The 2010 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 2, 2010, as part of the 2010 midterm elections during President Barack Obama's first term in office. Voters of the 50 U.S. states chose 435 U.S. Representatives to serve in the 112th United States Congress. Also, voters of the U.S. territories, commonwealths and District of Columbia chose their non-voting delegates.The nonvoting delegates represent the District of Columbia; the territories of American Samoa, Guam and the Virgin Islands; and the commonwealths of the Northern Mariana Islands and Puerto Rico, see . They are all chosen biennially except for Puerto Rico's delegate, who is elected every four years and next faced reelection in 2012. U.S. Senate elections and various state and local elections were held on the same date.
Republicans regained control of the U.S. House they had lost in the 2006 midterm election, picking up a net total of 62 seats and erasing the gains Democrats made in 2006 and 2008. Although the sitting president's party usually loses seats in a midterm election, the 2010 election resulted in the highest losses by a party in a House midterm election since 1938, as well as the largest House swing since 1948. In total, 52 House Democrats were defeated, including 36 freshman and sophomore representatives.
Republicans made their largest gain in House seats since 1938.The 2010 Midterm Election in Perspective November 10, 2010. Commentary. Three Democratic committee chairmen were defeated: transportation chairman Jim Oberstar of Minnesota, armed services chairman Ike Skelton of Missouri, and budget chairman John Spratt of South Carolina. Democrats made three pick-ups, winning an open seat in Delaware and defeating Republican incumbents in Hawaii and Louisiana.
The heavy Democratic Party losses in 2010 were attributed to anger at President Obama, opposition to the Affordable Care Act and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, large budget deficits, and the weak economy.
This is the last election in which Democrats won a seat in Arkansas, and the last in which Republicans won more than one seat in Maryland, as well as both seats in New Hampshire.
Background
Following the 2006 elections, Democrats took control of the House as well as the Senate. In the 2008 elections, which coincided with Democrat Barack Obama's victory over Republican John McCain for the presidency, Democrats increased their majorities in both chambers. Of the 435 congressional districts, 242 were carried by Obama, while 193 voted for McCain. Of the districts Obama won, 34 elected a Republican to the House, while 49 of the districts McCain won elected a Democrat.
Republican gains The Republicans' 63-seat pickup in the House to take control of that chamber, as well as their gain of six Senate seats, signified a dramatic rollback of recent Democratic gains. In the election, Republicans won their greatest number of House seats since 1946. This has been attributed to the continued economic recession, as well as President Obama's controversial stimulus and health care reform bills. Republicans also took control of 29 of the 50 state governorships and gained 690 seats in state legislatures, to hold their greatest number since the 1928 elections.
Republicans also made historic gains in state legislatures, adding more than 675 state legislative seats, by far surpassing their state-legislative gains in 1994.Map of Post 2010 Election Partisan Composition of State Legislatures: Republicans Make Historic Gains, National Conference of State Legislatures.Dan Balz, The GOP takeover in the states, Washington Post (November 13, 2010). Republicans gained control of dozens of state legislative chambers, and took control of "seven more legislatures outright than they did after 1994 and the most since 1952." Republicans picked up control of the Alabama Legislature for the first time since Reconstruction; control of the North Carolina Senate for the first time since 1870; and control of the Minnesota Senate for the first time since the state returned to partisan elections in 1974.
The Great Lakes region, which until then had recently favored the Democratic Party, went strongly Republican. In California and the Pacific Northwest, however, the Democrats retained the upper hand.Paul R Abramson, John H Aldrich and David W Rohde, Change and Continuity in the 2008 and 2010 Elections (2011) The biggest change in 2010 occurred in the Southern United States, which had previously been roughly evenly split between Democrats and Republicans for everything except for president. Just one white Democrat from the Deep South won reelection to the US House in 2010. Prior to 2010, many white conservative southerners had voted Republican for president, but Democratic for other offices.
Results summary Federal 242 193 Republican Democratic
Parties (and Independents) Seats Popular vote 2008 2010 Share Vote % Republican Party 178 242 64 55.6% 44,829,751 51.7% 9.1% Democratic Party 257 193 64 44.4% 38,980,192 44.9% 8.3% Libertarian Party — — — — 1,010,891 1.2% 0.3% Independent — — — — 516,733 0.6% Green Party — — — — 252,688 0.3% 0.2% Constitution Party — — — — 195,008 0.2% 0.1% Independence Party — — — — 139,473 0.2% 0.1% American Independent Party — — — — 56,907 0.1% 0.1% Others — — — — 799,461 0.9% 0.8% Totals 435 435 0 100.0% 86,781,104 100.0%
Sources: House Clerk – Statistics of the Congressional Election, 2010
Voter demographics
2010 U.S. House vote by demographic subgroup Demographic subgroupDEMGOPOther % oftotal vote Total vote 45 52 3 100Ideology Liberals 908 2 20 Moderates 5542 3 38 Conservatives 13 84 3 42Party Democrats 91 7 2 35 Republicans 5 94 1 35 Independents 37 56 7 29Gender Men 41 55 4 48 Women 48 49 3 52Race/ethnicity White 3760 3 77 Black 89 9 2 11 Asian 58 40 2 2 Other 53 44 3 2 Hispanic (of any race) 60 38 2 8 Gender by race/ethnicity White men 34 62 4 38 White women 39 58 3 40 Black men 86 13 1 5 Black women 92 6 2 6 Latino men (of any race) 55 44 1 4 Latino women (of any race) 65 33 2 4 All other races 55 42 3 4Religion Protestant 38 59 3 55 Catholic 44 54 2 23 Jewish n/a n/a n/a 2 Other religion 74 24 2 8 None 68 30 2 12Religious service attendance Weekly 40 58 2 48 Less than weekly 53 44 3 52White evangelical or born-again Christian White evangelical or born-again Christian 19 77 4 25 Everyone else 55 42 3 75Age 18–24 years old 57 39 4 6 25–29 years old 54 44 2 6 30–39 years old 47 48 5 14 40–49 years old 43 54 3 21 50–64 years old 46 52 2 32 65 and older 38 59 3 21Sexual orientation LGBT 69 29 2 3 Non-LGBT 46 52 2 97Education Not a high school graduate 57 36 7 3 High school graduate 46 52 2 17 Some college education 43 53 4 28 College graduate 40 58 2 30 Postgraduate education 53 45 2 21Education by race/ethnicity White college graduates 39 58 3 42 White no college degree 33 63 4 35 Non-white college graduates 70 28 2 9 Non-white no college degree 75 23 2 13Family income Under $30,000 57 40 3 17 $30,000–49,999 51 46 3 19 $50,000–74,999 45 51 4 21 $75,000–99,999 42 56 2 15 $100,000–199,999 43 56 1 19 Over $200,000 34 64 2 8Family income by race Whites under $50,000 42 54 4 25 Whites over $50,000 37 61 3 53 Non-whites under $50,000 80 19 1 11 Non-whites over $50,000 69 29 2 11Union households Union 61 37 2 17 Non-union 43 54 3 83Issue regarded as most important War in Afghanistan 58 40 2 7 Health care 51 47 2 18 Economy 43 54 3 63 Illegal immigration 26 68 6 8Region Northeast 54 44 2 21 Midwest 44 53 3 25 South 37 61 2 31 West 49 48 3 23Community size Urban 56 41 3 31 Suburban 42 55 3 49 Rural 36 61 3 20
Source: CNN exit poll
Maps
Retiring incumbents 37 incumbents retired.
Democrats 17 incumbent Democrats retired. : Artur Davis: To run for Governor of Alabama. : Marion Berry: Retired due to health concerns. : Vic Snyder: Retired to spend more time with family. : Diane Watson: Retired; "It should be a seat inherited by someone who can represent everyone in this district." : Kendrick Meek: To run for U.S. Senator. : Brad Ellsworth: To run for U.S. Senator. : Dennis Moore: Retired; "Time for a new generation of leadership." : Charlie Melançon: To run for U.S. Senator. : Bill Delahunt: Retired; "Life is about change. I think it's healthy. It's time." : Bart Stupak: Retired; "I've accomplished what I want to do." : Paul Hodes: To run for U.S. Senator. : Joe Sestak: To run for U.S. Senator. : Patrick J. Kennedy: Retired to "[take] a new direction." : Bart Gordon: Retired; "...it's time for a new chapter." : John S. Tanner: Retired; decided 20 years was long enough. : Brian Baird: Retired, to pursue other options. : Dave Obey: Retired; "But even more frankly, I am bone tired." Media reports indicated Obey's future plans included joining a DC lobbying firm run by former Representative Dick Gephardt.
Republicans 19 incumbent Republicans retired. : John Boozman: to run for U.S. Senator. : John Shadegg: to pursue other interests. : George Radanovich: to put family obligations first. : Mike Castle: to run for U.S. Senator. : Ginny Brown-Waite: due to health issues. : Adam Putnam: to run for Florida Commissioner of Agriculture. : Lincoln Díaz-Balart: to return to law practice. : John Linder : Mark Kirk: to run for U.S. Senator. : Steve Buyer: due to wife's illness : Jerry Moran: to run for U.S. Senator. : Todd Tiahrt: to run for U.S. Senator. : Pete Hoekstra: to run for Governor of Michigan. : Vern Ehlers : Roy Blunt: to run for U.S. Senator. : Mary Fallin: to run for Governor of Oklahoma. : Henry E. Brown Jr.: to spend more time with his family. : Gresham Barrett: to run for Governor of South Carolina. : Zach Wamp: to run for Governor of Tennessee.
Incumbents defeated There were nine Democrats who survived reelection in the 1994 Republican Revolution, but were defeated this year.
Lost renomination
Democrats Two Democrats lost renomination. One seat was held by Democrats, while the other flipped to Republicans. : Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick lost to Hansen Clarke. : Alan Mollohan lost to Mike Oliverio, who lost the general election to David McKinley.
Republicans Two Republicans lost renomination. Both seats were eventually held by Republicans. : Parker Griffith (first elected in 2008 as a Democrat; switched parties in 2009) lost to Mo Brooks. : Bob Inglis lost to Trey Gowdy.
Lost re-election 54 incumbents lost in the general election; all but two were Democrats. Many of the Democrats who lost had been initially elected in the Democratic wave years of 2006 and 2008, and several others were longtime incumbents from the southeast. Of the Democrats who lost, 11 were first elected in 2006, and 22 were first elected in 2008.
Democrats 52 Democrats lost re-election.
, Bobby Bright (first elected in 2008) lost to Martha Roby , Ann Kirkpatrick (first elected in 2008) lost to Paul Gosar , Harry Mitchell (first elected in 2006) lost to David Schweikert , John Salazar (first elected in 2004) lost to Scott Tipton , Betsy Markey (first elected in 2008) lost to Cory Gardner , Allen Boyd (first elected in 1996) lost to Steve Southerland , Alan Grayson (first elected in 2008) lost to Daniel Webster , Ron Klein (first elected in 2006) lost to Allen West , Suzanne Kosmas (first elected in 2008) lost to Sandy Adams , Jim Marshall (first elected in 2002) lost to Austin Scott , Walt Minnick (first elected in 2008) lost to Raúl Labrador , Melissa Bean (first elected in 2004) lost to Joe Walsh , Debbie Halvorson (first elected in 2008) lost to Adam Kinzinger , Bill Foster (first elected in 2008) lost to Randy Hultgren , Phil Hare (first elected in 2006) lost to Bobby Schilling , Baron Hill (originally elected in 1998) lost to Todd Young , Frank Kratovil (first elected in 2008) lost to Andrew P. Harris , Mark Schauer (first elected in 2008) lost to Tim Walberg , Jim Oberstar (first elected in 1974) lost to Chip Cravaack