1972 United States House of Representatives elections

Six special elections were also held throughout the year, six before November and one concurrent with the November general election.

Parties		Seats				Popular vote
		1970	1972	+/-	Strength	Vote	%	Change
	Democratic Party	255	242	13	55.6%	37,071,352	52.1%	1.5%
	Republican Party	180	192	12	44.2%	33,119,664	46.5%	1.6%
	American Independent Party	0	0		0.0%	233,967	0.3%	0.1%
	Conservative Party	0	0		0.0%	218,143	0.3%	0.1%
	Liberal Party	0	0		0.0%	148,951	0.2%	0.1%
	Independent Democratic	0	1	1	0.2%	137,664	0.2%
	Peace and Freedom Party	0	0		0.0%	63,894	0.1%
	Socialist Workers Party	0	0		0.0%	51,815	0.1%	0.1%
	National Democratic Party	0	0		0.0%	37,618	0.1%
	Taxpayer's Party	0	0		0.0%	28,079	<0.1%
	Action Party	0	0		0.0%	12,075	<0.1%
	Prohibition Party	0	0		0.0%	10,902	<0.1%
	Socialist Labor Party	0	0		0.0%	10,835	<0.1%
	Constitution Party	0	0		0.0%	5,860	<0.1%	0.1%
	Concerned and Capable Party	0	0		0.0%	5,188	<0.1%
	American Independent Conservative Party	0	0		0.0%	3,077	<0.1%
	Communist Party	0	0		0.0%	2,076	<0.1%
	Libertarian Party	0	0		0.0%	2,028	<0.1%
	Less Federal Taxes Party	0	0		0.0%	1,920	<0.1%
	La Raza Unida Party	0	0		0.0%	1,629	<0.1%
	Protest, Progress, Dignity Party	0	0		0.0%	1,556	<0.1%
	People's Party	0	0		0.0%	1,215	<0.1%
	Independent for Congress Party	0	0		0.0%	1,147	<0.1%
	People Over Politics Party	0	0		0.0%	847	<0.1%
	Taxation With Representation Party	0	0		0.0%	408	<0.1%
	Socialist Party	0	0		0.0%	221	<0.1%
	Others	0	0		0.0%	16,274	<0.1%	0.1%
Total		435	435		100.0%	71,188,405	100.0%

Source: "Election Statistics". Office of the Clerk.

Alabama was reapportioned from 8 to 7 seats and eliminated the old 3rd district, dividing it between the old 2nd and 4th and making compensating boundary changes elsewhere.[5]

Incumbent Nick Begich won re-election three weeks after having disappeared in a plane crash October 16; challenger Don Young would later win a March special election after Begich was declared dead on December 29.

Arizona was reapportioned from 3 seats to 4 and carved a new district in the Phoenix suburbs and the northeast from parts of the existing districts.[5]

California was reapportioned from 38 to 43 seats, adding one seat in the Bay Area, one in the Central Valley, and 3 in southern California;[5] three went to Democrats, two to Republicans. Despite a retirement and two lost renominations, both parties held their seats in this election, bringing the Democrats up from 20 seats to 23 and the Republicans up from 18 seats to 20.

Colorado was reapportioned from 4 to 5 seats, constructing a new 5th district east and south of Denver.[5]

Florida was reapportioned from 12 to 15 seats, adding a seat in central and two in south Florida.[5]

Iowa was reapportioned from 7 seats to 6, dividing the old 5th district around Des Moines between its neighbors. Its incumbent, Neal Smith, won again in the south-central Iowa 4th district.[5]

Louisiana stayed at eight house seats following the 1970 census, but the Eighth District's boundaries were radically altered. New governor Edwin W. Edwards ordered the district to take in territory far to the south and east of its traditional base of Alexandria, which included many African-American and progressive white voters. The change was largely regarded as an election deal between Edwards and former Rep. Gillis Long, who finished third in the Democratic Primary in the 1971 Louisiana Governor's Election. Long easily won back the Eighth District seat he lost in 1964.

Maryland's redistricting eliminated a seat in Baltimore in favor of an additional seat in the DC suburbs.[5]