United States House elections, 1946
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The U.S. House election, 1946 was an election for the United States House of Representatives in 1946 which occurred in the middle of President Harry Truman's first term. Following many years of Democratic majorities in Congress and Democratic presidents, this election resulted in a Republican majority, with the Republicans picking up 55 seats.
The vote was largely seen as a referendum on Truman, whose approval rating had sunk to 32% [1] over the president's controversial handling of a wave of post-war labor strikes, and even more so, the back-and-forth over whether to end unpopular wartime price controls to handle shortages, particularly in meat and other foodstuffs. While Truman's early months in the White House had been plagued with questions of "What would Roosevelt do if he were alive?" Republicans now began to joke "What would Truman do if he were alive?" and "To err is Truman."
The president's lack of popular support is widely seen as the reason for the Democrats' congressional defeat, the largest since they were trounced in the 1928 pro-Republican wave that brought Herbert Hoover to power. And for the first time since before the Great Depression, Republicans were seen as the party which could best handle the American economy.
Joseph W. Martin, Jr. (R-Massachusetts) became Speaker of the House, exchanging places with Sam Rayburn (D-Texas) who became the new Minority Leader. Notable freshmen included future Presidents (and opponents) John F. Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) and Richard Nixon (R-California), among other veterans of World War II.
[edit] Overall results
| Party | Total Seats (change) | Seat percentage | Popular Vote | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 188 | -54 | 43.2% | 44.3% |
| Other | 1 | +0 | 0.2% | 2.3% |
| Progressive Party | 0 | -1 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Republican Party | 246 | +55 | 56.5% | 53.5% |
| Totals | 435 | +0 | 100.0% | 100.0% |
| ██ 80.1-100% Republican | ██ 80.1-100% Democratic |
| ██ 60.1-80% Republican | ██ 60.1-80% Democratic |
| ██ | ██ |
| House seats by party holding plurality in state | |
| ██ 6+ Republican gain | ██ 6+ Democratic gain |
| ██ 3-5 Republican gain | ██ 3-5 Democratic gain |
| ██ 1-2 Republican gain | ██ 1-2 Democratic gain |
| ██ no net change |
[edit] See also
| Preceded by: 1944 |
U.S. House elections | Succeeded by: 1948 |
| United States House of Representatives Elections |
|---|
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