United States Senate election, 1998

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The U.S. Senate election, 1998 was a roughly even contest between the Republican and Democratic parties. While the Democrats had more seats to defend since this was six years after a Democratic wave in the 1992 election, Republican attacks on the morality of President Bill Clinton failed to connect with voters and anticipated Republican gains failed to materialize. The balance of the Senate remained unchanged at 55-45 in favor of the Republicans. Because of gains made in the House of Representatives, it was 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 had failed to gain seats in the mid-term election of a President's second term.

Results summary

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Summary of the 1998 United States Senate election results

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Parties		Breakdown			Total Seats			Popular Vote
		Up	Elected	Not Up	1996	'''1998	align="center"
Vote	%
Republican Party	16	16	39	55	55	0
Democratic Party	18	18	27	45	45	0
Total		34	34	66	100	100	-		100.0%
Source: [Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk]

Notable Races

Democratic gains

• Indiana: Democrat Evan Bayh, a former Indiana Governor, overwhelmingly defeated Republican Paul Helmke (Mayor of Fort Wayne) for the seat of retiring Senator Dan Coats (R-Indiana), which Bayh's father Birch Bayh (D-Indiana) had once held.
• New York: Three-term Senator Al D'Amato (R-N.Y.) was defeated in "one of 1998's most high profile and nastiest races" [link] by Congressman Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)
• North Carolina: Trial lawyer John Edwards defeated incumbent Lauch Faircloth (R-N.C.) 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-Ill.), the first African American woman elected to the Senate, was 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: Congressman Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) narrowly defeated Congressman Scotty Baesler (D-Ky.) for the seat left open by retiring Senator Wendell H. Ford (D-Ky.). Bunning, a former pitcher in the Baseball Hall of Fame, outspent Baesler heavily in increasingly Republican Kentucky.
• Ohio: Republican Governor George Voinovich defeated former Cuyahoga County Commissioner Mary Boyle for the seat of retiring Senator John Glenn (D-Ohio). 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.

Senate contests in 1998

State	Incumbent	Party	Status	Opposing Candidates
Alabama	Richard C. Shelby	Republican	Re-elected, 63 - 37	Clayton Suddith (Democrat)
Alaska	Frank H. Murkowski	Republican	Re-elected, 75 - 20	Joe Sonneman (Democrat)
Arizona	John S. McCain III	Republican	Re-elected, 68 - 28	Ed Ranger (Democrat)
Arkansas	Dale L. Bumpers	Democrat	Retired: Democratic victory, 55 - 42	Blanche L. Lincoln (Democrat) Fay Boozman (Republican)
California	Barbara L. Boxer	Democrat	Re-elected, 53 - 43	Matt Fong (Republican)
Colorado	Ben Nighthorse Campbell	Republican	Re-elected, 63 - 35	Dottie Lamm (Democrat)
Connecticut	Christopher J. Dodd	Democrat	Re-elected, 65 - 32	Gary Franks (Republican)
Florida	D. Robert Graham	Democrat	Re-elected, 63 - 37	Charlie Crist (Republican)
Georgia	Paul D. Coverdell	Republican	Re-elected, 52 - 45	Michael Coles (Democrat)
Hawaii	Daniel K. Inouye	Democrat	Re-elected, 79 - 18	Crystal Young (Republican)
Idaho	Dirk A. Kempthorne	Republican	Retired: Republican victory, 70 - 28	Michael D. Crapo (Republican) Bill Mauk (Democrat)
Illinois	Carol Moseley-Braun	Democrat	Defeated, 51 - 47	Peter G. Fitzgerald (Republican)
Indiana	Daniel R. Coats	Republican	Retired: Democratic victory, 64 - 35	B. Evans "Evan" Bayh III (Democrat) Paul Helmke (Republican)
Iowa	Charles E. Grassley	Republican	Re-elected, 68 - 31	David Osterberg (Democrat)
Kansas	Samuel D. Brownback	Republican	Re-elected, 65 - 32	Paul Feleciano Jr. (Democrat)
Kentucky	Wendell H. Ford	Democrat	Retired: Republican victory, 50 - 49	James P. Bunning (Republican) Scotty Baesler (Democrat)
Louisiana	John B. Breaux	Democrat	Re-elected, 64 - 32	Jim Donelon (Republican)
Maryland	Barbara A. Mikulski	Democrat	Re-elected, 71 - 29	Ross Pierpont (Republican)
Missouri	Christopher S. "Kit" Bond	Republican	Re-elected, 53 - 44	Jay Nixon (Democrat)
Nevada	Harry M. Reid	Democrat	Re-elected, 48 - 48	John E. Ensign (Republican)
New Hampshire	Judd A. Gregg	Republican	Re-elected, 68 - 28	George Condodemetraky (Democrat)
New York	Alfonse M. D'Amato	Republican	Defeated, 54 - 45	Charles E. Schumer (Democrat)
North Carolina	D. McLaughlin "Lauch" Faircloth	Republican	Defeated, 51 - 47	John Edwards (Democrat)
North Dakota	Byron L. Dorgan	Democrat	Re-elected, 63 - 35	Donna Nalewaja (Republican)
Ohio	John H. Glenn Jr.	Democrat	Retired: Republican victory, 56 - 44	George V. Voinovich (Republican) Mary O. Boyle (Democrat)
Oklahoma	Donald L. Nickles	Republican	Re-elected, 66 - 31	Don Carroll (Democrat)
Oregon	Ronald L. Wyden	Democrat	Re-elected, 59 - 36	John Lim (Republican)
Pennsylvania	Arlen Specter	Republican	Re-elected, 61 - 35	Bill Lloyd (Democrat)
South Carolina	Ernest F. "Fritz" Hollings	Democrat	Re-elected, 53 - 46	Bob Inglis (Republican)
South Dakota	Thomas A. Daschle	Democrat	Re-elected, 62 - 36	Ron Schmidt (Republican)
Utah	Robert F. Bennett	Republican	Re-elected, 64 - 33	Scott Leckman (Democrat)
Vermont	Patrick J. Leahy	Democrat	Re-elected, 72 - 23	Fred Tuttle (Republican)
Washington	Patricia Murray	Democrat	Re-elected, 58 - 42	Linda Smith (Republican)
Wisconsin	Russell D. Feingold	Democrat	Re-elected, 51 - 49	Mark Neumann (Republican)

See also

• U.S. House election, 1998

Senate composition before and after elections

> > > >

105th Congress Senate Composition

106th Congress Senate Composition

Color Key: Republicans Democrats

 

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