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1958 United States House of Representatives elections

House elections for the 86th U.S. Congress

1958 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1956 November 4, 1958[a] 1960 →
All 436 seats in the United States House of Representatives 219 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Sam Rayburn Joseph Martin Party Democratic Republican Leader since September 16, 1940 January 3, 1939 Leader's seat Texas 4th Massachusetts 14th Last election 234 seats 201 seats Seats won 283 153 Seat change 49 48 Popular vote 25,604,679 19,931,409 Percentage 56.0% 43.6% Swing 4.8% 5.1%
Results:      Democratic hold      Democratic gain      Republican hold      Republican gain
Speaker before election Sam Rayburn Democratic Elected Speaker Sam Rayburn Democratic

The 1958 United States House of Representatives elections was an election for the United States House of Representatives to elect members to serve in the 86th United States Congress. They were held for the most part on November 4, 1958, in the middle of Dwight Eisenhower's second presidential term, while Maine held theirs on September 8. There were 436 seats during these elections: 435 from the reapportionment in accordance with the 1950 census, and one seat for Alaska, the new state that would officially join the union on January 3, 1959.

The economy was suffering the Recession of 1958, which Democrats blamed on Eisenhower. The President's Republican Party lost 48 seats in this midterm election, increasing the Democratic Party's majority to a commanding level that Republicans would not be able to overcome for another 36 years.^[1] Another factor which may have contributed to the Democratic gains include public consternation over the launch of Sputnik and Cold War politics.

Disappointment with the results led House Republicans to replace Minority Leader Joseph W. Martin Jr. with his deputy, Charles Halleck.

Overall results[edit]

Party		Total seats	Change	Seat percentage	Vote percentage	Popular Vote
	Democratic	283	49	64.9%	56.0%	25,604,679
	Republican	153	48	35.1%	43.6%	19,931,409
	Liberal	0		0.0%	0.2%	72,215
	Independent	0		0.0%	0.1%	30,503
	Prohibition	0		0.0%	<0.1%	8,816
	Socialist Labor	0		0.0%	<0.1%	8,097
	Conservative	0		0.0%	<0.1%	3,444
	Constitution	0		0.0%	<0.1%	2,953
	Decency and Vigilance	0		0.0%	<0.1%	2,478
	Taxation With Representation	0		0.0%	<0.1%	1,718
	Unity for Justice	0		0.0%	<0.1%	1,221
	Keep People Working	0		0.0%	<0.1%	782
	The People's Friend	0		0.0%	<0.1%	580
	Freedom Through Victory	0		0.0%	<0.1%	550
	Socialist	0		0.0%	<0.1%	538
	Independents for Economy	0		0.0%	<0.1%	409
	Light a Candle	0		0.0%	<0.1%	336
	Taxpayer's Only Friend	0		0.0%	<0.1%	277
	Social Democratic	0		0.0%	<0.1%	268
	Progress-Integrity-Economy	0		0.0%	<0.1%	103
	Others	0		0.0%	0.1%	47,618
Totals		436[b]	1	100.0%	100.0%	45,718,994

Source: Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk

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