1930 United States House of Representatives elections

The 1930 United States House of Representatives elections were elections for the United States House of Representatives to elect members to serve in the 72nd United States Congress. They were held for the most part on November 4, 1930, while Maine held theirs on September 8. They occurred in the middle of President Herbert Hoover's term.

1930 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1928 November 4, 1930[a] 1932 →
All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives 218 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Nicholas Longworth John Nance Garner Party Republican Democratic Leader since March 4, 1923 March 4, 1929 Leader's seat Ohio 1st Texas 15th Last election 270 seats 164 seats Seats won 218[b] 216[b] Seat change 52 52 Popular vote 13,141,932 11,026,131[1] Percentage 53.04% 44.50% Swing 3.69% 2.53%   Third party   Party Farmer–Labor Last election 1 seat Seats won 1 Seat change Popular vote 277,739 Percentage 1.12% Swing 0.58%
Democratic hold      Democratic gain      Republican hold      Farmer–Labor hold
Speaker before election Nicholas Longworth Republican Elected Speaker John Nance Garner[b] Democratic

During the election cycle, the nation was entering its second year of the Great Depression, and Hoover was perceived^[2][3] as doing little to solve the crisis, with his personal popularity being very low. His Republican Party was initially applauded for instituting protectionist economic policies, which were intended to limit imports to stimulate the domestic market; however, after the passage of the heavily damaging Smoot–Hawley Tariff, a policy that was bitterly opposed by the Democratic Party, public opinion turned sharply against Republican policies, and the party bore the blame for the economic collapse.

While the Democrats gained 52 seats in the 1930 midterm elections, Republicans retained a narrow one-seat majority of 218 seats after the polls closed versus the Democrats' 216 seats; however, during the 13 months between these elections and the end of the 72nd Congress,^[4] 14 members-elect died (including incumbent Speaker Nicholas Longworth), and the Democrats gained an additional three seats in the special elections called to fill these vacancies, thus gaining control of the House (they held a 219–212 advantage over the Republicans when the new Congress convened).^[4][5]

This was the first of four consecutive Depression-era House elections in which Democrats made enormous gains, achieving a cumulative gain of 174 seats. Over the ensuing 64 years (until the 1994 midterm elections), House Republicans would be in the minority for all but four years, winning majorities only in 1946 and in 1952.