| ← 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 → Midterm elections | |
| Election day | November 6 |
|---|---|
| Incumbent president | Grover Cleveland (Democratic) |
| Next Congress | 54th |
| Senate elections | |
| Overall control | Republican gain |
| Seats contested | 30 of 88 seats [1] |
| Net seat change | Republican +4 [2] |
 | |
| Results of the elections: Democratic hold Republican gain Republican hold Populist gain Legislature failed to elect | |
| House elections | |
| Overall control | Republican gain |
| Seats contested | All 356 voting seats |
| Net seat change | Republican +110 [2] |
 | |
| Map of 1894 house races Democratic gain Republican gain Democratic hold Republican hold Populist gain Populist hold Silver hold | |
| Gubernatorial elections | |
| Seats contested | 28 |
| Net seat change | Republican +7 |
 | |
| 1894 gubernatorial election results Democratic gain Democratic hold ContentsPopulist gain Silver gain | |
Elections were held on November 6, 1894, and elected the members of the 54th United States Congress. These were mid-term elections during Democratic President Grover Cleveland's second non-consecutive term. The Republican landslide of 1894 marked a realigning election In American politics as the nation moved from the Third Party System that had focused on issues of civil war and reconstruction, and entered the Fourth Party System, known as the Progressive Era, which focused on middle class reforms. [3]
The Democrats suffered a landslide defeat in the House losing over 100 seats to the Republicans [4] in the single largest swing in the history of the House. The Democrats also lost four seats in the Senate, [5] thus resulting in the President's party completely losing control of both houses of Congress, the first time this ever happened in a midterm election.
The Democratic Party losses can be traced largely to the Panic of 1893 and the ineffective party leadership of Cleveland. Republicans effectively used the issues of the tariff, bimetallism, and the Cuban War of Independence against Cleveland. The Democrats suffered huge defeats outside the South (almost ninety percent of Northeastern and Midwestern House Democrats lost re-election), and the Democratic Party underwent a major turnover in party leadership. With the defeat of many Bourbon Democrats, William Jennings Bryan took the party in a more populist direction starting with the 1896 elections. [6]
