United States House election, 1934

United States House of Representatives elections, 1934

← 1932 November 6, 1934 1936 →
All 435 seats to the United States House of Representatives 218 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Joseph Byrns Bertrand Snell Party Democratic Republican Leader's seat Tennessee-5th New York-31st Last election 313 seats 117 seats Seats won 322 103 Seat change 9 14   Third party Fourth party   Party Progressive Farmer–Labor Last election 0 seats 5 seats Seats won 7 3 Seat change 7 2
Speaker before election Henry Rainey Democratic Elected Speaker Jo Byrns Democratic

Henry Rainey
Democratic

Jo Byrns
Democratic

The 1934 United States House of Representatives elections were held in the middle of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's first term. The Democratic Party continued its progress, gaining another 9 net seats from the opposition Republican Party, who also lost seats to the Progressive Party. The Republicans were reduced below one-fourth of the chamber for the first time since the creation of the party. The Wisconsin Progressive Party, a liberal group which allied with the Democrats, also became a force in Wisconsin politics.

The 1934 elections can be seen as a referendum on New Deal policies. While conservatives and people among the middle class who did not bear the brunt of the depression saw New Deal programs as radical, ordinary people overwhelmingly voted in this election cycle to continue implementation of Roosevelt's agenda. In addition, this was the first time in modern history that the President's party gained seats in a midterm year when historically the President's party usually loses seats. (This wouldn't happen again until 1998 and 2002.)

Source: Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk

One special election was held apart from those in November. The elected winner would serve only the remainder of the incumbent Congress.

...
Wikipedia