Thread by @TheValuesVoter

During the Nixon impeachment hearings of 1974, there were 17 Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee.

10 of the 17 voted against each of the 3 articles of Impeachment House Judiciary passed against Nixon, supporting him almost to the end.

How’d that work out for them?

Of the 10 who voted against all of the articles of impeachment (until the release of the “Smoking Gun” tape, at which time his support mostly collapsed), 4 of them were defeated during the 1974 midterm elections - held about 3 months later.

None of them were ever elected again.

All but one of the 5 Republican House members who managed to win re-election in 1974 saw much closer elections than the ones they won in 1972. With the sole exception of Trent Lott, these House Judiciary GOPers who survived ‘74 had an average dip of 17% in winning margin from ‘72

One of the House Judiciary Republicans who voted against every article of Impeachment decided to retire in 1974.

Overall, 40% of these guys (4 of the 10) lost in 1974. They paid for their endless support of a President the nation soon learned was actually guilty with their jobs

4 of the 5 who won re-election after Nixon’s resignation in 1974 were from very solid red districts which had been held by the GOP for an average of 28 years.

The 4 that lost represented districts which had only been red for an average of 7 years.

And of the 4 GOP members of the House Judiciary who opposed Nixon’s impeachment until the end and then lost in 1974, one district, IN-10, has never been held by the GOP again (possibly due to redistricting, etc). The other 3 were held by Dems for an average of the next 12 years.

IN-10 had been a Republican district since 1961. David Dennis was one of the 10 Republicans who opposed each of the articles of Impeachment against Nixon. He changed his mind when the smoking gun tape came out shortly afterward. But it was too late for him. He lost by 9 points.

No Republican ever held IN-10 again. Democrats held the district for the next 28 years. The district was eliminated due in 2003 due to reapportionment after the 2000 Census.

All in all, House Republicans in 1974 lost 48 of their 192 seats - 25% of their Caucus.

Senate Republicans lost 4 seats. Democrats ended up having a supermajority of 60 seats in the Senate.

Of the House Judiciary Republicans who voted against all the impeachment articles against Nixon:

- Charles Sandman (NJ-02) lost by 16 points. He had won in 1972 by 31.4 points.
- Joseph Maraziti (NJ-13) lost by 14.6 points. He had won in 1972 by 12.8 points.

- David Dennis (IN-10) lost by 8.8 points. He won in 1972 by 14.4 points.
- Wiley Mayne (IA-06) lost by 9.2 points. He won in 1972 by 5.2 points.

- Edward Hutchinson (MI-04) won in 1974 by 7.6 points. But he had won two years before by 34.6 points.
- Delbert Latta (OH-05) won by 25 points in a district that had been red for 35 years. But he won by 45.40 points just two years earlier.

- Charles Wiggins (CA-36) won in 1974 by 14.80 points in a district that had been red for 11 years. He had won by 33 points just two years before in 1972.
- Carlos Moorhead (CA-20) won by 11.4 points. He won by 14.8 points in 1972.

Of these 10 House Judiciary Republicans who stood with Nixon until the smoking gun tapes emerged, only Trent Lott (MS-05) ran for re-election and held his seat without getting less support than in 1972. He of course went on to have a longer career in the US Senate.