United States House of Representatives elections, 1946

Infobox Election
election_name = United States House of Representatives elections, 1946
country = United States
type = legislative
ongoing = no
previous_election = United States House of Representatives elections, 1944
previous_year = 1944
next_election = United States House of Representatives elections, 1948
next_year = 1948
seats_for_election = All 435 seats to the United States House of Representatives
election_date = November 2, 1946


leader1 = Joseph Martin
party1 = Republican Party (United States)
leaders_seat1 = Massachusetts-14th
last_election1 = 191 seats
seats1 = 246
seat_change1 = +55
popular_vote1 =
percentage1 = 53.5%
swing1 = +6.3%


leader2 = Sam Rayburn
party2 = Democratic Party (United States)
leaders_seat2 = Texas-4th
last_election2 = 242 seats
seats2 = 188
seat_change2 = -54
popular_vote2 =
percentage2 = 48.9%
swing2 = -6.3%
title = Speaker
before_election = Sam Rayburn
before_party = Democratic Party (United States)
after_election = Joseph Martin
after_party = Republican Party (United States)

The U.S. House election, 1946 was an election for the United States House of Representatives in 1946 which occurred in the middle of President Harry Truman's first term. Truman was thrust into the presidency following the death of Franklin Roosevelt and did not garner the same support as the deceased president. Following many years of Democratic majorities in Congress and Democratic presidents, this election resulted in a Republican majority, with the Republicans picking up 55 seats.

The vote was largely seen as a referendum on Truman, whose approval rating had sunk to 32% [http://www.smithsonianmagazine.com/issues/2006/november/1946.php?page=2 [1] over the president's controversial handling of a wave of post-war labor strikes, and even more so, the back-and-forth over whether to end unpopular wartime price controls to handle shortages, particularly in meat and other foodstuffs. While Truman's early months in the White House had been plagued with questions of "What would Roosevelt do if he were alive?" Republicans now began to joke "What would Truman do if he were alive?" and "To err is Truman."

The president's lack of popular support is widely seen as the reason for the Democrats' congressional defeat, the largest since they were trounced in the 1928 pro-Republican wave that brought Herbert Hoover to power. And for the first time since before the Great Depression, Republicans were seen as the party which could best handle the American economy.

Joseph W. Martin, Jr. (R-Massachusetts) became Speaker of the House, exchanging places with Sam Rayburn (D-Texas) who became the new Minority Leader. Notable freshmen included future Presidents (and opponents) John F. Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) and Richard Nixon (R-California), among other veterans of World War II.

Overall results

]

Results by state

California

ee also

* 80th United States Congress
* United States Senate elections, 1946