1974 United States House of Representatives elections

The 1974 United States House of Representatives elections were elections for the United States House of Representatives on November 5, 1974, to elect members to serve in the 94th United States Congress. They occurred in the wake of the Watergate scandal, which had forced President Richard Nixon to resign in favor of Gerald Ford. This scandal, along with high inflation, allowed the Democrats to make large gains in the midterm elections, taking 48 seats from the Republicans. An additional seat was gained, for a net gain of 49, when Representative Joe Moakley from Massachusetts switched his party affiliation back to Democrat after winning his 1972 election as an independent, thereby increasing their majority above the two-thirds mark. Altogether, there were 93 freshmen representatives in the 94th Congress when it convened on January 3, 1975 (76 of them Democrats). Those elected to office that year later came to be known collectively as "Watergate Babies." The gain of 49 Democratic seats was the largest pickup by the party since 1958. Only four Democratic incumbents lost their seats.

, this was the last time the Democrats gained 45 or more seats in a House election.

Overall results 391 incumbent members sought reelection, but 8 were defeated in primaries and 40 defeated in the general election for a total of 343 incumbents winning. This was the lowest number and percentage of incumbents who won reelection between 1954 and 1992.

+ ↓ 291 144 Democratic Republican

Summary of the November 5, 1974, United States House of Representatives election resultsElection Statistics - Office of the Clerk

Parties Seats Popular vote 1972 1974 +/- Strength Vote % Change Democratic Party 242 291 +49 66.9% 30,054,097 57.5% +5.4% Republican Party 192 144 -48 33.1% 21,271,332 40.7% -5.8% Independents 1 0 -1 - 340,501 0.7% +0.5% American Party 0 0 - - 238,265 0.5% +0.2% Conservative Party 0 0 - - 115,980 0.2% -0.1% Liberal Party 0 0 - - 56,714 0.1% -0.1% Peace and Freedom Party 0 0 - - 35,984 0.1% - U.S. Labor Party 0 0 - - 26,342 0.1% +0.1% Economic Justice Party 0 0 - - 16,932 <0.1% - Constitution Party 0 0 - - 16,822 <0.1% - Socialist Workers Party 0 0 - - 13,982 <0.1% -0.1% George Wallace Party 0 0 - - 11,943 <0.1% - Communist Party 0 0 - - 10,627 <0.1% - Socialist Labor Party 0 0 - - 10,564 <0.1% - Liberty Union Party 0 0 - - 9,961 <0.1% - Independent Citizens' Action Party 0 0 - - 9,520 <0.1% - Prohibition Party 0 0 - - 8,387 <0.1% - Life, Liberty, Justice Party 0 0 - - 8,199 <0.1% - Human Rights Party 0 0 - - 6,700 <0.1% - National Democratic Party 0 0 - - 5,723 <0.1% -0.1% Good Neighbor Party 0 0 - - 4,266 <0.1% - Politicians Are Crooks Party 0 0 - - 3,460 <0.1% - Libertarian Party 0 0 - - 3,099 <0.1% - Independent Vermonters Party 0 0 - - 2,641 <0.1% - New Leadership Party 0 0 - - 1,778 <0.1% - Regular Democracy Party 0 0 - - 1,451 <0.1% - Public Congress Party 0 0 - - 1,241 <0.1% - Integrity in Government Party 0 0 - - 1,182 <0.1% - Anti-monopoly Party 0 0 - - 1,177 <0.1% - Christian Party 0 0 - - 583 <0.1% - United Citizens Party 0 0 - - 529 <0.1% - Others 0 0 - - 6,543 <0.1% -Total 435 435 0 100.0% 52,313,457 100.0% -

Special elections These elections were for the remainder of the term ending January 3, 1975.

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

! | Dawson Mathis

1974 United States House of Representatives elections

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