United States Senate elections, 1994

United States Senate elections, 1994

November 8, 1994

Class 1 (33 of the 100 seats) and two mid-term vacancies from Class 2 51 seats needed for a majority   Majority party Minority party   Leader Bob Dole Tom Daschle Party Republican Democratic Leader's seat Kansas South Dakota Last election 43 seats 57 seats Seats before 44 56 Seats won 52 48 Seat change 8 8 Popular vote 28,613,349 25,234,942 Percentage 49.9% 44.0% Swing 5.5% 5.2% Seats up 13 22

Republican gain   Republican hold   Democratic hold

Majority Leader before election George Mitchell Democratic Elected Majority Leader Bob Dole Republican

The United States Senate elections, 1994 was an election held on November 8, 1994, in which the Republican Party was able to take control of the Senate from the Democrats. In a midterm election, the opposition Republicans held the traditional advantage. Congressional Republicans campaigned against the early presidency of Bill Clinton, including his unsuccessful health care plan.

The Republicans successfully defended all of its seats and captured eight seats from the Democrats, including the seats of sitting Senators Harris Wofford (PA) and Jim Sasser (TN), as well as six open seats in Arizona, Maine, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. Notably, since Sasser's defeat coincided with a Republican victory in the special election to replace Al Gore, Tennessee's Senate delegation switched from entirely Democratic to entirely Republican in a single election.

This election marked the first time Republicans controlled the Senate since January 1987, and coincided with the first change of control in the House of Representatives since January 1955 and a Republican net gain of twelve governorships. Collectively, these Republican gains are known as the Republican Revolution. Minority leader Robert J. Dole (R-Kan.) became Majority Leader, while on the Democratic side, Thomas A. Daschle (S.D.) became Minority Leader after the retirement of the previous Democratic leader, George J. Mitchell (D-Maine).

Initially, the balance was 52–48 in favor of the Republicans, but after the power change, Democrats Richard Shelby of Alabama and Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado switched parties, bringing the balance to 54–46. Democrat Ron Wyden won a 1996 special election to replace Republican Bob Packwood of Oregon, leaving the balance at 53–47 before the next election cycle.

Results summary

Change in Senate composition

Senate composition before the elections

Senate composition as a result of the elections

Complete list of races

Arizona

Three-term Democratic incumbent Dennis DeConcini retired after being a member of the Keating Five Scandal. Republican Congressman Jon Kyl defeated his Democratic opponent, fellow Congressman Sam Coppersmith by a comfortable margin.

California

Dianne Feinstein won a special election in 1992 to fill the seat of Governor Pete Wilson. She faced wealthy Republican Congressman Michael Huffington in her race for a full term. Feinstein emerged victorious by less than two points.

Maine

One of the Republicans' biggest prizes was the seat of retiring Majority Leader George Mitchell. Longtime Congresswoman Olympia Snowe gained the seat in a landslide victory over Democratic Congressman Thomas Andrews.

Massachusetts

Ted Kennedy usually coasted to re-election, but in this election he faced an unusually tough challenge from Republican businessman Mitt Romney. Though the final result was a 17-point Kennedy victory, it marked the first time since his initial election in 1962 that Kennedy received less than 60% of the vote.

Michigan

Democratic Senator Donald W. Riegle, Jr. retired after three terms. Former Michigan Republican Party Chairman Spencer Abraham defeated Democratic Congressman Milton Robert Carr in the race to succeed Riegle.

Ohio

Senator Howard Metzenbaum retired and his son-in-law Joel Hyatt received the Democratic nomination to succeed him. Hyatt would go on to be badly defeated by Lieutenant Governor Mike DeWine.

Oklahoma (Special)

The seat of Democrat David L. Boren opened up when he resigned to accept the Presidency of the University of Oklahoma. Republican Congressman Jim Inhofe defeated the Democratic nominee, Congressman Dave McCurdy.

Pennsylvania

Democrat Harris Wofford was appointed to the Senate when three-term Republican Senator H. John Heinz III died in a 1991 plane crash. He won a special election to hold that seat later that year. In his tough re-election against Republican Congressman Rick Santorum, the pro-choice Wofford lost the endorsement of pro-life Democratic Governor Robert Casey. This contributed to his loss to Santorum by two percentage points.

Tennessee (General)

One of the biggest upsets of the night was the defeat of three-term incumbent Senator Jim Sasser. Sasser had been the influential Chairman of the Budget Committee and was among the leading candidates to replace Mitchell as Democratic Floor Leader. Sasser, however, would be defeated by prominent Nashville heart surgeon Bill Frist by a margin of 14 points.

Tennessee (Special)

Less surprising was the Republican victory in the other Tennessee Senate contest. Harlan Matthews had held the seat since Al Gore's resignation to assume the Vice Presidency in 1993, but chose not to seek the Democratic nomination in the special election. The Republican nominee, actor and attorney Fred Thompson, defeated six-term Democratic Congressman Jim Cooper in an overwhelming landslide.

Virginia

Democrat Chuck Robb received over 70% of the vote when first elected in 1988, but struggled to win re-election. Furor over Robb's alleged affair with model Tai Collins provided plenty of momentum for the Republicans nominee, Iran-Contra figure Oliver North. A factor to Robb's advantage was the independent candidacy of attorney J. Marshall Coleman. North likely lost votes to Coleman especially when Virginia's other Senator, Republican John Warner, endorsed Coleman over North. Robb received 46% of the vote to North's 43% with Coleman garnering 11%.

Complete list of races

All races are for the Class 1 seat, unless otherwise indicated.

See also

• United States elections, 1994
  • United States House of Representatives elections, 1994
• 103rd United States Congress
• 104th United States Congress

External links

• Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 8, 1994, Office of the Clerk U.S. House of Representatives