1972 United States House of Representatives elections

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House elections for the 93rd U.S. Congress

1972 United States House of Representatives elections
1972 House Elections in the United States.png

Results:
     Democratic hold      Democratic gain
     Republican hold      Republican gain
     Independent gain

The 1972 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 7, 1972, to elect U.S. Representatives to serve in the 93rd United States Congress. This was the first election held after the 1970 United States redistricting cycle. It coincided with the landslide reelection victory of President Richard M. Nixon. Nixon’s Republican Party managed to gain a net of twelve House of Representatives seats from the Democratic Party, although the Democrats retained a majority.

This was the first election in which citizens at least 18 years of age (instead of 21 and older) could vote, due to the recent passage of the 26th Amendment. This was the last time until 2022 that a Democrat would win a House seat in Alaska.[1]

Special elections[edit]

Six special elections were also held throughout the year, six before November and one concurrent with the November general election.

District Incumbent This race
Member Party First elected Results Candidates
Vermont at-large Robert Stafford Republican 1960 Incumbent resigned September 16, 1971 when appointed U.S. Senator.
New member elected January 7, 1972.
Republican hold.
Winner was re-elected in November.
Alabama 3 George W. Andrews Democratic 1944 (Special) Incumbent died December 25, 1971.
New member elected April 4, 1972.
Democratic hold.
Winner did not run for re-election in November.
Illinois 15 Charlotte Thompson Reid Republican 1962 Incumbent resigned October 7, 1971 to become Commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission.
New member elected April 4, 1972.
Republican hold.
Winner was re-elected in November.
Pennsylvania 27 James G. Fulton Republican 1944 Incumbent died October 6, 1971.
New member elected April 25, 1972.
Republican hold.
Winner was not renominated in primary for election to full term in November (see below).
Louisiana 7 Edwin Edwards Democratic 1965 (Special) Incumbent resigned May 9, 1972 when elected Governor of Louisiana.
New member elected September 30, 1972.
Democratic hold.
Winner was re-elected in November.
Virginia 6 Richard Harding Poff Republican 1952 Incumbent resigned August 29, 1972 to become judge of the Supreme Court of Virginia.
New member elected November 7, 1972.
Republican hold.
Winner was also elected the same day to the next term.
  • Green tickY M. Caldwell Butler (Republican) 51.8%[5]
  • Willis M. Anderson (Democratic) 39.8%
  • Roy R. White (Independent) 8.4%

Summary of results[edit]

↓
242 1 192
Democratic [b] Republican
Parties Seats Popular vote
1970 1972 +/- Strength Vote % Change
Democratic Party 255 242 Decrease 13 55.6% 37,071,352 52.1% Decrease 1.5%
Republican Party 180 192 Increase 12 44.2% 33,119,664 46.5% Increase 1.6%
American Independent Party 0 0 Steady 0.0% 233,967 0.3% Increase 0.1%
Conservative Party 0 0 Steady 0.0% 218,143 0.3% Decrease 0.1%
Liberal Party 0 0 Steady 0.0% 148,951 0.2% Increase 0.1%
Independent Democratic 0 1 Increase 1 0.2% 137,664 0.2% Steady
Peace and Freedom Party 0 0 Steady 0.0% 63,894 0.1% Steady
Socialist Workers Party 0 0 Steady 0.0% 51,815 0.1% Increase 0.1%
National Democratic Party 0 0 Steady 0.0% 37,618 0.1% Steady
Taxpayer’s Party 0 0 Steady 0.0% 28,079 <0.1% Steady
Action Party 0 0 Steady 0.0% 12,075 <0.1% Steady
Prohibition Party 0 0 Steady 0.0% 10,902 <0.1% Steady
Socialist Labor Party 0 0 Steady 0.0% 10,835 <0.1% Steady
Constitution Party 0 0 Steady 0.0% 5,860 <0.1% Decrease 0.1%
Concerned and Capable Party 0 0 Steady 0.0% 5,188 <0.1% Steady
American Independent Conservative Party 0 0 Steady 0.0% 3,077 <0.1% Steady
Communist Party 0 0 Steady 0.0% 2,076 <0.1% Steady
Libertarian Party 0 0 Steady 0.0% 2,028 <0.1% Steady
Less Federal Taxes Party 0 0 Steady 0.0% 1,920 <0.1% Steady
La Raza Unida Party 0 0 Steady 0.0% 1,629 <0.1% Steady
Protest, Progress, Dignity Party 0 0 Steady 0.0% 1,556 <0.1% Steady
People’s Party 0 0 Steady 0.0% 1,215 <0.1% Steady
Independent for Congress Party 0 0 Steady 0.0% 1,147 <0.1% Steady
People Over Politics Party 0 0 Steady 0.0% 847 <0.1% Steady
Taxation With Representation Party 0 0 Steady 0.0% 408 <0.1% Steady
Socialist Party 0 0 Steady 0.0% 221 <0.1% Steady
Others 0 0 Steady 0.0% 16,274 <0.1% Decrease 0.1%
Total 435 435 Steady 100.0% 71,188,405 100.0% Steady

Source: “Election Statistics”. Office of the Clerk.

Popular vote
Democratic

 

 52.07%
Republican

 

 46.52%
Others

 

 1.41%
House seats
Democratic

 

 55.63%
Republican

 

 44.14%
Others

 

 0.23%

House seats by party holding plurality in state

  80+% Democratic

  80+% Republican

  60+ to 80% Democratic

  60+ to 80% Republican

  up to 60% Democratic

  up to 60% Republican

Change in seats

  6+ Democratic gain

  6+ Republican gain

  3–5 Democratic gain

  3–5 Republican gain

  1–2 Democratic gain

  1–2 Republican gain

  no net change

Incumbents retiring[edit]

Democratic gains[edit]

Democratic holds[edit]

  • Arkansas 4: David Pryor (D), retired to run for U.S. senator, succeeded by Ray Thornton (D)
  • Illinois 11: Roman C. Pucinski (D), retired, succeeded by Frank Annunzio (D), who was redistricted
  • Kentucky 6: William P. Curlin Jr. (D), retired, succeeded by John B. Breckinridge (D)
  • Louisiana 8: Speedy Long (D), redistricted and retired, succeeded by Gillis William Long (D), who previously held the seat in the 88th Congress
  • Maryland 3: Edward Garmatz (D), redistricted and retired, succeeded by Paul Sarbanes (D)
  • Mississippi 2: Thomas Abernethy (D), redistricted and retired, succeeded by David R. Bowen (D)
  • Missouri 6: William Raleigh Hull Jr. (D), retired, succeeded by Jerry Litton (D)
  • North Carolina 4: Nick Galifianakis (D), retired to run for U.S. senator, succeeded by Ike Franklin Andrews (D)
  • North Carolina 7: Alton Lennon (D), retired, succeeded by Charlie Rose (D)
  • North Dakota 2: Arthur A. Link (D), redistricted retired to run for Governor, succeeded by Mark Andrews (R), who was redistricted
  • Oklahoma 2: Ed Edmondson (D), retired to run for U.S. senator, succeeded by Clem McSpadden (D)
  • Tennessee 7: Ray Blanton (D), retired to run for U.S. senator, succeeded by Ed Jones (D), who was redistricted
  • Texas 2: John Dowdy (D), retired, succeeded by Charles Wilson (D)

Republican gains[edit]

  • Alabama 2: Elizabeth B. Andrews (D), redistricted and retired, succeeded by William Louis Dickinson (R)
  • Illinois 11: Roman C. Pucinski (D), retired, succeeded by Frank Annunzio (D), who was redistricted
  • Louisiana 3: Patrick T. Caffery (D), retired, succeeded by Dave Treen (R)
  • Maine 2: William Hathaway (D), retired to run for U.S. senator, succeeded by William Cohen (R)
  • Mississippi 4: Charles H. Griffin (D), redistricted and retired, succeeded by Thad Cochran (R)
  • Mississippi 5: William M. Colmer (D), retired, succeeded by Trent Lott (R)
  • South Dakota 2: James Abourezk (D), retired to run for U.S. senator, succeeded by James Abdnor (R)
  • Virginia 4: Watkins Moorman Abbitt (D), retired, succeeded by Robert Daniel (R)

Republican holds[edit]

  • California 20: H. Allen Smith (R), retired, succeeded by Carlos Moorhead (R)
  • Idaho 1: James A. McClure (R), retired to run for U.S. senator, succeeded by Steve Symms (R)
  • Illinois 15: Cliffard D. Carlson (R), retired, succeeded by Leslie C. Arends (R), who was redistricted
  • Illinois 21: William L. Springer (R), retired, succeeded by Edward Rell Madigan (R)
  • Missouri 7: Durward Gorham Hall (R), retired, succeeded by Gene Taylor (R)
  • New Jersey 12: Florence P. Dwyer (R), retired, succeeded by Matthew John Rinaldo (R)
  • New York 31: Alexander Pirnie (R), redistricted and retired, succeeded by Donald J. Mitchell (R)
  • New York 33: John H. Terry (R), redistricted and retired, succeeded by William F. Walsh (R)
  • North Carolina 9: Charles R. Jonas (R), retired, succeeded by James G. Martin (R)
  • Ohio 4: William Moore McCulloch (R), retired, succeeded by Tennyson Guyer (R)
  • Ohio 8: Jackson Edward Betts (R), retired, succeeded by Walter E. Powell (R), who was redistricted
  • Ohio 16: Frank T. Bow (R), retired, succeeded by Ralph Regula (R)
  • Pennsylvania 2: J. Irving Whalley (R), retired, succeeded by John P. Saylor (R), who was redistricted
  • Virginia 8: William L. Scott (R), retired to run for U.S. senator, succeeded by Stanford Parris (R)
  • Washington 1: Thomas Pelly (R), retired, succeeded by Joel Pritchard (R)
  • Wisconsin 8: John W. Byrnes (R), retired, succeeded by Harold Vernon Froehlich (R)

Incumbents defeated[edit]

Incumbents defeated in primary[edit]

  1. California 8: George P. Miller (D)
  2. California 39: John G. Schmitz (R)
  3. Colorado 4: Wayne Aspinall (D)
  4. Georgia 1: George Elliott Hagan (D)
  5. Michigan 19: Jack H. McDonald (R)
  6. Nevada at-large: Walter S. Baring Jr. (D)
  7. New Jersey 13: Cornelius Edward Gallagher (D)
  8. New York 18: Emanuel Celler (D)
  9. New York 22: James H. Scheuer (D)
  10. Pennsylvania 3: James A. Byrne (D)
  11. Pennsylvania 22: William Sheldrick Conover (R)
  12. South Carolina 6: John L. McMillan (D)
  13. West Virginia 4: James Kee (D)

Incumbents defeated in general election[edit]

  1. Colorado 1: Mike McKevitt (R)
  2. Connecticut 5: John S. Monagan (D)
  3. Illinois 10: Abner J. Mikva (D)
  4. Indiana 11: Andrew Jacobs Jr. (D)
  5. Iowa 1: Fred Schwengel (R)
  6. Iowa 4: John Henry Kyl (R)
  7. Massachusetts 9: Louise Day Hicks (D)
  8. New York 26: John G. Dow (D)
  9. Tennessee 6: William Anderson (D)
  10. Texas 5: Earle Cabell (D)
  11. Texas 13: Graham B. Purcell Jr. (D)
  12. Utah 2: Sherman P. Lloyd (R)
  13. Wisconsin 7: Alvin E. O’Konski (R)

Alabama[edit]

Alabama was reapportioned from 8 to 7 seats and eliminated the old 3rd district, dividing it between the old 2nd and 4th and making compensating boundary changes elsewhere.[6]

Incumbent Nick Begich won re-election three weeks after having disappeared in a plane crash October 16; challenger Don Young would later win a March special election after Begich was declared dead on December 29.

Arizona[edit]

Arizona was reapportioned from 3 seats to 4 and carved a new district in the Phoenix suburbs and the northeast from parts of the existing districts.[6]

Arkansas[edit]

California[edit]

California was reapportioned from 38 to 43 seats, adding one seat in the Bay Area, one in the Central Valley, and 3 in southern California;[6] three went to Democrats, two to Republicans. Despite a retirement and two lost renominations, both parties held their seats in this election, bringing the Democrats up from 20 seats to 23 and the Republicans up from 18 seats to 20.

Colorado[edit]

Colorado was reapportioned from 4 to 5 seats, constructing a new 5th district east and south of Denver.[6]

Connecticut[edit]

Delaware[edit]

Florida[edit]

Florida was reapportioned from 12 to 15 seats, adding a seat in central and two in south Florida.[6]

Georgia[edit]

Illinois[edit]

Indiana[edit]

Iowa was reapportioned from 7 seats to 6, dividing the old 5th district around Des Moines between its neighbors. Its incumbent, Neal Smith, won again in the south-central Iowa 4th district.[6]

Kentucky[edit]

Louisiana[edit]

Louisiana stayed at eight house seats following the 1970 census, but the Eighth District’s boundaries were radically altered. New governor Edwin W. Edwards ordered the district to take in territory far to the south and east of its traditional base of Alexandria, which included many African-American and progressive white voters. The change was largely regarded as an election deal between Edwards and former Rep. Gillis Long, who finished third in the Democratic Primary in the 1971 Louisiana Governor’s Election. Long easily won back the Eighth District seat he lost in 1964.

Maryland[edit]

Maryland’s redistricting eliminated a seat in Baltimore in favor of an additional seat in the DC suburbs.[6]

Massachusetts[edit]

Michigan[edit]

Minnesota[edit]

Mississippi[edit]

Missouri[edit]

Montana[edit]

Nebraska[edit]

New Hampshire[edit]

New Jersey[edit]

New Mexico[edit]

New York[edit]

North Carolina[edit]

North Dakota[edit]

Oklahoma[edit]

Pennsylvania[edit]

Rhode Island[edit]

South Carolina[edit]

South Dakota[edit]

Tennessee[edit]

Vermont[edit]

Virginia[edit]

Washington[edit]

West Virginia[edit]

Wisconsin[edit]

Wyoming[edit]

Non-voting delegates[edit]

The non-voting delegate to the House of Representatives from the District of Columbia is elected for two-year terms, as are all other Representatives and Delegates minus the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, who is elected to a four-year term.

District of Columbia[edit]

District of Columbia election

The election for the Delegate from the District of Columbia featured winner Walter E. Fauntroy (D), who won his first re-election after winning the special election in the previous year.

Walter E. Fauntroy, a Democrat, sought re-election for his second term to the United States House of Representatives. Fauntroy was opposed in this election by Republican challenger William Chin-Lee who received 25.12%, and Statehood Party candidate Charles I. Cassell who received 11.92%. This resulted in Fauntroy being elected with 60.64% of the vote.

United States Virgin Islands[edit]

Democrat Ron de Lugo was elected as the first delegate from United States Virgin Islands’s at-large congressional district.

See also[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Joe Moakley was elected as an Independent Democrat, but before he took office changed his party affiliation to Democratic.
  2. ^ There was 1 Independent Democrat[a]

References[edit]