The 2006 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 7, 2006, to elect members to the United States House of Representatives. It took place in the middle of President George W. Bush's second term in office. All 435 seats of the House were up for election. Those elected served in the 110th United States Congress from January 3, 2007, until January 3, 2009. The incumbent majority party, the Republicans, had won majorities in the House consecutively since 1994, and were defeated by the Democrats who won a majority in the chamber, ending 12 years of Republican control in the House.
The Republicans had won a 232-seat majority in 2004, but by the time of the 2006 election, they held 229 seats, while the Democrats held 201, plus 1 Independent (Bernie Sanders) who caucused with the Democrats. There were also four vacancies. Democrats needed to pick up 15 seats to take control of the House, which had been in Republican control since January 1995. Along with the historical "sixth-year itch" that has plagued many incumbent presidents in midterm elections, the public's perception of George W. Bush, the handling of the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan, and a series of political scandals involving mostly congressional Republicans took their toll on the party at the ballot box.
The final result was a 31-seat pickup for the Democrats, including the pickup of the Vermont at-large seat, previously held by Independent Bernie Sanders (who ran instead for U.S. Senate), who caucused with the Democrats. Democrats defeated 22 Republican incumbents and won eight open Republican-held seats. For the first time since the party's founding, Republicans won no seats previously held by Democrats and defeated no Democratic incumbents. It was the largest seat gain for the Democrats since the 1974 elections. Among the new Democrats were the first Muslim in Congress (Keith Ellison) and the first two Buddhists (Mazie Hirono and Hank Johnson). As a result of the Democratic victory, Nancy Pelosi became the first female and the first Californian House Speaker.
, this is the only House election cycle where only one party flipped any seats, the last time Republicans won a House race in Connecticut or more than one House seat in New Mexico, and the last time Democrats won more than one House seat in Kansas.
Several members of the House first elected in 2006 have gone on to receive national attention, including Gabby Giffords, Jim Jordan, and Michele Bachmann; United States senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Dean Heller, Mazie Hirono, and Chris Murphy; senator and ambassador Joe Donnelly; former speaker Kevin McCarthy; Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison; and governor and vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz.
<onlyinclude> |- !style="background-color:#E9E9E9" colspan="2" rowspan="2" | Party !style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" colspan="4" | Seats !style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" colspan="3" | Popular vote |- ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" | 2004 ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" | 2006 ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" | Net<br>change ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" | % ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" | Vote ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" | % ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" | +/â |- | style="background-color: #0000ff; width: 5px" | | style="text-align: left" | Democratic Party | style="text-align:right;" | 202 | style="text-align:right;" | 233 | style="text-align:right;" | 31 | style="text-align:right;" | 53.6% | style="text-align:right;" | 42,338,795 | style="text-align:right;" | 52.3% | style="text-align:right;" | +5.5% |- | style="background-color: #ff0000; width: 5px" | | style="text-align: left" | Republican Party | style="text-align:right;" | 232 | style="text-align:right;" | 202 | style="text-align:right;" | 30 | style="text-align:right;" | 46.4% | style="text-align:right;" | 35,857,334 | style="text-align:right;" | 44.3% | style="text-align:right;" | âÂÂ5.1% |- |- | style="background-color:;" | | style="text-align:left;" |Libertarian Party | style="text-align:right;" | â | style="text-align:right;" | â | style="text-align:right;" | â | style="text-align:right;" | â | style="text-align:right;" | 656,764 | style="text-align:right;" | 0.8% | style="text-align:right;" | âÂÂ0.1% |- |- | style="background-color:;" | | style="text-align:left;" |Independent | style="text-align:right;" | 1 | style="text-align:right;" | 0 | style="text-align:right;" | 1 | style="text-align:right;" | - | style="text-align:right;" | 417,895 | style="text-align:right;" | 0.5% | style="text-align:right;" | âÂÂ0.1% |- |- | style="background-color:;" | | style="text-align:left;" |Green Party | style="text-align:right;" | â | style="text-align:right;" | â | style="text-align:right;" | â | style="text-align:right;" | â | style="text-align:right;" | 243,391 | style="text-align:right;" | 0.3% | style="text-align:right;" | - |- |- | style="background-color:;" | | style="text-align:left;" |Constitution Party | style="text-align:right;" | â | style="text-align:right;" | â | style="text-align:right;" | â | style="text-align:right;" | â | style="text-align:right;" | 91,133 | style="text-align:right;" | 0.1% | style="text-align:right;" | âÂÂ0.1% |- |- | style="background-color:;" | | style="text-align:left;" |Independence Party | style="text-align:right;" | â | style="text-align:right;" | â | style="text-align:right;" | â | style="text-align:right;" | â | style="text-align:right;" | 85,815 | style="text-align:right;" | 0.1% | style="text-align:right;" | - |- |- | style="background-color:;" | | style="text-align:left;" |Reform Party | style="text-align:right;" | â | style="text-align:right;" | â | style="text-align:right;" | â | style="text-align:right;" | â | style="text-align:right;" | 53,862 | style="text-align:right;" | 0.1% | style="text-align:right;" | â |- |- | style="background-color:;" | | style="text-align:left;" |Other parties | style="text-align:right;" | â | style="text-align:right;" | â | style="text-align:right;" | â | style="text-align:right;" | â | style="text-align:right;" | 1,230,548 | style="text-align:right;" | 1.5% | style="text-align:right;" | âÂÂ0.1% |- | style="background-color: #f2f2f2; text-align:right; font-weight: bold" colspan="2" | Totals | style="text-align:right;background-color: #f2f2f2; font-weight: bold" | 435 | style="text-align:right;background-color: #f2f2f2; font-weight: bold" | 435 | style="text-align:right;background-color: #f2f2f2; font-weight: bold" | â | style="text-align:right;background-color: #f2f2f2; font-weight: bold" | 100.0% | style="text-align:right;background-color: #f2f2f2; font-weight: bold" | 80,975,537 | style="text-align:right;background-color: #f2f2f2; font-weight: bold" | 100.0% | style="text-align:right;background-color: #f2f2f2; font-weight: bold" | â |- !style=text-align:left colspan=10|Voter turnout: 36.8% |- |- style="background-color:#E9E9E9" | style="text-align:left;" colspan=9 |Sources: Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk </onlyinclude>
Source: CNN exit poll
27 incumbents did not seek re-election. The four vacancies were , to be filled at the same time as the general election with the winner taking office in November immediately after the votes were certified; , with a separate special election on the same day; and and , which did not have special elections to fill the vacancies before January 2007. had been held by Democrat Bob Menendez, Texas's 22nd congressional district had been held by Republican Tom DeLay, Ohio's 18th congressional district had been held by Republican Robert Ney, and Florida's 16th congressional district had been held by Republican Mark Foley. Democrats won all four races.
Nine Democrats retired, all of whom were replaced by Democrats.
Seventeen Republicans retired, twelve of whom were replaced by Republicans and five replaced by Democrats.
One independent who caucused with the Democrats retired, and was replaced by a Democrat.
Two incumbents were defeated in their party's respective primaries, which their respective parties held in the general election.
22 Republican incumbents were defeated by Democrats.
Five Republicans who retired were replaced by Democrats.
One independent who caucused with the Democrats retired, and was replaced by a Democrat.
Sixty races were decided by 10% or lower.
There were two special elections in 2006 to the 109th United States Congress, listed here by date and district.
|- ! | Duke Cunningham | | 1990 | | Incumbent resigned December 1, 2005 amid the Cunningham scandal.<br>New member elected June 6, 2006.<br>Republican hold. | nowrap |
|- ! | Bob Menendez | | 1992 | | Incumbent resigned January 16, 2006 to become U.S. Senator.<br>New member elected November 8, 2006.<br>Democratic hold. | nowrap |
|- ! | Tom DeLay | | 1984 | | Incumbent resigned June 9, 2006 following indictment.<br>New member elected November 7, 2006.<br>Republican hold. | nowrap |
Georgia's delegation was redistricted in 2005.
Texas's 22nd district was held by Tom DeLay who had resigned. The Democratic Party sued to prevent the Republican Party from replacing Tom DeLay (who was determined to be the candidate in March 2006) with another candidate. The courts agreed with the Democratic Party and the Supreme Court has refused to hear the appeal. On August 8, 2006, Tom DeLay officially withdrew his name as the Republican candidate. (The court decision did not allow the Republican Party from changing its candidate, however it did not prevent Tom DeLay from withdrawing altogether.)
Texas's 23rd district was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States, which ordered the district re-drawn. This affected the 15th, 21st, 23rd, 25th, and 28th districts, which had a blanket primary on Election Day, followed by a runoff on December 6 in District 23, where no candidate got a majority of the vote.