Nicholas Longworth Republican John Nance Garner[b] Democratic The 1930 United States House of Representatives elections were elections for the United States House of Representatives to elect members to serve in the 72nd United States Congress.

They occurred in the middle of President Herbert Hoover's term.

During the election cycle, the nation was entering its second year of the Great Depression, and Hoover was perceived[2][3] as doing little to solve the crisis, with his personal popularity being very low.

His Republican Party was initially applauded for instituting protectionist economic policies, which were intended to limit imports to stimulate the domestic market; however, after the passage of the heavily damaging Smoot–Hawley Tariff, a policy that was bitterly opposed by the Democratic Party, public opinion turned sharply against Republican policies, and the party bore the blame for the economic collapse.

While the Democrats gained 52 seats in the 1930 midterm elections, Republicans retained a narrow one-seat majority of 218 seats after the polls closed versus the Democrats' 216 seats; however, during the 13 months between these elections and the end of the 72nd Congress,[4] 14 members-elect died (including incumbent Speaker Nicholas Longworth), and the Democrats gained an additional three seats in the special elections called to fill these vacancies, thus gaining control of the House (they held a 219–212 advantage over the Republicans when the new Congress convened).