Only Two Presidents Gained Seats in the Last Four Midterm Elections

In the last four decades of U.S. history, only two presidents saw their political parties gain seats in midterm elections: Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. All other sitting presidents faced net losses for their parties in the House, the Senate, or both.

The most recent midterm win for a party came in 2002, during the presidency of George W. Bush. Riding the momentum following the September 11 attacks, the Republican Party added eight seats in the House of Representatives and two in the Senate.

That advantage did not last. In the 2006 midterms, the political cost of the Iraq War became evident at the polls. Republicans lost 32 House seats, dropping to 199 total, and lost six Senate seats, ceding the chamber majority to the Democrats.

Before Bush, the last party to gain seats in a midterm was the Democratic Party under Bill Clinton in 1998. Following the impeachment proceedings, Democrats gained four House seats and lost no Senate seats on November 3, 1998. This result was viewed as a victory for the party, even though Republicans retained control of Congress.

Clinton’s predecessor, George H.W. Bush, and his successor, George W. Bush, illustrate the volatility of midterm voting. While George H.W. Bush’s party lost seats in 1994, the Democratic Party under Clinton suffered a major setback that same year, losing 54 House seats and nine Senate seats.

In the 2022 midterms, President Joe Biden’s party, the Democrats, lost nine House seats but gained one Senate seat. This shift gave Democrats a narrow majority in the Senate. Prior to that, in 2018, Democrats gained control of the House by winning 41 seats from Republicans, while Republicans added two Senate seats to maintain a slim majority.

Earlier midterms under Barack Obama saw substantial losses for the Democratic Party. In 2010, Democrats lost 63 House seats and six Senate seats. In 2014, they lost another 13 House seats and nine Senate seats. These results marked significant shifts in congressional power away from the president’s party.