1948 United States House of Representatives elections

1948 United States House of Representatives elections
← 1946 November 2, 1948[1] 1950 →
All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives
218 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Sam Rayburn Joseph Martin
Party Democratic Republican
Leader since September 16, 1940 January 3, 1939
Leader's seat Texas 4th Massachusetts 14th
Last election 188 seats 246 seats
Seats won 263 171
Seat change Increase 75 Decrease 75
Popular vote 24,217,516 20,894,960
Percentage 52.6% 45.4%
Swing Increase 7.6% Decrease 8.1%
  Third party
 
Party American Labor
Last election 1 seat
Seats won 1
Seat change Steady
Popular vote 409,789
Percentage 0.9%
Swing Increase 0.3%
Speaker before election

Joseph Martin
Republican

Elected Speaker

Sam Rayburn
Democratic

The 1948 United States House of Representatives elections were elections for the United States House of Representatives to elect members to serve in the 81st United States Congress. They were held for the most part on November 2, 1948, while Maine held theirs on September 13. These elections coincided with President Harry S. Truman's election to a full term. Truman had campaigned against a "do-nothing"' Republican Party Congress that had opposed his initiatives and was seen as counterproductive. The Democratic Party regained control of both the House and Senate in this election.[2][3][4] For Democrats, this was their largest gain since 1932.

These were the last elections until 1980 when a member of a political party other than the Democrats, Republicans, or an independent had one or more seats in the chamber. As of 2023, this is the last time the Democrats gained more than 50 seats in a U.S. House election.

  1. ^ September 13, 1948 in Maine
  2. ^ "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 2, 1948" (PDF). Clerk of the House of Representatives.
  3. ^ William S. White (November 7, 1948). "Democratic House Appears Assured". New York Times. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
  4. ^ "Truman Sweep". New York Times. November 7, 1948. Retrieved April 8, 2014.