1946 United States House of Representatives elections

1946 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1944 November 5, 1946[a] 1948 →
All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives 218 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Joseph Martin Sam Rayburn Party Republican Democratic Leader since January 3, 1939 January 3, 1937 Leader's seat Massachusetts 14th Texas 4th Last election 191 seats 242 seats Seats won 246 188 Seat change 55 54 Popular vote 18,422,363 15,491,113 Percentage 53.5% 45.0% Swing 6.4% 6.8%   Third party Fourth party   Party American Labor Progressive Last election 1 seat 1 seat Seats won 1 0 Seat change 1 Popular vote 196,866 44,930 Percentage 0.6% 0.1% Swing 0.3% 0.1%
Speaker before election Sam Rayburn Democratic Elected Speaker Joseph Martin Republican

Elections to the United States House of Representatives for the 80th United States Congress took place in 1946. These midterm elections occurred 19 months after President Harry S. Truman assumed office upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Truman was Vice President under President Franklin D. Roosevelt and was thrust into the presidency following Roosevelt's death. Truman did not garner the same support as the deceased president. Democrats had controlled Congress since 1931, for 16 years, and Roosevelt had been elected to a record four terms in office. The 1946 election resulted in Republicans picking up 55 seats to win majority control. Joseph Martin, Republican of Massachusetts, became Speaker of the House, exchanging places with Sam Rayburn, Democrat of Texas, who became the new Minority Leader. The Democratic defeat was the largest since they were trounced in the 1928 pro-Republican wave that brought Herbert Hoover to power.

The vote was largely seen as a referendum on Truman, whose approval rating had sunk to 32 percent^[1] over the president's controversial handling of a wave of post-war labor strikes, including a United Auto Workers strike against Ford and General Motors in 1945, a United Mine Workers strike starting in April 1946, and a national railroad worker strike that began in May. Further damage resulted from the back-and-forth over whether to end wartime price controls, unpopular with the American business constituency, to handle shortages, particularly in meat and other foodstuffs. While Truman's early months in the White House had been plagued with questions of "What would Roosevelt do if he were alive?" Republicans now began to joke "What would Truman do if he were alive?" and "To err is Truman."^[2] The Republican majority was short-lived however, with Democrats winning control of the House two years later.

Overall results

Party	Total seats	Change	Seat percentage	Popular vote	Vote percentage
Republican Party	246	55	56.5%	18,422,363	53.5%
Democratic Party	188	54	43.2%	15,491,113	45.0%
American Labor Party	1		0.2%	196,866	0.6%
Independent	0		0.0%	77,425	0.2%
Liberal Party	0		0.0%	61,111	0.2%
Prohibition Party	0		0.0%	47,792	0.1%
Socialist Party	0		0.0%	38,307	0.1%
J. Veterans Party	0		0.0%	9,791	<0.1%
U. Citizens Party	0		0.0%	5,688	<0.1%
Communist Party	0		0.0%	3,408	<0.1%
Independent Voters Party	0		0.0%	2,834	<0.1%
Veterans' Victory Party	0		0.0%	2,208	<0.1%
Socialist Workers Party	0		0.0%	1,936	<0.1%
Justice, Decency, Independence Party	0		0.0%	1,865	<0.1%
Socialist Labor Party	0		0.0%	980	<0.1%
Constitutional Government Party	0		0.0%	890	<0.1%
No Foreign Loans Party	0		0.0%	396	<0.1%
Workers Party	0		0.0%	165	<0.1%
Progressive Party	0		0.0%	141	<0.1%
$250 State Bonds Party	0		0.0%	115	<0.1%
Others	0	1	0.0%	44,930	0.1%
Totals	435		100.0%	34,410,324	100.0%

Source: Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk

House seats by party holding plurality in state   80+% to 100% Democratic   80+% to 100% Republican   60+% to 80% Democratic   60+% to 80% Republican   Up to 60% Democratic   Up to 60% Republican

6+ Republican gain   6+ Democratic gain   3-5 Republican gain   3-5 Democratic gain   1-2 Republican gain   1-2 Democratic gain   no net change

Special elections

In these special elections, the winner was seated during 1946 or before January 3, 1947; ordered by election date, then by district.

Alabama

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Idaho

Illinois