# 1962 Midterm Elections [[John F. Kennedy]] administration midterm, held two weeks after the conclusion of the **[[Cuban Missile Crisis]]** (October 14-28, 1962). The successful Kennedy-administration resolution of the crisis substantially shielded Democrats from typical sitting-president-party midterm losses. Republicans made modest House gains; Democrats expanded Senate majority slightly. ## Result - **House:** Republicans gained ~4 seats; Democrats held majority (~258 of 435 Democrats vs. ~176 Republicans in the 88th Congress) - **Senate:** Democrats gained ~3 seats (~68 of 100 Democrats vs. ~32 Republicans) - **Chambers flipped:** None - **Net change:** Anomalously small midterm losses for sitting Democratic president; the Cuban Missile Crisis resolution was the operational shield ## Notable - **[[Ted Kennedy]]** elected to the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts to fill the seat his brother JFK had vacated when becoming president — beginning a 47-year Senate career (1962-2009) - **George Romney** (father of [[Mitt Romney]]) elected Governor of Michigan — beginning the post-1960s moderate-Republican gubernatorial revival - **Edward Brooke** (Massachusetts) launched the campaign that would make him the first Black senator elected by popular vote in 1966 - Kennedy's December 1962 reelection-strategy considerations would be cut short by the November 22, 1963 assassination ## Connections - [[John F. Kennedy]] — Sitting president; assassinated November 1963.