1972 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1970 November 7, 1972 1974 →
All 435 seats in theUnited States House of Representatives 218 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Carl Albert Gerald Ford Party Democratic Republican Leader since January 21, 1971 January 3, 1965 Leader's seat Oklahoma 3rd Michigan 5th Last election 255 seats 180 seats Seats won 242 192 Seat change 13 12 Popular vote 36,780,100 33,064,172 Percentage 51.7% 46.4% Swing 1.9pp 1.5pp   Third party   Party Independent Last election 0 seats Seats won 1 Seat change 1 Popular vote 137,664 Percentage 0.2% Swing
Results:      Democratic hold     Democratic gain      Republican hold     Republican gain      Independent gain
Speaker before election Carl Albert Democratic ElectedSpeaker Carl Albert Democratic

The1972 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 7, 1972, to electU.S. Representatives to serve in the93rd United States Congress. This was the first election held after the1970 United States redistricting cycle. It coincided with the landslidereelection victory of PresidentRichard M. Nixon. Nixon'sRepublican Party managed to gain a net of twelveHouse of Representatives seats from theDemocratic Party, although the Democrats retained a majority.

This was the first election in which citizens at least 18 years of age (instead of 21 and older) could vote, due to the recent passage of the26th Amendment. This was the last time until2022 that a Democrat would win a House seat inAlaska,^[1] and the first time since1888 that a Republican won a House seat in Louisiana.^[2]

Six special elections were also held throughout the year, six before November and one concurrent with the November general election.

392 incumbent members sought reelection, but 13 were defeated in primaries and 13 defeated in the general election for a total of 366 incumbents winning.^[7]

Parties		Seats				Popular vote
		1970	1972	+/-	Strength	Vote	%	Change
	Democratic Party	255	242	13	55.6%	36,780,100	51.7%	1.9%
	Republican Party	180	192	12	44.2%	33,064,172	46.5%	1.6%
	American Independent Party	0	0		0.0%	233,967	0.3%	0.1%
	Conservative Party	0	0		0.0%	376,863	0.3%	0.1%
	Liberal Party	0	0		0.0%	251,807	0.2%	0.1%
	Independent	0	1	1	0.2%	137,664	0.2%
	Peace and Freedom Party	0	0		0.0%	63,894	0.1%
	Socialist Workers Party	0	0		0.0%	51,815	0.1%	0.1%
	Prohibition Party	0	0		0.0%	10,902	<0.1%
	Socialist Labor Party	0	0		0.0%	10,835	<0.1%
	Communist Party	0	0		0.0%	2,076	<0.1%
	Others	0	0		0.0%	206,386	<0.1%	0.1%
Total		435	435		100.0%	71,188,405	100.0%

Source:"Election Statistics". Office of the Clerk.

This list isincomplete; you can help byadding missing items.(December 2008)

• Georgia 5:Fletcher Thompson (R) retired torun for U.S. senator, succeeded byAndrew Young (D)
• New York 6:Seymour Halpern (R), retired, succeeded byLester L. Wolff (D), who was redistricted
• Oklahoma 1:Page Belcher (R), retired, succeeded byJames R. Jones (D)

• Arkansas 4:David Pryor (D), retired torun for U.S. senator, succeeded byRay Thornton (D)
• Illinois 11:Roman C. Pucinski (D), retired, succeeded byFrank Annunzio (D), who was redistricted
• Kentucky 6:William P. Curlin Jr. (D), retired, succeeded byJohn B. Breckinridge (D)
• Louisiana 8:Speedy Long (D), redistricted and retired, succeeded byGillis William Long (D), who previously held the seat in the88th Congress
• Maryland 3:Edward Garmatz (D), redistricted and retired, succeeded byPaul Sarbanes (D)
• Mississippi 2:Thomas Abernethy (D), redistricted and retired, succeeded byDavid R. Bowen (D)
• Missouri 6:William Raleigh Hull Jr. (D), retired, succeeded byJerry Litton (D)
• North Carolina 4:Nick Galifianakis (D), retired torun for U.S. senator, succeeded byIke Franklin Andrews (D)
• North Carolina 7:Alton Lennon (D), retired, succeeded byCharlie Rose (D)
• North Dakota 2:Arthur A. Link (D), redistricted retired torun for Governor, succeeded byMark Andrews (R), who was redistricted
• Oklahoma 2:Ed Edmondson (D), retired torun for U.S. senator, succeeded byClem McSpadden (D)
• Tennessee 7:Ray Blanton (D), retired torun for U.S. senator, succeeded byEd Jones (D), who was redistricted
• Texas 2:John Dowdy (D), retired, succeeded byCharles Wilson (D)

• Alabama 2:Elizabeth B. Andrews (D), redistricted and retired, succeeded byWilliam Louis Dickinson (R)
• Illinois 11:Roman C. Pucinski (D), retired, succeeded byFrank Annunzio (D), who was redistricted
• Louisiana 3:Patrick T. Caffery (D), retired, succeeded byDave Treen (R)
• Maine 2:William Hathaway (D), retired torun for U.S. senator, succeeded byWilliam Cohen (R)
• Mississippi 4:Charles H. Griffin (D), redistricted and retired, succeeded byThad Cochran (R)
• Mississippi 5:William M. Colmer (D), retired, succeeded byTrent Lott (R)
• South Dakota 2:James Abourezk (D), retired torun for U.S. senator, succeeded byJames Abdnor (R)
• Virginia 4:Watkins Moorman Abbitt (D), retired, succeeded byRobert Daniel (R)

• California 20:H. Allen Smith (R), retired, succeeded byCarlos Moorhead (R)
• Idaho 1:James A. McClure (R), retired torun for U.S. senator, succeeded bySteve Symms (R)
• Illinois 15:Cliffard D. Carlson (R), retired, succeeded byLeslie C. Arends (R), who was redistricted
• Illinois 21:William L. Springer (R), retired, succeeded byEdward Rell Madigan (R)
• Missouri 7:Durward Gorham Hall (R), retired, succeeded byGene Taylor (R)
• New Jersey 12:Florence P. Dwyer (R), retired, succeeded byMatthew John Rinaldo (R)
• New York 31:Alexander Pirnie (R), redistricted and retired, succeeded byDonald J. Mitchell (R)
• New York 33:John H. Terry (R), redistricted and retired, succeeded byWilliam F. Walsh (R)
• North Carolina 9:Charles R. Jonas (R), retired, succeeded byJames G. Martin (R)
• Ohio 4:William Moore McCulloch (R), retired, succeeded byTennyson Guyer (R)
• Ohio 8:Jackson Edward Betts (R), retired, succeeded byWalter E. Powell (R), who was redistricted
• Ohio 16:Frank T. Bow (R), retired, succeeded byRalph Regula (R)
• Pennsylvania 2:J. Irving Whalley (R), retired, succeeded byJohn P. Saylor (R), who was redistricted
• Virginia 8:William L. Scott (R), retired torun for U.S. senator, succeeded byStanford Parris (R)
• Washington 1:Thomas Pelly (R), retired, succeeded byJoel Pritchard (R)
• Wisconsin 8:John W. Byrnes (R), retired, succeeded byHarold Vernon Froehlich (R)

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(April 2009)

1. California 8:George P. Miller (D)
2. California 39:John G. Schmitz (R)
3. Colorado 4:Wayne Aspinall (D)
4. Georgia 1:George Elliott Hagan (D)
5. Michigan 19:Jack H. McDonald (R)
6. Nevada at-large:Walter S. Baring Jr. (D)
7. New Jersey 13:Cornelius Edward Gallagher (D)
8. New York 18:Emanuel Celler (D)
9. New York 22:James H. Scheuer (D)
10. Pennsylvania 3:James A. Byrne (D)
11. Pennsylvania 22:William Sheldrick Conover (R)
12. South Carolina 6:John L. McMillan (D)
13. West Virginia 4:James Kee (D)

1. Colorado 1:Mike McKevitt (R)
2. Connecticut 5:John S. Monagan (D)
3. Illinois 10:Abner J. Mikva (D)
4. Indiana 11:Andrew Jacobs Jr. (D)
5. Iowa 1:Fred Schwengel (R)
6. Iowa 4:John Henry Kyl (R)
7. Massachusetts 9:Louise Day Hicks (D)
8. New York 26:John G. Dow (D)
9. Tennessee 6:William Anderson (D)
10. Texas 5:Earle Cabell (D)
11. Texas 13:Graham B. Purcell Jr. (D)
12. Utah 2:Sherman P. Lloyd (R)
13. Wisconsin 7:Alvin E. O'Konski (R)

Alabama was reapportioned from 8 to 7 seats and eliminated the old3rd district, dividing it between the old 2nd and 4th and making compensating boundary changes elsewhere.^[8]

Incumbent Nick Begich won re-election three weeks after having disappeared in a plane crash October 16; challenger Don Young would later win a March special election after Begich was declared dead on December 29.

Arizona was reapportioned from 3 seats to 4 and carved a new district in the Phoenix suburbs and the northeast from parts of the existing districts.^[8]

California was reapportioned from 38 to 43 seats, adding one seat in the Bay Area, one in the Central Valley, and 3 in southern California;^[8] three went to Democrats, two to Republicans. Despite a retirement and two lost renominations, both parties held their seats in this election, bringing the Democrats up from 20 seats to 23 and the Republicans up from 18 seats to 20.

Colorado was reapportioned from 4 to 5 seats, constructing a new5th district east and south of Denver.^[8]

Florida was reapportioned from 12 to 15 seats, adding a seat in central and two in south Florida.^[8]

Iowa was reapportioned from 7 seats to 6, dividing the old5th district around Des Moines between its neighbors. Its incumbent, Neal Smith, won again in the south-central Iowa4th district.^[8]

Louisiana stayed at eight house seats following the 1970 census, but the Eighth District's boundaries were radically altered. New governorEdwin W. Edwards ordered the district to take in territory far to the south and east of its traditional base ofAlexandria, which included many African-American and progressive white voters. The change was largely regarded as an election deal between Edwards and former Rep.Gillis Long, who finished third in the Democratic Primary in the 1971 Louisiana Governor's Election behind Edwards and J. Bennett Johnston. Long easily won back the Eighth District seat he lost in 1964 to cousin Speedy Long. Speedy Long retired when his home ofLaSalle Parish was shifted to the Fifth District, where incumbent Otto Passman was entrenched.

Maryland's redistricting eliminated a seat in Baltimore in favor of an additional seat in the DC suburbs.^[8]