Michigan Five Fluke Freshmen

The Michigan Five Fluke Freshmen is term given to five members (Raymond Clevenger, Billie Farnum, John Mackie, Paul Todd, and Wes Vivian) of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan that were elected in the Democratic landslide of 1964 and subsequently defeated just two years later by a Republican resurgence. All of the five were one-term congressmen. It was the last time that a state would have five freshmen members of Congress defeated for reelection.

1964 LBJ landslide

With President Lyndon B. Johnson taking over 67% of the vote in Michigan, the Democrats were able to win five districts and change the delegation from 12 to 7 Republican to 12 to 7 Democratic. The Democratic gains took place in District 2 (based in the Ann Arbor area), District 3 (set around Kalamazoo and Battle Creek), District 7 (Flint and its surrounding region), District 11 (northern lower Michigan and the Upper Peninsula), and District 19 (suburban Detroit). Nationally Democrats gained 36 seats from the Republicans in the House.

1964 U.S. House Michigan Congressional District 2 Election.
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Democratic	Wes Vivian	77,806	50.5%
	Republican	George Meader (Inc)	76,280	49.5%

1964 U.S. House Michigan Congressional District 3 Election.
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Democratic	Paul Todd	85,001	52.7%
	Republican	August Johansen (Inc)	76,350	47.3%

1964 U.S. House Michigan Congressional District 7 Election.
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Democratic	John Mackie	104,115	65.7%
	Republican	Claude Sadler	54,307	34.3%

1964 U.S. House Michigan Congressional District 11 Election.
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Democratic	Raymond Clevenger	86,557	53.3%
	Republican	Victor Knox (Inc)	75,955	46.7%

1964 U.S. House Michigan Congressional District 19 Election.
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Democratic	Billie Farnum	88,441	53.4%
	Republican	Richard Kuhn	77,204	46.6%

1966 The Republican Resurgence

The unpopularity of President Johnson's Great Society, rising crime, radical campus protests, and racial riots coupled with the coattail effect of popular Governor George W. Romney at the top of the state ticket all led to a downturn for the Democratic Party. The Republicans succeeded in recapturing the five districts they lost in 1964 and returned the delegation to a 12 to 7 Republican majority. Nationally the Republicans gained 47 seats from the Democrats in the House.

1966 U.S. House Michigan Congressional District 2 Election.
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Republican	Marvin Esch	65,205	51%
	Democratic	Wes Vivian (Inc)	62,536	49%

1966 U.S. House Michigan Congressional District 3 Election.
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Republican	Garry Brown	68,912	52.2%
	Democratic	Paul Todd (Inc)	62,984	48.8%

1966 U.S. House Michigan Congressional District 7 Election.
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Republican	Don Riegle	71,166	54%
	Democratic	John Mackie (Inc)	60,408	46%

1966 U.S. House Michigan Congressional District 11 Election.
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Republican	Philip Ruppe	70,820	51.8%
	Democratic	Raymond Clevenger (Inc)	65,875	49.2%

1966 U.S. House Michigan Congressional District 19 Election.
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Republican	Jack McDonald	76,884	57%
	Democratic	Billie Farnum (Inc)	57,907	43%

References

• The Almanac of American Politics 1972