Larger midterm victory: 1958 for the Democrats or 1994 for the Republicans

[OSR stands with Israel]

Its not surprising that these two midterms ended up in the finals of the largest midterm wins since WW2 but which one was the largest, was it 1958 or 1994.


This is pretty close imo as both elections had long lasting effects with 1958 basically leading to Democrats dominating congress until 1994 and the effects of 1994 are still arguably affecting us today. Numerically the Democrats clearly did better at the senate level in 1958 and the GOP clearly did better at the gubernatorial level in 1994 but Ill give 1958 the edge as while the GOP gained more house seats in 1994 than the Dems did in 1958 that was more due to the fact that the GOP had much more seats they could gain since they already didnt have the majority

[OSR stands with Israel]

Wonder what others think

[OSR stands with Israel]

I'd go with 1994.  

My dad talks about a time when "Democrats always held the House.  It was the Senate that was sometimes up for grabs".  

While I can't speak much to either election cycle from a personal standpoint, 1994 absolutely rocked the foundation of Congress.  Pigs had flown -- the Republicans had found a way to win control of the House (and ousted the sitting Speaker to boot).  

It was also a pretty significant cultural and tactical shift for the Republicans.  While partisanship was not a new thing, the right turned up the dial on "our enemy, the left"-type rhetoric.  The '94 Republican Revolution is a big part of the reason that, outside of 2008, I cannot envision an America where people vote on the issues and not their team winning. 

 

What’s even so stunning about 1994 is now some of the effects were immediately known . Many commentators even talk about how Newt wants to run the House in a parliamentary system way rather than the traditional way how it’s run .

[OSR stands with Israel]

If 1994 was 1958 and 2010 was 1974, what is 2022?  Seems like Dems keep getting hit with these waves that knock them down further and further (1994, 2010, 2014, 2022) while Republicans only had two (1958 and 1974) that hit them.  You could throw 1982 in there, but that election still didn’t push Republicans down to their 1958/1974 levels in the House and state legislatures.  In fact, Republicans actually lost less ground in the House and state legislatures in 1982 than they gained in 1980.

Keep in mind democrats made huge gains in 1964 as well while republicans since 1994 haven’t had a presidential cycle where they have made huge gains

[OSR stands with Israel]

1994, because it had a much wider impact in policy change. I think the lasting policy change impact should also be included in such question, not just the raw numbers in seat flip or electoral votes.

However, I've always wondered why 1958 was such a Democratic wave despite the president not being very unpopular. There was a mild recession that year though.

You could argue that 1958 gave Democrats the majorities needed to later pass the Great Society as well.