Chamber:
	House of Representatives
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	5 November 2002
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all the seats of the House of Representatives on the normal expiry of the members' term of office.
Background and outcome of elections:
	Voters went to the polls on 5 November 2002, for midterm elections that were expected to deliver a verdict on George W Bush's presidency to date. All 435 members of the House of Representatives faced the voters, as well as one-third of the 100 members of the Senate occupying 34 seats: 20 Republicans and 14 Democrats. Ahead of the elections, the Democrats had a razor-thin majority of one in the Senate while the Republicans had a slim controlling majority in the House, with 223 seats to the Democrats' 208. The opinion polls during the electoral campaign showed a very close race. Mr Bush, who toured four key states on the final day of campaigning, issued a last-minute appeal to the voters to cast their ballots, amid fears that apathy could be the real victor. In the event, turnout was only around 35 per cent. Whereas Mr Bush focused the Republican Party's campaign on threats to national security and the need to disarm Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, to cut taxes permanently and to create a new Homeland Security Department, the Democratic Party campaigned on issues of business corruption, such as the Enron scandal (the energy giant that collapsed at the end of 2001 with billions of dollars in debt, putting thousands of employees out of work), and worries over retirement costs and health and education. The Democratic Party rallied behind Mr Bush over the war on terrorism and Iraq. Both parties bombarded potential voters with a barrage of advertisements, mass mailings and recorded messages on mobile phones. The campaign was one of the most expensive in history, with the two sides collecting $416m in direct contributions to candidates. According to the report from the Federal Election Commission, this meant a 43 per cent rise from the last mid-term elections in 1998. The Republican Party obtained control of both Houses of Congress, with an increase of five seats in the House of Representatives, for a total of 228 and a gain of two for a total of 51 seats, the exact number needed for majority in the Senate. This was only the third time in a century that the party in the White House picked up seats in the midterm elections. Following the announcement of the results, Mr. Dick Gephart, the Democratic Leader in the House of Representatives for the past eight years, announced that he would not seek the post again. Since then Ms Nancy Pelosi has been the new Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, the first time ever that a woman holds such a post.

STATISTICS

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total
Republican Party	229
Democratic Party	205
Independents	1

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	373
Women:	62
Percent of women:	14.25