United States Senate elections, 1994

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Republican holds Republican pickups Democratic holds

The U.S. Senate election, 1994 was an election held on November 8, in which the Republican Party was able to take control of the Senate from the Democrats by mobilizing voters discontented with congressional incumbents, the early presidency of Bill Clinton, and Hillary Rodham Clinton's unsuccessful health care plan.

The Republicans captured eight seats from the Democrats, including the seats of sitting Sens. Harris Wofford (D-PA) and Jim Sasser (D-TN), as well as six open seats in Arizona, Maine, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. Notably, since Sasser's defeat coincided with the special election to replace Al Gore (who had left the Senate to become Vice President), Tennessee's Senate delegation switched from entirely Democratic to entirely Republican in a single election.

This defeat changed control of the Senate from Democrats to Republicans for the first time since 1986. In combination with the first change of control in the United States House of Representatives since 1954 and the Republicans' net gain of twelve governorships; this is sometimes called the Republican revolution. Minority leader Robert J. Dole (R-Kan.) became majority leader, while on the Democratic side, the new minority leader was Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.), previous majority leader George J. Mitchell (D-Maine) having left the Senate.

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 before the resignation of Bob Packwood of Oregon and his replacement by Democrat Ron Wyden finalized the balance at 53–47.

1 Notable races
- 1.1 Republican gains
- 1.2 Democratic holds
2 Senate contests in 1994
3 See also
4 External links
5 Senate composition before and after elections

[edit] Notable races

[edit] Republican gains

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.
Maine: One of the Republican's 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.
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: 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 (Class 1): 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 (Class 2): 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.

[edit] Democratic holds

California: Dianne Feinstein won a special election in 1992 to fill the seat of Governor Pete Wilson. She faced liberal Republican Congressman Michael Huffington in her race for a full term. Feinstein emerged victorious by less than two points.
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.
Virginia: Democrat Chuck Robb received over 70% of the vote when first elected in 1988, but was not so fortunate when running for 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%.

[edit] Senate contests in 1994

Winning candidates in bold
Republican pickups in Red

State	Incumbent	Party	Status	Candidates
Arizona	Dennis DeConcini	Democratic	Retired: Republican Victory	Jon Kyl (Republican) 54% Sam Coppersmith (Democrat) 40% Scott Grainger (Libertarian) 7%
California	Dianne Feinstein	Democratic	Re-elected, 46.7%	Michael Huffington (Republican) 44.8% Elizabeth Barron (Peace and Freedom) 3% Richard Boddie (Libertarian) 2.1% Paul Meeuwenberg (AIP) 1.7% Barbara Blong (Green) 1.7%
Connecticut	Joe Lieberman	Democratic	Re-elected, 67%	Jerry Labriola (Republican) 31% Gary R. Garneau (Constitution) 2%
Delaware	William Roth	Republican	Re-elected, 55.8%	Charles Oberly (Democrat) 42.5% John C. Dierick (Libertarian) 1.7%
Florida	Connie Mack III	Republican	Re-elected, 70%	Hugh Rodham (Democrat) 30%
Hawaii	Daniel Akaka	Democratic	Re-elected, 71.8%	Maria Hustace (Republican) 24.2% Richard Rowland (Libertarian) 4%
Indiana	Dick Lugar	Republican	Re-elected, 67.4%	Jim Jontz (Democrat) 30.5% Barbara Bourland (Libertarian) 1.1% Mary Catherine Barton (NAP) 1%
Maine	George Mitchell	Democratic	Retired: Republican Victory	Olympia Snowe (Republican) 60.2% Thomas Andrews (Democrat) 36.4% Plato Truman (Independent) 3.4%
Maryland	Paul Sarbanes	Democratic	Re-elected, 59%	Bill Brock (Republican) 41%
Massachusetts	Edward M. Kennedy	Democratic	Re-elected, 58.1%	Mitt Romney (Republican) 41% Lauraleigh Dozier (Libertarian) 0.7% William A. Ferguson, Jr. (LaRouche Was Right) 0.2%
Michigan	Donald W. Riegle, Jr.	Democratic	Retired: Republican Victory	Spencer Abraham (Republican) 51.9% Milton Robert Carr (Democrat) 42.7% Jon Coon (Libertarian) 4.2% William Roundtree (Workers World Party) 0.7% Chris Wege (Natural Law Party) 0.5%
Minnesota	David Durenberger	Republican	Retired: Republican Victory	Rod Grams (Republican) 49.1% Ann Wynia (DFL) 44.1% Dean Barkley (Reform) 5.4% Candice E. Sjostrom (Grassroots Party) 0.9% Stephen Johnson (Natural Law Party) 0.3% Chris Wege (Socialist Workers Party) 0.1%
Mississippi	Trent Lott	Republican	Re-elected, 69%	Ken Harper (Democrat) 31%
Missouri	John Danforth	Republican	Retired: Republican Victory	John Ashcroft (Republican) 59.8% Alan Wheat (Democrat) 35.7% Bill Johnson (Libertarian) 4.6%
Montana	Conrad Burns	Republican	Re-elected, 62%	Jack Mudd (Democrat) 38%
Nebraska	Bob Kerrey	Democratic	Re-elected, 55%	Jan Stoney (Republican) 45%
Nevada	Richard H. Bryan	Democrat	Re-elected, 50.9%	Hal Furman (Republican) 41% Anna Nevenich (Independent) 1.8% Bob Days (Libertarian) 1.6% Neal A. Grasteit (Independent American) 1.4%
New Jersey	Frank Lautenberg	Democratic	Re-elected, 50.3%	Chuck Haytaian (Republican) 47% Michael P. Kelly (Keep America First) 0.7% Ben Grindlinger (Libertarian]]) 0.7% Richard J. Pezzullo (Conservative) 0.4% Andrea Lippi (Jobs, Property Rights) 0.3% George Patrick Predham (Damn Drug Dealers) 0.2% Joanne Kuniansky (Socialist Workers Party) 0.2% Arlene Gold (Natural Law Party) 0.2%
New Mexico	Jeff Bingaman	Democratic	Re-elected, 54%	Colin McMillan (Republican) 46%
New York	Daniel Patrick Moynihan	Democratic	Re-elected, 55%	Bernadette Castro (Republican) 42.3% Henry F. Hewes (Right-to-Life) 1.8% Ismael Betancourt, Jr. (Independence Party of New York) 0.5% Norma Segal (Libertarian) 0.3% Naomi L. Craine (Socialist Workers) 0.3%
North Dakota	Kent Conrad	Democratic	Re-elected, 58%	Ben Clayburgh (Republican) 42%
Ohio	Howard Metzenbaum	Democratic	Retired: Republican Victory	Mike DeWine (Republican) 53% Joel Hyatt (Democrat) 39% Joseph Slovenec (Independent) 8%
Oklahoma¹	David L. Boren	Democratic	Resigned: Republican Victory	James Inhofe (Republican) 55.2% Dave McCurdy (Democrat) 40% Danny Corn (Independent) 4.8%
Pennsylvania²	Harris Wofford	Democratic	Defeated, 46.9%	Rick Santorum (Republican]]) 49.4% Diane Blough (Patriot) 2% Donald C. Ernsberger (Libertarian) 1.7%
Rhode Island	John Chafee	Republican	Re-elected, 64%	Linda Kushner (Democrat) 36%
Tennessee	Jim Sasser	Democratic	Defeated, 43%	Bill Frist (Republican) 57%
Tennessee³	Harlan Matthews	Democratic	Retired: Republican victory	Fred Thompson (Republican) 61% Jim Cooper (Democrat) 39%
Texas⁴	Kay Bailey Hutchison	Republican	Re-elected, 60.8%	Richard W. Fisher (Democrat) 38.3% Pierre Blondeau (Libertarian) 0.8%
Utah	Orrin Hatch	Republican	Re-elected, 68.8%	Patrick Shea (Democrat) 28.3% Craig Oliver (Independent) 1.8% Gary R. Van Horn (American) 0.5 Nelson Gonzalez (Socialist Workers) 0.3% Lawrence Rey Topham (Independent American) 0.3%
Vermont	Jim Jeffords	Republican	Re-elected, 50.3%	Jan Backus (Democrat) 40.6% Gavin T. Mills (Independent) 5.9% Matthew S. Mulligan (Independent) 1.4% Bob Melamede (Grassroots) 0.7% Jerry Levy (Liberty Union) 0.6% Joseph Victor Pardo (Natural Law Party) 0.3%
Virginia	Chuck Robb	Democratic	Re-elected, 46%	Oliver North (Republican) 43% J. Marshall Coleman (Independent) 11%
Washington	Slade Gorton	Republican	Re-elected, 56%	Ron Sims (Democrat) 44%
West Virginia	Robert Byrd	Democratic	Re-elected, 69%	Stan Klos (Republican) 31%
Wisconsin	Herb Kohl	Democratic	Re-elected, 58%	Robert Welch (Republican) 40.7% James Dean (Libertarian) 1%
Wyoming	Malcolm Wallop	Republican	Retired: Republican Victory	Craig Thomas (Republican) 58.9% Mike Sullivan (Democrat) 39.3% Craig McCune (Libertarian) 1.8%

¹ special election held due to resignation of David L. Boren (D-Okla.) -- next regular election held in 1996.
² Wofford was appointed on May 8, 1991, and elected in a special election on November 5, 1991, following the death of H. John Heinz III (R-Penn.)
³ special election held due to resignation of Albert A. Gore Jr. (D-Tenn.) to become Vice-President -- next regular election held in 1996.
⁴ Hutchison was elected in a special election on June 5, 1993, following the resignation of Lloyd Bentsen to become Secretary of the Treasury under Bill Clinton.