United States House of Representatives elections, 1930

Infobox Election
election_name = United States House of Representatives elections, 1930
country = United States
type = legislative
ongoing = no
previous_election = United States House of Representatives elections, 1928
previous_year = 1928
next_election = United States House of Representatives elections, 1932
next_year = 1932
seats_for_election = All 435 seats to the United States House of Representatives
election_date = November 5, 1930


leader1 = John Nance Garner
party1 = Democratic Party (United States)
leaders_seat1 = Texas-15th
last_election1 = 164 seats
seats1 = "216 after election" (218 at opening of Congress)
seat_change1 = +52
popular_vote1 =
percentage1 =
swing1 =

|
leader2 = Bertrand Snell
party2 = Republican Party (United States)
leaders_seat2 = New York-31st
last_election2 = 270 seats
seats2 = "218 after election" (217 at opening of Congress)
seat_change2 = -52
popular_vote2 =
percentage2 =
swing2 =
title = Speaker
before_election = Nicholas Longworth
before_party = Republican Party (United States)
after_election = John Nance Garner
after_party= Democratic Party (United States)

The U.S. House election, 1930 was an election for the United States House of Representatives in 1930 which occurred in the middle of President Herbert Hoover's term. With the Great Depression in full swing, Hoover's personal popularity was extremely low, and his Republican Party lost a net of 52 seats to the Democratic Party.

Although the Republicans retained a narrow majority from the election, they lost a number of special elections following the deaths of 19 representatives and representatives-elect prior to the reconvening of Congress [http://clerk.house.gov/histHigh/Congressional_History/partyDiv.html#1] . This resulted in the new chamber having a four seat Democratic majority.

Overall results

]

California

References

* Susan F. Stevens, "Congressional Elections of 1930: Politics of Avoidance" (Ph.D. dissertation, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1980), reports that the depression seems to have not played as much of a role as prohibition, farm policy and the Smoot Hawley Tariff issues. This study focuses on the political environment of the immediate post-Crash period. Contrary to modern anticipation and historical precedent, the first elections after the Stock Market debacle proved remarkably inconclusive. Despite a host of handicaps, of which economic uncertainty was only one, the incumbent Republican party managed to retain control of Congress. The margin, however, was not durable enough to withstand the deepening financial crisis. By the time the 72nd Congress was convened thirteen months later, the Democrats had secured the House of Representatives through a series of by-elections. Contemporary analysis of the 1930-31 period reveals a curious sense of ambivalence which those election results sustain. Newspapers, journals, popular publications and manuscripts have provided the main source of evidence. These subjective accounts have been weighed against the voting tallies in order to determine the context of the most significant campaigns and their results. Surprisingly, the issue of economic depression was a minor concern during the general elections. Prohibition, tariff and farm policy featured far more prominently during the fall of 1930. By 1931, however, the economic issue had become predominant and voters registered their dismay by electing Democrats. This study indicates that the mutual reluctance of either political party to deal with the depression issue, coupled with an initial disinclination by voters to upset a heretofore comfortable status quo, produced an electoral ambivalence unequalled in American congressional politics. Only the continued inability of the Republican administration to reverse economic disruption persuaded voters to embrace the unproven abilities of Democratic legislators.

ee also

*72nd United States Congress
*U.S. Senate election, 1930

sequence
list=U.S. House elections
prev=1928
next=1932