The 1994 United States House of Representatives elections (also known as the

Republican Revolution The "Republican Revolution", "Revolution of '94", or "Gingrich Revolution" are political slogans that refer to the Republican Party (GOP) success in the 1994 U.S. mid-term elections, which resulted in a net gain of 54 seats in the House of ...

) were held on November 8, 1994, in the middle of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...

's first term. As a result of a 54-seat swing in membership from the Democratic Party to the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa * Republican Party (Liberia) *Republican Party ...

, Republicans gained a majority of seats in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

for the first time since 1952 in what was known as the

. It was also the largest seat gain for the party since

1946 Events January * January 6 - The first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into four occupation zones. * January 10 ** The ...

, and the largest for either party since

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

, and characterized a political realignment in American politics. Democrats had run the House since

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijiangs ...

, and for all but four years (1947–49 and 1953–55) since 1931. But in 1994 the Republican Party ran against President Clinton's proposed healthcare reform. The Republicans argued that Clinton had abandoned the centrist New Democrat platform he campaigned on during the 1992 Presidential election and reverted to big government solutions. The GOP ran on

Newt Gingrich Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U. ...

's Contract with America. The incumbent

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hunger ...

, Democrat Tom Foley, lost re-election in his district, becoming the first sitting Speaker to do so since

Galusha Grow Galusha Aaron Grow (August 31, 1823 – March 31, 1907) was an American politician, lawyer, writer and businessman, who served as 24th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1861 to 1863. Elected as a Democrat in the 1850 congressio ...

in 1863. Other major upsets included the defeat of powerful long-serving Representatives such as Ways and Means Chairman Dan Rostenkowski and Judiciary Chairman Jack Brooks. In all, 34 incumbents, all Democrats, were defeated. Republicans also won a number of seats held by retiring Democrats. No Republican incumbents lost re-election, but Democrats won four open Republican-held seats. NFL Hall of Famer Steve Largent was elected in Oklahoma and singer Sonny Bono was elected in California.

Robert H. Michel Robert Henry Michel (; March 2, 1923 – February 17, 2017) was an American Republican Party politician who was a member of the United States House of Representatives for 38 years. He represented central Illinois' 18th congressional distric ...

, the Republican Minority Leader, chose to retire due to pressure from the more conservative members of the Republican caucus.

Dick Cheney Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He is currently the oldest living former ...

had served as the Minority Whip and Michel supported having Edward Rell Madigan replace him, but the position was instead given to Gingrich, who would later be selected to become Speaker. The incumbent Democratic

Majority Leader In U.S. politics (as well as in some other countries utilizing the presidential system), the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.

Dick Gephardt Richard Andrew Gephardt (; born January 31, 1941) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and politician who served as a United States Representative from Missouri from 1977 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he was House Majority Leader fro ...

, became Minority Leader. The new House leadership, under the Republicans, promised to bring a dozen legislative proposals to a vote in the first 100 days of the session, although the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

did not always follow suit. In a significant political realignment, the South underwent a dramatic transformation. Before the election, House Democrats outnumbered House Republicans in the South. Afterwards, with the Republicans having picked up a total of 19 Southern seats, they were able to outnumber Democrats in the South for the first time since

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology * Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...

. The Republicans would go on to remain the majority party of the House for the following 12 years, until the 2006 elections. As of 2022, this is the last congressional election in which Democrats won a House seat in

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

, as well as the last time Republicans won any House seats in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

Voting patterns

Republican gains, 1992–1994

:Source: Data from exit-poll surveys by Voter Research and Surveys and Mitofsky International published in ''The New York Times'', November 13, 1994, p. 24.

Religious right

Evangelicals were an important group within the electorate and a significant voting block in the Republican party. The national exit poll by Mitofsky International showed 27% of all voters identified themselves as a born-again or evangelical Christians, up from 18% in 1988 and 24% in 1992. Republican House candidates outpolled Democrats among white evangelicals by a massive 52 points, 76% to 24%. According to a survey sponsored by the Christian Coalition, 33 percent of the 1994 voters were "religious conservatives," up from 24 percent in 1992 and 18 percent in 1988 (''CQ Weekly Report''), November 19, 1994, p. 3364; in the 1994 exit poll, 38 percent identified themselves as "conservatives," compared with 30 percent in 1992.''Hotline'', November 12, 1994. ;Party identification and ideology by selected religious groups 1994 :Source: Mitofsky International exit poll in Klinkner, p. 121.

Overall results

Source
Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk

Incumbents defeated

Every Republican incumbent standing won re-election.

Democrats

Thirty-four incumbent Democrats (including 16 "freshmen") were defeated in 1994. Democrats from

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

lost the most seats (5). * :

Karan English Karan English (born March 23, 1949) is an American politician who served in the U.S. House of Representatives of the 103rd United States Congress from 1993 to 1995. A Democrat, English represented Arizona's 6th Congressional District, which ...

* :

Dan Hamburg Daniel Hamburg (born October 6, 1948) is an American politician in Northern California who was elected as a Democratic Party Congressman in 1992, serving one term from 1993 to 1995. In 1998, he was the Green Party gubernatorial candidate in Cali ...

* : Richard H. Lehman * :

Lynn Schenk Lynn Alice Schenk (born January 5, 1945) is an American politician and lawyer from California. A Democrat, she served one term in the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 1995. Biography Schenk was born in 1945, in the Bronx, ...

* :

George Darden George Washington "Buddy" Darden III (born November 22, 1943) is an American politician and lawyer from Georgia. He served in the state house and then for more than five terms as Congressman from Georgia. Early life Darden was born in Hancock ...

* : Don Johnson Jr. * : Larry LaRocco * : Dan Rostenkowski * : Jill Long * :

Frank McCloskey Francis Xavier McCloskey (June 12, 1939 – November 2, 2003) was an American journalist, lawyer, and politician from Indiana who served in the United States House of Representatives as a Democrat from 1983 to 1995. Early life and education He ...

* : Neal Edward Smith * : Dan Glickman * : Thomas Barlow * :

Peter Hoagland Peter Jackson Hoagland (November 17, 1941 – October 30, 2007) was an American politician from the U.S. state of Nebraska. A member of the Democratic Party, Hoagland represented Nebraska's 2nd congressional district in the U.S. House of Repres ...

* : James Bilbray * : Richard Swett * : Herb Klein * : George J. Hochbrueckner * :

Martin Lancaster Harold Martin Lancaster, O.B.E. (born March 24, 1943) is an American politician who is the former President of the North Carolina Community College System and former Chair of the National Council of State Directors of Community Colleges. He was ...

* : David Price * : David S. Mann * :

Ted Strickland Theodore Strickland (born August 4, 1941) is an American politician who was the 68th governor of Ohio, serving from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives, representing ...

* :

Eric Fingerhut Eric David Fingerhut (born May 6, 1959) is an American politician, attorney, and academic administrator, serving as the President and CEO of The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA). Prior to his appointment at JFNA, he served as president ...

* : Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky * : Jack Brooks * : Bill Sarpalius * :

Karen Shepherd Karen Shepherd (born July 5, 1940) is an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 1995. Early life Shepherd was born in Silver City, New Mexico, where her father, Ralph Felker, worked for the U.S ...

* :

Leslie Byrne Leslie Larkin Byrne (born October 27, 1946) is an American businesswoman and politician. In 1992, she became the first woman elected to the United States House of Representatives from the Commonwealth of Virginia. A member of the Democratic Pa ...

* :

Maria Cantwell Maria Ellen Cantwell (; born October 13, 1958) is an American politician and former businesswoman serving as the junior United States senator from Washington since 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served in the Washingto ...

* : Jolene Unsoeld * :

Jay Inslee Jay Robert Inslee (; born February 9, 1951) is an American politician, lawyer, and economist who has served as the 23rd governor of Washington since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a member of the U.S. House of Represen ...

* : Tom Foley * : Mike Kreidler * : Peter W. Barca

Republicans

* None.

Open seats that changed parties

Democratic seats won by Republicans

22 open seats previously held by Democrats were won by Republicans. * : Matt Salmon * : Joe Scarborough * : Dave Weldon * : Saxby Chambliss * : Jerry Weller * :

David M. McIntosh David Martin McIntosh (born June 8, 1958) is an American attorney and Republican Party politician who served as the U.S. representative for Indiana's 2nd congressional district from 1995 to 2001. He is a co-founder of two conservative political ...

* : Sam Brownback * : James B. Longley Jr. * :

Dick Chrysler Richard "Dick" Chrysler (born April 29, 1942) is an Amway distributor and former politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. Chrysler was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and graduated from Brighton High School in Brighton, Michigan. He became vi ...

* : Gil Gutknecht * :

Roger Wicker Roger Frederick Wicker (born July 5, 1951) is an American attorney and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Mississippi, in office since 2007. A member of the Republican Party, Wicker previously served as a member of the ...

* :

Frank LoBiondo Frank Alo LoBiondo (: born May 12, 1946) is an American businessman and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1995 to 2019. He is a member of the Republican Party. He represented all of Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and S ...

* :

David Funderburk David Britton Funderburk (born April 28, 1944) is an American politician and diplomat who served as the Ambassador of the United States to Romania from 1981 to 1985. He later served as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives fr ...

* : Richard Burr * :

Bob Ney Robert William Ney (born July 5, 1954) is an American politician from Ohio. A Republican, Ney represented Ohio's 18th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 until November 3, 2006, when he resigned. Ney's resigna ...

* : Tom Coburn * :

J. C. Watts Julius Caesar Watts Jr. (born November 18, 1957) is an American politician, clergyman, and athlete. Watts was a college football quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners and later played professionally in the Canadian Football League. He served in ...

* :

Jim Bunn James Lee Bunn (born December 12, 1956) is an American politician from Oregon. A native of Yamhill County, he served in the Oregon State Senate before election to the United States House of Representatives where he served one term. A Republic ...

* : Lindsey Graham * : Zach Wamp * :

Van Hilleary William Vanderpool "Van" Hilleary (born June 20, 1959) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Tennessee's 4th congressional district from 1995 to 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party. Early life and career ...

* : Jack Metcalf

Republican seats won by Democrats

Democrats won four open seats previously held by Republicans. * : John Baldacci * :

Bill Luther William Paul Luther (born June 27, 1945) is an American politician and lawyer from Minnesota. Luther was a Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) member of the United States House of Representatives representing Minnesota's 6th congressional distr ...

* :

Mike Doyle Michael, Mick or Mike Doyle may refer to: Politics * Michael Doyle (Irish politician), Irish Farmers' Party politician from Wexford, TD from 1922 to 1927 *Michael Doyle, alleged member of the Molly Maguires * Mike Doyle (American politician) (born ...

* : Patrick J. Kennedy

Open seats that parties held

Democratic seats held

Democrats held nine of their open seats. * :

Zoe Lofgren Susan Ellen "Zoe" Lofgren ( ; born December 21, 1947) is an American lawyer and politician serving as a U.S. representative from California. A member of the Democratic Party, Lofgren is in her 13th term in Congress, having been first elected in ...

* : Mike Ward * : Lynn N. Rivers * :

Karen McCarthy Karen McCarthy (March 18, 1947 – October 5, 2010) was an American educator and politician. She served as the U.S. representative for the fifth district of Missouri from 1995 to 2005. Early life McCarthy was born in Haverhill, Massachuse ...

* : Chaka Fattah * : Frank Mascara * :

Lloyd Doggett Lloyd Alton Doggett II (born October 6, 1946) is an American attorney and politician who is a U.S. representative from Texas. A member of the Democratic Party, he has represented a district based in Austin since 1995, currently numbered as Tex ...

* :

Sheila Jackson Lee Sheila Jackson Lee (born January 12, 1950) is an American lawyer and politician who is the U.S. representative for , having served since 1995. The district includes most of central Houston. She is a member of the Democratic Party, and served ...

* : Ken Bentsen Jr.

Republican seats held

Republicans held 17 of their open seats. * : John Shadegg * : Andrea Seastrand * : Sonny Bono * :

Mark Foley Mark Adam Foley (born September 8, 1954) is an American former politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives. He served from 1995 until 2006, representing the 16th District of Florida as a member of the Republi ...

* :

Ray LaHood Raymond H. LaHood (born December 6, 1945) is an American politician who served as the 16th United States Secretary of Transportation from 2009 to 2013 under President Barack Obama. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the ...

* : Tom Latham * :

Bob Ehrlich Robert Leroy Ehrlich Jr. (born November 25, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 60th Governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007. A Republican, Ehrlich represented Maryland's 2nd Congressional district in the U.S. House ...

* : Rodney Frelinghuysen * : Dan Frisa * :

Sue W. Kelly Sue Weisenbarger Kelly (née Madelyn Sue Weisenbarger; born September 26, 1936) is an American businesswoman and politician who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2007, representing New York's ...

* : Sue Myrick * : Steve Largent * : Wes Cooley * : Phil English * : Mark Sanford * : Ed Bryant * : Barbara Cubin

Special elections

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

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

, - ! , Eleanor Holmes Norton , , Democratic ,

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicis ...

, Incumbent re-elected. , nowrap , , - ! , Ron de Lugo , , Democratic ,

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – In ...

, , Incumbent retired.
New member elected.
Independent gain. , nowrap , , - ! ,

Robert A. Underwood Robert Anacletus Underwood (born July 13, 1948) is an American politician and educator who served as the delegate from Guam to the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 2003 as a member of the Democratic Party. He subsequently ser ...

, , Democratic ,

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engin ...

, Incumbent re-elected. , nowrap ,

References

External links

Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 8, 1994
Office of the Clerk U.S. House of Representatives {{Elections to the United States House of Representatives