1978 United States House of Representatives elections

1978 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1976 November 7, 1978 1980 →
All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives 218 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Tip O'Neill John Rhodes Party Democratic Republican Leader since January 4, 1977 December 7, 1973 Leader's seat Massachusetts 8th Arizona 1st Last election 292 seats 143 seats Seats won 277 157 Seat change 15 14 Popular vote 29,317,777 24,464,665 Percentage 53.7% 44.8% Swing 2.2% 2.5%   Third party   Party Conservative Last election 0 seats Seats won 1[a] Seat change 1 Popular vote 74,531 Percentage 0.1% Swing
Results:      Democratic hold      Democratic gain      Republican hold      Republican gain      Conservative gain
Speaker before election Tip O'Neill Democratic Elected Speaker Tip O'Neill Democratic

The 1978 United States House of Representatives elections was an election for the United States House of Representatives on November 7, 1978, to elect members to serve in the 96th United States Congress. They occurred in the middle of Democratic President Jimmy Carter's term, amidst an energy crisis and rapid inflation. The Democratic Party lost a net of 15 seats to the Republican Party, and thus lost their two-thirds supermajority, but still maintained a large 277-seat majority.

As of 2024, this was the last midterm election where the Democrats managed to maintain a majority in the House of Representatives under a Democratic president, the last midterm election in which a registered third party member^[b] was elected, and the last time overall in which any party won at least 270 House seats.

382 incumbent members sought reelection, but 5 were defeated in primaries and 19 defeated in the general election for a total of 358 incumbents winning.^[1]

Parties		Seats				Popular vote
		Previous election	This election	+/-	Strength	Vote	%	Change
	Democratic	292	277	15	63.7%	29,317,222	53.7%	2.2%
	Republican	143	157	14	36.1%	24,464,665	44.8%	2.5%
	Independents					350,898	0.6%	0.2%
	American Independent					74,765	0.1%
	Conservative	0	1	1	0.2%	74,531	0.1%
	Libertarian					64,310	0.1%
	U.S. Labor					45,866	0.1%
	Liberal					44,807	0.1%
	Peace and Freedom					39,017	0.1%	0.1%
	American					34,110	0.1%	0.1%
	Socialist Workers					19,530	<0.1%
	Prohibition					9,992	<0.1%
	Communist					9,261	<0.1%
	La Raza Unida					7,185	<0.1%
	Liberty Union					6,505	<0.1%
	Peoples Independent Coalition					5,396	<0.1%
	Workers					2,709	<0.1%
	Socialist Labor					2,434	<0.1%
	Aloha Democratic					2,095	<0.1%
	Betsy Ross					1,629	<0.1%
	Socialist					978	<0.1%
	United Labor					712	<0.1%
	Others					5,305	<0.1%	0.3%
Total		435	435	0	100.0%	54,583,922	100.0%	-

Source: Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk

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