1982 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1980 November 2, 1982 1984 →
All 435 seats in theUnited States House of Representatives 218 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Tip O'Neill Bob Michel Party Democratic Republican Leader since January 4, 1977 January 3, 1981 Leader's seat Massachusetts 8th Illinois 18th Last election 243 seats 191 seats Seats won 269 165 Seat change 26 26 Popular vote 35,284,473 27,625,593 Percentage 55.2% 43.4% Swing 4.7pp 4.4pp   Third party   Party Conservative Last election 1[a] Seats won 1[a] Seat change Popular vote 140,404 Percentage 0.2% Swing 0.1pp
Results:      Democratic hold     Democratic gain      Republican hold     Republican gain      Conservative hold
Speaker before election Tip O'Neill Democratic ElectedSpeaker Tip O'Neill Democratic

The1982 United States House of Representatives elections was an election for theUnited States House of Representatives held on November 2, 1982, to elect members to serve in the98th United States Congress. They occurred in the middle ofPresidentRonald Reagan's first term, whose popularity was sinking due to economic conditions under the1982 recession. The President'sRepublican Party lost seats in the House, which could be viewed as a response to the President's approval at the time. Unlike most midterm election cycles, the number of seats lost—26 seats to theDemocratic Party—was a comparatively large swap. It included most of the seats that had been gained the previous election, cementing the Democratic majority.^[1] Coincidentally, the number of seats the Democrats picked up (26), was the exact amount the Republicans would have needed to win the House majority. It was the first election held after the1980 United States redistricting cycle.

In the previous election of 1980 Republicans gained many seats as the result of PresidentRonald Reagan's coattails. In 1982, 14 freshman representatives who ran for re-election lost their seats.

To date, this election marks the last time the Democrats picked up a House seat in West Virginia. It was also the last time the party holding the White House won independent voters in a congressional midterm election until2022.^[2]

393 incumbent members sought reelection, but 10 were defeated in primaries and 29 defeated in the general election for a total of 354 incumbents winning.^[3]

Parties		Seats				Popular vote
		1980	1982	+/-	Strength	Vote	%	Change
	Democratic Party	243	269	26	61.8%	35,284,473	55.2%	4.7%
	Republican Party	191	165	26	38.0%	27,625,593	43.4%	4.4%
	Libertarian Party	0	0		0.0%	462,767	0.7%
	Conservative Party	1	1		0.2%	140,404	0.2%	0.1%
	Independent	0	0		0.0%	120,476	0.2%	0.1%
	Right to Life Party	0	0		0.0%	45,819	0.1%
	Milton Street Party	0	0		0.0%	35,205	0.1%	0.1%
	Peace and Freedom Party	0	0		0.0%	34,422	0.1%
	Others	0	0		0.0%	131,685	0.2%
Total		435	435	0	100.0%	63,880,844	100.0%
Source:Election Statistics – Office of the Clerk

39 representatives retired. 31 of those seats were held by the same party; 8 seats changed parties.

18 Democrats retired. 11 of those seats were held by Democrats, 4 were won by Republicans, and 3 seats were eliminated in redistricting.

1. California 5:John L. Burton, was succeeded byBarbara Boxer (with district being renumbered as California 6).
2. Georgia 1:Ronald 'Bo' Ginn, torun for Governor of Georgia, was succeeded byLindsay Thomas.
3. Michigan 17:William M. Brodhead, was succeeded bySander Levin.
4. Missouri 5:Richard Bolling, was succeeded byAlan Wheat.
5. New York 12:Shirley Chisholm, was succeeded byMajor Owens.
6. North Carolina 2:Lawrence H. Fountain, was succeeded byTim Valentine.
7. South Carolina 5:Kenneth Lamar Holland, was succeeded byJohn Spratt.
8. Texas 5:Jim Mattox, torun for Attorney General of Texas, was succeeded byJohn Wiley Bryant.
9. Texas 16:Richard C. White, was succeeded byRonald D. Coleman.
10. West Virginia 1:Bob Mollohan, was succeeded byAlan Mollohan.
11. Wisconsin 5:Henry Reuss, was succeeded byJim Moody.

1. Connecticut 6:Toby Moffett, torun for U.S. senator, was succeeded byNancy Johnson.
2. Mississippi 2:David R. Bowen, was succeeded byWebb Franklin.
3. Nevada at-large:James David Santini, torun for U.S. senator, was succeeded byBarbara Vucanovich (with district being renumbered as Nevada 2).
4. Pennsylvania 17:Allen E. Ertel, torun for Governor of Pennsylvania, was succeeded byGeorge Gekas.

1. Indiana 2:Floyd Fithian whoran for U.S. senator.
2. Michigan 18:James J. Blanchard whoran for Governor of Michigan.
3. New York 22:Jonathan Brewster Bingham.

21 Republicans retired. 11 of those seats were held by Republicans, 4 were won by Democrats, and 6 seats were eliminated in redistricting.

1. Arizona 1:John Jacob Rhodes, was succeeded byJohn McCain.
2. California 12:Pete McCloskey, torun for U.S. senator, was succeeded byEd Zschau.
3. California 43:Clair Burgener, was succeeded byRon Packard.
4. Florida 10:Louis A. Bafalis, torun for Governor of Florida, was succeeded byTom Lewis (with district being renumbered as Florida 12).
5. Maine 1:David F. Emery, torun for U.S. senator, was succeeded byJohn R. McKernan Jr.
6. New York 31:Donald J. Mitchell, was succeeded bySherwood Boehlert (with district being renumbered as New York 25).
7. Ohio 7:Bud Brown, torun for Governor of Ohio, was succeeded byMike DeWine.
8. Pennsylvania 24:Marc L. Marks, was succeeded byTom Ridge (with district being renumbered as Pennsylvania 21).
9. Tennessee 6:Robin Beard, torun for U.S. senator, was succeeded byDon Sundquist (with district being renumbered as Tennessee 7).
10. Texas 3:James M. Collins, torun for U.S. senator, was succeeded bySteve Bartlett.
11. Virginia 1:Paul S. Trible Jr., torun for U.S. senator, was succeeded byHerbert H. Bateman.

1. California 27:Bob Dornan, torun for U.S. senator, was succeeded byMel Levine.
2. Kansas 2:James Edmund Jeffries, was succeeded byJim Slattery.
3. West Virginia 2:Cleve Benedict, torun for U.S. senator, was succeeded byHarley O. Staggers Jr.
4. Virginia 6:M. Caldwell Butler, was succeeded byJim Olin.

1. California 20:Barry Goldwater Jr., whoran for U.S. senator.
2. Illinois 13:Robert McClory.
3. New Jersey 5:Millicent Fenwick, whoran for U.S. senator.
4. New York 3:Gregory W. Carman.
5. Ohio 11:J. William Stanton.
6. Ohio 17:Jean Spencer Ashbrook.

As a result of redistricting, many incumbents were forced to compete against each other in the same district, which resulted in a larger number of incumbents being defeated in primaries.

10 representatives lost renomination: 6 lost in redistricting battles pitting incumbents against each other, and 4 lost nomination to non-incumbent challengers.

6 Democrats lost renomination: 3 in redistricting races and 3 to a non-incumbent challenger. All the seats were held by Democrats.

1. Georgia 8:Billy Lee Evans lost to challengerJ. Roy Rowland.
2. Illinois 5:John G. Fary lost to challengerBill Lipinski.
3. Indiana 11:David W. Evans lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbentAndrew Jacobs Jr.
4. Ohio 19:Ronald M. Mottl lost to challengerEd Feighan.
5. Pennsylvania 1:Joseph F. Smith lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbentThomas M. Foglietta.
6. Pennsylvania 12:Donald A. Bailey lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbentJohn Murtha.

4 Republicans lost renomination: 3 in redistricting races and 1 to a non-incumbent challenger.

These primary winners later won the general election.

1. California 33:Wayne R. Grisham lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbentDavid Dreier.
2. Illinois 4:Ed Derwinski lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbentGeorge M. O'Brien.
3. New York 27:Gary A. Lee lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbentGeorge C. Wortley.

1. Illinois 17:Tom Railsback lost to challengerKenneth G. McMillan, who later lost the general election toLane Evans.

Three incumbent Democrats lost re-election; two lost to Republican incumbents and one to a non-incumbent challenger.

1. New York 14:Leo C. Zeferetti lost a redistricting race toGuy V. Molinari.
2. New York 22:Peter A. Peyser lost a redistricting race toBenjamin A. Gilman.

1. Ohio 12:Bob Shamansky lost toJohn Kasich.

Twenty-six incumbent Republicans lost re-election; five lost to Democratic incumbents while twenty-one lost to non-incumbent challengers, ten of whom were first elected in 1980.

1. California 30:John H. Rousselot lost a redistricting race toMatthew G. Martinez.
2. Massachusetts 4:Margaret Heckler lost a redistricting race toBarney Frank.
3. Missouri 4:Wendell Bailey lost a redistricting race toIke Skelton.
4. New York 3:John LeBoutillier lost a redistricting race toRobert J. Mrazek.
5. South Dakota at-large:Clint Roberts lost a redistricting race toTom Daschle.

1. Alabama 6:Albert L. Smith Jr. lost toBen Erdreich.
2. California 1:Donald H. Clausen lost toDouglas H. Bosco.
3. Connecticut 3:Lawrence J. DeNardis lost toBruce A. Morrison.
4. Delaware at-large:Tom Evans lost toThomas R. Carper.
5. Illinois 20:Paul Findley lost toDick Durbin.
6. Indiana 8:H. Joel Deckard lost toFrank McCloskey.
7. Michigan 6:James Whitney Dunn lost toMilton Robert Carr.
8. Minnesota 1:Tom Hagedorn lost toTim Penny.
9. Minnesota 6:Arlen Erdahl lost toGerry Sikorski.
10. New Jersey 9:Harold C. Hollenbeck lost toRobert Torricelli.
11. North Carolina 6:Walter E. Johnston, III lost toCharles Robin Britt.
12. North Carolina 11:Bill Hendon lost toJames M. Clarke.
13. Ohio 9:Ed Weber lost toMarcy Kaptur.
14. Pennsylvania 3:Charles F. Dougherty lost toRobert A. Borski, Jr.
15. Pennsylvania 4:Eugene Atkinson lost toJoseph P. Kolter.
16. Pennsylvania 8:James K. Coyne, III lost toPeter H. Kostmayer.
17. Pennsylvania 11:James L. Nelligan lost toFrank Harrison.
18. South Carolina 6:John Light Napier lost toRobin Tallon.
19. Virginia 4:Robert Daniel lost toNorman Sisisky.
20. Virginia 9:William C. Wampler lost toRick Boucher.
21. West Virginia 3:Mick Staton lost toBob Wise.

Arizona received an additional seat at reapportionment and added a5th district in the southeast of the state.^[4]

The delegation increased from 43 to 45 seats. To create the two-seat net gain, five seats with no incumbent were added.

Colorado added a sixth seat in reapportionment, adding the new district near Denver.^[4]

Florida added 4 new districts, going from 15 to 19 seats, adding a new district near Miami and 3 more in central and southwestern Florida.^[4]

Illinois lost two seats at reapportionment, removing two districts with Republican incumbents, and at the same time two other Republican incumbents lost re-election in altered districts.

Indiana lost one seat at reapportionment; Republicans in the legislature deleted two Democratic districts and added a new Republican district, although this strategy was offset by the unexpected defeat of incumbent H. Joel Deckard.

All eight incumbents were re-elected by receiving more than 50% of the vote in the September 11 non-partisan blanket primaries.

Massachusetts lost one seat at reapportionment, combining the districts of Barney Frank and Margaret Heckler.^[4]

Michigan lost one seat at reapportionment.

Missouri lost one seat at reapportionment.