United States Senate elections, 1990

United States Senate elections, 1990

November 6, 1990
Class 2 (33 of the 100) seats in the United States Senate, one mid-term vacancy from Class 1, and one mid-term vacancy from Class 3 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% Seats up 17 18
Democratic hold   Democratic gain   Republican hold
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 Republican Party. The election 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.

Only one seat changed parties in this election, as Democrat Paul Wellstone defeated incumbent Republican Rudy Boschwitz (R-MN). Democrats would gain a 57th seat after Harris Wofford won a 1991 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

Change in Senate composition

Senate composition before the elections

D1	D2	D3	D4	D5	D6	D7	D8	D9	D10
D20	D19	D18	D17	D16	D15	D14	D13	D12	D11
D21	D22	D23	D24	D25	D26	D27	D28	D29	D30
D40	D39	D38	D37	D36	D35	D34	D33	D32	D31
D41	D42	D43	D44	D45	D46	D47	D48	D49	D50
Majority→									D51
R41	R42	R43	R44	R45	D55	D54	D53	D52
R40	R39	R38	R37	R36	R35	R34	R33	R32	R31
R21	R22	R23	R24	R25	R26	R27	R28	R29	R30
R20	R19	R18	R17	R16	R15	R14	R13	R12	R11
R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10

Senate composition as a result of the elections

D1	D2	D3	D4	D5	D6	D7	D8	D9	D10
D20	D19	D18	D17	D16	D15	D14	D13	D12	D11
D21	D22	D23	D24	D25	D26	D27	D28	D29	D30
D40√	D39√	D38	D37	D36	D35	D34	D33	D32	D31
D41√	D42√	D43√	D44√	D45√	D46√	D47√	D48√	D49√	D50√
Majority→									D51√
R41√	R42O	R43O	R44O	D56+	D55√	D54√	D53√	D52√
R40√	R39√	R38√	R37√	R36√	R35√	R34√	R33√	R32√	R31√
R21	R22	R23	R24	R25	R26	R27	R28√	R29√	R30√
R20	R19	R18	R17	R16	R15	R14	R13	R12	R11
R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10

Key:	D# Democratic R# Republican		√ Incumbent re-elected or appointee elected to finish term O Party hold: New senator elected from same party + Party gain: New senator elected from different party

Gains, losses, and holds

Democratic gains

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

Democratic re-elected

1. 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

1. North Carolina: Conservative Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC) narrowly won re-election over former Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt (D). The race featured a 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	Candidates
Alabama	Howell Heflin	Democratic	Re-elected	Howell Heflin (Democratic) 60.7% William J. Cabaniss (Republican) 39.3%
Alaska	Ted Stevens	Republican	Re-elected	Ted Stevens (Republican) 67.2% Michael Beasley (Democratic) 32.8%
Arkansas	David Pryor	Democratic	Re-elected	David Pryor (Democratic) 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	Joe Biden (Democratic) 62.7% M. Jane Brady (Republican) 35.8% Lee Rosenbaum (Libertarian) 1.5%
Georgia	Sam Nunn	Democratic	Re-elected	Sam Nunn (Democratic) Unopposed
Hawaii (Special: Class 1)	Daniel Akaka	Democratic	Appointee elected to finish the term ending January 3, 1995	Daniel Akaka (Democratic) 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	Paul Simon (Democratic) 64.9% Lynn Morley Martin (Republican) 35.1%
Indiana (Special: Class 3)	Dan Coats	Republican	Appointee elected to finish the term ending January 3, 1993	Dan Coats (Republican) 53.7% Baron Hill (Democratic) 46.3%
Iowa	Tom Harkin	Democratic	Re-elected	Tom Harkin (Democratic) 54.0% Tom Tauke (Republican) 46.0%
Kansas	Nancy Landon Kassebaum	Republican	Re-elected	Nancy Landon Kassebaum (Republican) 73.6% Dick Williams (Democratic) 26.4%
Kentucky	Mitch McConnell	Republican	Re-elected	Mitch McConnell (Republican) 52.2% Harvey I. Sloane (Democratic) 47.8%
Louisiana	Bennett Johnston Jr.	Democratic	Re-elected	Bennett Johnston Jr. (Democratic) 53% David Duke (Republican, but not endorsed) 44%
Maine	William Cohen	Republican	Re-elected	William Cohen (Republican) 61.4% Neil Rolde (Democratic) 38.6%
Massachusetts	John Kerry	Democratic	Re-elected	John Kerry (Democratic) 56.9% Jim Rappaport (Republican) 43.1%
Michigan	Carl Levin	Democratic	Re-elected	Carl Levin (Democratic) 57.5% Bill Schuette (Republican) 41.2% Susan Farquhar (Workers World) 1.3%
Minnesota	Rudy Boschwitz	Republican	Lost re-election Democratic gain	Paul Wellstone (Democratic) 50.4% Rudy Boschwitz (Republican) 47.8% Russell Bentley (Grassroots) 1.6%
Mississippi	Thad Cochran	Republican	Re-elected	Thad Cochran (Republican) Unopposed
Montana	Max Baucus	Democratic	Re-elected	Max Baucus (Democratic) 68.1% Allen C. Kolstad (Republican) 29.4% Westley Deitchler (Libertarian) 2.5%
Nebraska	J. James Exon	Democratic	Re-elected	J. James Exon (Democratic) 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	Bill Bradley (Democratic) 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	Pete Domenici (Republican) 72.9% Tom R. Benavides (Democratic) 27.1%
North Carolina	Jesse Helms	Republican	Re-elected	Jesse Helms (Republican) 52.6% Harvey Gantt (Democratic) 47.4%
Oklahoma	David L. Boren	Democratic	Re-elected	David L. Boren (Democratic) 83.2% Stephen Jones (Republican) 17.8%
Oregon	Mark Hatfield	Republican	Re-elected	Mark Hatfield (Republican) 53.9% Harry Lonsdale (Democratic) 46.1%
Rhode Island	Claiborne Pell	Democratic	Re-elected	Claiborne Pell (Democratic) 61.8% Claudine Schneider (Republican) 38.2%
South Carolina	Strom Thurmond	Republican	Re-elected	Strom Thurmond (Republican) 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	Larry Pressler (Republican) 52.4% Ted Muenster (Democratic) 45.1% Dean L. Sinclair (Independent) 2.5%
Tennessee	Al Gore	Democratic	Re-elected	Al Gore (Democratic) 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	Phil Gramm (Republican) 60.2% Hugh Parmer (Democratic) 37.4% Gary Johnson (Libertarian) 2.3%
Virginia	John Warner	Republican	Re-elected	John Warner (Republican) 80.9% Nancy B. Spannaus (Independent) 18.2%
West Virginia	Jay Rockefeller	Democratic	Re-elected	Jay Rockefeller (Democratic) 68.5% John Yoder (Republican) 31.5%
Wyoming	Alan K. Simpson	Republican	Re-elected	Alan K. Simpson (Republican) 66.4% Kathy Helling (Democratic) 33.6%

See also

• 102nd United States Congress
• United States House elections, 1990
• United States gubernatorial elections, 1990