Republican candidates defeated 34 incumbents in 1994. Only seven were in districts where Bill Clinton ran ahead of his 43% national average in 1992. Of those seven districts, four were taken back by Democrats in 1996, while Republicans held onto 25 of the other 27. Overall in 1994, Republicans took over only 10 of the 153 districts then held by Democrats where Clinton received above his national average, but nearly half -- 46 -- of the 101 seats Democrats had held in districts where Clinton ran below his national average. Three of 1992's untouchable incumbents lost, although two of the three (Jill Long in IN-4 and James Bilbray in NV-1) barely met the definition. Neal Smith's defeat in Iowa-4 was perhaps the single biggest surprise. David Price (NC-4) was the only incumbent to lose who had won by at least 25% in 1992 -- the average margin of victory in all 1992 House races had been 31%.
| Republican Wins (34) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seat | Winning % | Spending Edge? (Yes/No) |
Clinton 1992 |
Incumbent Vote Margin, 1992 |
Untouchable? (Yes/No) |
| AZ-6 | 55% | No | 37% (-6) | 12% | No |
| CA-1 | 53% | No | 46% (+3) | 3% | No |
| CA-19 | 57% | No | 38% (-5) | 1% | No |
| CA-49 | 49% | No | 43% (0) | 8% | No |
| GA-7 | 52% | No | 38% (-5) | 15% | No |
| GA-10 | 65% | Yes | 39% (-4) | 8% | No |
| ID-1 | 55% | No | 30% (-13) | 21% | No |
| IL-5 | 54% | No | 51% (+8) | 18% | No |
| IN-4 | 55% | Yes | 31% (-12) | 24% | Yes |
| IN-8 | 52% | No | 42% (-1) | 7% | No |
| IA-4 | 53% | Yes | 43% (0) | 25% | Yes |
| KS-4 | 53% | No | 33% (-10) | 10% | No |
| KY-1 | 51% | No | 48% (+5) | 21% | No |
| NE-2 | 50% | No | 32% (-11) | 2% | No |
| NV-1 | 48% | No | 43% (0) | 20% | Yes |
| NH-2 | 51% | No | 40% (-3) | 26% | No |
| NJ-8 | 50% | No | 45% (+2) | 6% | No |
| NY-1 | 53% | No | 38% (-5) | 3% | No |
| NC-3 | 53% | No | 39% (-4) | 11% | No |
| NC-4 | 50% | No | 47% (+4) | 31% | No |
| OH-1 | 56% | No | 43% (0) | 8% | No |
| OH-6 | 51% | Yes | 39% (-4) | 1% | No |
| OH-19 | 48% | No | 40% (-3) | 5% | No |
| PA-13 | 49% | No | 44% (+1) | 1% | No |
| TX-9 | 52% | No | 44% (+1) | 10% | No |
| TX-13 | 55% | No | 36% (-7) | 21% | No |
| UT-2 | 46% | Yes | 31% (-12) | 4% | No |
| VA-11 | 53% | Yes | 42% (-1) | 5% | No |
| WA-1 | 52% | No | 42% (-1) | 13% | No |
| WA-3 | 52% | No | 42% (-1) | 12% | No |
| WA-4 | 53% | Yes | 35% (-8) | 2% | No |
| WA-5 | 51% | No | 40% (-3) | 10% | No |
| WA-9 | 52% | No | 42% (-1) | 9% | No |
| WI-1 | 49% | No | 41% (-2) | 1% | No |
Produced in July 1997 by
The Center for Voting and Democracy
PO Box 60037, Washington, DC 20039