1974 United States House of Representatives elections
House elections for the 94th U.S. Congress
The 1974 United States House of Representatives elections were elections for the United States House of Representatives on November 5, 1974, to elect members to serve in the 94th United States Congress. They occurred in the wake of the Watergate scandal, which had forced President Richard Nixon to resign in favor of Gerald Ford. This scandal, along with high inflation,[1] allowed the Democrats to make large gains in the midterm elections, taking 48 seats from the Republicans (an additional seat was gained, for a net gain of 49, when Representative Joe Moakley from Massachusetts switched his party affiliation back to Democrat after winning his 1972 election as an independent), and increasing their majority above the two-thirds mark. Altogether, there were 93 freshmen representatives in the 94th Congress when it convened on January 3, 1975 (76 of them Democrats). Those elected to office that year later came to be known collectively as "Watergate Babies."[2] The gain of 49 Democratic seats was the largest pickup by the party since 1958. Only four Democratic incumbents lost their seats.
As of 2022[update], this was the last time the Democrats gained 45 or more seats in a House election.
^Reid was originally elected as a Republican. He switched parties in 1972.
References
^James M. Naughton (November 6, 1974). "Senate and House Margins Are Substantially Enlarged". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
^Lawrence, John A. (May 26, 2018). "How the 'Watergate Babies' Broke American Politics". Politico Magazine. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
