1990 United States Senate elections

The 1990 United States Senate elections were held on Tuesday, November 6, 1990, with the 33 seats of Class 2 contested in regular elections. Special elections were also held to fill vacancies. The Democratic Party increased its majority with a net gain of one seat from the Republican Party. The election cycle took place in the middle of President George H. W. Bush's term, and as with most other midterm elections, the party not holding the presidency gained seats in Congress. This was the first time since 1980 that any party successfully defended all their own seats, and the first time Democrats did so since 1958.

These elections, along with 2022, featured the smallest seat change in history since the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, with only one seat changing parties. This election featured Democrat Paul Wellstone defeating incumbent Republican Rudy Boschwitz in Minnesota. To date, this is the last cycle in which Democratic candidates won U.S. Senate elections in Oklahoma and Tennessee.

Background

The election was held as part of the midterm election cycle of Republican President George H. W. Bush's term. Historically, the President's party struggles during the midterms.

Results summary

Source: Clerk of the United States House of Representatives

Gains, losses, and holds

Retirements

Three Republicans retired instead of seeking re-election.

Defeats

Despite several candidates being in danger of losing their reelection bid, Minnesota Republican Senator Rudy Boschwitz was the only incumbent who ran for re-election to be defeated.

Change in composition

Before the elections

Result of the elections

Complete list of races

Special elections

In these special elections, the winners were elected in 1990.

Elections are sorted by date, then state and class.

Elections leading to the next Congress

In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 1991; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 2 seats.

Closest races

In eight races the margin of victory was under 10%.

Michigan was the tipping point state with a margin of 16.3%.

Alabama

Incumbent Democrat Howell Heflin won re-election to a third term over Republican Bill Cabaniss, State Senator and former State Representative. This was the last time the Democrats have won the Class 2 Senate Seat from Alabama until Doug Jones won the seat in 2017.

Alaska

Incumbent Republican United States Senator Ted Stevens sought re-election to a fifth term in the United States Senate, which he won easily, besting his opponents in a landslide.

Arkansas

Incumbent Democrat David Pryor won re-election uncontested.

Colorado

Incumbent Republican senator William L. Armstrong did not seek re-election to another term. Republican congressman Hank Brown won the open seat, defeating Democratic nominee Josie Heath, former Boulder County Commissioner

Delaware

Incumbent Democratic Joe Biden won re-election to a fourth term, defeating Republican challenger Deputy Attorney General of Delaware M. Jane Brady. Brady decided to run because she felt that Biden's liberal voting record did not reflect the political positions of Delawareans. The election had a turnout rate of under 40% of registered voters. Biden won in a landslide with over 60% of the vote improving on his 1984 margin, winning all three counties and all 41 state house districts.

Georgia

Incumbent Democrat Sam Nunn won re-election to a fourth term uncontested.

Hawaii (special)

Incumbent Democrat Daniel Akaka was elected to finish the term ending in 1995 over Republican U.S. Representative Pat Saiki. Akaka had been appointed by Governor John Waihee in April 1990 to fill the vacancy created by the death of Spark Matsunaga.

Idaho

Republican Rep. Larry Craig defeated Democratic former state legislator Ron Twilegar for the seat of U.S. Senator Jim McClure, who did not seek re-election.

Illinois

Incumbent Democrat Paul Simon sought re-election to the United States Senate. Simon was opposed by Republican nominee Lynn Morley Martin, a United States Congresswoman from Illinois's 16th congressional district, whom he easily defeated to win a second and final term in the Senate.

Indiana (special)

Incumbent Republican Dan Coats, who was recently appointed to this seat two years prior, won election to serve out the remainder of the term, beating Democratic State Representative Baron Hill.

During the 1988 presidential election, Republican nominee Vice President George H. W. Bush selected U.S. Senator Dan Quayle of Indiana as his vice presidential nominee. The Bush-Quayle ticket defeated the Dukakis–Bentsen ticket in the general election by a 53%-46% margin, capturing 40 states and 426 electoral votes.

In preparation for the pending vacancy, Governor Robert D. Orr appointed four-term U.S. Representative Dan Coats to fill Quayle's seat on December 12, 1988. Coats was a former aide to Quayle, whom he had succeeded as U.S. Representative for Indiana's 4th congressional district in 1981. Quayle eventually resigned his Senate seat on January 3, 1989, and Coats was immediately sworn into office.

Coats used television commercials that raised questions about Hill's consistency in opposing new taxes, and Hill gained notoriety for walking the length of the state to meet voters.

Iowa

Incumbent Democrat Tom Harkin sought re-election to a second term in the United States Senate. Harkin was opposed by Republican United States Congressman Tom Tauke, from Iowa's 2nd congressional district, and both Harkin and Tauke won their primaries uncontested. Though Harkin performed slightly worse than he had six years earlier, he was successful in his re-election bid and defeated Tauke.

Kansas

Incumbent Republican Nancy Kassebaum won re-election to her third full term, over Democrat Dick Williams, an educator at Wichita State University

Kentucky

Incumbent Republican Mitch McConnell won re-election to a second term over Democrat Harvey Sloane, former Mayor of Louisville

Louisiana

Incumbent Democrat J. Bennett Johnston Jr. won re-election to a fourth term and avoided a runoff, beating Republican David Duke, State Representative and former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.

This election was viewed at the onset as potentially competitive, as Senator Johnston was viewed as vulnerable in light of Louisiana's economic troubles at the time and Senator Johnston's voting record viewed by Republicans as too liberal. The Republican Party leadership endorsed the candidacy of State Senator Ben Bagert, who was picked over Secretary of State Fox McKeithen, State Representative Quentin Dastugue and State Representative David Duke. David Duke, however, continued his candidacy and slowly overtook Bagert in attention and in the polls. Duke attracted national attention to the race with his involvement with white supremacist groups and his appeals to white resentment over affirmative-action programs. With Bagert failing to gain traction, the National Republican Senatorial Committee tried to recruit former Governor David Treen to jump into the race. When Treen passed, the effort turned from supporting Bagert to stopping Duke.

As the election drew near, polls showed Johnston firmly in first place, with Duke in second place and Bagert trailing far behind at third. National Republicans grew fearful that Bagert's candidacy would only serve to force a runoff and that a potential runoff election with Duke being the de facto Republican nominee would hurt the national brand. On October 4, eight Republican Senators endorsed Johnston, with Senator John Danforth saying at the press conference that "all of us would be embarrassed and mortified to have to serve in the United States Senate with David Duke masquerading as a Republican." Bagert dropped out of the race the next day, announcing that "it became more and more apparent, that instead of forcing a runoff between myself and Bennett Johnston, I might very well be forcing a runoff between somebody else and Bennett Johnston." He announced he would "reluctantly" vote for Johnston. Bagert's name remained on the ballot, but under state law his votes could not be counted as part of the official tally. After Bagert dropped out, HUD Secretary Jack Kemp endorsed Johnston, saying "there's no place in the Republican Party for someone who has practiced and practices racism, bigotry and anti-Semitism."

Maine

Incumbent Republican William Cohen won re-election to a third term over Democratic State Representative Neil Rolde.

Massachusetts

Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator John Kerry was re-elected to his second term over Republican real estate developer Jim Rappaport.

Michigan

Incumbent Democrat Carl Levin won re-election to a third term, beating Republican U.S. Representative Bill Schuette.

Minnesota

Incumbent Republican Rudy Boschwitz was defeated by Democratic challenger Paul Wellstone in a tight race. Widely considered an underdog and outspent by a 7-to-1 margin, Wellstone, a professor at Carleton College and nominee for Minnesota State Auditor in 1982 was the only candidate to defeat an incumbent senator in the 1990 election cycle and gained national attention after his upset victory.

Mississippi

Incumbent Republican Thad Cochran won re-election to a third term. Cochran won unanimously, with 100% of the vote like Sam Nunn in Georgia the same year. Other elections like the 1958 senate race for Mississippi's senate seat resulted in the same margin of victory via John Stennis, and John Thune in the 2010 race in South Dakota.

Montana

Incumbent United States Senator Max Baucus, who was first elected in 1978 and was re-elected in 1984, ran for re-election. After winning the Democratic primary, he moved on to the general election, where he was opposed by Allen Kolstad, the Lieutenant Governor of Montana and the Republican nominee. Baucus ultimately ended up defeating Kolstad in a landslide, winning his third term with ease.

Nebraska

Incumbent Democrat J. James Exon won re-election to a third term, beating Republican U.S. Representative Hal Daub.

New Hampshire

Incumbent Republican Gordon J. Humphrey decided to retire and not run for re-election to a third term. Republican Bob Smith won the open seat, beating Democratic former Senator John A. Durkin.

New Jersey

Democratic Senator Bill Bradley decided to seek re-election and narrowly edged out little-known Republican Christine Todd Whitman, President of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.

Senator Bill Bradley didn't realize he was in trouble of winning re-election and the New Jersey voters' anger over taxes and economy until the week prior to the election.

The senator had a major image problem. In the early part of the campaign Bradley was winning easily in the polls, so his staffers told him to play it safe. He sent out television advertisements of himself walking on the beach, shooting a perfect shot on the court, and sitting back in his office with his basketball shoes onto his desk. The advertisements backfired as voters were turned off and thought that he hadn't taken his job as Senator seriously, at a time when New Jersey voters were suffering.

Another major problem with Bradley was how Democratic Governor Jim Florio implemented a $2.8 billion tax increase, hurting the state's economy. In addition, Bradley refused to answer questions pertaining to Florio's tax policies.

After Bradley realized he was in trouble he released negative advertisements. They attacked Whitman's own record on taxes, accusing her of favoring tax increases when she was a Somerset County Freeholder. Bradley's image may have been further damaged by his newer advertisements.

New Mexico

Incumbent Republican Pete Domenici won re-election to a fourth term over Democratic State Senator Tom Benavidez.

North Carolina

The election was fought between the Republican incumbent Jesse Helms and the Democratic nominee Mayor of Charlotte Harvey Gantt. Helms won re-election to a fourth term by a slightly wider margin than the close election in 1984.

Helms drew controversy for airing what became known as the "Hands" ad produced by Alex Castellanos. It showed a pair of white hands with the voiceover saying "You needed that job, and you were the best qualified. But they had to give it to a minority because of a racial quota." The ad prompted allegations of racism.

Oklahoma

Incumbent Democrat David Boren won re-election to a third term over Republican nominee attorney Stephen Jones. Boren won over 80 percent of the vote and all of the states counties.

With his victory Boren became the last Democrat to represent Oklahoma in the Senate.

Oregon

Republican Mark Hatfield was re-elected to a fifth term, defeating Democratic businessman Harry Lonsdale. Hatfield faced minimal opposition in the Republican primary, his only major competition was from environmentalist and former Eugene, Oregon mayoral candidate Randy Prince. Hatfield easily defeated Prince receiving nearly eighty percent of the vote. Lonsdale, who had founded the biotechnology company Bend Research, announced in early 1990 that he intended to challenge Hatfield over his ties to special interest groups, and his opposition to abortion rights. During the primary, Lonsdale largely ignored his Democratic opposition opting to directly criticize Hattfield. Despite close polling, Hatfield won all but four counties and won the popular vote by over seven points.

Rhode Island

Democratic Incumbent Claiborne Pell defeated Republican Representative Claudine Schneider in a landslide.

South Carolina

Popular incumbent Republican Strom Thurmond cruised to re-election against Democratic challenger and perennial candidate Bob Cunningham.

Senator Strom Thurmond faced no opposition from South Carolina Republicans and avoided a primary election. The state Democrats saw this as an unwinnable race so when Bob Cunningham sought the Democratic nomination, he was unopposed in his bid.

Cunningham launched his second bid to unseat Republican Sen. Strom Thurmond after switching from the GOP to the Democratic Party in early 1990. Though he faced a formidable opponent, Cunningham planned no fund-raising activities. "I don't plan to ask for anything and I won't accept any money from PACs", he said. Cunninghman said his campaign strategy was to "go to places where I was invited and spread out my ideas." If elected, Cummingham said he would push to limit consecutive congressional service to 12 years and reform the tax system. He supported greater environmental activism. "I think we're going at it in much too lukewarm a fashion. I think we should work hard to find a substitute for the internal combustion engine."

The election was never a serious contest. Thurmond overwhelmingly outspent Cunningham in his re-election campaign.

South Dakota

Incumbent Republican Larry Pressler won a narrow re-election battle against Democratic opponent Ted Muenster and Independent candidate Dean Sinclair, in contrast to his easy win in 1984.

Tennessee

Incumbent Democratic Senator Al Gore defeated Republican challenger William R. Hawkins, winning a second term. The election had a turnout rate of just over 20% of registered voters. Gore won in a landslide with over 67% of the vote improving on his 1984 margin, winning of the states counties.

Texas

Incumbent Republican Phil Gramm won re-election to a second term, beating Hugh Parmer, State Senator and former Mayor of Fort Worth

Gramm, a popular incumbent who switched parties a few years prior, had over $5 million on hand.

Virginia

Incumbent Republican John W. Warner won re-election to a third term. No Democrat filed to run against him as he won every single county and city in the state with over 60% of the vote. Independent Nancy B. Spannaus (an affiliate of the controversial Lyndon LaRouche) got 18% of the vote, as she was the only other candidate on the ballot besides Warner.

West Virginia

The 1990 United States Senate election in West Virginia was held November 6, 1990. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller won re-election to a second term.

Wyoming

Incumbent Republican Alan Simpson easily won re-election to a third term over Democratic challenger Kathy Helling.

See also

• 1990 United States elections 1990 United States gubernatorial elections 1990 United States House of Representatives elections
• 101st United States Congress
• 102nd United States Congress

Notes

Bibliography

• Dennis, Virginia M. (January 16, 1985). (PDF). Delaware Department of Elections.
• Harper, Richard B. (March 27, 1991). (PDF). Delaware Department of Elections.
• State Election Commission (1991). South Carolina Election Commission Annual Report 1990-1991. Columbia, South Carolina: The Commission. p. 91.