The 1932 United States House of Representatives elections were elections for the United States House of Representatives to elect members to serve in the 73rd United States Congress. They were held for the most part on November 8, 1932, while Maine held theirs on September 12. They coincided with the landslide election of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Quick Facts All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives 218 seats needed for a majority, Majority party ...

1932 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1930 September 12[lower-alpha 1] and November 8, 1932[lower-alpha 2] 1934 →
All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives 218 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader John Nance Garner[lower-alpha 3] Bertrand Snell Party Democratic Republican Leader since March 4, 1929 March 4, 1931 Leader's seat Texas 15th New York 31st Last election 216 seats 218 seats Seats won 313[1] 117[1] Seat change 97 101 Popular vote 20,585,995 15,900,829 Percentage 54.48% 42.08% Swing 9.98% 10.96%   Third party   Party Farmer–Labor Last election 1 seat Seats won 5 Seat change 4 Popular vote 389,001 Percentage 1.01% Swing 0.09%
Speaker before election John Nance Garner Democratic Elected Speaker Henry Rainey Democratic

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The inability of Herbert Hoover to deal with the Great Depression was the main issue surrounding this election,^[2][3] with his overwhelming unpopularity causing his Republican Party to lose 101 seats to Roosevelt's Democratic Party and the small Farmer–Labor Party, as the Democrats expanded the majority they had gained through special elections to a commanding level.

This round of elections was seen as a referendum on the once popular Republican business practices, which were eschewed for new, more liberal Democratic ideas. This was the first time since 1894 (and the last time as of 2024) that any party suffered triple-digit losses, and the Democrats posted their largest net seat pick-up in their history. These elections marked the beginning of a period of dominance in the House for the Democrats: with the exception of 1946 and 1952, the party would win every House election until 1994.

This was the first election after the congressional reapportionment based on the 1930 census, which was the first reapportionment since the passage of the Reapportionment Act of 1929 that permanently capped the House membership at 435 seats. Since no reapportionment (and in nearly all states no redistricting) had occurred after the 1920 census, the district boundary changes from the previous election were quite substantial, representing twenty years of population movement from small towns to the more Democratic cities.

Source: "Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk".

There were special elections in 1932 to serve the remainder of the current 72nd United States Congress.

Special elections are sorted by date then district.

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Nine new seats were added in reapportionment, increasing the delegation from 11 to 20 seats. Six of the new seats were won by Democrats, three by Republicans. Three Republican incumbents lost re-election to Democrats. Therefore, Democrats increased by 10 seats and Republicans decreased by 1.

See Non-voting delegates, below.

Indiana gained one seat in reapportionment. All of the incumbents were redistricted. The new seat was won by a Democrat and all the other incumbent Democrats won re-election. All three incumbent Republicans lost re-election, bringing the state from 8-3 Democratic to 12-0 Democratic.

The eighth district was eliminated when the state was reapportioned from eight to seven districts. Two incumbent Republicans lost re-election. One incumbent Republican lost renomination and his seat was won by the incumbent Democrat from the district that was merged into his.

Kentucky, reapportioned from 11 districts down to 9, elected all of its representatives on a statewide at-large ticket. Of the nine incumbent Democratic representatives, seven were re-elected on the general ticket and two retired, while both incumbent Republicans retired.

Louisiana continued to elect its representatives based upon districts adopted in 1912. Those districts did not change until the 1968 elections.

Maine was redistricted from four seats down to three; of four Republican incumbents, only one was re-elected; one retired and two were defeated by Democratic challengers.

Massachusetts was redistricted from 16 districts to 15; 10 Republican and 4 Democratic incumbents were re-elected, while 2 Republican incumbents retired in the old 8th and 9th districts; the new 8th containing parts of both elected a Democrat.

Michigan was redistricted from 13 to 17 districts, adding four new districts in and around Detroit.

Minnesota, reapportioned from 10 seats down to 9, elected all representatives on a statewide general ticket. Of the 10 incumbents, only 1 Farmer–Labor and 1 Republican were re-elected. The other Republicans either lost re-election (4), lost renomination (3), or retired (1). The delegation changed therefore from overwhelmingly Republican (9–1) to a majority Farmer-Labor (5–4).

Redistricted from 8 districts to 7, with most of the 8th district being added to the 7th.

Missouri was reapportioned from 16 seats to 13, which were elected on a general ticket. The delegation went from 12 Democrats and 4 Republicans to 13 Democrats, 8 of them previous incumbents.