1902 United States House of Representatives elections

1902 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1900 June 2, September 12, September 18, and November 4, 1902[a] 1904 →
All 386 seats in the United States House of Representatives 194 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Joseph Cannon John Sharp Williams Party Republican Democratic Leader since March 4, 1903 March 4, 1903 Leader's seat Illinois 18th Mississippi 8th Last election 200 seats 151 seats Seats before 198 seats[b] 152 seats[c] Seats won 206[1][2][d] 176[1][2] Seat change 6 25 Popular vote 5,470,468 4,942,208 Percentage 49.81% 45.00% Swing 0.84% 0.55%   Third party Fourth party   Party Independent Populist Last election 0 seats 5 seats Seats before 0 seats 5 seats Seats won 4 [d][e] 0 Seat change 4 5 Popular vote 61,629 151,192 Percentage 0.56% 1.38% Swing 0.23% 0.97%
Speaker before election David Henderson Republican Elected Speaker Joseph Cannon Republican

The 1902 United States House of Representatives elections were held for the most part on November 4, 1902, with Oregon, Maine, and Vermont holding theirs early in either June or September. They occurred in the middle of President Theodore Roosevelt's first term, about a year after the assassination of President William McKinley in September 1901. Elections were held for 386 seats of the United States House of Representatives, representing 45 states, to serve in the 58th United States Congress.

Due to the increased size of the House and the reapportionment that resulted from the 1900 U.S. census, the Republican Party and the Democratic Party both gained seats simultaneously, which has not occurred in any elections since. The Democrats increased their share of the House, but not by enough to regain control.

With a stable economy and no cornerstone issue, Democratic gains can mostly be linked to the effects of redistricting. Many of the new seats were in areas with high numbers of immigrants (mostly Eastern and Southern European industrial workers, and Northern European farmers), with new immigrants tending to vote Democrat. The Populist Party disappeared from the House, with its supporters almost unanimously switching to the Democratic Party.^{[citation needed]}

This election marked the third and most recent time in American history where the incumbent president's party gained House seats in a midterm election while still losing seats in the Senate, the first two being in 1814 and 1822.

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