1998 United States House of Representatives elections

1998 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1996 November 3, 1998 2000 →
All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives 218 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Newt Gingrich (resigned) Dick Gephardt Party Republican Democratic Leader since January 3, 1995 January 3, 1995 Leader's seat Georgia 6th Missouri 3rd Last election 227 seats 206 seats Seats won 223 211 Seat change 4 5 Popular vote 32,237,964 31,490,298 Percentage 48.4% 47.3% Swing 0.2% 0.9%   Third party   Party Independent Last election 2 seats Seats won 1 Seat change 1 Popular vote 372,072 Percentage 0.6%
Results:      Democratic hold      Democratic gain      Republican hold      Republican gain      Independent hold
Speaker before election Newt Gingrich Republican Elected Speaker Dennis Hastert Republican

The 1998 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 3, 1998, to elect U.S. Representatives to serve in the 106th United States Congress. They were part of the midterm elections held during President Bill Clinton's second term. They were a major disappointment for the Republicans, who were expecting to gain seats due to the embarrassment Clinton suffered during the Monica Lewinsky scandal and the "six-year itch" effect observed in most second-term midterm elections. However, the Republicans lost five seats to the Democrats, although they retained a narrow majority in the House. A wave of Republican discontent with Speaker Newt Gingrich prompted him to resign shortly after the election; he was replaced by Congressman Dennis Hastert of Illinois.

The campaign was marked by Republican attacks on the morality of President Bill Clinton, with Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr having released his report on the Lewinsky scandal and House leaders having initiated an inquiry into whether impeachable offenses had occurred. However, exit polls indicated that most voters opposed impeaching Clinton, and predictions of high Republican or low Democratic turnout due to the scandal failed to materialize.^[1] Some speculate that the losses reflected a backlash against the Republicans for attacking the popular Clinton. With the Republicans having lost four House seats and failing to gain any seats in the Senate, it was the first time since 1934 that the non-presidential party failed to gain congressional seats in a midterm election; this would happen again in 2002.