1930 Midterm Elections

In the midterm elections of 1930, the Democratic Party gained 49 seats from the Republican Party in the U.S. House of Representatives and gained 8 seats in the U.S. Senate. Democrats won the governorships of Ohio and Massachusetts, long-held Republican strongholds. Franklin D. Roosevelt was easily reelected Governor of New York, where as his victory in 1928 had been a close one. Following Herbert Hoover's sweeping presidential win in 1928, Republicans had controlled Congress since 1919. However, 1930 marked the first election since the 1929 stock market crash, and the Great Depression was in full swing, beginning a period of Democratic Party dominance in the United States.

Although it appeared Republicans would maintain a narrow majority following the election, a series of special elections gave Democrats a bare one-seat majority in the House and Republicans a one-seat majority in the Senate. Several progressive Republicans gave the Democrats a working majority. Congressional disputes with Hoover played a part in Roosevelt's victory in the 1932 presidential election. Hoover vetoed a federal relief bill, while Roosevelt praised the 72nd Congress. In the 1932 elections, Democrats would go on to gain nearly 100 House seats, leading to the New Deal.