United States House of Representatives elections, 1938

Infobox Election
election_name = United States House of Representatives elections, 1938
country = United States
type = legislative
ongoing = no
previous_election = United States House of Representatives elections, 1936
previous_year = 1936
next_election = United States House of Representatives elections, 1940
next_year = 1940
seats_for_election = All 435 seats to the United States House of Representatives
election_date = November 5, 1938


leader1 = William Bankhead
party1 = Democratic Party (United States)
leaders_seat1 = Alabama-7th
last_election1 = 334 seats
seats1 = 262
seat_change1 = -72
popular_vote1 =
percentage1 =
swing1 =


leader2 = Joseph Martin
party2 = Republican Party (United States)
leaders_seat2 = Massachusetts-14th
last_election2 = 88 seats
seats2 = 169
seat_change2 = +81
popular_vote2 =
percentage2 =
swing2 =
title = Speaker
before_election = William Bankhead
before_party = Democratic Party (United States)
after_election = William Bankhead
after_party = Democratic Party (United States)

The U.S. House election, 1938 was an election for the United States House of Representatives in 1938 which occurred in the middle of President Franklin Roosevelt's second term. Roosevelt's Democratic Party lost a net of 72 seats to the Republican Party, who also picked up seats from minor Progressive and Farmer-Labor Parties.

A contemporary account [ 1939 Britannica Book of the Year, "Democratic Party," pages 205-6 ] cited a number of reasons for the losses suffered by the Democrats. The first was the Recession of 1937, which had continued into the first half of 1938, and which had arguably weakened public confidence in the administration's New Deal economic policies. Controversy over a government reorganization bill (the Roosevelt's "Court-packing" plan was also a major factor. There were, in addition, strains between the more liberal New Deal supporters and the conservative wing of the Democratic party centered in the Southern states. These strains were exacerbated by an effort led by President Roosevelt to target certain conservative senators for defeat in Democratic primaries, including Walter George of Georgia, Millard Tydings of Maryland and Ellison Smith of South Carolina, along with the chairman of the House Rules Committee, John J. O'Connor of New York. While a number of New Deal supporters won primary elections, such as Sen. Alben Barkley in Kentucky, who defeated future baseball commissioner Happy Chandler, Sen. James Pope of Idaho, a prominent New Deal supporter, lost his bid for re-nomination, as did California senator William McAdoo. Only Congressman O'Connor, among the "purge" targets, was defeated. While these are, strictly speaking, matters that relate to the Senate races, the controversy had its effects on House races.

Given the high levels of Democratic success in the 1930, 1932, 1934 and 1936 elections, the Democrats did face a difficult position in defending a large number of marginal seats, even without the pressures described above.

Overall, the Democrats would go on to lose 81 seats in the House, though with 262 seats, they retained a very strong majority position.

Overall results

]

Results by state

California

ee also

*76th United States Congress
*United States Senate elections, 1938

References