United States Senate elections, 1992

November 3, 1992

Class III (34 of the 100) seats in the United States Senate and two mid-term vacancies from Class I 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	56 seats	44 seats
Seats before	57	43
Seats won	57	43
Seat change
Popular vote	34,736,076	31,355,972
Percentage	49.2%	44.4%
Swing	1.9%	2.7%
Seats up	21	15

Democratic gain

One Democratic hold, one gain

Democratic hold

Republican hold

Republican gain

Majority Leader before election

George Mitchell
Democratic

Elected Majority Leader

George Mitchell
Democratic

The 1992 United States Senate election was an election for the United States Senate that coincided with the victory of Bill Clinton in the presidential election. Despite the presidential victory, Democrats did not gain any seats in the Senate.

Democratic victories over Republicans John F. Seymour (CA) and Bob Kasten (WI) were cancelled out by the defeats of Democrats Wyche Fowler (GA) and Terry Sanford (NC). The election of four new Democratic women to the Senate was notable (referred to in the press as the "Year of the Woman"). Due to a special election in California, both of California's Senate seats were up for election in 1992. These seats were won by Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer.

Democrat Carol Moseley Braun (IL), became the first African-American woman to serve in the United States Senate.

Results summary

Parties		Total Seats				Popular Vote
Parties		1990	Before this election	This election	+/-	Vote	%
	Democratic	56	57	57		34,736,076	49.20%
	Republican	44	43	43		31,355,972	44.41%
	Libertarian	-	-	-	-	986,617	1.40%
	Others	-	-	-	-	3,523,610	4.99%
Total		100	100	100	-	70,602,275	100.0%

Source: Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk

Change in Senate composition

Before the elections

D₄₁	D₄₂	D₄₃	D₄₄	D₄₅	D₄₆	D₄₇	D₄₈	D₄₉	D₅₀
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
Majority→									D₅₁
R₄₁	R₄₂	R₄₃	D₅₇	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

As a result of the elections

D₄₁√	D₄₂√	D₄₃√	D₄₄√	D₄₅√	D₄₆√	D₄₇√	D₄₈√	D₄₉√	D₅₀O
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
Majority→									D₅₁O
R₄₁O	R₄₂+	R₄₃+	D₅₇+	D₅₆+	D₅₅O	D₅₄O	D₅₃O	D₅₂O
R₄₀O	R₃₉O	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 and losses

Democratic gains

California: Sen. John F. Seymour (R-CA) was defeated in a special election by former San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein. Seymour had been appointed to the seat by Governor Pete Wilson following Wilson's resignation from the Senate after his election as Governor.
Wisconsin: Sen. Bob Kasten (R-WI) survived a close call in his first re-election bid in 1986, but was upset in his bid for a third term by State Senator Russ Feingold. Feingold had won the Democratic primary as an underdog against two millionaire opponents thanks to an effective series of quirky campaign advertisements, and he repeated the same formula in the general election against Kasten.

Republican gains

Georgia: In the initial balloting, Sen. Wyche Fowler (D-GA) narrowly led former Republican State Senator Paul Coverdell in the general election, but he failed to gain 50% of the vote thanks to the strong showing of the Libertarian candidate. Fowler faced Coverdell in a run-off in Dec. 1992 and lost as both parties spent a good amount of time and resources on the run-off campaign.
North Carolina: Sen. Terry Sanford (D-NC) became the third straight incumbent to lose this seat after one term when he was defeated by Democrat-turned-Republican Lauch Faircloth. Faircloth's victory was aided by Sanford's health scares and the considerable political organization of the state's other senator, Jesse Helms (R-NC).

Later change

Further information: United States Senate special election in Texas, 1993

In 1993, Democratic Senator Lloyd Bentsen (TX) resigned to become U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. His Democratic replacement, Bob Krueger, lost a special election to Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison. This election was held in June 1993 and so is not included in the party balance numbers in this article.

Complete list of races

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

State (linked to election article)	Incumbent	Party	Result	Opposing Candidates
Alabama	Richard Shelby	Democratic	Re-elected	Richard Shelby (Democratic) 64.8% Richard Sellars (Republican) 33.1% Jerome Shockley (Libertarian) 2.0%
Alaska	Frank Murkowski	Republican	Re-elected	Frank Murkowski (Republican) 53.0% Tony Smith (Democratic) 38.4% Mary Jordan (Green) 8.4%
Arizona	John McCain	Republican	Re-elected	John McCain (Republican) 55.8% Claire Sargent (Democratic) 31.6% Evan Mecham (Independent) 10.5% Kiana Delamare (Libertarian) 1.6% Ed Finkelstein (New Alliance) 0.5%
Arkansas	Dale Bumpers	Democratic	Re-elected	Dale Bumpers (Democratic) 60.2% Mike Huckabee (Republican) 39.8%
California Special: Class 1	John F. Seymour	Republican	Appointee lost election Winner elected to finish term ending January 3, 1995 Democratic gain	Dianne Feinstein (Democratic) 54.3% John F. Seymour (Republican) 38.0% Gerald Horne (Peace & Freedom) 2.8% Paul Meeuwenberg (American Ind.) 2.6% Richard B. Boddie (Libertarian) 2.3%
California	Alan Cranston	Democratic	Retired Democratic hold	Barbara Boxer (Democratic) 47.9% Bruce Herschensohn (Republican) 43.0% Jerome McCready (American Ind.) 3.5% Genevieve Torres (Peace & Freedom) 3.5% June R. Genis (Libertarian) 2.2%
Colorado	Tim Wirth	Democratic	Retired Democratic hold	Ben Nighthorse Campbell (Democratic) 51.8% Terry Considine (Republican) 42.7% Richard Grimes (Independent) 2.7% Matt Noah (Christian Pro-Life) 1.5% Dan Winters (Independent) 1.3%
Connecticut	Christopher Dodd	Democratic	Re-elected	Christopher Dodd (Democratic) 58.8% Brook Johnson (Republican) 38.1% Richard D. Gregory (Concerned Citizens) 2.4% Howard A. Grayson, Jr. (Libertarian) 0.7%
Florida	Bob Graham	Democratic	Re-elected	Bob Graham (Democratic) 65.4% James W. Grant (Republican) 34.6%
Georgia	Wyche Fowler	Democratic	Lost re-election Republican gain	Paul Coverdell (Republican) 50.6% Wyche Fowler (Democratic) 49.4% Jim Hudson (Libertarian) 3.1%
Hawaii	Daniel Inouye	Democratic	Re-elected	Daniel Inouye (Democratic) 57.3% Rick Reed (Republican) 26.9% Linda Martin (Green) 13.7% Richard O. Rowland (Libertarian) 2.1%
Idaho	Steve Symms	Republican	Retired Republican hold	Dirk Kempthorne (Republican) 56.5% Richard H. Stallings (Democratic) 43.5%
Illinois	Alan J. Dixon	Democratic	Lost renomination Democratic hold	Carol Moseley-Braun (Democratic) 53.3% Richard S. Williamson (Republican) 43.1% Chad Koppie (Conservative) 2.0% Andrew B. Spiegel (Libertarian) 0.7% Charles A. Winter (Natural Law) 0.3% Alan J. Port (New Alliance) 0.3% Kathleen Kaku (Socialist Workers) 0.2% John Justice (Populist) 0.2%
Indiana	Dan Coats	Republican	Re-elected	Dan Coats (Republican) 57.3% Joseph Hogsett (Democratic) 40.7% Steve Dillon (Libertarian) 1.6% Raymond Tirado (New Alliance) 0.3%
Iowa	Chuck Grassley	Republican	Re-elected	Chuck Grassley (Republican) 69.6% Jean Hall Lloyd-Jones (Democratic) 27.2% Stuart Zimmerman (Natural Law) 1.3% Sue Atkinson (Independent) 0.5% Mel Boring (Independent) 0.4% Rosanne Freeburg (Independent) 0.4% Carl Eric Olsen (Grassroots) 0.3% Richard O'Dell Hughes (Independent) 0.2% Cleve Andrew Pulley (Socialist Workers) 0.1%
Kansas	Bob Dole	Republican	Re-elected	Bob Dole (Republican) 62.7% Gloria O'Dell (Democratic) 31.0% Christina Campbell-Cline (Independent) 4.0% Mark B. Kirk (Libertarian) 2.2%
Kentucky	Wendell H. Ford	Democratic	Re-elected	Wendell H. Ford (Democratic) 62.9% David Williams (Republican) 35.8% James Ridenour (Libertarian) 1.3%
Louisiana	John Breaux	Democratic	Re-elected	Jon Khachaturian (Independent) 8.9% Lyle Stockstill (Republican) 8.3% Nick Accardo (Democrat) 5.4% Fred Clegg Strong (Republican) 4.3%
Maryland	Barbara Mikulski	Democratic	Re-elected	Barbara Mikulski (Democratic) 71.0% Alan Keyes (Republican) 29.0%
Missouri	Kit Bond	Republican	Re-elected	Kit Bond (Republican) 51.9% Geri Rothman-Serot (Democratic) 44.9% Jeanne Bojarski (Libertarian) 3.2%
Nevada	Harry Reid	Democratic	Re-elected	Harry Reid (Democratic) 51.0% Demar Dahl (Republican) 40.2% None of These Candidates 2.6% Joe Garcia (Independent American) 2.3% Lois Avery (Natural Law) 1.5% H. Kent Cromwell (Libertarian) 1.5% Harry Tootle (Populist) 0.9%
New Hampshire	Warren Rudman	Republican	Retired Republican hold	Judd Gregg (Republican) 48.2% John Rauh (Democratic) 45.3% K. Alexander (Libertarian) 3.5%
New York	Al D'Amato	Republican	Re-elected	Al D'Amato (Republican) 49.0% Robert Abrams (Democratic) 47.8% Norma Segal (Libertarian) 1.7% Mohammad T. Mehdi (New Alliance) 0.9% Stanley Nelson (Natural Law) 0.4% Ed Warren (Socialist Workers) 0.2%
North Carolina	Terry Sanford	Democratic	Lost re-election Republican gain	Lauch Faircloth (Republican) 50.4% Terry Sanford (Democratic) 46.3% Bobby Emory (Libertarian) 3.3%
North Dakota	Kent Conrad	Democratic	Retired Democratic hold	Byron Dorgan (Democratic) 59.0% Steve Sydness (Republican) 38.9% Tom Asbridge (Independent) 2.1%
North Dakota Special: Class 1	Jocelyn Burdick	Democratic	Appointee retired Winner elected to finish term ending January 3, 1995 Democratic hold	Kent Conrad (Democratic) 63.3% Jack Dalrymple (Republican) 33.7% Darold Larson (Independent) 3.0%
Ohio	John Glenn	Democratic	Re-elected	John Glenn (Democratic) 51.0% Mike DeWine (Republican) 42.3% Martha Grevatt (Independent) 6.7%
Oklahoma	Don Nickles	Republican	Re-elected	Don Nickles (Republican) 58.5% Steve Lewis (Democratic) 38.2% Roy V. Edwards (Independent) 1.6% Thomas D. Ledgerwood II (Independent) 1.6%
Oregon	Bob Packwood	Republican	Re-elected	Bob Packwood (Republican) 52.1% Les AuCoin (Democratic) 46.5%
Pennsylvania	Arlen Specter	Republican	Re-elected	Arlen Specter (Republican) 49.1% Lynn Yeakel (Democratic) 46.3% John Perry III (Independent) 4.6%
South Carolina	Ernest Hollings	Democratic	Re-elected	Ernest Hollings (Democratic) 50.1% Thomas F. Hartnett (Republican) 46.9% Mark Johnson (Libertarian) 1.9% Robert Barnwell Clarkson II (American) 1.0%
South Dakota	Tom Daschle	Democratic	Re-elected	Tom Daschle (Democratic) 64.9% Charlene Haar (Republican) 32.5% Gus Hercules (Libertarian) 1.3% Kent Hyde (Independent) 1.3%
Utah	Jake Garn	Republican	Retired Republican hold	Robert Bennett (Republican) 55.4% Wayne Owens (Democratic) 39.7% Anita Morrow (Independent) 2.3%
Vermont	Patrick Leahy	Democratic	Re-elected	Patrick Leahy (Democratic) 54.2% Jim Douglas (Republican) 43.3% Jerry Levy (Liberty Union) 1.8% Michael B. Godeck (Freedom for LaRouche) 0.6%
Washington	Brock Adams	Democratic	Retired Democratic hold	Patty Murray (Democratic) 54.0% Rod Chandler (Republican) 46.0%
Wisconsin	Bob Kasten	Republican	Lost re-election Democratic gain	Russ Feingold (Democratic) 52.6% Bob Kasten (Republican) 46.0% Patrick W. Johnson (Independent) 0.7% William Bittner (Libertarian) 0.4% Mervin A. Hanson, Sr. (Independent) 0.1% Robert L. Kundert (Independent) 0.1% Joseph Selliken (Independent) 0.1%