United States Senate elections, 1998

United States Senate elections, 1998

November 3, 1998
Class 3 (34 of the 100) seats in the United States Senate 51 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Trent Lott Tom Daschle Party Republican Democratic Leader's seat Mississippi South Dakota Last election 55 seats 45 seats Seats won 55 45 Seat change Popular vote 25,346,613 26,768,699 Percentage 46.8% 49.5% Swing 2.6% 1.6% Seats up 16 18
320px   Republican gain   Republican hold   Democratic hold   Democratic gain
Majority Leader before election Trent Lott Republican Elected Majority Leader Trent Lott Republican

The U.S. Senate election, 1998 was a roughly even contest between the Republican and Democratic parties. While the Democrats had to defend more seats up for election, Republican attacks on the morality of President Bill Clinton failed to connect with voters and anticipated Republican gains did not materialize. The Republicans picked up open seats in Ohio and Kentucky and defeated incumbent Senator Carol Mosley-Braun (D-IL), but these were cancelled out by the Democrats' gain of an open seat in Indiana and defeats of Senators Al D'Amato (R-NY) and Lauch Faircloth (R-NC). The balance of the Senate remained unchanged at 55–45 in favor of the Republicans. With Democratic gaining five seats in the House of Representatives, this marked the first time since 1934 that the out-of-Presidency party failed to gain congressional seats in a mid-term election, and the first time since 1822 that the party not in control of the White House failed to gain seats in the mid-term election of a President's second term.

Results summary

Parties		Breakdown			Total Seats			Popular Vote
		Up	Elected	Not Up	1996	1998	+/-	Vote	%
	Republican Party	16	16	39	55	55	0	25,346,613	46.838%
	Democratic Party	18	18	27	45	45	0	26,768,699	49.466%
	Libertarian Party	—	—	—	—	—	—	419,452	0.775%
	Independent	—	—	—	—	—	—	32,025	0.059%
	Constitution Party	—	—	—	—	—	—	68,377	0.126%
	Independence Party	—	—	—	—	—	—	109,027	0.201%
	Green Party	—	—	—	—	—	—	21,861	0.040%
	Reform Party	—	—	—	—	—	—	231,064	0.427%
	Socialist Workers Party	—	—	—	—	—	—	6,055	0.011%
	Conservative Party	—	—	—	—	—	—	274,220	0.507%
	Other parties	—	—	—	—	—	—	427,845	0.791%
	Scattering, Write-ins, etc.	—	—	—	—	—	—	332,622	0.615%
Total		34	34	66	100	100	-	54,115,051	100.0%

Source: Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk

Change in Senate composition

Senate composition before the elections

D1	D2	D3	D4	D5	D6	D7	D8	D9	D10
D20	D19	D18	D17	D16	D15	D14	D13	D12	D11
D21	D22	D23	D24	D25	D26	D27	D28	D29	D30
D40	D39	D38	D37	D36	D35	D34	D33	D32	D31
D41	D42	D43	D44	R56	R55	R54	R53	R52	R51
Majority→
R41	R42	R43	R44	R45	R46	R47	R48	R49	R50
R40	R39	R38	R37	R36	R35	R34	R33	R32	R31
R21	R22	R23	R24	R25	R26	R27	R28	R29	R30
R20	R19	R18	R17	R16	R15	R14	R13	R12	R11
R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10

Senate composition as a result of the elections

D1	D2	D3	D4	D5	D6	D7	D8	D9	D10
D20	D19	D18	D17	D16	D15	D14	D13	D12	D11
D21	D22	D23	D24	D25	D26	D27 √	D28 √	D29 √	D30 √
D40 √	D39 √	D38 √	D37 √	D36 √	D35 √	D34 √	D33 √	D32 √	D31 √
D41 O	D42 +	D43 +	D44 +	R56 +	R55 +	R54 +	R53 O	R52 √	R51 √
Majority→
R41 √	R42 √	R43 √	R44 √	R45 √	R46 √	R47 √	R48 √	R49 √	R50 √
R40 √	R39 √	R38 √	R37 √	R36 √	R35 √	R34	R33	R32	R31
R21	R22	R23	R24	R25	R26	R27	R28	R29	R30
R20	R19	R18	R17	R16	R15	R14	R13	R12	R11
R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10

Key:	D# Democratic R# Republican		√ Incumbent re-elected or appointee elected to finish term O Party hold: New senator elected from same party + Party gain: New senator elected from different party

Gains, losses, holds, and re-elections

Democratic gains

• Indiana: Former Governor Evan Bayh (D) overwhelmingly defeated Fort Wayne mayor Paul Helmke (R) for the seat of retiring Senator Dan Coats (R), which Bayh's father Birch Bayh (D) once held.
• New York: Three-term Senator Al D'Amato (R) was defeated in "one of 1998's most high-profile and nastiest races" [1] by eight-term Representative Chuck Schumer (D) of the Brooklyn and Queens-based 9th congressional district.
• North Carolina: Trial lawyer John Edwards (D) defeated incumbent Lauch Faircloth (R) in a close race, making Faircloth the fourth incumbent in a row to lose this seat after one term.

Republican gains

• Illinois: Incumbent Carol Moseley Braun (D), the first African American woman elected to the Senate, was narrowly defeated by conservative state Senator Peter Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald, though better-funded, maintained a low personal profile while the outspoken Moseley Braun was beset by a series of controversies.
• Kentucky: Representative Jim Bunning (R) of the 4th district narrowly defeated Representative Scotty Baesler (D) of the 6th district for the seat left open by retiring Senator Wendell H. Ford (D-KY). Bunning, a former Major League Baseball pitcher and member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, outspent Baesler heavily in increasingly Republican Kentucky.
• Ohio: Governor George Voinovich (R) defeated former Cuyahoga County Commissioner Mary Boyle (D) for the seat of retiring Senator John Glenn (D). Voinovich, with an overwhelming advantage in name recognition and funding, maintained a clear lead in the polls in a campaign which turned mostly on his record as governor.

Democratic holds

• Arkansas: Former Representative Blanche Lincoln defeated state Senator Fay Boozman by a comfortable margin to keep the seat of retiring Senator Dale Bumpers in Democratic hands. The race was seen as crucial to the Democratic Party's fortunes in Arkansas; in the 1996 elections, Republican Tim Hutchinson was elected to the Senate and Republican Mike Huckabee ascended to the governorship after Democratic Governor Jim Guy Tucker resigned due to Whitewater-related scandals.

• California: Incumbent U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer defeated California State Treasurer Matt Fong after a contentious race. Boxer, a staunch liberal who suffered from low approval ratings, was the most highly targeted Democratic incumbent senator in 1998. Republicans hoped that Fong would appeal to moderates, independents, and his fellow Asian-Americans. Fong pulled ahead of Boxer by early October, but a blitz of negative advertising by Boxer in the final weeks of the campaign that attacked Fong on the issues of abortion and gun control helped boost the incumbent to a 53-43% win.

• Nevada: Democrat Harry Reid defeated three-term Republican Representative John Ensign of the 1st district by just 428 votes to win a third term. Reid was made vulnerable by a Republican trend in Nevada's demographics and the unpopularity of President Bill Clinton in the state. Reid went on to serve as Senate Majority Leader, while Ensign was elected to the Senate in 2000.

• South Carolina: Veteran Democratic Senator Fritz Hollings held back a strong challenge from Republican Congressman Bob Inglis. Inglis later won back his old House seat after his Republican successor Jim DeMint was elected to the Senate after Hollings' retirement in 2004.

• Washington: Incumbent Senator Patty Murray defeated conservative Republican Congresswoman Linda Smith.

• Wisconsin: Incumbent Senator Russ Feingold narrowly defeated Republican U.S. Representative Mark Neumann. Feingold, a leading proponent of campaign finance reform, angered national Democrats by placing self-imposed limits on his campaign spending, but nevertheless spent about $400,000 more on the race than Neumann.

Republican holds

• Colorado: Incumbent Republican Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell defeated Dottie Lamm, a columnist for the Denver Post and the wife of former Governor Dick Lamm, by a wide margin. It was Campbell's first race as a Republican, as he had been elected to the Senate in 1992 as a Democrat, but switched parties in 1995 after the 1994 Republican takeover of both houses of Congress.
• Georgia: Incumbent Republican Senator Paul Coverdell defeated Michael Coles, the millionaire founder of the Great American Cookie, in a close race.
• Missouri: Incumbent Republican Senator Kit Bond defeated Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon, who would be elected Governor ten years later.

Senate contests in 1998

State	Incumbent Senator	Incumbent Party	Result	Candidates
Alabama	Richard Shelby	Republican	Re-elected	Richard Shelby (Republican) 63.2% Clayton Suddith (Democratic) 36.7%
Alaska	Frank Murkowski	Republican	Re-elected	Frank Murkowski (Republican) 74.5% Joe Sonneman (Democratic) 19.7% Jeffrey Gottlieb (Green) 3.2% Scott Kohlhaas (Libertarian) 2.3%
Arizona	John McCain	Republican	Re-elected	John McCain (Republican) 68.7% Ed Ranger (Democratic) 27.2% John C. Zajac (Libertarian) 2.3% Bob Park (Reform) 1.8%
Arkansas	Dale L. Bumpers	Democratic	Retired Democratic hold	Blanche Lincoln (Democratic) 55.1% Fay Boozman (Republican) 42.2% Charley E. Heffley (Reform) 2.7%
California	Barbara Boxer	Democratic	Re-elected	Barbara Boxer (Democratic) 53% Matt Fong (Republican) 43% Ted Brown (Libertarian) 1.1% Timothy R. Erich (Reform) 1% H. Joseph Perrin, Sr. (American Independent) 0.7% Ophie C. Beltran (Peace & Freedom) 0.6% Brian M. Rees (Natural Law) 0.6%
Colorado	Ben Nighthorse Campbell	Republican	Re-elected	Ben Nighthorse Campbell (Republican) 62.5% Dottie Lamm (Democratic) 35% David S. Segal (Libertarian) 1% Kevin Swanson (American Constitution) 0.7% Jeff Peckman (Natural Law) 0.3% John Heckman (Concerns of People) 0.2% Gary Swing (Pacifist) 0.1%
Connecticut	Chris Dodd	Democratic	Re-elected	Chris Dodd (Democratic) 65.1% Gary Franks (Republican) 32.4% William Kozak (Concerned Citizens) 1.3% Lois A. Grasso (Term Limits) 0.7% Wildey Moore (Libertarian) 0.5%
Florida	Bob Graham	Democratic	Re-elected	Bob Graham (Democratic) 62.5% Charlie Crist (Republican) 37.5%
Georgia	Paul Coverdell	Republican	Re-elected	Paul Coverdell (Republican) 52.3% Michael Coles (Democratic) 45.3% Bertil Armin Loftman (Libertarian) 2.5%
Hawaii	Daniel Inouye	Democratic	Re-elected	Daniel Inouye (Democratic) 79.2% Crystal Young (Republican) 17.8% Lloyd Mallan (Libertarian) 3%
Idaho	Dirk Kempthorne	Republican	Retired Republican hold	Mike Crapo (Republican) 69.5% Bill Mauk (Democratic) 28.4% George J. Mansfeld (Natural Law) 2%
Illinois	Carol Moseley-Braun	Democratic	Lost re-election Republican gain	Peter Fitzgerald (Republican) 50.3% Carol Moseley-Braun (Democratic) 47.4% Don A. Torgersen (Reform) 2.2% Raymond W. Stalker (U.S. Taxpayers) 0.01%
Indiana	Dan Coats	Republican	Retired Democratic gain	Evan Bayh (Democratic) 63.7% Paul Helmke (Republican) 34.8% Rebecca Sink-Burris (Libertarian) 1.5%
Iowa	Chuck Grassley	Republican	Re-elected	Chuck Grassley (Republican) 68.4% David Osterberg (Democratic) 30.5% Susan Marcus (Natural Law) 0.8% Margaret Trowe (Socialist Workers) 0.3%
Kansas	Sam Brownback	Republican	Re-elected	Sam Brownback (Republican) 65.3% Paul Feleciano Jr. (Democratic) 31.6% Tom Oyler (Libertarian) 1.6% Alvin Bauman (Reform) 1.5%
Kentucky	Wendell Ford	Democratic	Retired Republican gain	Jim Bunning (Republican) 49.7% Scotty Baesler (Democratic) 49.2% Charles R. Arbegust (Reform) 1.1%
Louisiana	John Breaux	Democratic	Re-elected	John Breaux (Democratic) 64% Jim Donelon (Republican) 32%
Maryland	Barbara Mikulski	Democratic	Re-elected	Barbara Mikulski (Democratic) 70.5% Ross Pierpont (Republican) 29.5%
Missouri	Kit Bond	Republican	Re-elected	Kit Bond (Republican) 52.7% Jay Nixon (Democratic) 43.8% Tamara Millay (Libertarian) 2.0% Curtis Frazier (U.S. Taxpayers) 1.0% James F. Newport (Reform) 0.5%
Nevada	Harry Reid	Democratic	Re-elected	Harry Reid (Democratic) 47.9% John Ensign (Republican) 47.8% Michael Cloud (Libertarian) 1.9% None of These Candidates 1.8% Michael E. Williams (Natural Law) 0.6%
New Hampshire	Judd Gregg	Republican	Re-elected	Judd Gregg (Republican) 67.8% George Condodemetraky (Democratic) 28.2% Brian Christeson (Libertarian) 2.4% Roy Kendel (Independent) 1.5%
New York	Al D'Amato	Republican	Lost re-election Democratic gain	Chuck Schumer (Democratic) 54.6% Al D'Amato (Republican) 44.1% Corinne E. Kurtz (Marijuana Reform) 0.7% Joel Kovel (Green) 0.3% William P. Mc Millen (Libertarian) 0.2% Rose Ana Berbeo (Socialist Workers) 0.1%
North Carolina	Lauch Faircloth	Republican	Lost re-election Democratic gain	John Edwards (Democratic) 51.2% Lauch Faircloth (Republican) 47.0% Barbara Howe (Libertarian) 1.8%
North Dakota	Byron Dorgan	Democratic	Re-elected	Byron Dorgan (Democratic) 63.1% Donna Nalewaja (Republican) 35.2% Harley McLain (Libertarian) 1.7%
Ohio	John Glenn	Democratic	Retired Republican gain	George Voinovich (Republican) 56.5% Mary Boyle (Democratic) 43.5%
Oklahoma	Don Nickles	Republican	Re-elected	Don Nickles (Republican) 66.4% Don Carroll (Democratic) 31.3% Mike Morris (Independent) 1.8% Argus W. Yandell, Jr. (Independent) 0.5%
Oregon	Ron Wyden	Democratic	Re-elected	Ron Wyden (Democratic) 61% John Lim (Republican) 33.8% Karen Moskowitz (Green) 2.0% Jim Brewster (Libertarian) 1.6% Michael A. Campbell (Natural Law) 0.8% Dean M. Braa (Socialist) 0.7%
Pennsylvania	Arlen Specter	Republican	Re-elected	Arlen Specter (Republican) 61.3% Bill Lloyd (Democratic) 34.8% Dean Snyder (Constitution) 2.3% Jack Iannantuono (Libertarian) 1.6%
South Carolina	Fritz Hollings	Democratic	Re-elected	Fritz Hollings (Democratic) 52.7% Bob Inglis (Republican) 45.7% Richard Quillian (Libertarian) 1.6%
South Dakota	Tom Daschle	Democratic	Re-elected	Tom Daschle (Democratic) 62.1% Ron Schmidt (Republican) 36.4% Byron Dale (Libertarian) 1.4%
Utah	Bob Bennett	Republican	Re-elected	Bob Bennett (Republican) 64% Scott Leckman (Democratic) 33% Gary R. Van Horn (Independent American) 3%
Vermont	Patrick Leahy	Democratic	Re-elected	Patrick Leahy (Democratic) 72.2% Fred Tuttle (Republican) 22.5% Hugh Douglas (Libertarian) 2.0% Barry M. Nelson (Independent) 1.4% Bob Melamede (Vermont Grassroots) 1.2% Jerry Levy (Liberty Union) 0.6%
Washington	Patty Murray	Democratic	Re-elected	Patty Murray (Democratic) 58.4% Linda Smith (Republican) 41.6%
Wisconsin	Russ Feingold	Democratic	Re-elected	Russ Feingold (Democratic) 50.6% Mark Neumann (Republican) 48.4% Robert R. Raymond (U.S. Taxpayers) 0.5% Tom Ender (Libertarian) 0.3% Eugene A. Hem (Independent) 0.2%

See also

• United States House elections, 1998
• United States gubernatorial elections, 1998