U.S. House elections, 1982

United States House of Representatives elections, 1982

← 1980

November 2, 1982

1984 →

All 435 seats to the United States House of Representatives
218 seats were needed for a majority

	Majority party	Minority party

Leader	Tip O'Neill	Bob Michel
Party	Democratic	Republican
Leader's seat	Massachusetts-11th	Illinois-18th
Last election	243 seats	192 seats
Seats won	269	166
Seat change	26	26
Popular vote	35,284,473	27,704,312
Percentage	55.2%	43.4%
Swing	4.7%	4.5%

Results:

Democratic hold

Democratic pickup

Republican hold

Republican pickup

Speaker before election

Tip O'Neil
Democratic

Elected Speaker

Tip O'Neil
Democratic

The 1982 United States House of Representatives elections was an election for the United States House of Representatives held on November 2, 1982, in the middle of President Ronald Reagan's first term, whose popularity was sinking due to economic conditions under the 1982 recession. The President's Republican Party lost seats in the House, which could be viewed as a response to the President's approval at the time. Unlike most midterm election cycles, the number of seats lost—27 seats to the Democratic Party—was a comparatively large swap. It included most of the seats that had been gained the previous election, cementing the Democratic majority. Coincidentally, the number of seats the Democratic picked up (26), was the exact amount the Republicans needed to win the House majority.

In the previous election of 1980 Republicans gained many seats as the result of the popularity of Ronald Reagan. Many of these elected officials lost their seats in 1982.

Notable freshmen included future Senator and Presidential candidate John McCain (R-Ariz.), future Governor John McKernan (R-Me.), future Governor and Presidential candidate John Kasich (R-Oh.), future Governor and first Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge (R-Pa.), and future Governor, UN Ambassador, Cabinet Secretary and Presidential candidate Bill Richardson (D-N.M.).

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