1998 United States House of Representatives elections

1998 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1996 November 3, 1998 2000 →

All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives
218 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Newt Gingrich
(resigned)
Dick Gephardt
Party Republican Democratic
Leader since January 3, 1995 January 3, 1995
Leader's seat Georgia 6th Missouri 3rd
Last election 227 seats 206 seats
Seats won 223 211
Seat change Decrease 4 Increase 5
Popular vote 32,237,964 31,490,298
Percentage 48.4% 47.3%
Swing Increase 0.2% Decrease 0.9%

  Third party
 
Party Independent
Last election 2 seats
Seats won 1
Seat change Decrease 1
Popular vote 372,072
Percentage 0.6%

Results:
     Democratic hold      Democratic gain
     Republican hold      Republican gain
     Independent hold

Speaker before election

Newt Gingrich
Republican

Elected Speaker

Dennis Hastert
Republican

The 1998 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 3, 1998, to elect U.S. Representatives to serve in the 106th United States Congress. They were part of the midterm elections held during President Bill Clinton's second term. They were a major disappointment for the Republicans, who were expecting to gain seats due to the embarrassment Clinton suffered during the Monica Lewinsky scandal and the "six-year itch" effect observed in most second-term midterm elections. However, the Republicans lost five seats to the Democrats, although they retained a narrow majority in the House. A wave of Republican discontent with Speaker Newt Gingrich prompted him to resign shortly after the election; he was replaced by Congressman Dennis Hastert of Illinois.

The campaign was marked by Republican attacks on the morality of President Bill Clinton, with independent counsel Kenneth Starr having released his report on the Lewinsky scandal and House leaders having initiated an inquiry into whether impeachable offenses had occurred. However, exit polls indicated that most voters opposed impeaching Clinton, and predictions of high Republican or low Democratic turnout due to the scandal failed to materialize.[1] Some speculate that the losses reflected a backlash against the Republicans for attacking the popular Clinton. With the Republicans having lost four House seats and failing to gain any seats in the Senate, it was the first time since 1934 that the non-presidential party failed to gain congressional seats in a midterm election; this would happen again in 2002. This is the most recent election where no incumbents who served at least 6 terms (12 years) lost re-nomination or re-election.

  1. ^ "Election '98 Lewinsky factor never materialized - November 4, 1998". www.cnn.com.