# 1982 Midterm Elections First-term [[Ronald Reagan]] administration midterm, held during the deep **Reagan Recession** of 1981-1982 (unemployment had peaked at 10.8% in November 1982). Democrats gained ~26 House seats; Republicans held the Senate. The cycle is conventionally treated as the political nadir of Reagan's first term — the moment Democrats believed they could defeat him in 1984, before the 1983-1984 economic recovery transformed the political environment. ## Result - **House:** Democrats gained ~26 seats; expanded majority (~269 of 435 Democrats vs. ~166 Republicans in the 98th Congress) - **Senate:** Republicans held majority (~54 of 100; no net change) - **Chambers flipped:** None - **Net change:** Major Democratic House gains; the deep Reagan recession's political cost ## Notable - Unemployment at 10.8% in November 1982 was the highest since 1940; the political-economic environment was historically hostile to the sitting-president-party - The 1981 Reagan tax cuts had been substantially modified by the 1982 Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act (largest peacetime tax increase to that point) — a Republican concession to deficit concerns - The 1983-1984 economic recovery — driven by Federal Reserve interest-rate reductions and broader business-cycle dynamics — transformed the political environment and produced the [[1984 Presidential Election]] ## Connections - [[Ronald Reagan]] — Sitting president.