948) is an American politician in Northern California who was elected as a Democratic Party Congressman in 1992, serving one term from 1993 to 1995. In 1998, he was the Green Party gubernatorial candidate in Cal ...

* : Richard H. Lehman * :

Lynn Schenk Lynn Alice Schenk (born January 5, 1945) is an American politician and lawyer from California. A Democrat, she served one term in the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 1995. Biography Schenk was born in 1945, in the Bronx, ...

* : George Darden * : Don Johnson Jr. * : Larry LaRocco * :

* : Jill Long * :

Frank McCloskey Francis Xavier McCloskey (June 12, 1939 – November 2, 2003) was an American journalist, lawyer, and politician from Indiana who served in the United States House of Representatives as a Democratic Party (United States), Democrat from 1983 to 1 ...

* :

Neal Edward Smith Neal Edward Smith (March 23, 1920 – November 2, 2021) was an American politician who was a member of the United States House of Representatives for the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party from Iowa from 1959 until 1995, the long ...

* :

Dan Glickman Daniel Robert Glickman (born November 24, 1944) is an American politician, lawyer, lobbyist, and nonprofit leader. He served as the United States secretary of agriculture from 1995 until 2001 in the Clinton administration. He previously represen ...

* : Thomas Barlow * : Peter Hoagland * : James Bilbray * : Richard Swett * : Herb Klein * : George J. Hochbrueckner * : Martin Lancaster * : David Price * : David S. Mann * :

Ted Strickland Theodore Strickland (born August 4, 1941) is an American politician who served as the 68th governor of Ohio from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives, representing ( ...

* : Eric Fingerhut * : Marjorie Margolies * : Jack Brooks * : Bill Sarpalius * :

Karen Shepherd Karen Rae Shepherd (née Felker; born July 5, 1940) is an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 1995. Early life Shepherd was born Karen Rae Felker in Silver City, New Mexico, where her father ...

* :

Leslie Byrne Leslie Larkin Byrne (née Beck; born October 27, 1946) is an American politician and businesswoman who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Virginia's Virginia's 11th congressional district, 11th congres ...

* :

Maria Cantwell Maria Ellen Cantwell (; born October 13, 1958) is an American politician who has been the junior United States senator from Washington since 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, she served in the Washington House of Representatives from 19 ...

* :

Jolene Unsoeld Jolene Bishoprick Unsoeld (December 3, 1931 – November 28, 2021) was an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1989 to 1995. A Democrat, Unsoeld represented Washington's 3rd congressiona ...

* :

Jay Inslee Jay Robert Inslee ( ; born February 9, 1951) is an American politician and lawyer who served from 2013 to 2025 as the 23rd governor of Washington. A member of the Democratic Party, he served from 1993 to 1995 and again from 1999 to 2012 as a ...

* : Tom Foley * : Mike Kreidler * : Peter W. Barca

Republicans

* None.

Open seats that changed parties

Democratic seats won by Republicans

22 open seats previously held by Democrats were won by Republicans. * : Matt Salmon * : Joe Scarborough * : Dave Weldon * :

Saxby Chambliss Clarence Saxby Chambliss (; born November 10, 1943) is an American lawyer and retired politician who was a United States Senate, United States Senator from Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia from 2003 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party (Unite ...

* : Jerry Weller * :

David M. McIntosh David Martin McIntosh (born June 8, 1958) is an American attorney and Republican Party (United States), Republican Party politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Indiana's 2nd congressional dis ...

* :

Sam Brownback Samuel Dale Brownback (born September 12, 1956) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Kansas from 1996 to 2011 and as the List of governors of Kansas, 46th governor of K ...

* : James B. Longley Jr. * : Dick Chrysler * : Gil Gutknecht * :

Roger Wicker Roger Frederick Wicker (born July 5, 1951) is an American politician, attorney, and United States Air Force, Air Force veteran serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Mississi ...

* : Frank LoBiondo * :

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 fr ...

* :

Richard Burr Richard Mauze Burr (born November 30, 1955) is an American businessman and politician who served as a United States senator from North Carolina from 2005 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, Burr was previously a member of the United Stat ...

* :

Bob Ney Robert William Ney (born July 5, 1954) is an American former politician who represented Ohio's 18th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 until his resignation on November 3, 2006, after he pleaded guilty to charges ...

* :

* : J. C. Watts * : Jim Bunn * :

Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin Graham (; born July 9, 1955) is an American politician and attorney serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from South Carolina, a seat he has held since 2003. A membe ...

* : Zach Wamp * : Van Hilleary * : Jack Metcalf

Republican seats won by Democrats

Democrats won four open seats previously held by Republicans. * :

John Baldacci John Elias Baldacci (born January 30, 1955) is an American politician who served as the 73rd governor of Maine from 2003 to 2011. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, he also served in the United States House of Representatives from 199 ...

* :

Bill Luther William Paul Luther (born June 27, 1945) is an American politician and lawyer from Minnesota. Luther was a Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) member of the United States House of Representatives representing Minnesota's 6th congressional dist ...

* : Mike Doyle * : Patrick J. Kennedy

Open seats that parties held

Democratic seats held

Democrats held nine of their open seats. * :

Zoe Lofgren Susan Ellen "Zoe" Lofgren ( ; born December 21, 1947) is an American politician and lawyer serving as a United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from California. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Part ...

* : Mike Ward * :

Lynn Rivers Lynn Nancy Rivers (née Carruthers; born December 19, 1956) is an American politician and lawyer from Michigan. She served four terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003. Early life and education Rivers was born in A ...

* : Karen McCarthy * :

* :

Frank Mascara Frank Robert Mascara (January 19, 1930 – July 10, 2011) was an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician from Pennsylvania who served four terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003. Early l ...

* :

Lloyd Doggett Lloyd Alton Doggett II (born October 6, 1946) is an American lawyer and politician serving as a U.S. representative from Texas since 1995. A member of the Democratic Party, Doggett was a member of the Texas Senate from 1973 to 1985 and a just ...

* :

* : Ken Bentsen Jr.

Republican seats held

Republicans held 17 of their open seats. * : John Shadegg * : Andrea Seastrand * :

* :

Mark Foley Mark Adam Foley (born September 8, 1954) is an American former politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives. He served from 1995 until 2006, representing the 16th District of Florida as a member of the Repub ...

* :

Ray LaHood Raymond H. LaHood ( ; born December 6, 1945) is an American politician who served as the 16th United States Secretary of Transportation from 2009 to 2013 under President Barack Obama. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the ...

* : Tom Latham * : Bob Ehrlich * :

Rodney Frelinghuysen Rodney Procter Frelinghuysen (born April 29, 1946) is an American former politician and lobbyist who served as the U.S. representative for from 1995 to 2019. The district includes most of Morris County, an affluent suburban county west of New ...

* : Dan Frisa * : Sue Kelly * : Sue Myrick * :

* : Wes Cooley * :

Phil English Philip Sheridan English (born June 20, 1956) is an American politician who served as a Republican Party (United States), Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1995–2009 from the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonw ...

* :

Mark Sanford Marshall Clement "Mark" Sanford Jr. (born May 28, 1960) is an American politician and author who served as the U.S. representative for South Carolina's 1st congressional district from 1995 to 2001 and from 2013 to 2019, and as the 115th govern ...

* : Ed Bryant * : Barbara Cubin

Closest races

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

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

, - ! ,

Eleanor Holmes Norton Eleanor Holmes Norton (born June 13, 1937) is an American politician, lawyer, and human rights activist. Norton is a congressional delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, where she has represented the District of Columbia since 1991 as ...

, , Democratic ,

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

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

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 ...

, , Democratic ,

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 retired.
New member elected.
Independent gain. , nowrap , , - ! , Robert A. Underwood , , Democratic ,

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, Incumbent re-elected. , nowrap ,

Notes

References

Works cited

External links

Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 8, 1994
Office of the Clerk U.S. House of Representatives {{Elections to the United States House of Representatives Presidency of Bill Clinton John Boehner Sherrod Brown John Conyers Barney Frank John Dingell Dick Durbin Dennis Hastert John Lewis Ed Markey Chuck Schumer

Voting patterns

Republican gains, 1992–1994

Religious right

Overall results

Maps

Incumbents defeated

In primary elections

Democrats

Republicans

In the general elections

Democrats

Republicans

Open seats that changed parties

Democratic seats won by Republicans

Republican seats won by Democrats

Open seats that parties held

Democratic seats held

Republican seats held

Closest races

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

Further reading

External links