The 1994 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 8, 1994, to elect U.S. Representatives to serve in the 104th United States Congress. They occurred in the middle of PresidentBill Clinton's first term. In what was known as the Republican Revolution, a 54-seat swing in membership from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party resulted in the latter gaining a majority of seats in the House of Representatives for the first time since 1952. It was also the largest seat gain for the party since 1946, and the largest for either party since 1948, and characterized a political realignment in American politics.
Democrats had run the House since 1955, 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.[1] 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's Contract with America.
The incumbent Speaker of the House, Democrat Tom Foley, lost re-election in his district, becoming the first sitting speaker to be defeated since Galusha Grow in 1863.[2] 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, the Republican minority leader, chose to retire due to pressure from the more conservative members of the Republican caucus. Dick Cheney 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.[3] The incumbent Democratic majority leader, Dick Gephardt, 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 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.[4] The Republicans would go on to remain the majority party of the House for the following 12 years, until the 2006 elections. The Republicans have won at least 200 seats in almost every House election since, with the exceptions of 2008 and 2018.
As of 2024[update], this is the last congressional election in which Democrats won a House seat in Montana, as well as the last time Republicans won any House seats in Massachusetts.
Voting patterns
Republican gains, 1992–1994
Category
% Rep. 1992
% Rep. 1994
% shift to Republican 1992–94
size of group % /all
Southern whites
53
65
12
24
White men
51
62
11
40
White "born again" Christian
66
76
10
20
Whites 30–44 years old
51
61
10
28
Independents
46
56
10
24
White Protestants
57
66
9
41
Whites 60 and over
46
55
9
26
Whites
50
58
8
79
Men 30–44 years old
49
57
8
17
Republicans
85
93
8
35
Income under $15,000
31
38
7
11
Conservatives
72
79
7
34
Men 60 and over
44
51
7
12
Whites 45-59
52
59
7
23
Men
48
54
6
49
High school education
42
48
6
22
Some college
47
53
6
32
White women
49
55
6
40
Unmarried men
42
48
6
14
Country on "wrong track"
--
67
59
Disapprove of Clinton
--
82
49
1992 Perot voters
--
67
12
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%.[5]
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.[6]
Party identification and ideology by selected religious groups 1994
Party identification
Political ideology
Religion
Democratic
Republican
Liberal
Moderate
Conservative
White evangelical
20
54
6
33
61
Highly religious
34
39
15
48
37
Secular
44
27
31
47
22
Jewish
57
13
36
50
14
All voters
41
35
18
47
35
Source: Mitofsky International exit poll in Klinkner, p. 121.
Steeper, F. (February 8, 1995). "This Swing is Different: Analysis of 1994 Election Exit Polls". The Cook Political Report.
Teixeira, Ruy A. (1996). "The Economics of the 1994 Election and U.S. Politics Today". Challenge. 39 (1): 26–31. doi:10.1080/05775132.1996.11471888.
Wattenberg, Martin P. (1999). "The Democrats' Decline in the House during the Clinton Presidency: An Analysis of Partisan Swings". Presidential Studies Quarterly. 29 (3): 685–689. doi:10.1111/j.0268-2141.2003.00057.x.
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