The 1942 United States House of Representatives elections were elections for the United States House of Representatives to elect members to serve in the 78th United States Congress. They were held for the most part on November 3, 1942, while Maine held theirs on September 14. This was the first election after the congressional reapportionment based on the 1940 census, and was held in the middle of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third term. With involvement in World War II, it was the first wartime election in the United States since 1918.^[1]

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

1942 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1940 November 3, 1942[lower-alpha 1] 1944 →
All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives 218 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Sam Rayburn Joseph Martin Party Democratic Republican Leader since September 16, 1940 January 3, 1939 Leader's seat Texas 4th Massachusetts 14th Last election 267 seats 162 seats Seats won 222 209 Seat change 45 47 Popular vote 13,181,759 14,271,483 Percentage 47.0% 50.8% Swing 4.4% 5.2%   Third party Fourth party   Party Progressive Farmer–Labor Last election 3 seats 1 seat Seats won 2 1 Seat change 1 Popular vote 185,114 151,684 Percentage 0.7% 0.5% Swing 0.3% 0.1%   Fifth party Sixth party   Party American Labor Independent Last election 1 seat 0 seats Seats won 1 0 Seat change 1 Popular vote 91,283 67,333 Percentage 0.3% 0.2% Swing 0.4%
Speaker before election Sam Rayburn Democratic Elected Speaker Sam Rayburn Democratic

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Roosevelt's Democratic Party lost 45 seats to the Republican Party, retaining only a slender majority even though they lost the popular vote by over 1 million votes (3.9%). 1942 remains the most recent election in which Democrats won a majority in the House without a majority of votes, and only the second time in the 20th century that this occurred, after 1914.

This was the most successful congressional election for Republicans since 1930, and the first time since that election cycle that the House GOP actually won the popular vote.^[2] The main factor that led to the Republican gains during this election cycle was dissatisfaction with the conduct of America’s war effort in World War II.^[1] As of 2024^[update], this was the last time the House of Representatives was made up of five parties. This was also the smallest House majority that the Democrats had up until the 2020 elections. Voter turnout was historically low for the time, which was attributed to the absence of military men and the apathy of workers at war production plants, many of whom had failed to re-register to vote in their new communities or become accustomed to local candidates.^[1]

More information Party, Total seats ...

Party		Total seats	Seat change	Seat percentage	Vote percentage	Popular vote
	Republican	209	47	48.0%	50.8%	14,271,483
	Democratic	222	45	51.0%	47.0%	13,181,759
	Progressive	2	1	0.4%	0.7%	186,982
	Farmer-Labor	1		0.2%	0.5%	151,684
	American Labor	1		0.2%	0.3%	91,283
	Independent	0	1	0.0%	0.2%	67,333
	Socialist	0		0.0%	0.1%	37,390
	Communist	0		0.0%	0.1%	29,659
	Prohibition	0		0.0%	0.1%	25,413
	Townsend	0		0.0%	<0.1%	9,843
	Socialist Labor	0		0.0%	<0.1%	1,963
	National Recovery	0		0.0%	<0.1%	1,705
	Win the War	0		0.0%	<0.1%	120
	Liberal	0		0.0%	<0.1%	114
	Social Reconstruction	0		0.0%	<0.1%	114
	Independent-Labor	0		0.0%	<0.1%	75
	Others	0		0.0%	0.1%	17,444
Totals		435		100.0%	100.0%	28,074,364

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Source: Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk

More information House seats by party holding plurality in state, Change in seats ...

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Some special elections were held throughout the year.

Elections are listed by date and district.

Arizona received a second representative in reapportionment; it continued to elect both representatives at large rather than drawing districts.

Three new seats were added in reapportionment, increasing the delegation from 20 to 23 seats. Two of the new seats were won by Democrats, one by a Republican. One Republican and one Democratic incumbents lost re-election, and one vacancy was won by a Republican. Therefore, both Democrats and Republicans increased by 2 seats.

Florida received a 6th seat in reapportionment; it added an at-large district to its 5 districts rather than redrawing them.

Illinois was reapportioned from 27 representatives to 26; it went from electing 2 at-large representatives to 1 without redrawing the other districts.

Indiana was redrawn from 12 districts to 11 after reapportionment; most of the districts underwent minor boundary changes, and the old 11th district was divided up, distributing Madison County to the 5th, Hancock County to the 10th, and consolidating the parts of Marion County in the old 11th and Indianapolis-based 12th into a new 11th.^[6] This forced incumbents William Larrabee and Raymond S. Springer to run against each other in a district drawn mainly from Springer's old district.

Iowa was redistricted from 9 to 8 districts, with the most substantial changes being merging the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th districts in northeastern Iowa down to 2 districts.^[6]

Kansas was reapportioned from 7 districts to 6, with the central Kansas 4th district losing territory on its north and gaining most of the old 5th district around Wichita.^[6]

Massachusetts was reapportioned from 15 districts down to 14, with the most affected incumbent being Thomas H. Eliot of the former 9th, whose western Boston suburbs were moved into the 10th and 4th while his Cambridge residence was pulled into the more urban 11th,^[6] where he was defeated in the primary by James Michael Curley.

Redistricted from 5 districts down to 4; the 4th and 1st districts were merged into each other, with the other three districts all gaining some territory on the south.^[6]

Reapportioned from 1 representative to 2; both of the representatives were elected at large.