1984 United States House of Representatives elections

The 1984 United States House of Representatives elections was an election for the United States House of Representatives on November 6, 1984, to elect members to serve in the 99th United States Congress. They coincided with the re-election of President Ronald Reagan in a landslide. This victory also yielded gains for Reagan's Republican Party in the House, where they picked up a net of sixteen seats from the Democratic Party. Despite Reagan's extremely large electoral victory, the Democrats nonetheless retained a commanding majority in the House and actually gained seats in the Senate. These elections were the last until 2020 when a member of a political party other than the Democrats, Republicans, or an independent had one or more seats in the chamber.

This would be the last time for eight years that the Democrats experienced a net loss of seats in the House.

Overall results

411 incumbent members sought reelection, but 3 were defeated in primaries and 16 defeated in the general election for a total of 392 incumbents winning.

Retiring incumbents

Twenty-two representatives retired. Sixteen of those seats were held by the same party, six seats changed party.

Democrats

Nine Democrats retired. Four of those seats were held by Democrats and five were won by Republicans.

Democratic held

1. : Paul Simon: to run for U.S. Senate. Was succeeded by Kenneth J. Gray.
2. : James Shannon: to run for U.S. Senate. Was succeeded by Chester G. Atkins.
3. : Geraldine Ferraro: to run for Vice President. Was succeeded by Thomas Manton.
4. : Al Gore: to run for U.S. Senate. Was succeeded by Bart Gordon.

Republican gain

1. : Ray Kogovsek. Was succeeded by Michael L. Strang.
2. : Tom Harkin: to run for U.S. Senate. Was succeeded by Jim Ross Lightfoot.
3. : Norman D'Amours: to run for U.S. Senate. Was succeeded by Bob Smith.
4. : Richard Ottinger. Was succeeded by Joe DioGuardi.
5. : Kent Hance: to run for U.S. Senate. Was succeeded by Larry Combest.

Republicans

Thirteen Republicans retired. Twelve of those seats were held by Republicans and one was won by a Democrat.

Republican held

1. : Jack Edwards. Was succeeded by Sonny Callahan.
2. : John N. Erlenborn. Was succeeded by Harris Fawell.
3. : Tom Corcoran: to run for U.S. Senate. Was succeeded by John E. Grotberg.
4. : Larry Winn. Was succeeded by Jan Meyers.
5. : Harold S. Sawyer. Was succeeded by Paul B. Henry.
6. : Barber Conable. Was succeeded by Fred J. Eckert.
7. : James G. Martin: to run for Governor of North Carolina. Was succeeded by Alex McMillan.
8. : Phil Gramm: to run for U.S. Senate. Was succeeded by Joe Barton.
9. : Ron Paul: to run for U.S. Senate. Was succeeded by Tom DeLay.
10. : David Daniel Marriott: to run for Governor of Utah. Was succeeded by David Smith Monson.
11. : J. Kenneth Robinson. Was succeeded by D. French Slaughter Jr.
12. : Joel Pritchard. Was succeeded by John Miller.

Democratic gain

1. : Ed Bethune: to run for U.S. Senate. Was succeeded by Tommy F. Robinson.

Defeated incumbents

In primary election

Democrats

Three Democrats lost renomination.

1. : Katie Hall lost to challenger Pete Visclosky.
2. : Frank Harrison lost to challenger Paul Kanjorski.
3. : Abraham Kazen lost to challenger Albert Bustamante.

In the general election

Democrats

Thirteen Democrats lost re-election.

1. : James F. McNulty Jr. lost to Jim Kolbe.
2. : Jerry M. Patterson lost to Bob Dornan.
3. : William R. Ratchford lost to John G. Rowland.
4. : Elliott H. Levitas lost to Pat Swindall.
5. : Clarence Long lost to Helen Delich Bentley.
6. : Donald J. Albosta lost to Bill Schuette.
7. : Joseph Minish lost to Dean Gallo.
8. : Ike Franklin Andrews lost to Bill Cobey.
9. : Charles Robin Britt lost to Howard Coble.
10. : James M. Clarke lost to Bill Hendon.
11. : Jack Hightower lost to Beau Boulter.
12. : Bill Patman lost to Mac Sweeney.
13. : Tom Vandergriff lost to Dick Armey.

Republicans

Three Republicans lost re-election.

1. : George V. Hansen lost to Richard H. Stallings.
2. : Dan Crane lost to Terry L. Bruce.
3. : Lyle Williams lost to Jim Traficant.

Special elections

There were three special elections to the 98th Congress in 1984, two of which were held on the same day as the general election for the next term.

Elections are sorted here by date then district.

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Livingston, Boggs, Moore, Breaux and Long were re-elected when they received more than 50% of the vote in the Sept. 29 jungle primaries. Tauzin, Breaux and Huckaby were automatically re-elected without having to appear on a ballot.

Maine

Maryland

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

|- ! | Les Aspin | | Democratic | 1970 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |

|- ! | Robert Kastenmeier | | Democratic | 1958 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |

|- ! | Steve Gunderson | | Republican | 1980 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |

|- ! | Jerry Kleczka | | Democratic | 1984 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |

|- ! | Jim Moody | | Democratic | 1982 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |

|- ! | Tom Petri | | Republican | 1979 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |

|- ! | Dave Obey | | Democratic | 1969 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |

|- ! | Toby Roth | | Republican | 1978 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |

|- ! | Jim Sensenbrenner | | Republican | 1978 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |

Wyoming

Non-voting delegates

|- ! American Samoa at-large | Fofō Iosefa Fiti Sunia | | 1980 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap | |- ! District of Columbia at-large | Walter Fauntroy | | 1970 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap | |- ! Guam at-large | Antonio Borja Won Pat | | 1972 | | Incumbent lost re-election.<br/>Republican gain. | nowrap | |- ! Puerto Rico at-large | Baltasar Corrada del Río | | New Progressive/<br/>Democratic | 1976 | | Incumbent retired to run for mayor of San Juan.<br/>New resident commissioner elected.<br/>PPD gain. | nowrap | |- ! U.S. Virgin Islands at-large | Ron de Lugo | | 1972<br/>1978 <small>(retired)</small><br/>1980 | Incumbent re-elected. | nowrap |

See also

• 1984 United States elections
• 1984 United States gubernatorial elections
• 1984 United States presidential election
• 1984 United States Senate elections
• 98th United States Congress
• 99th United States Congress

Notes

References

Works cited

• Federal Elections 84: Election Results for U.S. President, the U.S. Senate, and the U.S. House of Representatives. Washington, D.C.: Federal Election Commission. 1985. pp.&nbsp;27–118. Archived from the original on November 5, 2021.