2000 United States Senate elections

The 2000 United States Senate elections were held on November 7, 2000. The elections coincided with other federal and state elections, including the presidential election which was won by Republican George W. Bush. These elections took place 6 years after Republicans had won a net gain of eight seats in Senate Class 1. Despite George W. Bush's victory in the presidential election, the Republicans lost four senate seats, the most a winning president's party has lost since the passage of the 17th Amendment. This election marked the first election year since 1990 where Democrats made net gains in the Senate. Democrats defeated incumbent Republicans in Delaware, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, and Washington, and they won an open Republican-held seat in Florida. In Missouri, the winner was elected posthumously. The Republicans defeated Democratic incumbent Chuck Robb in Virginia, and won an open seat in Nevada. Additionally, Republican Senator Paul Coverdell of Georgia died earlier in the year and was replaced by Democratic appointee Zell Miller, who then went on to win the special election.

These elections resulted in an equal 50–50 split between Republicans and Democrats, with the Vice President casting the tie-breaking votes in the Senate. This was the second tied Senate, after the results in the 1880 elections. Democrats thereby technically won control of the Senate briefly from the Republicans but for only 17 days, since Democrat Al Gore was still Vice President and President of the Senate at the beginning of the new congressional term that started on January 3, 2001, and would remain so until the new Republican Vice President and President of the Senate Dick Cheney would be inaugurated on Inauguration Day on January 20th, 2001, restablishing the Republican majority. However, the Republican majority would only last until June 6, 2001, when Liberal Republican Senator Jim Jeffords of Vermont left the Republican Party and became an independent, deciding to caucus with the Democrats, switching control again to the Democrats. Democrats would lose their majority in the Senate again, being reduced to a plurality, after the death of Democratic Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone, before Republicans would once more and finally regain the majority in the Senate again after Republican Jim Talent won the 2002 United States Senate special election in Missouri, but since the election was held close to the end of the congressional term, Democrats would technically maintain control of the Senate before the new one started. Republicans were able to firmly establish their majority in the 2002 midterm elections, and Democrats would not regain control of the Senate again until the 2006 midterm elections.

Until 2020, this was the last time that Democrats would win a Senate seat in Georgia. This is the last election cycle with only Republicans and Democrats in the Senate, and the last election cycle in which Republicans won seats in Rhode Island and Vermont.

Results summary

{| style="width:40em; text-align:center"

|+ ↓

|- style="color:white"

| style="background:; width:50%" | 50

| Democratic

| Republican

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right"

|+ Summary of the 2000 United States Senate election results

! style="text-align:left" colspan=2 rowspan=2 | Parties

! colspan=3 | Breakdown

! colspan=2 | Total seats

! colspan=2 | Popular vote

! colspan=2 | Total candidates

! Up

! Elected

! Not up

! 2000

! +/-

! Vote

! %

! General

! Democratic Party

| 15

| 19

| 31

| 50

| 4

| 36,780,875

| 47.039%

| 33

! Republican Party

| 19

| 15

| 35

| 50

| 4

| 36,725,431

| 46.968%

| 34

! Libertarian Party

| -

| 1,036,684

| 1.326%

| 22

! Green Party

| -

| 652,329

| 0.834%

| 8

! Independent

| -

| 365,614

| 0.468%

| 24

! Constitution Party

| -

| 286,816

| 0.367%

| 8

! Reform Party

| -

| 190,509

| 0.244%

| 8

! Independence Party

| -

| 183,764

| 0.235%

| 2

! Socialist Workers Party

| -

| 15,996

| 0.020%

| 2

! Other parties

| -

| 1,461,975

| 1.870%

| 12

!Write-in

| -

| 324,295

| 0.415%

| -

! colspan=2 | Total

! 34

! 66

! 100

! -

! 78,191,797

! 100.0%

! 153

Source:

Change in composition

Before the elections

After the July 27, 2000, appointment in Georgia.

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

| width=50px | D

| | D

| | D

| | D

| | D

| | R

| rowspan=2 | R

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

| | R

| | R

After the elections

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

| width=50px | D

| | D

| | D

| | D

| | D

| rowspan=2 | D

| colspan=9 style="text-align:right" | Majority (with Democratic vice president) ↑

| | R

| | R

Beginning of the first session

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

| width=50px | D

| | D

| rowspan=2 | D

| colspan=9 style="text-align:right" | Majority (with Independent in caucus) ↑

| | R

| | I

| | R

|- style="vertical-align:top"

! Key:

{| class=wikitable

| align=center width=35px | D

| Democratic

| align=center width=35px | I

| Independent, caucusing with Democrats

| align=center width=35px | R

| Republican

Gains and losses

Retirements

[[File:2000 United States Senate elections retirements map.svg|thumb|250px|Map of retirements:

]]

One Republican and four Democrats retired instead of seeking re-election. John Chafee of Rhode Island had previously announced his intent to retire at the end of his term, however, he died in office on October 24, 1999.

{| 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"| 60

| align="center"| 1989

| |

! Nebraska

| |

| align="center"| 57

| align="center"| 1989

| |

! Nevada

| |

| align="center"| 63

| align="center"| 1989

| |

! New Jersey

| |

| align="center"| 76

| align="center"| 1982

| |

! New York

| |

| align="center"| 73

| align="center"| 1977

| |

Defeats

One Democrat and five Republicans 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

! Delaware

| |

| align="center"| 1971

| |

! Michigan

| |

| align="center"| 1995

| |

! Minnesota

| |

| align="center"| 1995

| |

! Missouri

| |

| align="center"| 1995

| | †

! Virginia

| |

| align="center"| 1989

| |

! Washington

| |

| align="center"| 1989

| |

Post-election changes

One Democratic senator-elect died on October 16, 2000, having been elected posthumously, and was replaced by a Democrat.

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

! scope="col" |State

! scope="col" |Senator

! scope="col" |Replaced by

! Missouri (Class 1)

| |

Race summary

Special elections during the previous Congress

In this special election, the winner was seated between January 1, 2000, and January 2, 2001.

{| class="wikitable"

|- valign=bottom

! rowspan=2 | State

! colspan=3 | Incumbent

! rowspan=2 | Result

! rowspan=2 | Candidates

! Senator

! Party

! Electoral history

! Georgia (Class 3)

| Zell Miller

| | Democratic

| 2000

| Interim appointee elected November 7, 2000.

| nowrap |

Elections to the next Congress

In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 2001.

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

| | Republican

| 1994

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! California

| | Democratic

| 1992 1994

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Connecticut

| | Democratic

| 1988 1994

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Delaware

| | Republican

| 1970 1971 1976 1982 1988 1994

| | Incumbent lost re-election. Democratic gain.

| nowrap |

! Florida

| | Republican

| 1988 1994

| | Incumbent retired. Democratic gain.

| nowrap |

! Hawaii

| | Democratic

| 1990 1990 1994

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Indiana

| | Republican

| 1976 1982 1988 1994

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Maine

| | Republican

| 1994

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Maryland

| | Democratic

| 1976 1982 1988 1994

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Massachusetts

| | Democratic

| 1962 1964 1970 1976 1982 1988 1994

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Michigan

| | Republican

| 1994

| | Incumbent lost re-election. Democratic gain.

| nowrap |

! Minnesota

| | Republican

| 1994

| | Incumbent lost re-election. DFL gain.

| nowrap |

! Mississippi

| | Republican

| 1988 1994

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Missouri

| | Republican

| 1994

| | Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected posthumously. Democratic gain. Carnahan's widow, Jean Carnahan, was appointed to begin the next term.

| nowrap |

! Montana

| | Republican

| 1988 1994

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Nebraska

| | Democratic

| 1988 1994

| | Incumbent retired. Democratic hold.

| nowrap |

! Nevada

| | Democratic

| 1988 1994

| | Incumbent retired. Republican gain.

| nowrap |

! New Jersey

| | Democratic

| 1982 1982 1988 1994

| | Incumbent retired. Democratic hold.

| nowrap |

! New Mexico

| | Democratic

| 1982 1988 1994

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! New York

| | Democratic

| 1976 1982 1988 1994

| | Incumbent retired. Democratic hold.

| nowrap |

! North Dakota

| | Democratic-NPL

| 1986 1992 1992 1994

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Ohio

| | Republican

| 1994

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Pennsylvania

| | Republican

| 1994

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Rhode Island

| | Republican

| 1999

| Interim appointee elected.

| nowrap |

! Tennessee

| | Republican

| 1994

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Texas

| | Republican

| 1993 1994

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Utah

| | Republican

| 1976 1982 1988 1994

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Vermont

| | Republican

| 1988 1994

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Virginia

| | Democratic

| 1988 1994

| | Incumbent lost re-election. Republican gain.

| nowrap |

! Washington

| | Republican

| 1980 1986 1988 1994

| | Incumbent lost re-election. Democratic gain.

| nowrap |

! West Virginia

| | Democratic

| 1958 1964 1970 1976 1982 1988 1994

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Wisconsin

| | Democratic

| 1988 1994

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Wyoming

| | Republican

| 1994

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

Closest races

In ten races the margin of victory was under 10%

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! District

! Winner

! Margin

| Washington

| data-sort-value=-1 | Democratic (flip)

| 0.09% Independent Bill Toel, Green party nominee Vance Hansen, and Libertarian party nominee Barry Hess each got more than 5% of the vote, a strong third party performance.

California

The heavily financed and popular senator Dianne Feinstein (D) easily won re-election to her second full term defeating the underfunded and underdog candidate Representative Tom Campbell (R) by over 19 points. Campbell even lost his own congressional district by almost 15 points.

Primary election results:

Despite touting his service as a moderate Republican representing a strongly Democratic district, Campbell was underfunded and a decided underdog against the popular, heavily financed Feinstein. By February, he spent barely $1 million without any PAC money. Campbell has generally supported gay rights and abortion. He also opposes the war on drugs and calls himself a "maverick", similar to U.S. senator John McCain. Campbell was badly defeated, losing by over 19 points.

Connecticut

Incumbent Democrat Joe Lieberman won re-election to a third term over Republican Philip Giordano, Mayor of Waterbury and former State Representative. While running for re-election, he was also Al Gore's running mate in the 2000 presidential campaign. With Gore losing the presidency to George W. Bush, Lieberman returned to the Senate and remained there for another 13 years, when he retired. Had the Gore–Lieberman ticket won, Lieberman would have become U.S. Vice President and forced to resign his Senate seat, which would have led to a 2002 special election. It would also have led Republican Governor John G. Rowland to temporarily appoint an interim replacement.

Lieberman, a very popular centrist incumbent, focused on his vice presidential campaign. He refused to show up at the debates. Giordano was a heavy underdog, as he was ignored by the press and as he debated alone.

Delaware

Incumbent Republican William Roth ran for re-election to a sixth term, but was defeated by Governor Tom Carper.

For 16 years the same four people had held the four major statewide positions. Because of term limits on the Governor's position Thomas Carper could not run again. Both he and U.S. Representative Michael Castle wanted to be U.S. senator. Roth would not retire, and fellow Republican Castle decided against a primary.

Roth, 79, was in the U.S. Senate for 30 years. He was the Chairman of the Finance Committee. Carper, 53, was a popular Governor and former U.S. Congressman of Delaware's At-large congressional district, who announced his major candidacy against Roth back in September 1999. Both candidates were moderates. Roth was one of the few Republicans to vote for the Brady Bill. Although Roth started the campaign with a 2-to-1 spending advantage, Carper went into the final month with more than $1 million on hand. In a contest between two popular and respected politicians, the issue seemed to be Roth's age versus Carper's relative youth.

Carper defeated Roth by over ten points. However, Roth received more votes than Presidential candidate George W. Bush, suggesting the strength of the Democratic turnout was a boon to Carper's candidacy and a key element of his victory. Many consider Roth's defeat due to his age and health, as he collapsed twice during the campaign, once in the middle of a television interview and once during a campaign event.