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2022 United States House of Representatives elections
House election for the 118th U.S. Congress From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The 2022 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 8, 2022, as part of the 2022 United States elections during President Joe Biden's term. Representatives were elected from all 435 U.S. congressional districts across each of the 50 states to serve in the 118th United States Congress, as well as 5 non-voting members of the U.S. House of Representatives from the District of Columbia and four of the five inhabited insular areas. Numerous other federal, state, and local elections, including the 2022 U.S. Senate elections and the 2022 U.S. gubernatorial elections, were also held simultaneously. This was the first election after the 2020 redistricting cycle.
The Republican Party, led by Kevin McCarthy, won control of the House, defeating Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Party, which had held a majority in the House since 2019, as a result of the 2018 elections.[2][3] Although most observers and pundits predicted large Republican gains,[4][5][6] they instead narrowly won 4 seats over the 218 seats needed for a majority,[7] as Democrats won several upsets in districts considered Republican-leaning or won by Donald Trump in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, such as Washington's 3rd congressional district. Republicans also won some upsets in districts that Joe Biden won by double-digits, including New York's 4th congressional district.[8][9] Observers attributed Democrats' surprise over-performance to, among other factors,[10] the issue of abortion in the United States after Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization,[11] and the underperformance of multiple statewide and congressional Republican candidates who held extreme views,[12][13][14] including refusal to accept the party's 2020 electoral loss.[15][16] On the other hand, Democrats' political prospects were weighed down by the 2021–2022 inflation spike, which Republicans blamed on President Biden and the Democratic-controlled Congress.[17] The elections marked the first time since 1875 that Democrats won all districts along the Pacific Ocean.[18] This was the first time since 2004 that Republicans gained House seats in consecutive elections.
Gerrymandering during the 2020 U.S. redistricting cycle had a significant impact on the 2022 election results. Republicans made gains as a result of gerrymandering in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas, while Democrats made gains as a result of gerrymandering in Illinois and New Mexico. Defensive gerrymanders helped both parties hold competitive seats in various states,[19] while Republican gains in New York and Democratic gains in North Carolina and Ohio were made possible because their state supreme courts overturned gerrymanders passed by their state legislatures.[2][20][21][22]
The narrow margin by which Republicans won their House majority resulted in historic legislative difficulties in the 118th Congress. Due to a number of Republican holdouts affiliated with the right-wing House Freedom Caucus, McCarthy was not elected Speaker of the House until the 15th round of voting, thus marking the first time since 1923 that a speaker was not elected in the first round.[23] This was the smallest Republican majority since 2000, before Republicans were re-elected with a smaller majority in 2024.
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Electoral system
Forty-six states used the first-past-the-post voting plurality system to elect their representatives. Instant-runoff voting was used in two states (Alaska and Maine) and runoff system was used in two states (Georgia and Louisiana).
Results
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As mail-in voting has increased in U.S. elections, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic, the results in some congressional races were not known immediately following the election, which was more competitive and closer than expected,[24] as a widely predicted red wave election did not materialize.[25] Instead, Democrats lost fewer seats than expected at less than 10 and fewer than the average (25) for the president's party since the end of World War II.[26][27] Several tossup or lean Republican races were won by Democrats, including upsets in Colorado's 8th, North Carolina's 13th, and Washington's 3rd congressional districts;[28][29][30] Washington 3rd's seat was particularly notable because the Cook Political Report had labeled the district as lean Republican and FiveThirtyEight had Marie Gluesenkamp Perez's chance of winning at 2-in-100.[31][32] Democrats also narrowly missed a further upset for the Colorado's 3rd seat held by Republican Lauren Boebert; it was so close that it needed a recount.[33]
Democrats performed better than expected in states like Ohio and Pennsylvania,[34] benefitting from a coattail effect,[35][36] and performed well in Colorado and New England but suffered substantial losses in New York.[2] In Florida and New York, Republicans achieved state-specific red waves,[37][38][39] and red states became redder.[40] Gerrymandering during the 2020 U.S. redistricting cycle gave each party advantages in various states; due to advantageous maps, Republicans performed well or made gains in Florida, Georgia, Texas, and Tennessee, and Democrats made gains in Illinois and New Mexico.[2][20] As of November 10, 14 seats were flipped, with Republicans gaining 11 of them for a net gain of 8 seats; Republicans needed to maintain a net gain of at least 5 seats to regain the House.[2] Republicans won the popular vote by a 3 percent margin and would have won it even if Democrats had contested more seats than they did, which may have cost them about 1–2 percent in the final popular vote margin.[20] According to Harry Enten of CNN, the final popular vote margin was the second-closest midterm margin for a U.S. House election in the last 70 years.[41]
The unprecedented degree of Republican underperformance during the election defied election analysts' predictions of heavy gains, given that while a majority of voters trusted Democrats on abortion, they were disappointed with the performance of Joe Biden and Democrats on issues facing the country, such as the economy and inflation, crime, and immigration.[4][5][6] This has been variously attributed by political commentators to the issue of abortion after Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022;[11] candidate quality among Republicans who held extremist or unpopular views,[12][13][14] such as denial of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results;[15] and youth turnout, among others.[10] According to Ron Brownstein of CNN in 2023, exit polls showed that House Democrats won independent voters by 2 percentage points, making it the first time the party holding the White House did so in a midterm election since at least 1982.[42]
Biden described the results as a "strong night" for Democrats,[43] and he urged for cooperation in Congress.[44] Senator Lindsey Graham commented: "It's certainly not a red wave, that's for darn sure. But it is clear that we will take back the House."[45] On November 9, when the results for the House were still uncertain, the Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy launched his bid to succeed long-time House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.[44] In a letter asking for support among Republicans, he wrote: "I trust you know that earning the majority is only the beginning. Now, we will be measured by what we do with our majority. Now the real work begins."[44]
Control of the House would not be known until November 16, after Mike Garcia was projected to win reelection in California's 27th congressional district, giving Republicans a total of at least 218 seats;[46] and giving Republicans a narrow majority.[47] The size of the majority remained in doubt with several races still to be called more than one week after Election Day.[48] On November 17, after Republicans were projected to win back the House, Pelosi announced that she would not seek reelection as Speaker of the House,[49] and Hakeem Jeffries was later selected as the Democratic nominee by acclamation.[50] On November 15, McCarthy won an internal Republican caucus poll as the party's nominee for Speaker of the House;[46] as several members of the Republican caucus did not vote for him and had expressed opposition to his speakership, it cast doubt on how the 2023 U.S. speaker election, which began on January 3, would unfold.[51][52] McCarthy's speaker bid was the first of a party leader since 1923 that did not succeed on the first ballot.
Federal
The 2022 election results are compared below to the 2020 election. The table does not include blank and over or under votes, both of which were included in the official results.
222 | 213 |
Republican | Democratic |
Per state
Maps
- House seats by party holding majority in state
- Popular vote and seat total by states
- Net changes to U.S. House seats after the 2022 elections
+1 Dem House seat +2 Dem House seats
+1 Rep House seat +2 Rep House seats
+3–4 Rep House seats
Republicans lost 1 seat due to reapportionment - District results by vote share
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Retirements
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Democratic incumbent ran
Democratic incumbent retired or lost renomination
Republican incumbent ran
Republican incumbent retired or lost renomination
Democratic and Republican incumbent ran
Vacant or new district
In total, 49 representatives and one non-voting delegate (30 Democrats and 20 Republicans) retired, 17 of whom (nine Democrats and eight Republicans) sought other offices.[53]
Democrats
- Arizona 2: Ann Kirkpatrick retired.[54]
- California 9: Jerry McNerney retired.[55]
- California 14: Jackie Speier retired.[56]
- California 37: Karen Bass retired to run for mayor of Los Angeles.[57]
- California 40: Lucille Roybal-Allard retired.[58]
- California 47: Alan Lowenthal retired.[59]
- Colorado 7: Ed Perlmutter retired.[60]
- Florida 7: Stephanie Murphy retired.[61]
- Florida 10: Val Demings retired to run for U.S. Senate.[62]
- Guam at-large: Michael San Nicolas retired to run for governor of Guam.[63]
- Hawaii 2: Kai Kahele retired to run for governor of Hawaii.[64]
- Illinois 1: Bobby Rush retired.[65]
- Illinois 17: Cheri Bustos retired.[66]
- Kentucky 3: John Yarmuth retired.[67]
- Maryland 4: Anthony Brown retired to run for attorney general of Maryland.[68]
- Michigan 14: Brenda Lawrence retired.[69]
- New Jersey 8: Albio Sires retired.[70]
- New York 3: Thomas Suozzi retired to run for governor of New York.[71]
- New York 4: Kathleen Rice retired.[72]
- North Carolina 1: G. K. Butterfield retired.[73]
- North Carolina 4: David Price retired.[74]
- Ohio 13: Tim Ryan retired to run for U.S. Senate.[75]
- Oregon 4: Peter DeFazio retired.[76]
- Pennsylvania 17: Conor Lamb retired to run for U.S. Senate.[77]
- Pennsylvania 18: Mike Doyle retired.[78]
- Rhode Island 2: Jim Langevin retired.[79]
- Tennessee 5: Jim Cooper retired due to redistricting.[80]
- Texas 30: Eddie Bernice Johnson retired.[81]
- Vermont at-large: Peter Welch retired to run for U.S. Senate.[82]
- Wisconsin 3: Ron Kind retired.[83]
Republicans
- Alabama 5: Mo Brooks retired to run for U.S. Senate.[84]
- California 22: Connie Conway retired.[85]
- Georgia 10: Jody Hice retired to run for secretary of state of Georgia.[86]
- Illinois 16: Adam Kinzinger retired.[87]
- Indiana 9: Trey Hollingsworth retired.[88]
- Michigan 6: Fred Upton retired.[89]
- Missouri 4: Vicky Hartzler retired to run for U.S. Senate.[90]
- Missouri 7: Billy Long retired to run for U.S. Senate.[91]
- New York 1: Lee Zeldin retired to run for governor of New York.[92]
- New York 23: Joe Sempolinski retired.[93]
- New York 24: John Katko retired.[94]
- New York 27: Chris Jacobs retired.[95]
- North Carolina 13: Ted Budd retired to run for U.S. Senate.[96]
- Ohio 7: Bob Gibbs retired.[97]
- Ohio 16: Anthony Gonzalez retired.[98]
- Oklahoma 2: Markwayne Mullin retired to run for U.S. Senate.[99]
- Pennsylvania 12: Fred Keller retired.[100]
- Texas 1: Louie Gohmert retired to run for attorney general of Texas.[101]
- Texas 3: Van Taylor retired after admitting to an affair.[102]
- Texas 8: Kevin Brady retired.[103]
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Resignations and death
Three seats were left vacant on the day of the general election due to resignations or death in 2022, two of which were not filled until the next Congress.
Democrats
Two Democrats resigned before the end of their terms.
- Florida 13: Charlie Crist resigned August 31 to run for governor of Florida.[104]
- Florida 22: Ted Deutch resigned September 30 to become CEO of the American Jewish Committee.[105]
Republicans
One Republican died in office.
- Indiana 2: Jackie Walorski died August 3. A special election to fill the remainder of her term was held concurrently with the general election for the next full term.[106]
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Incumbents defeated
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Fourteen incumbents lost renomination in the primary elections and nine incumbents lost reelection in the general elections.
In primary elections
Democrats
Six Democrats, half of whom were freshmen, lost renomination.
- Georgia 7: Carolyn Bourdeaux (first elected in 2020) lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbent Lucy McBath, who won the general election.[107]
- Illinois 6: Marie Newman (first elected in 2020) lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbent Sean Casten, who won the general election.[108]
- Michigan 11: Andy Levin (first elected in 2018) lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbent Haley Stevens, who won the general election.[109]
- New York 10: Mondaire Jones (first elected in 2020) sought nomination in a new district and lost to Dan Goldman, who won the general election.[110]
- New York 12: Carolyn Maloney (first elected in 1992) lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbent Jerry Nadler, who won the general election.[111]
- Oregon 5: Kurt Schrader (first elected in 2008) lost renomination to Jamie McLeod-Skinner, who lost the general election to Lori Chavez-DeRemer.[112]
Republicans
Eight Republicans, two of whom were freshmen, lost renomination.
- Illinois 15: Rodney Davis (first elected in 2012) lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbent Mary Miller, who won the general election.[113]
- Michigan 3: Peter Meijer (first elected in 2020) lost renomination to John Gibbs, who lost the general election to Hillary Scholten.[114]
- Mississippi 4: Steven Palazzo (first elected in 2010) lost renomination to Mike Ezell, who won the general election.[115]
- North Carolina 11: Madison Cawthorn (first elected in 2020) lost renomination to Chuck Edwards, who won the general election.[116]
- South Carolina 7: Tom Rice (first elected in 2012) lost renomination to Russell Fry, who won the general election.[117]
- Washington 3: Jaime Herrera Beutler (first elected in 2010) lost renomination to Joe Kent (R) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D) in the blanket primary, with Gluesenkamp Perez defeating Kent in the general election.[118]
- West Virginia 2: David McKinley (first elected in 2010) lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbent Alex Mooney, who won the general election.[119]
- Wyoming at-large: Liz Cheney (first elected in 2016) lost renomination to Harriet Hageman, who won the general election.[120]
In general elections
Democrats
Six Democrats lost re-election to Republicans.
- Arizona 2: Tom O'Halleran (first elected in 2016) lost to Eli Crane.[121]
- Florida 2: Al Lawson (first elected in 2016) lost a redistricting race to incumbent Republican Neal Dunn.[122]
- Iowa 3: Cindy Axne (first elected in 2018) lost to Zach Nunn.[123]
- New Jersey 7: Tom Malinowski (first elected in 2018) lost to Thomas Kean Jr.[124]
- New York 17: Sean Patrick Maloney (first elected in 2012) lost to Mike Lawler.[125]
- Virginia 2: Elaine Luria (first elected in 2018) lost to Jen Kiggans.[126]
Republicans
Three Republicans, two of whom were freshmen, lost re-election to Democrats.
- New Mexico 2: Yvette Herrell (first elected in 2020) lost to Gabe Vasquez.[127]
- Ohio 1: Steve Chabot (first elected in 1994, and then re-elected in 2010 after losing in 2008) lost to Greg Landsman.[128]
- Texas 34: Mayra Flores (first elected in 2022) lost a redistricting race to incumbent Democrat Vicente Gonzalez.[129]
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Reapportionment
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The 2020 United States census determined how many of the 435 congressional districts each state receives for the 2020 redistricting cycle. Due to population shifts, California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia each lost one seat. Conversely, Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina, and Oregon each gained one seat; and Texas gained two seats.[130]
New seatsSix new districts were created, and two districts were restored, after the 2020 redistricting process: |
Seats eliminatedThe following districts were eliminated and became obsolete:
|
Seats with multiple incumbents running
The following districts had multiple incumbent representatives running, a product of multiple districts merging in redistricting.
- Florida 2: Neal Dunn (R) defeated Al Lawson (D)[131]
- Georgia 7: Lucy McBath (D) defeated Carolyn Bourdeaux (D)[132]
- Illinois 6: Sean Casten (D) defeated Marie Newman (D)[133]
- Illinois 15: Mary Miller (R) defeated Rodney Davis (R)[134]
- Michigan 11: Haley Stevens (D) defeated Andy Levin (D)[135]
- New York 12: Jerry Nadler (D) defeated Carolyn Maloney (D)[136]
- Texas 34: Vicente Gonzalez (D) defeated Mayra Flores (R)[137]
- West Virginia 2: Alex Mooney (R) defeated David McKinley (R)[138]
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Open seats that changed parties
Republican seats won by Democrats
|
Democratic seats won by Republicans
|
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Open seats that parties held
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This section needs additional citations for verification. (November 2022) |
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Newly created seats
Of the 435 districts created in the 2020 redistricting, eighteen had no incumbent representative.
Democratic gainEight Democrats were elected in newly created seats.
|
Republican gainTen Republicans were elected in newly created seats.
|
Vulnerable seats
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This is a list of House seats where the winner of the 2020 presidential election and the incumbent in the district were from different parties. The results for the 2020 elections accounted for redistricting and was representative of the new district boundaries.[140]
Democratic
This is a list of districts that voted for Trump in 2020 but had a Democratic incumbent:
- Alaska at-large (Trump +10.1, Mary Peltola (D) won re-election)
- Arizona 2 (Trump +7.9, Tom O'Halleran (D) lost re-election)
- Iowa 3 (Trump +0.3, Cindy Axne (D) lost re-election)
- Maine 2 (Trump +6.1, Jared Golden (D) won re-election)
- Ohio 9 (Trump +2.9, Marcy Kaptur (D) won re-election)
- Pennsylvania 8 (Trump +2.9, Matt Cartwright (D) won re-election)
Republican
This is a list of districts that voted for Biden in 2020 but had a Republican incumbent:
- Arizona 1 (Biden +1.5, David Schweikert (R) won re-election)
- California 22 (Biden +12.9, David Valadao (R) won re-election)
- California 27 (Biden +12.4, Mike Garcia (R) won re-election)
- California 40 (Biden +1.9, Young Kim (R) won re-election)
- California 45 (Biden +6.2, Michelle Steel (R) won re-election)
- Nebraska 2 (Biden +6.3, Don Bacon (R) won re-election)
- New Mexico 2 (Biden +5.9, Yvette Herrell (R) lost re-election)
- Ohio 1 (Biden +8.5, Steve Chabot (R) lost re-election)
- Pennsylvania 1 (Biden +4.6, Brian Fitzpatrick (R) won re-election)
- Texas 34 (Biden +15.7, Mayra Flores (R) lost re-election)
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Closest races
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Seventy-four races were decided by 10% or lower.
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Election ratings
In February 2022, The Guardian reported that "America is poised to have a staggeringly low number of competitive seats in the US House, an alarming trend that makes it harder to govern and exacerbates political polarization." The 2020 redistricting cycle resulted in 94% of the U.S. House running in relatively safe seats, often due to gerrymandering.[141][142]
Special elections
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There were nine special elections in 2022 to the 117th United States Congress, listed here by date and district.

Exit poll
Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California
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California lost its 53rd district following the 2020 census.
Colorado
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Colorado gained its 8th district following the 2020 census.
Connecticut

Delaware

Florida
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Florida gained its 28th district following the 2020 census.
Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois
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Illinois lost its 18th district following the 2020 census.
Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan
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Michigan lost its 14th district following the 2020 census.
Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Montana regained its 2nd district following the 2020 census.
Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York
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New York lost its 27th district following the 2020 census.
North Carolina
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North Carolina gained its 14th district following the 2020 census.
North Dakota

Ohio
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Ohio lost its 16th district following the 2020 census.
Oklahoma

Oregon
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Oregon gained its 6th district following the 2020 census.
Pennsylvania
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Pennsylvania lost its 18th district following the 2020 census.
Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas
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Texas gained its 37th and 38th districts following the 2020 census.
Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

West Virginia lost its 3rd district following the 2020 census.
Wisconsin

Wyoming

Non-voting delegates
American Samoa
District of Columbia
Guam
Northern Mariana Islands
United States Virgin Islands
See also
Notes
- Also included are five non-voting delegates.
- Under California's "jungle primary" system, the general election was between two Democrats.
- Declared candidates may seek election from other district, subject to redistricting. Some districts may have no incumbents, while others may have multiple incumbents due to redistricting.
- Appeared on the ballot as an independent.
- Madden remained the Republican nominee despite the Vermont Republican Party disavowing his campaign.[185]
References
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