United States Senate elections, 1988

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Republican holds Republican pickups Democratic holds Democratic pickups

The United States Senate election, of November 8, 1988 was an election for the United States Senate in which, in spite of the Republican victory by George H. W. Bush in the presidential election, the Republicans suffered a net loss of one seat in the Senate. The Democratic majority in the Senate increased from 54-46 to 55-45.

The Democrats captured four Republican seats, which included an open seat in Virginia and the seats of three incumbents, Chic Hecht of Nevada, Lowell P. Weicker, Jr. of Connecticut, and David K. Karnes of Nebraska. These gains were partially offset by the Republican capture of open seats by Trent Lott in Mississippi and Connie Mack III in Florida, and the defeat of incumbent John Melcher of Montana to Conrad Burns.

1 Notable races
2 Senate contests in 1988
3 See also
4 Senate composition before and after elections

[edit] Notable races

[edit] Democratic gains

Connecticut: Democratic Attorney General Joe Lieberman narrowly defeated Sen. Lowell P. Weicker, Jr. (R-CT) in his bid for a fourth term. A liberal in an increasingly conservative party, Weicker found himself at odds with his fellow Republicans. This rift would lead to many conservatives (such as National Review editor William F. Buckley, Jr.) to endorse Lieberman.
Nebraska: Sen. David Karnes (R-NE) lost by a large margin to former Governor Bob Kerrey (D). Karnes had been appointed to the Senate following the death of Sen. Edward Zorinsky (D-NE) and, though he survived a tough primary challenge from Rep. Hal Daub (R-NE), he proved no match for the popular Kerrey in the general election.
Nevada: Sen. Chic Hecht (R-NV) was narrowly defeated by Governor Richard Bryan (D). Hecht had been considered vulnerable for his undistinguished record and a series of verbal gaffes.
Virginia: Sen. Paul S. Trible, Jr. (R-VA) retired rather than run a contentious re-election race against former Governor Chuck Robb (D). Robb would instead face Republican Maurice Dawkins, a black minister, and defeat him in a landslide.

[edit] Republican gains

Florida: Sen. Lawton Chiles (D-FL) retired rather than run for a fourth term. Congressman Connie Mack III (R-FL) overcame some concerns about his very conservative House record to defeat Rep. Buddy MacKay (D-FL).
Mississippi: Senate President pro tempore John C. Stennis (D-MS) retired after 41 years in the Senate. House Minority Whip Trent Lott (R-MS) defeated Congressman Wayne Dowdy by a comfortable margin in the increasing Republican Mississippi.
Montana: Sen. John Melcher (D-MT) was defeated by Republican Conrad Burns. A political novice, Burns would score an upset victory riding on the coattails of Bush's large Montana victory.

[edit] Democratic holds

New Jersey: Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) won election to a second term over Republican Wall Street executive Pete Dawkins. Lautenberg's campaign, led by James Carville and Paul Begala, attacked the once favored Dawkins as a carpetbagger (he moved to New Jersey from New York to make his Senate run) and opportunist.
Wisconsin: Former state Democratic Party Chairman Herb Kohl defeated Republican State Senator Susan Engeleiter for the seat of retiring Sen. William Proxmire (D-WI). Kohl capitalized on his popularity in the state as the heir to the department stores that bear his family's name and as owner of the Milwaukee Bucks NBA team.

[edit] Republican holds

Washington: Former Sen. Slade Gorton (R-WA) defeated Rep. Mike Lowry (D-WA) for the seat of Sen. Daniel J. Evans (R-WA). Gorton won the tight race despite having been voted out of the state's other Senate seat two years earlier.
Wyoming: Sen. Malcolm Wallop (R-WY) defeated Democratic State Senator John Vinich by less than one percentage point. Wallop became vulnerable due to attacks on his partisan voting record.

[edit] Senate contests in 1988

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

State	Incumbent	Party	Status	Opposing Candidates
Arizona	Dennis DeConcini	Democratic	Re-elected, 58.0%	Keith DeGreen (Republican) 42.0% Rich Tompkins (Libertarian) 1.8%
California	Pete Wilson	Republican	Re-elected, 52.7%	Leo T. McCarthy (Democratic) 44.0% Maria Elizabeth Muñoz (Peace & Freedom) 1.7% Jack Dean (Libertarian) 0.8% Merton D. Short (American Ind.) 0.7%
Connecticut	Lowell P. Weicker, Jr.	Republican	Defeated, 49.0%	Joe Lieberman (Democratic) 49.7% Howard Grayson (Libertarian) 0.9% Melissa Fisher (New Alliance) 0.3%
Delaware	William V. Roth, Jr.	Republican	Re-elected, 62.1%	Shien Biau Woo (Democratic) 37.9%
Florida	Lawton Chiles	Democratic	Retired, Republican victory	Connie Mack III (Republican) 50.4% Buddy MacKay (Democratic) 49.6%
Hawaii	Spark Matsunaga	Democratic	Re-elected, 76.5%	Maria M. Hustace (Republican) 20.7% Ken Schoolland (Libertarian) 2.8%
Indiana	Dick Lugar	Republican	Re-elected, 67.7%	Jack Wickes (Democratic) 32.3%
Maine	George J. Mitchell	Democratic	Re-elected, 81.1%	Jasper S. Wyman (Republican) 18.9%
Maryland	Paul Sarbanes	Democratic	Re-elected, 61.8%	Alan Keyes (Republican) 38.2%
Massachusetts	Ted Kennedy	Democratic	Re-elected, 65.0%	Joseph D. Malone (Republican) 33.9% Mary Fridley (New Alliance) 0.6% Freda Lee Nason (Libertarian) 0.5%
Michigan	Donald W. Riegle, Jr.	Democratic	Re-elected, 60.4%	James Whitney Dunn (Republican) 38.5% Dick Jacobs (Libertarian) 0.8% Sally Bier (Workers Against Concessions) 0.3%
Minnesota	David Durenberger	Republican	Re-elected, 56.2%	Skip Humphrey (Democratic) 40.9% Polly Mann (Progressive Issues) 2.1% Derrick Grimmer (Grassroots) 0.4% Arlen Overvig (Libertarian) 0.2% Wendy Lyons (Socialist Workers) 0.1%
Mississippi	John C. Stennis	Democratic	Retired, Republican victory	Trent Lott (Republican) 54.1% Wayne Dowdy (Democratic) 45.9%
Missouri	John Danforth	Republican	Re-elected, 67.7%	Jay Nixon (Democratic) 31.7% John Guze (Libertarian) 0.6%
Montana	John Melcher	Democratic	Defeated, 48.1%	Conrad Burns (Republican) 51.9%
Nebraska	David Karnes¹	Republican	Defeated, 41.7%	Bob Kerrey (Democratic) 56.7% Ernie Chambers (New Alliance) 1.6%
Nevada	Chic Hecht	Republican	Defeated, 47.1%	Richard Bryan (Democratic) 51.3% James Frye (Libertarian) 1.6%
New Jersey	Frank Lautenberg	Democratic	Re-elected, 53.5%	Pete Dawkins (Republican) 45.2% Joseph Job (Independent) 0.7% Jerry Zeldin (Libertarian) 0.4% Thomas Fiske (Socialist Workers) 0.2%
New Mexico	Jeff Bingaman	Democratic	Re-elected, 63.2%	Bill Valentine (Republican) 36.8%
New York	Daniel Patrick Moynihan	Democratic	Re-elected, 67.3%	Robert R. McMillan (Republican) 31.6%
North Dakota	Quentin N. Burdick	Democratic	Re-elected, 59.5%	Earl Strinden (Republican) 39.1% Kenneth C. Gardner (Libertarian) 1.5%
Ohio	Howard Metzenbaum	Democratic	Re-elected, 56.9%	George Voinovich (Republican) 43.1%
Pennsylvania	H. John Heinz III	Republican	Re-elected, 66.4%	Joseph C. Vignola (Democratic) 32.4% Darcy Richardson (Consumer) 0.6% Henry Haller (Libertarian) 0.3% Samuel Cross (Populist) 0.1% Sam Blancato (New Alliance) 0.1%
Rhode Island	John Chafee	Republican	Re-elected, 54.3%	Richard A. Licht (Democratic) 45.7%
Tennessee	Jim Sasser	Democratic	Re-elected, 65.1%	Bill Anderson (Republican) 34.5% Khalil-Ullah Al-Muhaymin (Independent) 0.4%
Texas	Lloyd Bentsen	Democratic	Re-elected, 59.2%	Beau Boulter (Republican) 40.0% Jeff Daiell (Libertarian) 0.8%
Utah	Orrin Hatch	Republican	Re-elected, 67.1%	Brian Moss (Democratic) 31.7% Robert J. Smith (American) 0.9% William M. Arth (Socialist Workers) 0.2%
Vermont	Robert Stafford	Republican	Retired, Republican victory	Jim Jeffords (Republican) 67.9% William Gray (Democratic) 29.8% Jerry Levy (Liberty Union) 1.1% King Milne (Independent) 1.0%
Virginia	Paul S. Trible, Jr.	Republican	Retired, Democratic victory	Chuck Robb (Democratic) 71.2% Maurice A. Dawkins (Republican) 28.8%
Washington	Daniel J. Evans	Republican	Retired, Republican victory	Slade Gorton (Republican) 50.7% Mike Lowry (Democratic) 49.3%
West Virginia	Robert Byrd	Democratic	Re-elected, 63.2%	M. Jay Wolfe (Republican) 36.8%
Wisconsin	William Proxmire	Democratic	Retired, Democratic victory	Herb Kohl (Democratic) 52.2% Susan Engeleiter (Republican) 47.8%
Wyoming	Malcolm Wallop	Republican	Re-elected, 50.4%	John Vinich (Democratic) 49.6%