1932 United States elections

1932 United States elections

← 1930          1931          1932          1933          1934 → Presidential election year
Election day	November 8
Incumbent president	Herbert Hoover (Republican)
Next Congress	73rd
Presidential election
Partisan control	Democratic gain
Popular vote margin	Democratic +17.8%
Electoral vote
Franklin D. Roosevelt (D)	472
Herbert Hoover (R)	59
1932 presidential election results. Red denotes states won by Hoover, blue denotes states won by Roosevelt. Numbers indicate the electoral votes won by each candidate.
Senate elections
Overall control	Democratic gain
Seats contested	34 of 96 seats (32 Class 3 seats + 5 special elections)[1]
Net seat change	Democratic +12
1932 Senate results   Democratic gain   Democratic hold   Republican gain   Republican hold
House elections
Overall control	Democratic hold
Seats contested	All 435 voting members
Net seat change	Democratic +97
1932 House of Representatives results   Democratic gain   Democratic hold   Republican gain   Republican hold   Third party gain   Third party hold
Gubernatorial elections
Seats contested	35
Net seat change	Democratic +11
1932 gubernatorial election results   Democratic gain   Democratic hold   Republican gain   Republican hold   Farmer–Labor hold

The 1932 United States elections were held on November 8, during the Great Depression. The presidential election coincided with U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and gubernatorial elections in several states.^[2][3] The election marked the end of the Fourth Party System and the start of the Fifth Party System. The election is widely considered to be a realigning election, and the newly established Democratic New Deal coalition experienced much more success than their predecessors had in the Fourth Party System.^[4] The Democratic Party swept control of the White House and both chambers of Congress.

Democratic New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated Republican incumbent president Herbert Hoover in a landslide, with Hoover winning only six Northeastern states. Roosevelt's victory was the first by a Democratic candidate since Woodrow Wilson won re-election in 1916. Roosevelt took his party's nomination on the fourth ballot, defeating 1928 nominee Al Smith and Speaker of the House John Nance Garner.

In addition to Hoover's defeat, the Republicans also suffered crushing defeats in both congressional chambers: they lost 101 seats in the House of Representatives, with the Democrats expanding their House majority to a supermajority, and also lost twelve seats in the Senate, ^[3] with Democrats winning control of the chamber for the first time since 1918.^[5] This would be the last time that an incumbent president lost re-election and his party lost control of both chambers of Congress in a single term until 2020.^[6][7]

The election took place after the 1930 United States census and the subsequent congressional re-apportionment. The Reapportionment Act of 1929 provided a permanent method of apportioning 435 House seats; previously, Congress had had to pass apportionment legislation after each census.