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The 104th United States Congress began on January 3, 1995. There were nine new senators (all Republicans) and 86 new representatives (13 Democrats, 73 Republicans), as well as one new delegate (an independent), at the start of the first session. Additionally, three senators (one Democrat, two Republicans) and seven representatives (four Democrats, three Republicans) took office on various dates in order to fill vacancies during the 104th Congress before it ended on January 3, 1997.
| State | Image | Senator | Took office | Switched party | Prior background | Birth year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oregon |  | Ron Wyden (D) | February 5, 1996 | Yes Open seat; replaced Bob Packwood (R) | U.S. House of Representatives | 1949 |
| Kansas |  | Sheila Frahm (R) | June 11, 1996 | No Appointed; replaced Bob Dole (R) | Lieutenant Governor of Kansas Kansas Senate | 1945 |
| Kansas |  | Sam Brownback (R) | November 7, 1996 | No Replaced Sheila Frahm (R), who lost in primary | U.S. House of Representatives Kansas Secretary of Agriculture | 1956 |
| District | Delegate | Switched party | Prior background | Birth year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Virgin Islands at-large | Victor O. Frazer (I) | Yes | Lawyer | 1943 |
| District | Representative | Took office | Switched party | Prior background | Birth year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California 15 | Tom Campbell (R) | December 12, 1995 | Yes | U.S. Representative | 1952 |
| Illinois 2 | Jesse Jackson Jr. (D) | December 12, 1995 | No | Campaign manager | 1965 |
| California 37 | Juanita Millender-McDonald (D) | March 26, 1996 | No | State Assemblywoman | 1938 |
| Maryland 7 | Elijah Cummings (D) | April 16, 1996 | No | State Delegate | 1951 |
| Oregon 3 | Earl Blumenauer (D) | May 21, 1996 | No | City Commissioner | 1948 |
| Missouri 8 | Jo Ann Emerson (R) | November 5, 1996 | No | None | 1950 |
| Kansas 2 | Jim Ryun (R) | November 27, 1996 | No | Olympic athlete | 1947 |
The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and members of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as the chief spokespersons for their respective political parties holding the majority and the minority in the United States Senate. They are each elected as majority leader and minority leader by the senators of their party caucuses: the Senate Democratic Caucus and the Senate Republican Conference.
The "Republican Revolution", "Revolution of '94", or "Gingrich Revolution" are political slogans that refer to the Republican Party (GOP) success in the 1994 U.S. mid-term elections, which resulted in a net gain of 54 seats in the House of Representatives, and a pick-up of eight seats in the Senate. On November 9, 1994, the day after the election, Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama, a conservative Democrat, changed parties, becoming a Republican; on March 3, 1995, Colorado Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell switched to the Republican side as well, increasing the GOP Senate majority.
The 2004 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 2, 2004 to elect all 435 seats of the chamber. It coincided with the re-election of President George W. Bush as well as many Senate elections and gubernatorial elections. Prior to the election in the 108th Congress, Republicans held 227 seats, Democrats held 205, with two Republican vacancies and one independent. As a result of this election, the 109th Congress began composed of 232 Republicans, 201 Democrats, one independent, and one vacancy.
Southern Democrats are affiliates of the U.S. Democratic Party who reside in the Southern United States. Most of them voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by holding the longest filibuster in American Senate history while Democrats in non-Southern states supported the Civil Rights Act of 1964. After 1994 the Republicans typically won most elections in the South.
These are tables of congressional delegations from Indiana to the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate.
The 1944 United States Senate elections coincided with the re-election of Franklin D. Roosevelt to his fourth term as president. The 32 seats of Class 3 were contested in regular elections, and three special elections were held to fill vacancies.
The 2002 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 5, 2002, in the middle of President George W. Bush's first term, to elect U.S. Representatives to serve in the 108th United States Congress. This was the first congressional election using districts drawn up during the 2000 United States redistricting cycle on the basis of the 2000 Census.
The 1996 United States House of Representatives elections was an election for the United States House of Representatives on November 5, 1996, to elect members to serve in the 105th United States Congress. They coincided with the re-election of President Bill Clinton. Democrats won the popular vote by almost 60,000 votes (0.07%) and gained a net of two seats from the Republicans, but the Republicans retained an overall majority of seats in the House for the first time since 1928.
Party divisions of United States Congresses have played a central role on the organization and operations of both chambers of the United States Congress—the Senate and the House of Representatives—since its establishment as the bicameral legislature of the Federal government of the United States in 1789. Political parties had not been anticipated when the U.S. Constitution was drafted in 1787, nor did they exist at the time the first Senate elections and House elections occurred in 1788 and 1789. Organized political parties developed in the U.S. in the 1790s, but political factions—from which organized parties evolved—began to appear almost immediately after the 1st Congress convened. Those who supported the Washington administration were referred to as "pro-administration" and would eventually form the Federalist Party, while those in opposition joined the emerging Democratic-Republican Party.
Expulsion is the most serious form of disciplinary action that can be taken against a Member of Congress. The United States Constitution provides that "Each House [of Congress] may determine the Rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member." The processes for expulsion differ somewhat between the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The 1880–81 United States Senate elections were held on various dates in various states, coinciding with the presidential election of 1880. As these U.S. Senate elections were prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were chosen by state legislatures. Senators were elected over a wide range of time throughout 1880 and 1881, and a seat may have been filled months late or remained vacant due to legislative deadlock. In these elections, terms were up for the senators in Class 1.
