1948 United States House of Representatives elections
House elections for the 81st U.S. Congress
The 1948 United States House of Representatives elections were elections for the United States House of Representatives to elect members to serve in the 81st United States Congress. They were held for the most part on November 2, 1948, while Maine held theirs on September 13. These elections coincided with President Harry S. Truman's election to a full term. Truman had campaigned against a "do-nothing"' Republican Party Congress that had opposed his initiatives and was seen as counterproductive. The Democratic Party regained control of both the House and Senate in this election. For Democrats, this was their largest gain since 1932.
These were the last elections until 1980 when a member of a political party other than the Democrats, Republicans, or an independent had one or more seats in the chamber. To date, this is the last time the Democrats gained more than 50 seats in a U.S. House election.
Overall results
Special elections
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Alabama
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Illinois
Illinois redistricted its at-large seat into an additional geographical district for a total of 26, changing boundaries across the state and moving several seats from downstate into the Chicago suburbs.
“1948 United States House of Representatives elections” enters the record as house elections for the 81st U.S. Congress. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what United, States and House can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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