United States Senate elections, 1990

United States Senate elections, 1990

1988 ← November 6, 1990 → 1992

Class II (33 of the 100) seats in the United States Senate, one mid-term vacancy from Class I, and one mid-term vacancy from Class III 51 seats needed for a majority   Majority party Minority party   Leader George Mitchell Bob Dole Party Democratic Republican Leader's seat Maine Kansas Last election 55 seats 45 seats Seats won 56 44 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 17,907,544 16,494,624 Percentage 51.1% 47.1% Swing 1.0% 0.9%

Democratic holds   Democratic pickups   Republican holds

Majority Leader before election George Mitchell Democratic Elected Majority Leader George Mitchell Democratic

Elections to one-third of the seats in the United States Senate were held on Tuesday, November 6, 1990. The Democratic Party increased its majority with a net gain of one seat from the Republicans. This was in keeping with the trend that the party of the President often loses seats in a midterm election. This election coincided with the Mid-Term of President George H.W. Bush

Only one seat actually changed parties in this election, when Paul Wellstone defeated incumbent Rudy Boschwitz (R-MN). Later, the Democrats gained a 57th seat when Harris Wofford won a special election to replace H. John Heinz III (R-PA), who had died in a plane crash.

Results summary

Summary of the 1990 United States Senate election results

Parties		Total Seats			Popular Vote
		1988	1990	+/-	Vote	%
	Democratic Party	55	56	+1	17,907,544	51.12%
	Republican Party	45	44	-1	16,494,624	47.09%
	Independent	-	-	-	222,534	0.64%
	Libertarian Party	-	-	-	142,003	0.41%
	Others	-	-	-	260,665	0.74%
Total		100	100	-	35,027,370	100.0%
Source: Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk

Notable races

Democratic gains

• Minnesota: Sen. Rudy Boschwitz (R-MN) lost a stunning upset to his Democratic opponent, college professor Paul Wellstone. Wellstone ran a successful grassroots campaign highlighted by a unique series of political advertisements that helped him pull from behind to defeat two-term incumbent Boschwitz.

Democratic holds

• New Jersey: The usually safe Sen. Bill Bradley (D-NJ) suddenly became very vulnerable in the face of an unpopular income tax hike. Bradley refused to take a stand on the tax hike, initiated by Democratic Governor James Florio, which helped his Republican opponent Christine Todd Whitman. Bradley narrowly held his seat, but Whitman used this momentum to defeat Governor Florio in the 1993 gubernatorial election.

Republican holds

• North Carolina: Controversial conservative Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC) narrowly won re-election over former Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt (D). The race also featured a controversial late-running ad attacking Gantt's support for affirmative action.

Complete list of races

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

State	Incumbent	Party	Result	Opposing Candidates
Alabama	Howell Heflin	Democratic	Re-elected, 60.7%	William J. "Bill" Cabaniss (Republican) 39.3%
Alaska	Ted Stevens	Republican	Re-elected, 67.2%	Michael Beasley (Democratic) 32.8%
Arkansas	David Pryor	Democratic	Re-elected, unopposed
Colorado	William L. Armstrong	Republican	Retired Republican hold	Hank Brown (Republican) 55.7% Josie Heath (Democratic) 41.6% John Heckman (Concerns of People) 1.5% Earl Dodge (Prohibition) 1.2%
Delaware	Joe Biden	Democratic	Re-elected, 62.7%	M. Jane Brady (Republican) 35.8% Lee Rosenbaum (Libertarian) 1.5%
Georgia	Sam Nunn	Democratic	Re-elected, unopposed
Hawaii (Special: Class 1)	Daniel Akaka	Democratic	Interim appointee elected to finish the term, 54.0%	Pat Saiki (Republican) 44.6% Ken Schoolland (Libertarian) 1.4%
Idaho	James A. McClure	Republican	Retired Republican hold	Larry Craig (Republican) 61.3% Ron J. Twilegar (Democratic) 38.7%
Illinois	Paul Simon	Democratic	Re-elected, 64.9%	Lynn Morley Martin (Republican) 35.1%
Indiana (Special: Class 3)	Dan Coats	Republican	Interim appointee elected to finish the term, 53.7%	Baron Hill (Democratic) 46.3%
Iowa	Tom Harkin	Democratic	Re-elected, 54.0%	Tom Tauke (Republican) 46.0%
Kansas	Nancy Landon Kassebaum	Republican	Re-elected, 73.6%	Dick Williams (Democratic) 26.4%
Kentucky	Mitch McConnell	Republican	Re-elected, 52.2%	Harvey I. Sloane (Democratic) 47.8%
Louisiana	Bennett Johnston Jr.	Democratic	Re-elected in primary 53%	David Duke (Republican, but not endorsed) 44%
Maine	William Cohen	Republican	Re-elected, 61.4%	Neil Rolde (Democratic) 38.6%
Massachusetts	John Kerry	Democratic	Re-elected, 56.9%	Jim Rappaport (Republican) 43.1%
Michigan	Carl Levin	Democratic	Re-elected, 57.5%	Bill Schuette (Republican) 41.2% Susan Farquhar (Workers World) 1.3%
Minnesota	Rudy Boschwitz	Republican	Lost re-election, 47.8% Democratic gain	Paul Wellstone (Democratic) 50.4% Russell Bentley (Grassroots) 1.6%
Mississippi	Thad Cochran	Republican	Re-elected, unopposed
Montana	Max Baucus	Democratic	Re-elected, 68.1%	Allen C. Kolstad (Republican) 29.4% Westley Deitchler (Libertarian) 2.5%
Nebraska	J. James Exon	Democratic	Re-elected, 59.1%	Hal Daub (Republican) 40.9%
New Hampshire	Gordon J. Humphrey	Republican	Retired Republican hold	Bob Smith (Republican) 65.1% John A. Durkin (Democratic) 31.3% John Elsnau (Libertarian) 3.3%
New Jersey	Bill Bradley	Democratic	Re-elected, 50.4%	Christine Todd Whitman (Republican) 47.4% John L. Kucek (Populist) 1.0% Louis M. Stefanelli (Libertarian) 0.7% Don Mackle (Socialist Workers) 0.4%
New Mexico	Pete Domenici	Republican	Re-elected, 72.9%	Tom R. Benavides (Democratic) 27.1%
North Carolina	Jesse Helms	Republican	Re-elected, 52.6%	Harvey Gantt (Democratic) 47.4%
Oklahoma	David L. Boren	Democratic	Re-elected, 83.2%	Stephen Jones (Republican) 17.8%
Oregon	Mark Hatfield	Republican	Re-elected, 53.9%	Harry Lonsdale (Democratic) 46.1%
Rhode Island	Claiborne Pell	Democratic	Re-elected, 61.8%	Claudine Schneider (Republican) 38.2%
South Carolina	Strom Thurmond	Republican	Re-elected, 64.2%	Bob Cunningham (Democratic) 32.5% William H. Griffin (Libertarian) 1.8% Marion C. Metts (American) 1.4%
South Dakota	Larry Pressler	Republican	Re-elected, 52.4%	Ted Muenster (Democratic) 45.1% Dean L. Sinclair (Independent) 2.5%
Tennessee	Al Gore	Democratic	Re-elected, 67.7%	William R. Hawkins (Republican) 29.8% Bill Jacox (Independent) 1.4% Charles Gordon Vick (Independent) 1.0%
Texas	Phil Gramm	Republican	Re-elected, 60.2%	Hugh Parmer (Democratic) 37.4% Gary Johnson (Libertarian) 2.3%
Virginia	John Warner	Republican	Re-elected, 80.9%	Nancy B. Spannaus (Independent) 18.2%
West Virginia	Jay Rockefeller	Democratic	Re-elected, 68.5%	John Yoder (Republican) 31.5%
Wyoming	Alan K. Simpson	Republican	Re-elected, 66.4%	Kathy Helling (Democratic) 33.6%

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 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

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 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

Key:	D=Democratic	R=Republican
	Majority
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See also

• United States House elections, 1990
• United States gubernatorial elections, 1990