# 1942 Midterm Elections Third-term [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] administration midterm, held in the first year of full American World War II mobilization. Republicans gained ~45 House seats and ~9 Senate seats; Democrats retained narrow majorities in both chambers. **Voter turnout was the lowest of any 20th-century midterm** (~33%), reflecting wartime mobilization and the deployment of millions of voting-age Americans overseas. ## Result - **House:** Republicans gained ~45 seats; Democrats held narrow majority (~222 of 435 Democrats vs. ~209 Republicans in the 78th Congress) - **Senate:** Republicans gained ~9 seats; Democrats held narrow majority (~57 of 96 Democrats vs. ~38 Republicans) - **Chambers flipped:** None — Democratic majorities held but narrowly - **Net change:** Substantial Republican gains; closest party balance in House since 1930 ## Notable - Lowest 20th-century midterm turnout — approximately 33% of eligible voters - Millions of American voters were deployed overseas in military service; absentee-balloting infrastructure was operationally inadequate to compensate - The **Conservative Coalition** that had formed after 1938 continued to operationally control substantive legislation through the war period - The 1942 result was the first major political signal that the [[New Deal]] era's structural Democratic dominance was eroding ## Connections - [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] — Sitting president; the wartime midterm.