United States Senate elections, 1998

Updated on Nov 24, 2023

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Mississippi South Dakota 55 45 46.8% 49.5% Start date November 3, 1998		55 seats 45 seats 25,346,613 26,768,699 2.6% 1.6%

Winner Trent Lott Other Instances United States Senate el, United States Senate el, United States Senate el, United States Senate el, United States Senate el

The United States Senate elections, 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 narrowly defeated incumbent Senator Carol Moseley-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

Source: Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk

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.

References

United States Senate elections, 1998 Wikipedia

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