1972 United States House of Representatives elections

The 1972 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 7, 1972, to elect U.S. Representatives to serve in the 93rd United States Congress. This was the first election held after the 1970 United States redistricting cycle. It coincided with the landslide reelection victory of President Richard M. Nixon. Nixon's Republican Party managed to gain a net of twelve House of Representatives seats from the Democratic Party, although the Democrats retained a majority.

This was the first election in which citizens at least 18 years of age (instead of 21 and older) could vote, due to the recent passage of the 26th Amendment. This was the last time until 2022 that a Democrat would win a House seat in Alaska, and the first time since 1888 that a Republican won a House seat in Louisiana.

Special elections

Six special elections were also held throughout the year, six before November and one concurrent with the November general election.

Results

392 incumbent members sought reelection, but 13 were defeated in primaries and 13 defeated in the general election for a total of 366 incumbents winning.

Source:

Incumbents retiring

Democratic gains

: Fletcher Thompson (R) retired to run for U.S. senator, succeeded by Andrew Young (D)
: Seymour Halpern (R), retired, succeeded by Lester L. Wolff (D), who was redistricted
: Page Belcher (R), retired, succeeded by James R. Jones (D)

Democratic holds

: David Pryor (D), retired to run for U.S. senator, succeeded by Ray Thornton (D)
: Roman C. Pucinski (D), retired, succeeded by Frank Annunzio (D), who was redistricted
: William P. Curlin Jr. (D), retired, succeeded by John B. Breckinridge (D)
: Speedy Long (D), redistricted and retired, succeeded by Gillis William Long (D), who previously held the seat in the 88th Congress
: Edward Garmatz (D), redistricted and retired, succeeded by Paul Sarbanes (D)
: Thomas Abernethy (D), redistricted and retired, succeeded by David R. Bowen (D)
: William Raleigh Hull Jr. (D), retired, succeeded by Jerry Litton (D)
: Nick Galifianakis (D), retired to run for U.S. senator, succeeded by Ike Franklin Andrews (D)
: Alton Lennon (D), retired, succeeded by Charlie Rose (D)
: Arthur A. Link (D), redistricted retired to run for Governor, succeeded by Mark Andrews (R), who was redistricted
: Ed Edmondson (D), retired to run for U.S. senator, succeeded by Clem McSpadden (D)
: Ray Blanton (D), retired to run for U.S. senator, succeeded by Ed Jones (D), who was redistricted
: John Dowdy (D), retired, succeeded by Charles Wilson (D)

Republican gains

: Elizabeth B. Andrews (D), redistricted and retired, succeeded by William Louis Dickinson (R)
: Roman C. Pucinski (D), retired, succeeded by Frank Annunzio (D), who was redistricted
: Patrick T. Caffery (D), retired, succeeded by Dave Treen (R)
: William Hathaway (D), retired to run for U.S. senator, succeeded by William Cohen (R)
: Charles H. Griffin (D), redistricted and retired, succeeded by Thad Cochran (R)
: William M. Colmer (D), retired, succeeded by Trent Lott (R)
: James Abourezk (D), retired to run for U.S. senator, succeeded by James Abdnor (R)
: Watkins Moorman Abbitt (D), retired, succeeded by Robert Daniel (R)

Republican holds

: H. Allen Smith (R), retired, succeeded by Carlos Moorhead (R)
: James A. McClure (R), retired to run for U.S. senator, succeeded by Steve Symms (R)
: Cliffard D. Carlson (R), retired, succeeded by Leslie C. Arends (R), who was redistricted
: William L. Springer (R), retired, succeeded by Edward Rell Madigan (R)
: Durward Gorham Hall (R), retired, succeeded by Gene Taylor (R)
: Florence P. Dwyer (R), retired, succeeded by Matthew John Rinaldo (R)
: Alexander Pirnie (R), redistricted and retired, succeeded by Donald J. Mitchell (R)
: John H. Terry (R), redistricted and retired, succeeded by William F. Walsh (R)
: Charles R. Jonas (R), retired, succeeded by James G. Martin (R)
: William Moore McCulloch (R), retired, succeeded by Tennyson Guyer (R)
: Jackson Edward Betts (R), retired, succeeded by Walter E. Powell (R), who was redistricted
: Frank T. Bow (R), retired, succeeded by Ralph Regula (R)
: J. Irving Whalley (R), retired, succeeded by John P. Saylor (R), who was redistricted
: William L. Scott (R), retired to run for U.S. senator, succeeded by Stanford Parris (R)
: Thomas Pelly (R), retired, succeeded by Joel Pritchard (R)
: John W. Byrnes (R), retired, succeeded by Harold Vernon Froehlich (R)

Incumbents defeated

Incumbents defeated in primary

Incumbents defeated in general election

Alabama

Alabama was reapportioned from 8 to 7 seats and eliminated the old , dividing it between the old 2nd and 4th and making compensating boundary changes elsewhere.

Alaska

Incumbent Nick Begich won re-election three weeks after having disappeared in a plane crash October 16; challenger Don Young would later win a March special election after Begich was declared dead on December 29.

Arizona

Arizona was reapportioned from 3 seats to 4 and carved a new district in the Phoenix suburbs and the northeast from parts of the existing districts.

Arkansas

California

California was reapportioned from 38 to 43 seats, adding one seat in the Bay Area, one in the Central Valley, and 3 in southern California; three went to Democrats, two to Republicans. Despite a retirement and two lost renominations, both parties held their seats in this election, bringing the Democrats up from 20 seats to 23 and the Republicans up from 18 seats to 20.

Colorado

Colorado was reapportioned from 4 to 5 seats, constructing a new east and south of Denver.

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Florida was reapportioned from 12 to 15 seats, adding a seat in central and two in south Florida.

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Iowa was reapportioned from 7 seats to 6, dividing the old around Des Moines between its neighbors. Its incumbent, Neal Smith, won again in the south-central Iowa .

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Louisiana stayed at eight house seats following the 1970 census, but the Eighth District's boundaries were radically altered. New governor Edwin W. Edwards ordered the district to take in territory far to the south and east of its traditional base of Alexandria, which included many African-American and progressive white voters. The change was largely regarded as an election deal between Edwards and former Rep. Gillis Long, who finished third in the Democratic Primary in the 1971 Louisiana Governor's Election behind Edwards and J. Bennett Johnston. Long easily won back the Eighth District seat he lost in 1964 to cousin Speedy Long. Speedy Long retired when his home of LaSalle Parish was shifted to the Fifth District, where incumbent Otto Passman was entrenched.

Maine

Maryland

Maryland's redistricting eliminated a seat in Baltimore in favor of an additional seat in the DC suburbs.

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Non-voting delegates

The non-voting delegate to the House of Representatives from the District of Columbia is elected for two-year terms, as are all other Representatives and Delegates minus the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, who is elected to a four-year term.

District of Columbia

The election for the Delegate from the District of Columbia featured winner Walter E. Fauntroy (D), who won his first re-election after winning the special election in the previous year.

Walter E. Fauntroy, a Democrat, sought re-election for his second term to the United States House of Representatives. Fauntroy was opposed in this election by Republican challenger William Chin-Lee who received 25.12%, and Statehood Party candidate Charles I. Cassell who received 11.92%. This resulted in Fauntroy being elected with 60.64% of the vote.

United States Virgin Islands

Democrat Ron de Lugo was elected as the first delegate from United States Virgin Islands's at-large congressional district defeating Republican Victor Scheider.

Notes

References

Works cited