2010 United States House of Representatives elections

2010 United States House of Representatives elections

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All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives[a] 218 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	40.9%[1] 13.6 pp
Majority party Minority party   Leader John Boehner[2] Nancy Pelosi[5] Party Republican Democratic Leader since January 3, 2007 January 3, 2003 Leader's seat Ohio 8th California 8th Last election 178 seats, 42.6%[3] 257 seats, 53.2% Seats before 179 256 Seats won 242 193 Seat change 63 63 Popular vote 44,829,751[4] 38,980,192 Percentage 51.7% 44.9% Swing 9.1% 8.3%
Results:      Democratic hold      Democratic gain      Republican hold      Republican gain
Speaker before election Nancy Pelosi Democratic Elected Speaker John Boehner Republican

The 2010 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 2, 2010, as part of the 2010 midterm elections during President Barack Obama's first term in office. Voters of the 50 U.S. states chose 435 U.S. Representatives to serve in the 112th United States Congress. Also, voters of the U.S. territories, commonwealths and District of Columbia chose their non-voting delegates.^[b] U.S. Senate elections and various state and local elections were held on the same date.

Republicans regained control of the U.S. House they had lost in the 2006 midterm election, picking up a net total of 63 seats and erasing the gains Democrats made in 2006 and 2008. Although the sitting president's party usually loses seats in a midterm election, the 2010 election resulted in the highest losses by a party in a House midterm election since 1938,^[6][7] as well as the largest House swing since 1948.^[8] In total, 52 House Democrats were defeated, including 34 freshman and sophomore representatives.

Republicans made their largest gain in House seats since 1938.^[9] Three Democratic committee chairmen were defeated: transportation chairman Jim Oberstar of Minnesota, armed services chairman Ike Skelton of Missouri, and budget chairman John Spratt of South Carolina. Democrats made three pick-ups, winning an open seat in Delaware and defeating Republican incumbents in Hawaii and Louisiana.

The heavy Democratic Party losses in 2010 were attributed to anger at President Obama, opposition to the Affordable Care Act and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, large budget deficits, and the weak economy.^[10][11][12]

As of 2023, this is the last election in which Democrats won a seat in Arkansas.

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