Freshmen in the House of Representatives and Senate by Political Party: 1913-2008

Freshmen in the House of Representatives and Senate by Political Party: 1913-2008

Order Code RS20723
Updated August 20, 2008
Freshmen in the House of Representatives
and Senate by Political Party: 1913-2008
Mildred Amer
Specialist in American National Government
Government and Finance Division
Summary
Sixty-five freshmen were elected in November 2006 to the 110th Congress: 55 to
the House and 10 to the Senate. Most of the freshmen were Democrats, thus enabling
the party to regain control of both houses of Congress after 12 years. The 103rd Congress
freshmen class (elected in November 1992), which was composed of 110 new
Representatives and 12 new Senators, represented the largest freshman class in more
than four decades. Two years later, in 1994, the Republicans gained control of both the
House and the Senate for the first time in some 40 years when 97 new Members (86 in
the House, 11 in the Senate) were elected to the 104th Congress. This report will be
updated after the November 2008 elections.
Analysis of Data
Table 1 shows, by party, the number of freshmen elected to the House in each
election beginning in 1912 and those elected to the Senate beginning in 1914. These
starting points were used because the size of the House was fixed at 435 before the
election of 1912 and direct election of Senators commenced after ratification of the
Seventeenth Amendment in 1912. Italicized entries in the table denote the party which
elected the majority of freshmen Members.
Table 1 demonstrates that there can be a rebound effect in which one party has a
majority of freshmen at the beginning of a Congress and the other party recovers part or
all of the loss within the next two elections.1 Another pattern is a party shift occurring
and prevailing over time. For example, in the time frame of this report, the 72nd through
1 For example, in the House in the 63rd Congress, Democratic freshmen numbered 102,
Republican 44. In the House in the 64th Congress, Republican freshmen numbered 93, Democrats
38. Thus, the total for the two Congresses was 140 new Democrats and 137 new Republicans.
This pattern appears repeatedly in both the House and the Senate. After the Republicans gained
control of the House in the 104th Congress with 73 freshmen, the Democratic freshmen totaled
65 in the following two Congresses, while the number of Republican freshmen totaled 49.

CRS-2
75th Congresses (1931-1938) established a Democratic dominance in the House that has
since been overcome by the Republicans three times, in 1947-1948 (80th Congress), 1953-
1954 (83rd Congress), and 1995-2006 (104th -109th Congresses).
The table shows instances in the House and Senate throughout the period of this
study when one party has had a majority of freshmen, but that majority was insufficient
to achieve control of a chamber. For example, see the Senate in the 107th Congress and
both houses for the 76th, 78th, 105th, and 106th Congresses.
Data Sources
The data for the House from 1913 to 1953 were drawn from the lists of freshmen in
Congressional Directories. Congressional Quarterly Inc. publications (including the
yearly Almanacs and Weekly Reports), various Congressional Directories, and other
published accounts were the sources for data on Representatives in subsequent years.
Included in the House numbers are freshmen who were elected in November to fill a
vacancy and then sworn in prior to the convening of the next Congress, as well as
Representatives elected between the November election and the opening day of the next
Congress. Representatives elected to fill vacancies during the course of a Congress were
not counted. Delegates and Resident Commissioners were also not counted.
The majority of data on Senators was obtained from The Senate, Historical Statistics,
1789-1992, by Senator Robert C. Byrd. Data for more recent years were obtained from
Congressional Directories and various published accounts of congressional elections.
Gubernatorial appointees, Senators elected in special elections not held in November, and
Senators who were appointed in an election year and then subsequently elected were not
counted.
Returning former Members with interrupted service were also counted as freshmen.
Footnoted are Congresses that included large numbers of these former Members. Those
in which the number of such returnees was small are not identified.

CRS-3
Table 1. Freshmen Members in the House of Representatives and
Senate by Political Party: 1913-2008
House
House Freshmen
Senate
Senate Freshmen
Congress and
Majority
Majority
Years
Party
Democrats
Republicans
Other
Total
Party
Democrats
Republicans
Other
Total
63rd, 1913-1914
Democratic
102
44
7
153
-
-
-
-
-
64th, 1915-1916
Democratic
38
93
4
135a
Democratic
7
3
-
10
65th, 1917-1918
Democratic
39
43
2
84
Democratic
8
10
-
18
66th, 1919-1920
Republican
38
70
1
109
Republican
6
10
-
16
67th, 1921-1922
Republican
28
97
1
126b
Republican
4
13
-
17
68th, 1923-1924
Republican
89
41
3
133c
Republican
12
5
1
18
69th, 1925-1926
Republican
21
58
1
80
Republican
3
9
-
12
70th, 1927-1928
Republican
28
29
-
57
Republican
8
5
-
13
71st, 1929-1930
Republican
24
59
-
83
Republican
1
9
-
10
72nd, 1931-1932
Democratic
62
19
-
81
Republican
14
4
-
18
73rd, 1933-1934
Democratic
134
27
4
165
Democratic
16
0
-
16
74th, 1935-1936
Democratic
75
28
6
109
Democratic
13
0
-
13
75th, 1937-1938
Democratic
75
15
4
94
Democratic
12
2
1
15
76th, 1939-1940
Democratic
33
82
1
116
Democratic
5
8
-
13
77th, 1941-1942
Democratic
46
26
1
73
Democratic
5
7
-
12
78th, 1943-1944
Democratic
41
64
1
106
Democratic
3
10
-
13
79th, 1945-1946
Democratic
62
21
-
83d
Democratic
8
6
-
14
80th, 1947-1948
Republican
35
73
-
108
Republican
4
15
-
19
81st, 1949-1950
Democratic
104
14
-
118e
Democratic
14
4
-
18
82nd, 1951-1952
Democratic
21
51
1
73
Democratic
6
7
-
13
83rd, 1953-1954
Republican
31
50
-
81
Republican
6
9
-
15

CRS-4
House
House Freshmen
Senate
Senate Freshmen
Congress and
Majority
Majority
Years
Party
Democrats
Republicans
Other
Total
Party
Democrats
Republicans
Other
Total
84th, 1955-1956
Democratic
39
17
-
56
Democratic
7
7
-
14
85th, 1957-1958
Democratic
24
22
-
46
Democratic
6
4
-
10
86th, 1959-1960
Democratic
63
19
-
82
Democratic
15
3
-
18
87th, 1961-1962
Democratic
19
44
-
63
Democratic
3
2
-
5
88th, 1963-1964
Democratic
36
31
-
67
Democratic
8
2
-
10
89th, 1965-1966
Democratic
71
20
-
91
Democratic
5
1
-
6
90th, 1967-1968
Democratic
14
59
-
73
Democratic
2
5
-
7
91st, 1969-1970
Democratic
20
19
-
39
Democratic
5
9
-
14
92nd, 1971-1972
Democratic
33
23
-
56
Democratic
5
5
1
11
93rd, 1973-1974
Democratic
27
41
1
69
Democratic
8
5
-
13
94th, 1975-1976
Democratic
75
17
-
92
Democratic
8
2
-
10
95th, 1977-1978
Democratic
47
20
-
67
Democratic
9
8
-
17
96th, 1979-1980
Democratic
41
36
-
77
Democratic
9
11
-
20
97th, 1981-1982
Democratic
22
52
-
74
Republican
2
16
-
18
98th, 1983-1984
Democratic
57
24f
-
81
Republican
2
3
-
5
99th, 1985-1986
Democratic
12
31
-
43
Republican
5
2
-
7
100th, 1987-1988
Democratic
27
23
-
50
Democratic
11
2
-
13
101st, 1989-1990
Democratic
17
16
-
33
Democratic
5
5
-
10
102nd, 1991-1992
Democratic
25
18
1
44
Democratic
1
3
-
4
103rd, 1993-1994
Democratic
63
47
-
110
Democratic
7
5
-
12
104th, 1995-1996
Republican
13
73
-
86
Republican
-
11
-
11
105th, 1997-1998
Republican
42
32
-
74
Republican
6
9
-
15
106th, 1999-2000
Republican
23
17
-
40
Republican
4
4
-
8
107th, 2001-2002
Republican
13
28
-
41
Repub/Demh
8i
2
-
10

CRS-5
House
House Freshmen
Senate
Senate Freshmen
Congress and
Majority
Majority
Years
Party
Democrats
Republicans
Other
Total
Party
Democrats
Republicans
Other
Total
108th, 2003-2004
Republican
21
33
-
54
Republican
2
8j
-
10
109th, 2005-2006
Republican
16
24
-
40
Republican
2
7
9
110th, 2007-2008
Democratic
42
13
-
55
Democratic
8
1
1
10
Grand Total
2028
1803
39
3870g
308
278
4
590
Percent of Total
52.4%
46.6%
1.0%
100%
52.2%
47.1%
0.7%
100%
Sources: For House freshmen, various Congressional Directories, 1913-1951, Congressional Quarterly, Inc., and other published accounts of congressional elections from 1953-2006.
For the House, the numbers are based on November election results and any special elections held between November and the convening of the next Congress. The numbers include
former Members as well as Representatives simultaneously elected to fill a vacancy in an existing Congress and to their own seat in a new Congress. The numbers do not include special
elections or appointments during the course of a Congress. For Senate freshmen, the source was Byrd, Senator Robert C. The Senate, Historical Statistics, 1789-1992 (Washington:
GPO, 1993), pp. 414-415. From 1993 forward, the sources were various Congressional Directories and published accounts of congressional elections. The Senate numbers do not
include gubernatorial appointments, special elections not held in November, or Senators appointed earlier in an election year and then elected in November. Italicized entries in the
table denote the party which elected the majority of freshmen Members.
a. Includes 19 former Members.
b. Includes 18 former Members.
c. Includes 26 former Members.
d. Includes 16 former Members.
e. Includes 22 former Members.
f. Includes Member-elect who died before taking the oath of office.
g. The numbers do not include Delegates or Resident Commissioners.
h. As a result of the November 2000, election, the Senate had 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans at the beginning of the 107th Congress. However, a party switch by a Republican
Senator in June 2000 shifted control of the Senate to the Democrats.
i. Does not include Democratic Senator Jean Carnahan (D-MO), who was appointed in December 2000 to fill the vacancy caused by the posthumous election of her husband, Governor
Mel Carnahan.
j. Does not include Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, who was appointed in December 2002 by her father, Frank Murkowski, to fill the vacancy caused by his election as governor
of Alaska.