1958 United States House of Representatives elections

1958 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1956 November 4, 1958[a] 1960 →

All 436 seats in the United States House of Representatives
219 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 234 seats 201 seats
Seats won 283 153
Seat change Increase 49 Decrease 48
Popular vote 25,604,679 19,931,409
Percentage 56.0% 43.6%
Swing Increase 4.8% Decrease 5.1%

Results:
     Democratic hold      Democratic gain
     Republican hold      Republican gain

Speaker before election

Sam Rayburn
Democratic

Elected Speaker

Sam Rayburn
Democratic

The 1958 United States House of Representatives elections was an election for the United States House of Representatives to elect members to serve in the 86th United States Congress. They were held for the most part on November 4, 1958, in the middle of Dwight Eisenhower's second presidential term, while Maine held theirs on September 8. There were 436 seats during these elections: 435 from the reapportionment in accordance with the 1950 census, and one seat for Alaska, the new state that would officially join the union on January 3, 1959.

The economy was suffering the Recession of 1958, which Democrats blamed on Eisenhower. The President's Republican Party lost 48 seats in this midterm election, increasing the Democratic Party's majority to a commanding level that Republicans would not be able to overcome for another 36 years.[1] Another factor which may have contributed to the Democratic gains include public consternation over the launch of Sputnik and Cold War politics.

Disappointment with the results led House Republicans to replace Minority Leader Joseph W. Martin Jr. with his deputy, Charles Halleck.


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  1. ^ James Reston (November 6, 1958). "Democratic Gain 13 Senate Seats". The New York Times. Retrieved April 8, 2014.