United States House election, 1972

United States House of Representatives elections, 1972

← 1970 November 7, 1972 1974 →
All 435 seats to the United States House of Representatives 218 seats were needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Carl Albert Gerald Ford Party Democratic Republican Leader's seat Oklahoma-3rd Michigan-5th Last election 255 seats 180 seats Seats won 242 192 Seat change 13 12 Popular vote 37,071,352 33,119,664 Percentage 52.1% 46.5% Swing 1.5% 1.6%
Results:   Democratic hold   Democratic pickup   Republican hold   Republican pickup   Independent pickup
Speaker before election Carl Albert Democratic Elected Speaker Carl Albert Democratic

Carl Albert
Democratic

Carl Albert
Democratic

The 1972 United States House of Representatives elections was an election for the United States House of Representatives in 1972 which coincided with the landslide reelection victory of President Richard Nixon. Nixon's Republican Party managed to gain a net of twelve seats from the Democratic Party, although the Democrats retained a majority. This was the first election that citizens at least 18 years of age (instead of 21 and older) could vote due to the recent passage of the 26th Amendment. Notable freshmen included future Senators William L. Armstrong, Steve Symms, Thad Cochran, Trent Lott, and James Abdnor, future Secretary of Agriculture Edward Rell Madigan, future Governor of Louisiana Dave Treen, future Governor of North Carolina James G. Martin, future Lieutenant Governor of Washington Joel Pritchard, future Mayor of Atlanta Andrew Young, and future Ambassador to Mexico James Robert Jones.

Source: "Election Statistics". Office of the Clerk.