1976 United States House of Representatives elections
House elections for the 95th U.S. Congress

The 1976 United States House of Representatives elections were elections for the United States House of Representatives on November 2, 1976, to elect members to serve in the 95th United States Congress. They coincided with Jimmy Carter's election as president. Carter's narrow victory over Gerald Ford had limited coattails, and his Democratic Party gained a net of only one seat from the Republican Party in the House. The result was nevertheless disappointing to the Republicans, who were hoping to win back some of the seats they lost in the wake of the Watergate scandal two years earlier.
As of 2026, this election was the last time any party won at least 290 House seats, or a two-thirds supermajority. It is also the last congressional election in which Democrats won a House seat in Wyoming.
Overall results
383 incumbent members sought reelection, but 3 were defeated in primaries and 12 defeated in the general election for a total of 368 incumbents winning.
Source: Election Statistics – Office of the Clerk
Special elections
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
See also
1976 United States elections
1976 United States gubernatorial elections
1976 United States presidential election
1976 United States Senate elections
94th United States Congress
95th United States Congress
References
Works cited
Abramson, Paul; Aldrich, John; Rohde, David (1995). Change and Continuity in the 1992 Elections. CQ Press.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “1976 United States House of Representatives elections” is house elections for the 95th U.S. Congress. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through United, States and House, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “house elections for the 95th U.S. Congress” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5511488. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1976, 2026, 1995 and 1992.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “1976 United States House of Representatives elections”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow 1976 United States House of Representatives elections primary sources, 1976 United States House of Representatives elections archive and United research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “1976 United States House of Representatives elections”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “1976 United States House of Representatives elections” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.