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The "Republican Revolution", "Revolution of '94", or "Gingrich Revolution" are political slogans that refer to theRepublican Party's (GOP) success in the1994 U.S. midterm elections,[1] which resulted ina net gain of 54 seats in theHouse of Representatives, anda pick-up of eight seats in theSenate. It was led byNewt Gingrich. This was the first time the GOP had taken control of the House in 42 years, since1952.
Rather than campaigning independently in each district, Republican candidates chose to rally behind a single national program and message fronted by Georgia congressman and House Republican whipNewt Gingrich. They alleged that PresidentBill Clinton was not the "New Democrat" he claimed to be during his 1992 campaign, but was a "tax and spend" liberal. The Republicans offered an alternative to Clinton's policies in the form of theContract with America.[2]
The gains in seats in the mid-term election resulted in the Republicans gaining control of both the House and the Senate in January 1995. Republicans had not held the majority in the House for 40 years, since the83rd Congress (elected in1952). From 1933 to 1995, Republicans had controlled both House and Senate for only four years. From 1933 into the early 1970s, most white conservatives in the South belonged to the Democratic Party, and created theSolid South bloc in Congress. Most African Americans in the South weredisenfranchised in those years, based onanti-Black laws andsubjective administration of voter registration practices.
By the mid-1990s, white conservatives from the South joined Republicans in other parts of the country, leading to the change in Congress. Large Republican gains were made in state houses as well when the GOP picked up twelve gubernatorial seats and 472 legislative seats. In so doing, it took control of 20 state legislatures from the Democrats. Prior to this, Republicans had not held the majority of governorships since 1970. In addition, this was the first time in 50 years that the GOP controlled a majority of state legislatures.
Discontent with Democratic candidates was foreshadowed by a string of elections after 1992, including Republicans winning the mayoralties ofNew York andLos Angeles in 1993. In that same year,Christine Todd Whitmanwon the New Jersey governorship.Bret Schundler became the first Republican mayor ofJersey City, New Jersey, which had been held by the Democratic Party since 1917.
RepublicanGeorge Allen won the1993 Virginia gubernatorial election, and Texas RepublicanKay Bailey Hutchison won a U.S. Senate seat from the Democrats in the1993 special election. Republicans also picked up three congressional seats from Democrats inOklahoma andKentucky in May 1994.
On November 9, 1994, the day after the election, SenatorRichard Shelby of Alabama, aconservative Democrat, changed parties, becoming a Republican; on March 3, 1995,Colorado SenatorBen Nighthorse Campbell switched to the Republican side as well, increasing the GOP Senate majority.[3]
When the104th United States Congress convened in January 1995, House Republicans voted formerMinority WhipNewt Gingrich—the chief author of theContract with America—to becomeSpeaker of the House. The new senatorial Republican majority choseBob Dole, previouslyMinority Leader, asMajority Leader. Republicans pursued an ambitious agenda, but were often forced to compromise with Democratic presidentBill Clinton, who wieldedveto power.
The 1994 election also marked the end of theconservative coalition, a bi-partisan coalition of conservative Republicans and Democrats (often referred to as "boll weevil Democrats", for their association with theSouth). This white conservative coalition had often managed to control Congressional outcomes since the end of theNew Deal era.
Numerous Republican freshmen entered Congress. Of the 230 RepublicanHouse members of the104th Congress, almost a third were new to the House.[4] In the Senate, 11 of 54 (20%) Republicans were freshmen.
| Name | State | Predecessor | Predecessor's fate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Shelby | Alabama | Himself as a Democrat | Switched parties[a] |
| Jon Kyl | Arizona | Dennis DeConcini | Retired |
| Ben Nighthorse Campbell | Colorado | Himself as a Democrat | Switched parties[b] |
| Olympia Snowe | Maine | George Mitchell | Retired |
| Spencer Abraham | Michigan | Donald Riegle | Retired |
| Mike DeWine | Ohio | Howard Metzenbaum | Retired |
| Jim Inhofe | Oklahoma | David Boren | Retired[c] |
| Rick Santorum | Pennsylvania | Harris Wofford | Defeated |
| Fred Thompson | Tennessee | Harlan Mathews | Retired[d] |
| Bill Frist | Tennessee | Jim Sasser | Defeated |
| Kay Bailey Hutchison | Texas | Bob Krueger | Defeated[e] |
| Name | State | Predecessor | Predecessor's fate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fob James | Alabama | Jim Folsom Jr. | Defeated |
| John G. Rowland | Connecticut | Lowell P. Weicker Jr.[a] | Retired |
| Phil Batt | Idaho | Cecil D. Andrus | Retired |
| Bill Graves | Kansas | Joan Finney | Retired |
| Gary Johnson | New Mexico | Bruce King | Defeated |
| George Pataki | New York | Mario Cuomo | Defeated |
| Frank Keating | Oklahoma | David Walters | Retired |
| Tom Ridge | Pennsylvania | Bob Casey Sr. | Term-limited |
| Lincoln Almond | Rhode Island | Bruce Sundlun | Defeated (in primary) |
| Don Sundquist | Tennessee | Ned McWherter | Term-limited |
| George W. Bush | Texas | Ann Richards | Defeated |
| Jim Geringer | Wyoming | Mike Sullivan | Term-limited |
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