The 1978 United States House of Representatives elections was an election for the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
on November 7, 1978, to elect members to serve in the
96th United States Congress. They occurred in the middle of
Democratic President
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
's term, amidst an
energy crisis
An energy crisis or energy shortage is any significant Bottleneck (production), bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy. In literature, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, in particu ...
and rapid inflation. The Democratic Party lost a net of 15 seats to the
Republican Party, and thus lost their
two-thirds supermajority, but still maintained a large 277-seat majority.
As of , this was the last
midterm election where the Democrats managed to maintain a majority in the House of Representatives under a Democratic president, the last midterm election in which a registered
third party member was elected, and the last time overall in which any party won at least 270 House seats.
Overall results
382 incumbent members sought reelection, but 5 were defeated in primaries and 19 defeated in the general election for a total of 358 incumbents winning.
Source
Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk
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
, -
,
,
Les Aspin
Leslie Aspin Jr. (July 21, 1938 – May 21, 1995) was an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party politician and economist who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Wisconsin's 1st co ...
, , Democratic
,
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...
, Incumbent re-elected.
, nowrap ,
, -
,
,
Robert Kastenmeier
, , Democratic
,
1958
, Incumbent re-elected.
, nowrap ,
, -
,
,
Alvin Baldus
, , Democratic
,
1974
, Incumbent re-elected.
, nowrap ,
, -
,
,
Clement J. Zablocki
, , Democratic
,
1948
Events January
* January 1
** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated.
** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...
, Incumbent re-elected.
, nowrap ,
, -
,
,
Henry S. Reuss
, , Democratic
,
1954
Events
January
* January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting.
* January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...
, Incumbent re-elected.
, nowrap ,
, -
,
,
William A. Steiger
, , Republican
,
1966
Events January
* January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko.
* January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...
, Incumbent re-elected.
, nowrap ,
, -
,
,
Dave Obey
, , Democratic
,
1969
, Incumbent re-elected.
, nowrap ,
, -
,
,
Robert John Cornell
, , Democratic
,
1974
, , Incumbent lost re-election.
Republican gain.
, nowrap ,
, -
,
,
Bob Kasten
Robert Walter Kasten Jr. (born June 19, 1942) is an American Republican politician from the state of Wisconsin who served as a U.S. Representative from 1975 to 1979 and as a United States Senator from 1981 to 1993.
Background
Kasten was born ...
, , Republican
,
1974
, , Incumbent retired to
run for Governor of Wisconsin.
Republican hold.
, nowrap ,
Wyoming
See also
*
1978 United States elections
**
1978 United States gubernatorial elections
**
1978 United States Senate elections
*
95th United States Congress
The 95th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 19 ...
*
96th United States Congress
Notes
References
Works cited
*
{{Dan Quayle
John Conyers
John Dingell
Geraldine Ferraro
Ed Markey
Dan Quayle
Presidency of Jimmy Carter
Jamie Whitten