1936 United States House of Representatives elections

1936 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1934 November 3, 1936[a] 1938 →
All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives 218 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader William Bankhead Bertrand Snell Party Democratic Republican Leader since June 4, 1936 March 4, 1931 Leader's seat Alabama 7th New York 31st Last election 322 seats 103 seats Seats won 334 88 Seat change 12 15 Popular vote 23,967,625 16,999,723 Percentage 55.93% 39.67% Swing 2.01% 1.62%   Third party Fourth party   Party Progressive Farmer–Labor Last election 7 seats 3 seats Seats won 8 5 Seat change 1 2 Popular vote 546,833 481,960 Percentage 1.28% 1.13% Swing 0.03% 0.08%
Speaker before election William Bankhead Democratic Elected Speaker William Bankhead Democratic

The 1936 United States House of Representatives elections were elections for the United States House of Representatives to elect members to serve in the 75th United States Congress. They were held for the most part on November 3, 1936, while Maine held theirs on September 14. They coincided with President Franklin D. Roosevelt's landslide re-election. Roosevelt's Democratic Party gained twelve net seats from the Republican Party, bringing them above a three-fourths majority. This was the largest majority since Reconstruction, as the last time a party won so decisively was in 1866.^[1] To date, this was the last time that any party held three-quarters of all House seats, as well as the last time that a party won more than 300 House seats.

Significant representation from the Progressives of Wisconsin and Farmer–Labor Party of Minnesota was also seen, as these two liberal populist groups gained a foothold.^[2]

The 1936 elections showed the continuing trust of the American people in Roosevelt to guide the nation out of the Great Depression. Despite setbacks, most had faith in the New Deal and elected leaders who supported its measures. This was the last of four straight elections where Republicans lost seats in Congress due to the lingering effects of the Depression.^[3]

Source: Election Statistics – Office of the Clerk

In the 1st district, Republican Arthur B. Jenks was initially declared the winner, and sat in the House from January 1937 to June 1938, but Democrat Alphonse Roy successfully contested the election and served the remainder of the term before losing the 1938 election to Jenks.