Elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1954

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The elections for the United States House of Representatives in 1954 took place on November 2, 1954 in the middle of the first term ( midterm election ) of President Dwight D. Eisenhower in the then 48 states . Eisenhower's Republican Party lost 18 seats and the Democratic Party gained the majority in the House of Representatives, which it was able to maintain for 40 years until the 1994 election .

One reason for the electoral defeat was the actions of the Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy , who had suspected many public figures of communist sympathy in numerous hearings . These accusations had mostly proven to be baseless, but they created a climate of uncertainty, mistrust and denunciation.

The distribution of the majorities showed a clear division between North and South : in the southern former slave-holding Confederate States the Democrats had the majority, in the northern "Union States" the Republicans.

The election results

Majority of Seats in the House of Representatives by State:
  • 80.1–100% of the seats for the Democrats
  • 60.1–80% of the seats for the Democrats
  • 60% or less of the seats for the Democrats
  • 60% or less of the seats for the Republicans
  • 60.1–80% of the seats for Republicans
  • 80.1–100% of the seats for Republicans
  • 3–5 seats won by the Democrats
  • 1-2 seats won by the Democrats
  • 1-2 seats won by the Republicans
  • no change in the distribution of seats
    • Parties Seats be right
    1952 1954 +/- Strength be right % modification
      Republican Party 221 203 −18 46.7% 20,034,763
      Democratic Party 213 232 +19 53.3% 22.177.088
      Independent 1 0 −1 74,486
      Liberal Party of New York - - - - 251.290
      Socialist Labor Party - - - - 1,652
      Prohibition Party - - - - 8,591
      Other parties - - - - 35,055
    total 435 435 0 100.0% 42,582,927 100.0% -
    Source: Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk