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

Senate composition as a result of the elections

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.

See also

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