Chamber:
	House of Representatives
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	5 November 1996
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:
	The 1996 congressional elections were held simultaneously with those for President of the Republic, 11 state governorships and thousands of state or local posts. Numerous referenda were also scheduled throughout the country the same day. Incumbent President Bill Clinton (Democratic Party) was challenged by long-time Senator Bob Dole of the Republican Party. Among the main issues discussed during the campaign and the rivals' two televised debates were the country's economy, balancing the nation's budget, tax cuts, reducing the size of the federal government, education, youth drug use, welfare, social security, Medicare and campaign finance reform. The President -who positioned himself as a centrist moderating the tendencies of the right-wing Republicans on many of these questions - pointed to the recent economic upturn marked by more job creation and asked for four more years to complete his Administration's achievements in this and other fields. On polling day, Mr. Clinton and the incumbent Vice-President, Mr. Albert Gore, Jr., scored a clear victory (49% of the popular vote) over Senator Dole and his running mate Jack Kemp, with the independent candidate Ross Perot once again trailing them. In Congress, on the other hand, the Republicans retained both their Senate and House majorities for the first time since 1930, returning three additional Senators and a total of 227 Representatives (a net loss of three compared to the 1994 mid-term elections). This overall result indicated a more conservative Congress, as the American electorate opted for a status quo and the continued cohabitation of a Democratic executive and Republican legislature that were obliged to work together and, in doing so, follow generally centrist politics.

STATISTICS

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total	Gain/Loss
Republican Party	227	-3
Democratic Party	207	+3
Independents	1	=

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	384
Women:	51

Distribution of seats according to profession:
Business/banking	181
Law	172
Public service	100
Education	74
Real Estate	23
Agriculture	22
Journalism	12
Medicine	12
Law enforcement	10
Engineering	8
Professional sports	3
Others	15

Comments:
	Some Members list more than one occupation, leading to occupation totals higher than actual membership of the House