2010 United States elections
The 2010 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 2, 2010, in the middle of Democratic President Barack Obama's first term. Republicans ended unified Democratic control of Congress and the presidency by winning a majority in the House of Representatives and gained seats in the Senate despite Democrats holding Senate control.
| ← 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 → Midterm elections | |
| Election day | November 2 |
|---|---|
| Incumbent president | Barack Obama (Democratic) |
| Next Congress | 112th |
| Senate elections | |
| Overall control | Democratic hold |
| Seats contested | 38 of 100 seats (34 seats of Class III + 5 special elections) |
| Net seat change | Republican +6 |
| 2010 Senate election results map Republican gain Democratic hold Republican hold | |
| House elections | |
| Overall control | Republican gain |
| Seats contested | All 435 voting seats |
| Popular vote margin | Republican +6.8% |
| Net seat change | Republican +63 |
| 2010 House election results map Democratic hold Republican hold Democratic gain Republican gain | |
| Gubernatorial elections | |
| Seats contested | 39 (37 states, 2 territories) |
| Net seat change | Republican +6 |
| 2010 Gubernatorial election results map Democratic gain Republican gain Democratic hold Republican hold Independent gain | |
Republicans gained seven seats in the Senate (including a special election held in January 2010) but failed to gain a majority in the chamber. In the House of Representatives, Republicans won a net gain of 63 seats, the largest shift in seats since the 1948 elections. In state elections, Republicans won a net gain of six gubernatorial seats and flipped control of twenty state legislative chambers, giving them a substantial advantage in the redistricting that occurred following the 2010 United States census. The election was widely characterized as a "Republican wave" election.
The heavy Democratic losses in 2010 were mainly attributed to the passing of the Affordable Care Act along with a poor economic recovery from the Great Recession and large budget deficits. This marked the first election since 1858 that yielded a Republican-controlled House and a Democratic-controlled Senate. This configuration was also in place for most of the 107th Congress, but on account of Senator Jim Jeffords' party switch rather than the election results.