United States Senate election in Florida, 1994

United States Senate election in Florida, 1994

1988 ← November 8, 1994 → 2000

Nominee Connie Mack III Hugh Rodham Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 2,895,200 1,210,577 Percentage 70.5% 29.5%

U.S. Senator before election Connie Mack III Republican Elected U.S. Senator Connie Mack III Republican

Elections in Florida
Federal government Presidential elections 1860 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 Presidential primaries Democratic 2008 2012 Republican 2008 2012 U.S. Senate elections 1968 1970 1976 1980 1982 1986 1988 1992 1994 1998 2000 2004 2006 2010 2012 U.S. House elections 2006 5th 8th 9th 16th 2008 2010 2012 2014
State government Gubernatorial elections 1966 1970 1974 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 Attorney General elections 2002 2006 2010 2014 Chief Financial Officer elections 2006 2010 Agriculture Commissioner of Florida 1994 2006 2010 Ballot measures Other elections 2006 2010
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The 1994 United States Senate election in florida was held on November 8, 1994. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Connie Mack III won re-election to a second term.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Hugh Rodham, public defender and brother to first lady Hillary Clinton
• Mike Wiley, talk radio personality and advocate of UFO conspiracy theories
• Ellis Rubin, criminal defense attorney
• Arturo Perez

Results

Democratic primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Democratic	Hugh Rodham	255,605	33.78%
	Democratic	Mike Wiley	188,551	24.92%
	Democratic	Ellis Rubin	161,386	21.33%
	Democratic	A. Perez	151,121	19.97%
Totals			756,663	100%

Democratic primary runoff results
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Democratic	Hugh Rodham	221,424	58.09%
	Democratic	Mike Wiley	159,776	41.91%
Totals			381,200	100%

Republican primary

Candidates

• Connie Mack III, incumbent U.S. Senator

Results

Republican primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Republican	Connie Mack	Unopposed	100.0%

General election

Candidates

• Connie Mack III (R), incumbent U.S. Senator
• Hugh Rodham (D), public defender and brother to first lady Hillary Clinton

Campaign

Rodham left the public defenders office to run for the United States Senate in Florida in 1994. He won the Democratic Party nomination by defeating Mike Wiley in a runoff election, after earlier finishing first in a four-person primary field with 34 percent. After the first primary, the third-place finisher, flamboyant Miami lawyer and perennial losing candidate Ellis Rubin, joined forces with Rodham as an "senior executive consultant" and hatchet man. In the presence of Rodham at a press conference, Rubin levelled the accusation that Wiley was hiding his Jewish faith by changing his name from his birth name, Michael Schreiber, and that Wiley "changed his name before the campaign to deceive voters about his Jewish religion." Wiley accordingly refused to endorse Rodham after the runoff. Rodham then lost by a 70%-30% margin to incumbent Senator Republican Connie Mack III in the general election. Although Bill and Hillary Clinton both campaigned for him, his organization was unable to take advantage of their help, he had few funds, almost no television commercials, and little support from the Florida Democratic party establishment in a year that saw Republican gains everywhere. After the election, Rubin switched allegiance again and charged Rodham with election law violations in the first primary; the Federal Elections Commission eventually dismissed the allegations.

Results

General election results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Connie Mack	2,895,200	70.50	+20.10
	Democratic	Hugh Rodham	1,210,577	29.48	-20.12
	Write-ins		1,039	0.02
Majority			1,684,623	41.02	+40.22
Turnout			5,856,731
	Republican hold		Swing