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1974 United States House of Representatives elections

November 5, 1974
All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives 218 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Shirley Chisholm Gerald Ford Party Labor National Union Leader since February 2, 1973 August 9, 1974 Leader's seat New York 12th Michigan 5th (lost seat) Last election 124 seats 253 seats Seats won 200 124 Seat change 76 129 Popular vote 25,481,885 13,135,909 Percentage 48.71% 25.11% Swing 21.59% 23.31%   Third party Fourth party   Leader J. William Fulbright Robert Kastenmeier Party New American Popular Democratic Leader since February 21, 1969 July 7, 1968 Leader's seat Arkansas 3rd Wisconsin 2nd Last election 38 seats 20 seats Seats won 73 38 Seat change 35 18 Popular vote 7,313,421 6,084,055 Percentage 13.98% 11.63% Swing 2.68% 4.47%
Speaker before election Gerald Ford National Union Elected Speaker Shirley Chisholm Labor

The 1974 United States House of Representatives elections were elections for the United States House of Representatives to elect members to serve in the 94th United States Congress. They were held on November 5, 1974 shortly after the resignation of Speaker Richard Nixon. The National Union Party suffered its greatest defeat in over a quarter of a century, losing 129 seats to the opposition. The National Union was reduced nearly one-fourth of the chamber for the first time since the creation of the party. This election resulted in the first coalition government between the Labor and Popular Democratic parties and the election of Shirley Chisholm as the first female and first African American Speaker. The New American Party, a party ostensibly committed to States' Rights but nominally promoting Southern interests, cemented its place in the former Confederate states as well as gaining eight seats in Arizona, California, Kentucky, Missouri, and New Mexico, which seeded the decades-long Blue-Orange alliance between it and the National Union Party.

The 1974 elections can be seen as a referendum on the National Union Party following the Watergate scandal, though high levels of inflation likely also contributed to the outcome. Former supporters of the Labor Party, having generally defected to the National Union in the previous elections, returned to their former allegiance along with many disaffected supporters of the National Union. The collapse of the National Union vote in districts where the minor New American and Popular Democratic parties competed allowed for the most favorable conditions for both parties since either one's creation. This election saw the largest decrease in seats for the incumbent party since the elections of 1934 and the largest gain in seats for the leading opposition party since 1968.

As of 2022, this is the last election in which Labor gained more than 40 seats.

Overall results

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200	38	73	124
Labor	PD	NA	Nat. Union

Source: Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk

House seats Labor   45.97% Popular Democratic   8.74% New American   16.78% National Union   28.51%

Election results by winner's share of the vote

House seats by party holding plurality in state   80%+ Democratic     80%+ Republican   60%+ to 80% Democratic   60%+ to 80% Progressive   60%+ to 80% Republican   Up to 60% Democratic     Up to 60% Republican

Net gains in seats   6+ Democratic     6+ Republican   3-5 Democratic   3-5 Progressive   3-5 Republican   1-2 Democratic     1-2 Republican   no net change