The 1982 United States Senate elections were held on November 2, 1982. They were elections for the United States Senate following Republican gains in 1980. The 33 Senate seats of Class 1 were up for election in 1982. A total of four seats changed hands between parties, with Democrats winning seats in New Jersey and New Mexico, and Republicans taking seats in Nevada and the seat of the lone independent, Senator Harry Byrd Jr., in Virginia. Democrats made a net gain of one seat bringing them to 46 seats, while Republicans stayed at 54 seats for a majority. However, the Democratic gain in New Jersey replaced a Republican that had been appointed earlier in the year. Liberal Republicans senators in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont held onto their seats, keeping the Senate in Republican hands.
A special election was also held in Washington state in 1983 that gave Republicans a seat that was previously held by a Democrat, bringing their majority to 55–45. , this is the last time Democrats won a U.S. Senate election in Mississippi and the last time Republicans won one in Connecticut.
Results summary
{| style="width:60em; text-align:center"
|+ ↓
|- style="color:white"
| style="background:; width:46%" | 46
| style="background:; width:54%" | 54
|-
| <span style="color:">Democratic</span>
| <span style="color:">Republican</span>
|}
{| class=wikitable style=text-align:center
|- valign=bottom
! rowspan=2 colspan=2 | Parties
| style="background-color:" |
| style="background-color:" |
| style="background-color:" |
| style="background-color:" |
| style="background-color:" |
! rowspan=2 | Total
|- valign=bottom
! Democratic
! Republican
! Independent
! Libertarian
! Other
|-
! colspan=2 | Last elections (1980)
| 46
| | 53
| 1
| 0
| 0
! 100
|-
! colspan=2 class=small | Before these elections
| 45
| | 54
| 1
| 0
| 0
! 100
|-
! colspan=2 style="background:#bbb" | Not up
| 26
| | 41
| 0
| 0
| 0
! 67
|-
| colspan=100 |
|-
! colspan=2 style="background:#bbb" | Up<br />
| | 19
| 13
| 1
| —
| —
! 33
|-
| colspan=100 |
|-
! colspan=2 style="background:#ccc" | Incumbent retired
| 0
| | 2
| 1
| —
| —
! 3
|-
! rowspan=3 |
!
| —
| | 1
| 0
| —
| —
! 1
|-
!
| colspan=3 | 1 Republican replaced by 1 Democrat<!--NJ--><br /> 1 Independent replaced by 1 Republican<!--VA-->
| —
| —
! 2
|-
! Result
! 1
! | 2
! 0
! —
! —
! 3
|-
! colspan=2 style="background:#ccc" | Incumbent ran
| | 19
| 11
| 0
| —
| —
! 30
|-
! rowspan=4 |
!
| | 18
| 10
| —
| —
| —
! 28
|-
!
| colspan=2 | 1 Republican replaced by 1 Democrat<!--NM--><br /> 1 Democrat replaced by 1 Republican<!--NV-->
| —
| —
| —
! 2
|-
!
| 0
| 0
| —
| —
| —
! 0
|-
! Result
! | 19
! 11
! 0
! —
! —
! 30
|-
| colspan=100 |
|-
! colspan=2 | Total elected
! | 20
! 13
! 0
! 0
! 0
! 33
|-
! colspan=2 | Net gain/loss
| | 1
|
| 1
|
|
! 1
|-
! colspan=2 style="background:#ccc" | Nationwide vote
| | 27,899,651
| 22,412,928
| 146,512
| 291,576
| 839,328
! 51,589,995
|-
! <!-- Gap for "Nationwide vote" -->
! Share
| | 54.08%
| 43.44%
| 0.28%
| 0.57%
| 1.63%
! 100%
|-
! colspan=2 | Result
! 46
! | 54
! 0
! 0
! 0
! 100
|}
Source: Office of the Clerk
California
Incumbent Republican S. I. Hayakawa decided to retire after one term. Republican Pete Wilson, mayor of San Diego and former Assemblyman, won the open seat over Democratic Governor Jerry Brown.
Wilson was known as a fiscal conservative who supported Proposition 13, although Wilson had opposed the measure while mayor of San Diego. However, Brown ran on his gubernatorial record of building the largest state budget surpluses in California history. Both Wilson and Brown were moderate-to-liberal on social issues, including support for abortion rights. The election was expected to be close, with Brown holding a slim lead in most of the polls leading up to Election Day. Wilson hammered away at Brown's appointment of California Chief Justice Rose Bird, using this to portray himself as tougher on crime than Brown was. Brown's late entry into the 1980 Democratic presidential primary, after promising not to run, was also an issue. President Ronald Reagan made a number of visits to California late in the race to campaign for Wilson. Reagan quipped that the last thing he wanted to see was one of his home state's U.S. Senate seats falling into Democrats' hands, especially to be occupied by the man who succeeded him as governor. Despite exit polls indicating a narrow Brown victory, Wilson won by a wide margin.
Connecticut
Incumbent Republican Lowell P. Weicker Jr. won re-election to a third term over Democratic member of the House Toby Moffett.
Delaware
Incumbent Republican Bill V. Roth won reelection to a third term over the state's Democratic Insurance Commissioner David N. Levinson.