1930 United States elections

The 1930 United States elections were held on November 4, 1930, in the middle of Republican President Herbert Hoover's term. Taking place shortly after the start of the Great Depression, the Republican Party suffered substantial losses. The election was the last of the Fourth Party System, and marked the first time since 1918 that Democrats controlled either chamber of Congress.[4][5]

1930 United States elections
Midterm elections
Election dayNovember 4
Incumbent presidentHerbert Hoover (Republican)
Next Congress72nd
Senate elections
Overall controlRepublican Hold
Seats contested35 of 96 seats
(32 Class 2 seats + 7 special elections)[1]
Net seat changeDemocratic +8[2]
1930 Senate election results

  Democratic gain   Democratic hold
  Republican gain   Republican hold

House elections
Overall controlDemocratic Gain[3]
Seats contestedAll 435 voting seats
Net seat changeDemocratic +52
Gubernatorial elections
Seats contested33
Net seat changeDemocratic +7
1930 gubernatorial election results

  Democratic gain   Democratic hold
  Republican gain   Republican hold
  Farmer-Labor gain   Independent gain

The Republicans lost fifty-two seats to the Democratic Party in the House of Representatives. While the Republicans maintained a one-seat majority after the polls closed, they lost a number of special elections (since some Republican members died) before the start of the new congress. This allowed the Democrats to take control of that chamber with a one-seat majority.[4]

The Republicans also lost eight seats to the Democrats in the U.S. Senate, but were able to maintain control with Republican Vice President Charles Curtis casting the tie breaking vote.[6]

The election was a victory for progressives of both parties, as Republicans closely aligned with Hoover lost several Congressional elections. Additionally, New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt's landslide re-election established him as the front-runner for the 1932 Democratic nomination.[7]

See also

References
  1. Four Class 2 seats held both a regularly-scheduled election and a special election in 1930. These seats are not double-counted for the total number of seats contested.
  2. Democrats picked up six seats in the regularly-scheduled elections and an additional two seats in the special elections.
  3. Democrats fell just short of winning a majority in the regularly-scheduled elections of 1930, but they won a majority in special elections that preceded the next Congress.
  4. "Party Divisions of the House of Representatives". United States House of Representatives. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  5. "Party Division in the Senate, 1789-Present". United States Senate. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  6. "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 4, 1930" (PDF). U.S. House of Reps, Office of the Clerk. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  7. Busch, Andrew (1999). Horses in Midstream. University of Pittsburgh Press. pp. 77–78.


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