United States House of Representatives elections, 2006

United States House of Representatives elections, 2006

2004 ← November 7, 2006 → 2008

All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives and 4 (of the 5) non-voting members 218 seats were needed for a majority   Majority party Minority party   Leader Nancy Pelosi Dennis Hastert Party Democratic Republican Leader's seat California-8th Illinois-14th Last election 202 seats, 46.8% 232 seats, 49.4% Seats won 233 202 Seat change 31 30 Popular vote 42,338,795 35,857,334 Percentage 52.3% 44.3% Swing 5.5% 5.1%

Republican hold   Democratic hold   Democratic pickup

Speaker before election Dennis Hastert Republican Elected Speaker Nancy Pelosi Democratic

Dennis Hastert
Republican

Nancy Pelosi
Democratic

The 2006 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 7, 2006 to elect members to the United States House of Representatives. It took place in the middle of President George W. Bush's second term in office. All 435 seats of the House were up for election. Those elected served in the 110th United States Congress from January 3, 2007 until January 3, 2009. The incumbent majority party, the Republicans, had won majorities in the House consecutively since 1994, and were defeated by the Democrats who won a majority in the chamber, ending 12 years in opposition.

The Republicans had won a 232-seat majority in 2004, and by election day 2006 the party held 229 seats, the Democrats had 201 and there was 1 Independent (who caucused with the Democrats). There were also four vacancies. Republicans held a 28 seat advantage, and Democrats needed to pick up 15 seats to take control of the House, which had had a Republican majority since January 1995. The public's perception of George W. Bush, the handling of the war in Iraq, and a series of political scandals involving mostly congressional Republicans took their toll on the party at the ballot box.