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US Senate Midterm Elections 1850-2010
Click to see or download numbers. Click to change chart
| Comparison of US Senate Midterm Elections in the United States Data Range |
| Election Year | Dem1 | Dem +/- | Rep2 | Rep +/-  | Ind | President | Issue | ||
| 1946 | 45 | -11 | 51 | 13 | 0 | Truman (D) | "Had enough?" | ||
| 1994 | 47 | -10 | 53 | 10 | 0 | Clinton (D) | Taxes, HillaryCare | ||
| 1942 | 58 | -8 | 37 | 9 | 1 | Roosevelt (D) | World War II | ||
| 1890 | 39 | 2 | 47 | 8 | 2 | Harrison (R) | Panic of 1890 | ||
| 1938 | 69 | -7 | 23 | 7 | 4 | Roosevelt (D) | Recession of 1937 | ||
| 1918 | 47 | -7 | 49 | 7 | 0 | Wilson (D) | World War I | ||
| 1898 | 26 | -8 | 53 | 6 | 8 | McKinley (R) | Collapse of Populist Party | ||
| 2010 | 51 | -6 | 47 | 6 | 2 | Obama (D) | Crisis of 2007-2010, PPACA | ||
| 1858 | 36 | 0 | 26 | 6 | 4 | Buchanan (D) | |||
| 1894 | 39 | -5 | 43 | 5 | 6 | Cleveland (D) | Panic of 1893 | ||
| 1950 | 49 | -5 | 47 | 5 | 0 | Truman (D) | Korean War | ||
| 1862 | 9 | -1 | 36 | 5 | 5 | Lincoln (R) | Civil War | ||
| 1966 | 64 | -4 | 36 | 4 | 0 | Johnson (D) | Vietnam War, Race riots | ||
| 1906 | 31 | -2 | 61 | 4 | 0 | Roosevelt (R) | |||
| 1978 | 58 | -3 | 41 | 3 | 1 | Carter (D) | |||
| 1902 | 33 | 2 | 57 | 2 | 0 | Roosevelt (R) | |||
| 1970 | 54 | -3 | 44 | 1 | 2 | Nixon (R) | |||
| 2002 | 48 | -2 | 51 | 1 | 1 | Bush (R) | |||
| 1882 | 36 | -1 | 38 | 1 | 2 | Arthur (R) | Spoils system | ||
| 1982 | 46 | 0 | 54 | 1 | 0 | Reagan (R) | Recession | ||
| 1866 | 11 | 1 | 42 | 0 | 0 | Johnson (R) | |||
| 1954 | 48 | 1 | 47 | -1 | 1 | Eisenhower (R) | Army-McCarthy hearings | ||
| 1998 | 45 | 0 | 54 | -1 | 1 | Clinton (D) | Impeachment | ||
| 1990 | 56 | 1 | 44 | -1 | 0 | Bush (R) | Recession, taxes | ||
| 1850 | 35 | 0 | 24 | -1 | 3 | Fillmore (W) | |||
| 1962 | 67 | 2 | 33 | -2 | 0 | Kennedy(D) | |||
| 1914 | 56 | 5 | 40 | -4 | 0 | Wilson (D) | |||
| 1886 | 37 | 3 | 39 | -4 | 0 | Cleveland (D) | |||
| 1874 | 29 | 10 | 45 | -4 | 2 | Grant (R) | Panic of 1873 | ||
| 1870 | 17 | 6 | 52 | -4 | 5 | Grant (R) | Grant scandals | ||
| 1974 | 60 | 4 | 37 | -5 | 2 | Ford (R) | Watergate scandal | ||
| 2006 | 49 | 5 | 49 | -6 | 2 | Bush (R) | Iraq War, corruption | ||
| 1878 | 42 | 6 | 33 | -6 | 1 | Hayes (R) | |||
| 1854 | 40 | 2 | 15 | -7 | 5 | Pierce (D) | Kansas-Nebraska Act | ||
| 1926 | 46 | 7 | 49 | -7 | 1 | Coolidge (R) | |||
| 1930 | 47 | 8 | 48 | -8 | 1 | Hoover (R) | Great Depression | ||
| 1922 | 43 | 6 | 51 | -8 | 2 | Harding (R) | Republican split | ||
| 1986 | 55 | 8 | 45 | -8 | 0 | Reagan (R) | Iran-contra scandal | ||
| 1910 | 41 | 9 | 51 | -10 | 0 | Taft (R) | Republican split | ||
| 1934 | 69 | 10 | 25 | -11 | 2 | Roosevelt (D) | New Deal | ||
| 1958 | 64 | 15 | 34 | -13 | 0 | Eisenhower (R) | Recession of 1958 | ||
| Notes: 1. “Dem” includes anti-Federalists, Democratic-Republican Party, Jacksonians, 2. “Rep” includes Federalists, pro-Adams, Whig Party, and Republican Party | |||||||||
Midterm Elections
MIDTERM ELECTIONS often signal a mild retreat for a newly elected president and his party. Often the second midterm of a two-term president turns out to be a raspberry from the voters. But a midterm election can also signal more, much more.
Using the table on the left you can look at all the midterms, for the US House or the US Senate going all the way back to the first midterm, in 1790. Just select the year range you want and the legislative chamber you want.
You can sort the data any way you want by clicking the column headings. And you can look at Wikipedia articles on each election by clicking the year or by clicking the "issue".
— Christopher Chantrill
“We have met with families in which for weeks together, not an article of sustenance but potatoes had been used; yet for every child the hard-earned sum was provided to send them to school.”
E. G. West, Education and the State