United States Senate elections, 1984

United States Senate elections, 1984

1982 ← November 6, 1984 → 1986

34 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate 51 seats needed for a majority   Majority party Minority party   Leader Bob Dole Robert Byrd Party Republican Democratic Leader's seat Kansas West Virginia Last election 54 seats 46 seats Seats before 54 46 Seats won 53 47 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 22,850,493 23,079,278 Percentage 49.3% 49.8% Swing 5.9% 4.3%

Republican holds   Republican pickups   Democratic holds   Democratic pickups

Majority Leader before election Howard Baker Republican Elected Majority Leader Bob Dole Republican

The 1984 elections to the United States Senate coincided with the landslide re-election of President Ronald Reagan in the 1984 presidential election. In spite of the lopsided presidential race, Reagan's Republican Party suffered a net loss of one seat to the Democrats, although it retained control of the Senate.

Notable Senators elected for the first time in this election include:

• Al Gore, Jr., the future Vice President of the United States and Democratic nominee for President in 2000, who won an open seat in Tennessee, although not the seat his father Al Gore, Sr. had held for many years.
• Future Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican, defeated incumbent Democratic Senator Walter Huddleston in Kentucky.
• John Kerry of Massachusetts, like Gore a future Democratic presidential nominee, took the open seat vacated by Paul E. Tsongas, who unsuccessfully ran for the 1992 Democratic presidential nomination.

Democrats also defeated Roger Jepsen (R-IA) and Charles H. Percy (R-IL).

Results summary

Parties		Incumbents	This election		Result	+/-	Popular Vote
			Not up	Won			Vote	%
	Republican Party	54	36	17	53	1	22,850,493	49.33%
	Democratic Party	46	31	16	47	1	23,079,278	49.82%
	Libertarian Party	0	0	0	0		160,798	0.35%
	Others	0	0	0	0		232,231	0.50%
Total		100	67	33	100		46,322,800	100.0%

Source: Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk

Summary of races

A bolded state name indicates an article about that state's election.

State	Incumbent	Party	Result	Other Candidates
Alabama	Howell Heflin	Democratic	Re-elected, 62.7%	Albert L. Smith, Jr. (Republican) 36.4% Yana Davis (Libertarian) 0.9%
Alaska	Ted Stevens	Republican	Re-elected, 71.2%	John E. Havelock (Democratic) 28.5%
Arkansas	David Pryor	Democratic	Re-elected, 57.3%	Ed Bethune (Republican) 42.7%
Colorado	William L. Armstrong	Republican	Re-elected, 64.2%	Nancy E. Dick (Democratic) 34.6% Craig Green (Libertarian) 0.9% David Martin (Socialist Workers) 0.2% Earl Higgerson (Prohibition) 0.1%
Delaware	Joe Biden	Democratic	Re-elected, 60.1%	John M. Burris (Republican) 39.1%
Georgia	Sam Nunn	Democratic	Re-elected, 79.9%	Jon M. Hicks (Republican) 20.1%
Idaho	James A. McClure	Republican	Re-elected, 72.2%	Peter M. Busch (Democratic) 26.0% Donald Billings (Libertarian) 1.8%
Illinois	Charles H. Percy	Republican	Lost re-election, 48.2% Democratic gain	Paul Simon(Democratic) 50.1% Steven Givot (Libertarian) 1.2% Marjorie Pries (Citizens) 0.2% Nelson Gonzalez (Socialist Workers) 0.1% Ishmael Flory (Communist) 0.1%
Iowa	Roger Jepsen	Republican	Lost re-election, 43.7% Democratic gain	Tom Harkin (Democratic) 55.5% Garry De Young (Independent) 0.8%
Kansas	Nancy Landon Kassebaum	Republican	Re-elected, 76.0%	James R. Maher (Democratic) 21.2% Lucille Bieger (Conservative) 0.9% Marian Jackson (American) 0.7% Douglas Merritt (Libertarian) 0.7% Freda Steele (Prohibition) 0.5%
Kentucky	Walter Huddleston	Democratic	Lost re-election, 49.5% Republican gain	Mitch McConnell (Republican) 49.9% Dave Welters (Socialist Workers) 0.6%
Louisiana	Bennett Johnston Jr.	Democratic	Re-elected
Maine	William Cohen	Republican	Re-elected, 73.3%	Elizabeth H. "Libby" Mitchell (Democratic) 25.9% Ann Stoddard (Constitutionalist) 0.8%
Massachusetts	Paul Tsongas	Democratic	Retired Democratic hold	John Kerry (Democratic) 55.1% Ray Shamie (Republican) 44.9%
Michigan	Carl Levin	Democratic	Re-elected, 51.8%	Jack R. Lousma (Republican) 47.2%
Minnesota	Rudy Boschwitz	Republican	Re-elected, 58.1%	Joan Growe (Democratic) 41.3%
Mississippi	Thad Cochran	Republican	Re-elected, 60.9%	William Winter (Democratic) 39.1%
Montana	Max Baucus	Democratic	Re-elected, 56.9%	Chuck Cozzens (Republican) 40.7% Neil Halprin (Libertarian) 2.4%
Nebraska	J. James Exon	Democratic	Re-elected, 51.9%	Nancy Hoch (Republican) 48.0%
New Hampshire	Gordon J. Humphrey	Republican	Re-elected, 58.7%	Norman D'Amours (Democratic) 41.0% Saunder Primack (Libertarian) 0.3%
New Jersey	Bill Bradley	Democratic	Re-elected, 64.2%	Mary V. Mochary (Republican) 35.2%
New Mexico	Pete Domenici	Republican	Re-elected, 71.9%	Judith A. Pratt (Democratic) 28.1%
North Carolina	Jesse Helms	Republican	Re-elected, 51.7%	Jim Hunt (Democratic) 47.8%
Oklahoma	David L. Boren	Democratic	Re-elected, 75.6%	Will E. Crozier (Republican) 23.4% Robert Murphy (Libertarian) 0.9%
Oregon	Mark Hatfield	Republican	Re-elected, 66.5%	Margie Hendrickson (Democratic) 33.4%
Rhode Island	Claiborne Pell	Democratic	Re-elected, 72.6%	Barbara Leonard (Republican) 27.4%
South Carolina	Strom Thurmond	Republican	Re-elected, 66.8%	Melvin Purvis, Jr. (Democratic) 31.8%
South Dakota	Larry Pressler	Republican	Re-elected, 74.5%	George V. Cunningham (Democratic) 25.5%
Tennessee	Howard Baker	Republican	Retired Democratic gain	Al Gore (Democratic) 60.7% Victor Ashe (Republican) 33.8% Ed McAteer (Independent) 5.3%
Texas	John Tower	Republican	Retired Republican hold	Phil Gramm (Republican) 58.5% Lloyd Doggett (Democratic) 41.4%
Virginia	John Warner	Republican	Re-elected, 70.0%	Edythe C. Harrison (Democratic) 29.9%
West Virginia	Jennings Randolph	Democratic	Retired Democratic hold	Jay Rockefeller (Democratic) 51.8% John Raese (Republican) 47.7% Mary Radin (Socialist Workers) 0.5%
Wyoming	Alan K. Simpson	Republican	Re-elected, 78.3%	Victor A. Ryan (Democratic) 21.7%

Senate composition before and after elections

Senate composition before the elections D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R

Senate composition in the next Congress D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R

Key:	D=Democratic	R=Republican
	Majority
	divider

References

• Barone, Michael, and Grant Ujifusa, The Almanac of American Politics 1986: The Senators, the Representatives and the Governors: Their Records and Election Results, Their States and Districts (1985).
• William D. Snider; Helms and Hunt: The North Carolina Senate Race, 1984 University of North Carolina Press, 1985

See also

• United States House of Representatives elections, 1984
• United States presidential election, 1984
• United States gubernatorial elections, 1984