The 1962 United States House of Representatives elections was an election for the United States House of Representatives on November 6, 1962, to elect members to serve in the 88th United States Congress. They occurred in the middle of President John F. Kennedy's term. As in most midterm elections, Kennedy's Democratic Party lost seats to the opposition Republican Party, but retained a majority. House Democrats were expected to lose their majority, but the resolution over the Cuban Missile Crisis just a few weeks prior led to a rebound in approval for the Democrats under President Kennedy.
The number of seats up for election went back to 435, in accordance with reapportionment and redistricting resulting from the 1960 census. The membership had been increased temporarily to 437 in 1959, providing 1 seat each for the new states of Alaska and Hawaii, while the other 435 seats continued with the reapportionment resulting from the 1950 census.
This was the last midterm election cycle until 2022 in which a Democratic president experienced net losses for his party in the House while experiencing net gains in the Senate.
This is the earliest House election with elected members who are still alive: Alec G. Olson, D-MN, and Don Fuqua, D-FL.
Overall results
402 incumbent members sought reelection, but 12 were defeated in primaries and 22 defeated in the general election for a total of 368 incumbents winning.
{| style="width:70%; text-align:center"
|+ ↓
|-
| style="background:; width:59.54%; color:white" | 259
| style="background:; width:40.46%; color:white" | 176
|-
| Democratic
| Republican
|}
{| class=wikitable style="text-align:center"
|-
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" colspan=2 rowspan=2 | Parties
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" colspan=4 | Seats
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" colspan=3 | Popular Vote
|-
! 1960
! 1962
! Change
! Strength
! Vote
! %
! Change
|-
|
| Democratic Party
| 262
| 259
| 3
| 59.3%
| 26,860,184
| 52.4%
| 2.4%
|-
|
| Republican Party
| 175
| 176
| 1
| 40.5%
| 24,160,387
| 47.1%
| 2.3%
|-
|
| Liberal Party
| 0
| 0
|
| 0.0%
| 94,208
| 0.2%
|
|-
|
| Independent
| 0
| 0
|
| 0.0%
| 80,484
| 0.2%
| 0.2%
|-
|
| Prohibition Party
| 0
| 0
|
| 0.0%
| 17,171
| <0.1%
|
|-
|
| Conservative Party
| 0
| 0
|
| 0.0%
| 6,950
| <0.1%
|
|-
|
| Socialist Labor Party
| 0
| 0
|
| 0.0%
| 2,611
| <0.1%
|
|-
|
| Voters For Peace Party
| 0
| 0
|
| 0.0%
| 1,124
| <0.1%
|
|-
|
| Socialist Workers Party
| 0
| 0
|
| 0.0%
| 730
| <0.1%
|
|-
|
| Others
| 0
| 0
|
| 0.0%
| 19,139
| <0.1%
| 0.1%
|-
! colspan=2 width=100 | Total
! 437
! 435
! 2
! 100.0%
! 51,242,988
! 100.0%
! ——
|- bgcolor=E9E9E9
| colspan=9 | Source: Election Statistics – Office of the Clerk
|}
thumb|450px|Results shaded according to winners share of the popular vote
{|
| valign=top |
[[File:88 us house membership.png|thumb|400px|
{| width=100%
! align=center colspan=2 | House seats by party holding plurality in state
|-
| width=50% |
| width=50% |
|-
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|-
|
|
|-
| align=center colspan=2 | Stripes = 50/50 split
|}
]]
| valign=top |
[[File:88 us house changes.png|thumb|400px|
{| width=100%
! align=center colspan=2 | Change by party
|-
| width=50% |
| width=50% |
|-
|
|
|-
|
|
|-
| align=center colspan=2 |
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]]
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Special elections
Elections are listed by date and district.
{| class=wikitable
|-
! rowspan=2 | District
! colspan=3 | Incumbent
! colspan=2 | This race
|-
! Representative
! Party
! First elected
! Results
! Candidates
|-
!
| Frank N. Ikard
| | Democratic
| 1951
| | Incumbent resigned December 15, 1961.<br/>New member elected January 27, 1962.<br/>Democratic hold; winner was subsequently re-elected.
| nowrap |
|-
!
| Sam Rayburn
| | Democratic
| 1912
| | Incumbent died November 16, 1961.<br/>New member elected January 30, 1962.<br/>Democratic hold; winner was subsequently re-elected.
| nowrap |
|-
!
| Louis C. Rabaut
| | Democratic
| 1934
| | Incumbent died November 12, 1961.<br/>New member <!--elected-->elected February 13, 1962.<br/>Democratic hold; winner was subsequently re-elected.
| nowrap |
|-
!
| Lester Holtzman
| | Democratic
| 1952
| | Incumbent resigned December 31, 1961.<br/>New member elected February 20, 1962.<br/>Democratic hold; winner was subsequently re-elected to the redistricted 8th district.
| nowrap |
|-
!
| John J. Riley
| | Democratic
| 1944
| | Incumbent died January 1, 1962.<br/>New member elected to finish her husband's term April 10, 1962.<br/>Democratic hold.<br/>Winner was not a candidate for re-election in November.
| nowrap |
|}
Alabama
<!---->
Alabama lost 1 seat in redistricting and elected all seats at-large as a method of determining which seat to eliminate.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! rowspan=2 | District
! colspan=3 | Incumbent
! rowspan=2 | Results
! rowspan=2 class="unsortable" | Candidates
|- valign=bottom
! Member
! Party
! First<br/>elected
|-
! rowspan=9 |
| George M. Grant<br/>
| | Democratic
| 1938
| Incumbent re-elected.
| rowspan=9 nowrap |
|-
| George W. Andrews<br/>
| | Democratic
| 1944
| Incumbent re-elected.
|-
| Kenneth A. Roberts<br/>
| | Democratic
| 1950
| Incumbent re-elected.
|-
| Albert Rains<br/>
| | Democratic
| 1944
| Incumbent re-elected.
|-
| Armistead I. Selden Jr.<br/>
| | Democratic
| 1952
| Incumbent re-elected.
|-
| Carl Elliott<br/>
| | Democratic
| 1948
| Incumbent re-elected.
|-
| Robert E. Jones Jr.<br/>
| | Democratic
| 1947
| Incumbent re-elected.
|-
| George Huddleston Jr.<br/>
| | Democratic
| 1954
| Incumbent re-elected.
|-
| Frank W. Boykin<br/>
| | Democratic
| 1935
| | Incumbent lost renomination.<br/>Democratic loss.
|}
Alaska
<!---->
thumb|State House Results
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! rowspan=2 | District
! colspan=3 | Incumbent
! rowspan=2 | Results
! rowspan=2 class="unsortable" | Candidates
|- valign=bottom
! Member
! Party
! First<br/>elected
|-
!
| Ralph Rivers
| | Democratic
| 1958
| Incumbent re-elected.
| nowrap |
|}
Arizona
<!---->
Arizona gained one seat and formed a new third district out of the northern part of the state.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! rowspan=2 | District
! colspan=3 | Incumbent
! rowspan=2 | Results
! rowspan=2 class="unsortable" | Candidates
|- valign=bottom
! Member
! Party
! First<br/>elected
|-
!
| John Jacob Rhodes
| | Republican
| 1952
| Incumbent re-elected.
| nowrap |
|-
!
| Mo Udall
| | Democratic
| 1961
| Incumbent re-elected.
| nowrap |
|-
!
| colspan=3 | None (new district)
| | New seat.<br/>Democratic gain.
| nowrap |
|}
Arkansas
<!---->
Arkansas lost two seats and merged the 5th and 6th districts into the other districts. 5th district incumbent Dale Alford chose to run for governor rather than face Wilbur Mills in a primary, and 6th district incumbent Catherine Dorris Norrell retired after serving out the remainder of her husband's term.