1988 United States Senate elections

The 1988 United States Senate elections were elections for the United States Senate. Held on November 8, 1988, the 33 seats of Class 1 were contested in regular elections. In spite of the Republican victory by George H. W. Bush in the presidential election, the Democrats gained a net of one seat in the Senate. Seven seats changed parties, with four incumbents being defeated. The Democratic majority in the Senate increased by one to 55–45.

This is the last Senate election cycle in which California voted for a Republican, the last in which Texas and Maine voted for a Democrat, and the last time Arizona voted for a Democrat until 2018. This would also be the last Senate election cycle until 1998 to not have at least one special election during that cycle.

This is also the last Senate election cycle in which no woman was elected to the Senate from either party, as all of the winners were men.

Results summary

Summary of the 1988 United States Senate election results

{| style="width:60em; text-align:center"

|+ ↓

|- style="color:white"

| style="background:; width:55%" | 55

| style="background:; width:45%" | 45

| Democratic

| Republican

{| class=wikitable style=text-align:center

|- valign=bottom

! rowspan=2 colspan=2 | Parties

| style="background-color:" |

| style="background-color: |

| style="background-color:" |

! rowspan=2 | Total

|- valign=bottom

! Democratic

! Republican

! Libertarian

! Conservative

! Other

! colspan=2 | Last elections (1986)

| | 55

| 45

| 0

! 100

! colspan=2 class=small | Before these elections

| | 54

| 46

| 0

! 100

! colspan=2 style="background:#bbb" | Not up

| | 36

| 31

| —

! 67

| colspan=100 |

! colspan=2 style="background:#bbb" | Up

| | 18

| 15

| —

! 33

| colspan=100 |

! colspan=2 style="background:#ccc" | Incumbent retired

| 3

| —

! 6

! rowspan=3 |

| 1

| | 2

| —

! 3

| colspan=2 | 1 Republican replaced by 1 Democrat 2 Democrats replaced by 2 Republicans

| —

! 3

! Result

! 2

! | 4

! —

! 6

! colspan=2 style="background:#ccc" | Incumbent ran

| | 15

| 12

| —

! 27

! rowspan=4 |

| | 14

| 9

| —

! 23

| colspan=2 | 3 Republicans replaced by 3 Democrats 1 Democrat replaced by 1 Republican

| —

! 4

| 0

| —

! 0

! Result

! | 17

! 10

! —

! 27

| colspan=100 |

! colspan=2 | Total elected

! | 19

! 14

! —

! 33

! colspan=2 | Net gain/loss

| | 1

| 1

! 1

! colspan=2 style="background:#ccc" | Nationwide vote

| | 35,137,786

| 31,151,251

| 268,053

| 189,226

| 677,928

! 67,424,244

!

! Share

| | 52.11%

| 46.20%

| 0.40%

| 0.28%

| 1.01%

! 100%

! colspan=2 | Result

! | 55

! 45

! 0

! 100

Source:

Gains and losses

Retirements

Three Republicans and three Democrats retired instead of seeking re-election.

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

! scope="col" |State

! scope="col" |Senator

! scope="col" | Age at end of term

! scope="col" | Assumed office

! scope="col" |Replaced by

! Florida

| |

| align="center"| 58

| align="center"| 1971

| |

! Mississippi

| |

| align="center"| 83

| align="center"| 1947

| |

! Vermont

| |

| align="center"| 75

| align="center"| 1971

| |

! Virginia

| |

| align="center"| 42

| align="center"| 1983

| |

! Washington

| |

| align="center"| 63

| align="center"| 1983

| |

! Wisconsin

| |

| align="center"| 73

| align="center"| 1957

| |

Defeats

Three Republicans and one Democrat sought re-election but lost in the general election.

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

! scope="col" |State

! scope="col" |Senator

! scope="col" |Assumed office

! scope="col" |Replaced by

! Connecticut

| |

| align="center"| 1971

| |

! Montana

| |

| align="center"| 1977

| |

! Nebraska

| |

| align="center"| 1987

| |

! Nevada

| |

| align="center"| 1983

| |

Post-election changes

One Republican resigned on January 3, 1989, while one Democrat died on May 16, 1990. Initially, they were replaced by appointees.

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

! scope="col" |State

! scope="col" |Senator

! scope="col" |Replaced by

! Hawaii (Class 1)

| |

! Indiana (Class 3)

| |

Change in composition

Before the elections

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

| | D

| width=10% | D

| | D

| | D

| | D

| | D

| colspan=9 style="text-align:right" | Majority →

| rowspan=2 | D

| | R

| | D

| | R

| | R

After the elections

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

| | D

| width=10% | D

| | D

| | D

| | D

| | D

| colspan=9 style="text-align:right" | Majority →

| rowspan=2 | D

| | R

| | D

| | R

| | R

|- valign=top

! Key

{| class=wikitable

| align=center | D

| Democratic

| align=center | R

| Republican

Race summary

Special elections

There were no special elections in 1988.

Elections leading to the next Congress

In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 1989; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 1 seats.

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|- valign=bottom

! rowspan=2 | State

! colspan=3 | Incumbent

! rowspan=2 | Result

! rowspan=2 class=unsortable | Candidates

! Senator

! Party

! Electoral history

! Arizona

| | Democratic

| 1976 1982

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! California

| | Republican

| 1982

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Connecticut

| | Republican

| 1970 1976 1982

| | Incumbent lost re-election. Democratic gain.

| nowrap |

! Delaware

| | Republican

| 1970 1971 1976 1982

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Florida

| | Democratic

| 1970 1976 1982

| | Incumbent retired. Republican gain.

| nowrap |

! Hawaii

| | Democratic

| 1976 1982

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Indiana

| | Republican

| 1976 1982

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Maine

| | Democratic

| 1980 1982

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Maryland

| | Democratic

| 1976 1982

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Massachusetts

| | Democratic

| 1962 1964 1970 1976 1982

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Michigan

| | Democratic

| 1976 1976 1982

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Minnesota

| | Republican

| 1978 1982

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Mississippi

| | Democratic

| 1947 1952 1958 1964 1970 1976 1982

| | Incumbent retired. Republican gain.

| nowrap |

! Missouri

| | Republican

| 1976 1976 1982

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Montana

| | Democratic

| 1976 1982

| | Incumbent lost re-election. Republican gain.

| nowrap |

! Nebraska

| | Republican

| 1987

| | Interim appointee lost election. Democratic gain.

| nowrap |

! Nevada

| | Republican

| 1982

| | Incumbent lost re-election. Democratic gain.

| nowrap |

! New Jersey

| | Democratic

| 1982 1982

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! New Mexico

| | Democratic

| 1982

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! New York

| | Democratic

| 1976 1982

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! North Dakota

| | Democratic-NPL

| 1960 1964 1970 1976 1982

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Ohio

| | Democratic

| 1974 1974 1974 1976 1976 1982

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Pennsylvania

| | Republican

| 1976 1982

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Rhode Island

| | Republican

| 1976 1976 1982

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Tennessee

| | Democratic

| 1976 1982

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Texas

| | Democratic

| 1970 1976 1982

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Utah

| | Republican

| 1976 1982

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Vermont

| | Republican

| 1971 1972 1976 1982

| | Incumbent retired. Republican hold.

| nowrap |

! Virginia

| | Republican

| 1982

| | Incumbent retired. Democratic gain.

| nowrap |

! Washington

| | Republican

| 1983 1983

| | Incumbent retired. Republican hold.

| nowrap |

! West Virginia

| | Democratic

| 1958 1964 1970 1976 1982

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Wisconsin

| | Democratic

| 1957 1958 1964 1970 1976 1982

| | Incumbent retired. Democratic hold.

| nowrap |

! Wyoming

| | Republican

| 1976 1982

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

Closest races

In eleven races the margin of victory was under 10%.

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! State

! Party of winner

! Margin

! Wyoming

| data-sort-value=-0.73 | Republican

| 0.73%

! Connecticut

| data-sort-value=-0.77 | Democratic (flip)

| 0.77%

! Florida

| data-sort-value=-0.85 | Republican (flip)

| 0.85%

! Washington

| data-sort-value=-2.17 | Republican

| 2.17%

! Montana

| data-sort-value=-3.73 | Republican (flip)

| 3.73%

! Nevada

| data-sort-value=-4.06 | Democratic (flip)

| 4.06%

! Wisconsin

| data-sort-value=-4.53 | Democratic

| 4.53%

! Mississippi

| data-sort-value=-7.82 | Republican (flip)

| 7.82%

! New Jersey

| data-sort-value=-8.37 | Democratic

| 8.37%

! California

| data-sort-value=-8.77 | Republican

| 8.77%

! Rhode Island

| data-sort-value=-9.19 | Republican

| 9.19%

Ohio was the tipping point state, with a margin of 13.95%.

Arizona

Incumbent Democrat Dennis DeConcini was reelected to a third term over Republican Keith DeGreen, Marine veteran and financial advisor.

Connecticut

Incumbent Republican Lowell P. Weicker Jr. ran for re-election to a fourth term, but was defeated by Democratic candidate Joe Lieberman, the Connecticut attorney general and eventual 2000 nominee for vice president of the United States, who would remain in office until his retirement in 2013.

Delaware

Incumbent Republican William Roth won re-election to a fourth term, beating Democrat Shien Biau Woo, lieutenant governor of Delaware.