The 1954 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 ...

to elect members to serve in the

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. They were held for the most part on November 2, 1954, in the middle of

Dwight Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

's first presidential term, while Maine held theirs on September 13. Eisenhower's Republican Party lost eighteen seats in the House, giving the Democratic Party a majority that it would retain in every House election until

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. This was nonetheless the first occasion when a Republican won a seat from Florida since 1882, and the first when the GOP won a seat from Texas since 1930. Perhaps the major reason for the Republican defeat was the backlash against the Army–McCarthy Hearings, in which prominent Republican Senator

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accused countless political and intellectual figures of having

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ties, usually with no evidence. Another issue was the Dixon–Yates contract to supply power to the Atomic Energy Commission. Other factors included a comment made in Detroit by Defense Secretary Charles Wilson, former president of

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, equating unemployed auto workers with "lazy kennel dogs who sit... and yell." However, it has been pointed out that losses in the midterm election were considerably less than the White House party generally faces in the midterm elections, and this has been attributed to the overall popularity of President Eisenhower, who participated in the campaign along with Vice President

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and other members of the cabinet. Sam Rayburn of Texas became Speaker of the House, exchanging places with new Minority Leader Joseph W. Martin Jr. of Massachusetts; they went back to what they had been before the 1952 elections.

Overall results

407 incumbent members sought reelection, but 6 were defeated in primaries and 22 defeated in the general election for a total of 379 incumbents winning.

September elections

Alabama

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Of the thirty races, two incumbents retired and were replaced by new members from their party; one Republican lost re-election to a Democrat and one Democrat lost re-election to a Republican; and twenty six incumbents were re-elected.

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

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

Alaska Territory

Notes

References

Works cited

* * Bean Louis, ''Influences in the 1954 Mid-Term Elections.'' Washington: Public Affairs Institute, 1954 {{DEFAULTSORT:United States House Of Representatives Elections, 1954 November 1954 in the United States Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower Gerald Ford Joseph McCarthy Carl Vinson Jamie Whitten