1998 United States Senate elections

Alaska election
← 1992 2004 →
	Results by state house district; Murkowski: 40–50% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%
U.S. senator before election; Frank Murkowski; Republican	Elected U.S. Senator ; Frank Murkowski; Republican

Alabama election
← 1992 2004 →
	County results; Shelby: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%; Suddith: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%
U.S. senator before election; Richard Shelby; Republican	Elected U.S. Senator ; Richard Shelby; Republican

1998 United States Senate elections
34 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate; 51 seats needed for a majority
	Results of the elections:; Democratic gain Democratic hold; Republican gain Republican hold; No election
Majority leader before election; Trent Lott; Republican	Elected Majority leader ; Trent Lott; Republican

The 1998 United States Senate elections were held on November 3, with the 34 seats of Class 3 contested in regular elections. This was seen as an even contest between the Republican Party and Democratic Party. While the Democrats had to defend more seats up for election, Republican attacks on the morality of President Bill Clinton failed to connect with voters and anticipated Republican gains did not materialize. The Republicans picked up open seats in Ohio and Kentucky and narrowly defeated Democratic incumbent Carol Moseley Braun (Illinois), but these were cancelled out by the Democrats' gain of an open seat in Indiana and defeats of Republican Senators Al D'Amato (New York) and Lauch Faircloth (North Carolina). The balance of the Senate remained unchanged at 55–45 in favor of the Republicans.

With Democrats gaining five seats in the House of Representatives, this marked the first time since 1934 that the party not in control of the White House failed to gain congressional seats in mid-term election cycles, which would also happen in 2002. These are the last Senate elections that resulted in no net change in the balance of power. This is the last time Democrats won a U.S. Senate race in South Carolina.

Results summary[edit]

↓
45	55
Democratic	Republican

Parties			Democratic	Republican	Libertarian	Other	Total
Parties							Total
Last elections (1996) Before the elections			45	55	0	0	100
Not up			27	39	—	—	66

Up Class 3 (1992→1998)			18	16	—	—	34


	Incumbent retired		3	2	—	—	5
		Held by same party	1	1	—	—	2
		Replaced by other party	1 Republican replaced by 1 Democrat 2 Democrats replaced by 2 Republicans		—	—	3
		Result	2	3	—	—	5
	Incumbent ran		15	14	—	—	29
		Won re-election	14	12	—	—	26
		Lost re-election	2 Republicans replaced by 2 Democrats 1 Democrat replaced by 1 Republican		—	—	3
		Lost renomination, but held by same party	0	0	—	—	0
		Result	16	13	—	—	29

	Total elected		18	16	0	0	34
	Net gain/loss						0
	Nationwide vote		26,768,699	25,346,613	419,452	1,580,287	54,115,051
		Share	49.47%	46.84%	0.78%	2.92%	100%
	Result		45	55	—	—	100

Source: Office of the Clerk^[1]

Gains, losses, and holds[edit]

Retirements[edit]

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

State	Senator	Replaced by
Arkansas	Dale Bumpers	Blanche Lincoln
Idaho	Dirk Kempthorne	Mike Crapo
Indiana	Dan Coats	Evan Bayh
Kentucky	Wendell Ford	Jim Bunning
Ohio	John Glenn	George Voinovich

Defeats[edit]

One Democrat and two Republicans sought re-election but lost in the general election.

State	Senator	Replaced by
Illinois	Carol Moseley Braun	Peter Fitzgerald
New York	Al D'Amato	Chuck Schumer
North Carolina	Lauch Faircloth	John Edwards

Post-election changes[edit]

Two Republicans died during the 106th Congress, and initially were all replaced by appointees.

State	Senator	Replaced by
Georgia (Class 3)	Paul Coverdell	Zell Miller
Rhode Island (Class 1)	John Chafee	Lincoln Chafee

Change in composition[edit]

Before the elections[edit]

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 Ark. Retired	D₂₉ Calif. Ran	D₃₀ Conn. Ran
D₄₀ Ore. Ran	D₃₉ Ohio Retired	D₃₈ N.D. Ran	D₃₇ Nev. Ran	D₃₆ Md. Ran	D₃₅ La. Ran	D₃₄ Ky. Retired	D₃₃ Ill. Ran	D₃₂ Hawaii Ran	D₃₁ Fla. Ran
D₄₁ S.C. Ran	D₄₂ S.D. Ran	D₄₃ Vt. Ran	D₄₄ Wash. Ran	D₄₅ Wisc. Ran	R₅₅ Utah Ran	R₅₄ Pa. Ran	R₅₃ Okla. Ran	R₅₂ N.C. Ran	R₅₁ N.Y. Ran
Majority →									R₅₁ N.Y. Ran
R₄₁ Alaska Ran	R₄₂ Ariz. Ran	R₄₃ Colo. Ran	R₄₄ Ga. Ran	R₄₅ Idaho Retired	R₄₆ Ind. Retired	R₄₇ Iowa Ran	R₄₈ Kans. Ran	R₄₉ Mo. Ran	R₅₀ N.H. Ran
R₄₀ Ala. Ran	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

After the elections[edit]

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 Ark. Hold	D₂₉ Calif. Re-elected	D₃₀ Conn. Re-elected
D₄₀ Vt. Re-elected	D₃₉ S.D. Re-elected	D₃₈ S.C. Re-elected	D₃₇ Ore. Re-elected	D₃₆ N.D. Re-elected	D₃₅ Nev. Re-elected	D₃₄ Md. Re-elected	D₃₃ La. Re-elected	D₃₂ Hawaii Re-elected	D₃₁ Fla. Re-elected
D₄₁ Wash. Re-elected	D₄₂ Wisc. Re-elected	D₄₃ Ind. Gain	D₄₄ N.Y. Gain	D₄₅ N.C. Gain	R₅₅ Ohio Gain	R₅₄ Ky. Gain	R₅₃ Ill. Gain	R₅₂ Utah Re-elected	R₅₁ Pa. Re-elected
Majority →									R₅₁ Pa. Re-elected
R₄₁ Alaska Re-elected	R₄₂ Ariz. Re-elected	R₄₃ Colo. Re-elected	R₄₄ Ga. Re-elected	R₄₅ Idaho Hold	R₄₆ Iowa Re-elected	R₄₇ Kans. Re-elected	R₄₈ Mo. Re-elected	R₄₉ N.H. Re-elected	R₅₀ Okla. Re-elected
R₄₀ Ala. Re-elected	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

Key

D_#	Democratic
R_#	Republican

Race summary[edit]

Special elections during the 105th Congress[edit]

There were no special elections in 1998.

Elections leading to the next Congress[edit]

In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 1999; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 3 seats.

State (linked to summaries below)	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State (linked to summaries below)	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Alabama	Richard Shelby	Republican	1986^[a] 1992	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Richard Shelby (Republican) 63.2% ▌Clayton Suddith (Democratic) 36.7%
Alaska	Frank Murkowski	Republican	1980 1986 1992	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Frank Murkowski (Republican) 74.5% ▌Joe Sonneman (Democratic) 19.7% ▌Jeffrey Gottlieb (Green) 3.2% ▌Scott Kohlhaas (Libertarian) 2.3%
Arizona	John McCain	Republican	1986 1992	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y John McCain (Republican) 68.7% ▌Ed Ranger (Democratic) 27.2% ▌John C. Zajac (Libertarian) 2.3% ▌Bob Park (Reform) 1.8%
Arkansas	Dale Bumpers	Democratic	1974 1980 1986 1992	Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Democratic hold.	▌Y Blanche Lincoln (Democratic) 55.1% ▌Fay Boozman (Republican) 42.2% ▌Charley E. Heffley (Reform) 2.7%
California	Barbara Boxer	Democratic	1992	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Barbara Boxer (Democratic) 53% ▌Matt Fong (Republican) 43% ▌Ted Brown (Libertarian) 1.1% ▌Timothy R. Erich (Reform) 1% Others ▌H. Joseph Perrin, Sr. (American Independent) 0.7% ▌Ophie C. Beltran (Peace and Freedom) 0.6% ▌Brian M. Rees (Natural Law) 0.6%
Colorado	Ben Nighthorse Campbell	Republican	1992^[b]	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Ben Nighthorse Campbell (Republican) 62.5% ▌Dottie Lamm (Democratic) 35% ▌David S. Segal (Libertarian) 1% Others ▌Kevin Swanson (American Constitution) 0.7% ▌Jeff Peckman (Natural Law) 0.3% ▌John Heckman (Concerns of People) 0.2% ▌Gary Swing (Pacifist) 0.1%
Connecticut	Chris Dodd	Democratic	1980 1986 1992	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Chris Dodd (Democratic) 65.1% ▌Gary Franks (Republican) 32.4% ▌William Kozak (Concerned Citizens) 1.3% Others ▌Lois A. Grasso (Term Limits) 0.7% ▌Wildey Moore (Libertarian) 0.5%
Florida	Bob Graham	Democratic	1986 1992	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Bob Graham (Democratic) 62.5% ▌Charlie Crist (Republican) 37.5%
Georgia	Paul Coverdell	Republican	1992	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Paul Coverdell (Republican) 52.3% ▌Michael Coles (Democratic) 45.3% ▌Bertil Armin Loftman (Libertarian) 2.5%
Hawaii	Daniel Inouye	Democratic	1962 1968 1974 1980 1986 1992	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Daniel Inouye (Democratic) 79.2% ▌Crystal Young (Republican) 17.8% ▌Lloyd Mallan (Libertarian) 3%
Idaho	Dirk Kempthorne	Republican	1992	Incumbent retired to run for Governor of Idaho. New senator elected. Republican hold.	▌Y Mike Crapo (Republican) 69.5% ▌Bill Mauk (Democratic) 28.4% ▌George J. Mansfeld (Natural Law) 2%
Illinois	Carol Moseley Braun	Democratic	1992	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Republican gain.	▌Y Peter Fitzgerald (Republican) 50.3% ▌Carol Moseley Braun (Democratic) 47.4% ▌Don A. Torgersen (Reform) 2.2% ▌Raymond W. Stalker (U.S. Taxpayers) 0.01%
Indiana	Dan Coats	Republican	1989 (Appointed) 1990 (special) 1992	Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Democratic gain.	▌Y Evan Bayh (Democratic) 63.7% ▌Paul Helmke (Republican) 34.8% ▌Rebecca Sink-Burris (Libertarian) 1.5%
Iowa	Chuck Grassley	Republican	1980 1986 1992	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Chuck Grassley (Republican) 68.4% ▌David Osterberg (Democratic) 30.5% ▌Susan Marcus (Natural Law) 0.8% ▌Margaret Trowe (Socialist Workers) 0.3%
Kansas	Sam Brownback	Republican	1996 (special)	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Sam Brownback (Republican) 65.3% ▌Paul Feleciano Jr. (Democratic) 31.6% ▌Tom Oyler (Libertarian) 1.6% ▌Alvin Bauman (Reform) 1.5%
Kentucky	Wendell Ford	Democratic	1974 1974 (Appointed) 1980 1986 1992	Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Republican gain.	▌Y Jim Bunning (Republican) 49.7% ▌Scotty Baesler (Democratic) 49.2% ▌Charles R. Arbegust (Reform) 1.1%
Louisiana	John Breaux	Democratic	1986 1992	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y John Breaux (Democratic) 64% ▌Jim Donelon (Republican) 32%
Maryland	Barbara Mikulski	Democratic	1986 1992	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Barbara Mikulski (Democratic) 70.5% ▌Ross Pierpont (Republican) 29.5%
Missouri	Kit Bond	Republican	1986 1992	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Kit Bond (Republican) 52.7% ▌Jay Nixon (Democratic) 43.8% ▌Tamara Millay (Libertarian) 2.0% ▌Curtis Frazier (U.S. Taxpayers) 1.0% ▌James F. Newport (Reform) 0.5%
Nevada	Harry Reid	Democratic	1986 1992	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Harry Reid (Democratic) 47.9% ▌John Ensign (Republican) 47.8% ▌Michael Cloud (Libertarian) 1.9% ▌None of These Candidates 1.8% ▌Michael E. Williams (Natural Law) 0.6%
New Hampshire	Judd Gregg	Republican	1992	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Judd Gregg (Republican) 67.8% ▌George Condodemetraky (Democratic) 28.2% ▌Brian Christeson (Libertarian) 2.4% ▌Roy Kendel (Independent) 1.5%
New York	Al D'Amato	Republican	1980 1986 1992	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Democratic gain.	▌Y Chuck Schumer (Democratic) 54.6% ▌Al D'Amato (Republican) 44.1% Others ▌Corinne E. Kurtz (Marijuana Reform) 0.7% ▌Joel Kovel (Green) 0.3% ▌William P. McMillen (Libertarian) 0.2% ▌Rose Ana Berbeo (Socialist Workers) 0.1%
North Carolina	Lauch Faircloth	Republican	1992	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Democratic gain.	▌Y John Edwards (Democratic) 51.2% ▌Lauch Faircloth (Republican) 47.0% ▌Barbara Howe (Libertarian) 1.8%
North Dakota	Byron Dorgan	Democratic-NPL	1992	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Byron Dorgan (Democratic-NPL) 63.1% ▌Donna Nalewaja (Republican) 35.2% ▌Harley McLain (Libertarian) 1.7%
Ohio	John Glenn	Democratic	1974 1974 (Appointed) 1980 1986 1992	Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Republican gain.	▌Y George Voinovich (Republican) 56.5% ▌Mary Boyle (Democratic) 43.5%
Oklahoma	Don Nickles	Republican	1980 1986 1992	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Don Nickles (Republican) 66.4% ▌Don Carroll (Democratic) 31.3% ▌Mike Morris (Independent) 1.8% ▌Argus W. Yandell, Jr. (Independent) 0.5%
Oregon	Ron Wyden	Democratic	1996 (special)	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Ron Wyden (Democratic) 61% ▌John Lim (Republican) 33.8% ▌Karen Moskowitz (Green) 2.0% ▌Jim Brewster (Libertarian) 1.6% Others ▌Michael A. Campbell (Natural Law) 0.8% ▌Dean M. Braa (Socialist) 0.7%
Pennsylvania	Arlen Specter	Republican	1980 1986 1992	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Arlen Specter (Republican) 61.3% ▌Bill Lloyd (Democratic) 34.8% ▌Dean Snyder (Constitution) 2.3% ▌Jack Iannantuono (Libertarian) 1.6%
South Carolina	Fritz Hollings	Democratic	1966 (special) 1968 1974 1980 1986 1992	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Fritz Hollings (Democratic) 52.7% ▌Bob Inglis (Republican) 45.7% ▌Richard Quillian (Libertarian) 1.6%
South Dakota	Tom Daschle	Democratic	1986 1992	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Tom Daschle (Democratic) 62.1% ▌Ron Schmidt (Republican) 36.4% ▌Byron Dale (Libertarian) 1.4%
Utah	Bob Bennett	Republican	1992	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Bob Bennett (Republican) 64% ▌Scott Leckman (Democratic) 33% ▌Gary R. Van Horn (Independent American) 3%
Vermont	Patrick Leahy	Democratic	1974 1980 1986 1992	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Patrick Leahy (Democratic) 72.2% ▌Fred Tuttle (Republican) 22.5% ▌Hugh Douglas (Libertarian) 2.0% ▌Barry M. Nelson (Independent) 1.4% ▌Bob Melamede (Vermont Grassroots) 1.2% ▌Jerry Levy (Liberty Union) 0.6%
Washington	Patty Murray	Democratic	1992	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Patty Murray (Democratic) 58.4% ▌Linda Smith (Republican) 41.6%
Wisconsin	Russ Feingold	Democratic	1992	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Russ Feingold (Democratic) 50.6% ▌Mark Neumann (Republican) 48.4% Others ▌Robert R. Raymond (U.S. Taxpayers) 0.5% ▌Tom Ender (Libertarian) 0.3% ▌Eugene A. Hem (Independent) 0.2%

Closest races[edit]

Eight races had a margin of less than 10%:

State	Party of winner	Margin
Nevada	Democratic	0.09%
Kentucky	Republican (flip)	0.59%
Wisconsin	Democratic	2.1%
Illinois	Republican (flip)	2.9%
North Carolina	Democratic (flip)	4.1%
South Carolina	Democratic	7.0%
Georgia	Republican	7.2%
Missouri	Republican	8.9%

California was the tipping point state with a margin of 10.1%.

Alabama[edit]

Incumbent Republican Richard Shelby won re-election to a third term. Shelby had been elected in 1986 and 1992 as a Democrat, but switched to the Republican party in 1994, making this the first election he competed in as a Republican. He beat Democrat Clayton Suddith, an army veteran and former Franklin County Commissioner.^[2]

1998 United States Senate election in Alabama^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Richard Shelby (Incumbent)	817,973	63.2%
	Democratic	Clayton Suddith	474,568	36.7%
	Independent	Write-ins	864	0.1%
Majority			343,405	26.5%
Turnout			1,293,405	100.0%
	Republican hold

Alaska[edit]

Incumbent Republican Frank Murkowski easily won re-election to a fourth term against Democratic nominee Joseph Sonneman, a perennial candidate, earning nearly 75% of the vote.

Open primary^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Frank Murkowski (Incumbent)	76,649	71.76%
	Democratic	Joseph Sonneman	10,721	10.04%
	Democratic	Frank Vondersaar	6,342	5.94%
	Republican	William L. Hale	6,313	5.91%
	Green	Jeffrey Gottlieb	4,796	4.49%
	Libertarian	Scott A. Kohlhaas	1,987	1.86%
Total votes			106,808	100.00%
	Republican hold

1998 United States Senate election in Alaska^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Frank Murkowski (Incumbent)	165,227	74.49%	+21.44%
	Democratic	Joe Sonneman	43,743	19.72%	-18.68%
	Green	Jeffrey Gottlieb	7,126	3.21%	-5.14%
	Libertarian	Scott A. Kohlhaas	5,046	2.27%
	Write-ins		665	0.30%
Majority			121,484	54.77%	+40.13%
Turnout			221,807
	Republican hold

Arizona[edit]

Arizona election

← 1992

2004 →


Nominee	John McCain	Ed Ranger
Party	Republican	Democratic
Popular vote	696,577	275,224
Percentage	68.7%	27.2%

County results
McCain: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%

U.S. senator before election

John McCain
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

John McCain
Republican

Incumbent Republican John McCain won re-election to a third term over Democratic attorney Ed Ranger.^[5]

General election result^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	John McCain (Incumbent)	696,577	68.74%	+12.93%
	Democratic	Ed Ranger	275,224	27.16%	-4.41%
	Libertarian	John C. Zajac	23,004	2.27%	+0.63%
	Reform	Bob Park	18,288	1.80%
	Write-ins		187	0.02%
Majority			421,353	41.58%	+17.34%
Turnout			1,013,280
	Republican hold

Arkansas[edit]

Arkansas election

← 1992

2004 →


Nominee	Blanche Lincoln	Fay Boozman
Party	Democratic	Republican
Popular vote	385,878	295,870
Percentage	55.1%	42.4%

County results
Lincoln: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%
Boozman: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%

U.S. senator before election

Dale Bumpers
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Blanche Lincoln
Democratic

Incumbent Dale Bumpers retired. U.S. Representative Blanche Lincoln won the open seat.

Democratic primary^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Blanche Lincoln	145,009	45.5%
	Democratic	Winston Bryant	87,183	27.4%
	Democratic	Scott Ferguson	44,761	14.0%
	Democratic	Nate Coulter	41,848	13.1%
Total votes			318,801	100.00%

Republican primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Fay Boozman	128,929	78.0%
	Republican	Tom Prince	44,006	22.0%
Total votes			172,035	100.00%

Arkansas Senate election 1998
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Blanche Lincoln	385,878	55.1%
	Republican	Fay Boozman	295,870	42.2%
	Reform	Charley E. Heffley	18,896	2.7%
Majority			90,008	12.9%
Turnout			700,644	100.0%
	Democratic hold

California[edit]

California election

← 1992

2004 →


Nominee	Barbara Boxer	Matt Fong
Party	Democratic	Republican
Popular vote	4,411,705	3,576,351
Percentage	53.1%	43.0%

County results
Boxer: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%
Fong: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%

U.S. senator before election

Barbara Boxer
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Barbara Boxer
Democratic

Incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer won re-election to a second term.

1998 United States Senate Democratic primary, California
Candidate	Votes	%
Barbara Boxer (Incumbent)	2,574,264	92.15%
John Pinkerton	219,250	7.85%
Total votes	2,793,514	100.00%

1998 United States Senate Republican primary, California
Candidate	Votes	%
Matt Fong	1,292,662	45.28%
Darrell Issa	1,142,567	40.02%
Frank Riggs	295,886	10.36%
John M. Brown	48,941	1.71%
Mark Raus	45,480	1.59%
Linh Dao	29,241	1.02%
Total votes	2,854,777	100.00%

1998 United States Senate primary, California (Others)
	Candidate	Votes	%
Libertarian	Ted Brown	67,408	100.00%
Peace and Freedom	Ophie C. Beltran	52,306	100.00%
Reform	Timothy R. Erich	45,601	100.00%
American Independent	Joseph Perrin, Sr.	24,026	100.00%
Natural Law	Brian M. Rees	23,945	100.00%

Although the race was predicted^{[by whom?]} to be fairly close, Boxer still defeated Fong by a ten-point margin. Boxer as expected did very well in Los Angeles County, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

1998 United States Senate election, California^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Barbara Boxer (Incumbent)	4,410,056	53.06%
	Republican	Matt Fong	3,575,078	43.01%
	Libertarian	Ted Brown	93,926	1.13%
	Reform	Timothy R. Erich	82,918	1.00%
	American Independent	Joseph Perrin, Sr.	54,699	0.66%
	Peace and Freedom	Ophie C. Beltran	48,685	0.56%
	Natural Law	Brian M. Rees	46,543	0.59%
Total votes			8,311,905	100.00%
Turnout			{{{votes}}}
	Democratic hold

Colorado[edit]

Colorado election

← 1992

2004 →


Nominee	Ben Nighthorse Campbell	Dottie Lamm
Party	Republican	Democratic
Popular vote	829,370	464,754
Percentage	62.5%	35.0%

County results
Nighthorse Campbell:
50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%
Lamm: 50–60%

U.S. senator before election

Ben Nighthorse Campbell
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Ben Nighthorse Campbell
Republican

Incumbent Republican Ben Nighthorse Campbell won re-election to a second term.

Colorado Democratic primary^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dottie Lamm	84,929	57.98%
	Democratic	Gil Romero	61,548	42.02%
Total votes			146,477	100.00%

Colorado Republican primary^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ben Nighthorse Campbell (Incumbent)	154,702	70.62%
	Republican	Bill Eggert	64,347	29.38%
Total votes			219,049	100.00%

Campbell, who was elected in 1992 as a Democrat, switched parties after the 1994 Republican Revolution. He faced a primary challenger, but won with over 70% of the vote. In the general election, Democratic nominee Dottie Lamm criticized Campbell of flip flopping from being a moderate liberal to moderate conservative.^[8]^[9] In fact, throughout the entire campaign, Lamm mostly sent out negative attack advertisements about Campbell.^[10]

General election^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Ben Nighthorse Campbell (Incumbent)	829,370	62.49%	+19.78%
	Democratic	Dottie Lamm	464,754	35.02%	-16.76%
	Libertarian	David S. Segal	14,024	1.06%	+1.06%
	Constitution	Kevin Swanson	9,775	0.74%
	Natural Law	Jeffrey Peckham	4,101	0.31%
	Independent	John Heckman	3,230	0.24%
	Independent	Gary Swing	1,981	0.15%
Majority			364,616	27.47%	+18.40%
Turnout			1,327,235
	Republican hold		Swing

Connecticut[edit]

Connecticut election

← 1992

2004 →


Nominee	Chris Dodd	Gary A. Franks
Party	Democratic	Republican
Popular vote	628,306	312,177
Percentage	65.2%	32.4%

Dodd: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%
Franks: 40–50% 50–60%

U.S. senator before election

Chris Dodd
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Chris Dodd
Democratic

Incumbent Democrat Chris Dodd won re-election for a fourth term against former Republican U.S. Congressman Gary A. Franks.

Connecticut Senate election 1998^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Chris Dodd (Incumbent)	628,306	65.2%
	Republican	Gary A. Franks	312,177	32.4%
	Concerned Citizens	William Kozak	12,261	1.3%
	Independent	Lois A. Grasso	6,517	0.7%
	Libertarian	Wildey J. Moore	5,196	0.5%
Majority			316,129	32.8%
Turnout			964,457	100.0%
	Democratic hold

Florida[edit]

Florida election

← 1992

2004 →


Nominee	Bob Graham	Charlie Crist
Party	Democratic	Republican
Popular vote	2,436,407	1,463,755
Percentage	62.5%	37.5%

Graham: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%
Crist: 50–60% 60–70%

U.S. senator before election

Bob Graham
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Bob Graham
Democratic

Incumbent Democrat Bob Graham won re-election to a third term.

Democratic primary
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bob Graham (Incumbent)	909,349	100.00%

Republican primary^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Charlie Crist	365,894	66.40%
	Republican	Andy Martin	184,739	33.60%
Total votes			550,633	100.00%

Graham defeated Crist in a landslide, as Crist won just four counties in the state. There were no third party or independent candidates.

General election^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Daniel Robert Graham (incumbent)	2,436,407	62.47%	-2.93%
	Republican	Charles Joseph Crist, Jr.	1,463,755	37.53%	+2.94%
Majority			972,652	24.94%	-5.87%
Turnout			3,900,162	46.84%
Total votes			3,900,162	100.00%
	Democratic hold

Georgia[edit]

Georgia election

← 1992

2000 (special) →


Nominee	Paul Coverdell	Michael Coles
Party	Republican	Democratic
Popular vote	918,540	791,904
Percentage	52.37%	45.15%

County results
Coverdell: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%
Coles: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%

U.S. senator before election

Paul Coverdell
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Paul Coverdell
Republican

Incumbent Republican Paul Coverdell won re-election to a second term.^[4]

1998 Georgia United States Senate election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Paul Coverdell (Incumbent)	918,540	52.37%
	Democratic	Michael Coles	791,904	45.15%
	Libertarian	Bert Loftman	43,467	2.48%
	Socialist Workers	Daniel Fein (write-in)	42	0.00%
Majority			126,636	7.22%
Turnout			1,753,953
	Republican hold

Hawaii[edit]

Hawaii election

← 1992

2004 →


Nominee	Daniel Inouye	Crystal Young
Party	Democratic	Republican
Popular vote	315,252	70,964
Percentage	79.2%	17.8%

County results
Inouye: 70–80%

U.S. senator before election

Daniel Inouye
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Daniel Inouye
Democratic

Incumbent Democrat Daniel Inouye won re-election to a seventh term over Republican legislative aide Crystal Young.^[12]

General election^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Daniel Inouye (Incumbent)	315,252	79.2%
	Republican	Crystal Young	70,964	17.8%
	Libertarian	Lloyd Jeffrey Mallan	11,908	3.0%
Majority			244,288	61.4%
Turnout			398,124	100.0%
	Democratic hold

Idaho[edit]

Idaho election

← 1992

2004 →


Nominee	Mike Crapo	Bill Mauk
Party	Republican	Democratic
Popular vote	262,966	107,375
Percentage	69.5%	28.4%

County results
Crapo: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90%

U.S. senator before election

Dirk Kempthorne
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Mike Crapo
Republican

Incumbent Republican Dirk Kempthorne decided to retire after one term to run for governor. Republican nominee Mike Crapo won the open seat.

Democratic primary^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bill Mauk	22,503	100.00%
Total votes			22,503	100.00%

Republican primary^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Crapo	110,205	87.27%
	Republican	Matt Lambert	16,075	12.73%
Total votes			126,280	100.00%

General election^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Mike Crapo	262,966	69.54%	+13.01%
	Democratic	Bill Mauk	107,375	28.39%	-15.08%
	Natural Law	George J. Mansfeld	7,833	2.07%
Majority			155,591	41.14%	+28.10%
Turnout			378,174
	Republican hold

Illinois[edit]

Illinois election

← 1992

2004 →


Nominee	Peter Fitzgerald	Carol Moseley Braun
Party	Republican	Democratic
Popular vote	1,709,042	1,610,496
Percentage	50.4%	47.4%

County results
Fitzgerald: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%
Braun: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%

U.S. senator before election

Carol Moseley Braun
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Peter Fitzgerald
Republican

Incumbent Democrat Carol Moseley Braun decided to run for re-election, despite the number of controversies that she had in her first term. Republican State Senator Peter Fitzgerald won his party's primary with a slim margin of victory.

He ended up defeating the incumbent, with a margin of victory of approximately 3%. Peter Fitzgerald won all but five counties.

During Moseley Braun's term as U.S. Senator, she was plagued by several major controversies. Moseley Braun was the subject of a 1993 Federal Elections Commission investigation over $249,000 in unaccounted-for campaign funds. The agency found some small violations, but took no action against Moseley Braun, citing a lack of resources. Moseley Braun only admitted to bookkeeping errors. The Justice Department turned down two requests for investigations from the IRS.^[14]

In 1996, Moseley Braun made a private trip to Nigeria, where she met with dictator Sani Abacha. Despite U.S. sanctions against that country, due to Abacha's actions, the Senator did not notify, nor register her trip with, the State Department. She subsequently defended Abacha's human rights records in Congress.^[15]

Peter Fitzgerald, a State Senator, won the Republican primary, defeating Illinois Comptroller Loleta Didrickson with 51.8% of the vote, to Didrickson's 48.2%.^[16] Fitzgerald spent nearly $7 million in the Republican primary.^[17] He had a major financial advantage, as he was a multimillionaire. He ended up spending $12 million in his election victory.^[18]

In September, Moseley Braun created controversy again by using the word "nigger" to describe how she claims to be a victim of racism.^[18]

Most polls over the first few months showed Moseley Braun trailing badly. However, after she was helped in the final month by notable Democrats such as First Lady Hillary Clinton and U.S. Congressman Luis V. Gutierrez, three polls published in the last week showed her within the margin of error, and, in one poll, running even with Fitzgerald.^[19]

Moseley Braun was narrowly defeated by Republican Peter Fitzgerald. Moseley Braun only won five of Illinois's 102 counties. Despite this, the race was kept close by Moseley running up massive margins in Cook County, home of Chicago. However, it was not quite enough to win.

1998 Illinois United States Senate election^[20]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Peter Fitzgerald	1,709,041^[21]	50.35%^[21]	+7.4%
	Democratic	Carol Moseley Braun (Incumbent)	1,610,496^[21]	47.44%^[21]	-5.6%
	Reform	Don Torgersen	74,704^[21]	2.20%^[21]	0.00%
	US Taxpayers	Raymond Stalker	280^[21]	0.01%^[21]	0.00%
Majority			98,545	2.91%	0.00%
Turnout			3,394,521
	Republican gain from Democratic		Swing

Indiana[edit]

Indiana election

← 1992

2004 →


Nominee	Evan Bayh	Paul Helmke
Party	Democratic	Republican
Popular vote	1,012,244	552,732
Percentage	63.7%	34.8%

County results
Bayh: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80-90%
Helmke: 40–50%

U.S. senator before election

Dan Coats
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Evan Bayh
Democratic

Incumbent Republican Dan Coats decided to retire instead of seeking a second full term. Democratic nominee, former Governor Evan Bayh won the open seat his father once held.

General election^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Evan Bayh	1,012,244	63.7%
	Republican	Paul Helmke	552,732	34.8%
	Libertarian	Rebecca Sink-Burris	23,641	1.5%
Majority			459,512
Turnout			1,588,617
	Democratic gain from Republican		Swing

Iowa[edit]

Iowa election

← 1992

2004 →


Nominee	Chuck Grassley	David Osterberg
Party	Republican	Democratic
Popular vote	648,480	289,049
Percentage	68.41%	30.49%

County results
Grassley: 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% 80-90% >90%

U.S. senator before election

Chuck Grassley
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Chuck Grassley
Republican

Incumbent Republican Chuck Grassley sought re-election to a fourth term in the United States Senate, facing off against former State Representative David Osterberg, who won the Democratic nomination unopposed. Grassley had not faced a competitive election since 1980; this year proved no different, and Grassley crushed Osterberg to win a fourth term.

Democratic primary^[22]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	David Osterberg	86,064	99.45%
	Democratic	Write-ins	476	0.55%
Total votes			86,540	100.00%

Republican primary^[22]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Chuck Grassley (Incumbent)	149,943	99.72%
	Republican	Write-ins	419	0.28%
Total votes			150,362	100.00%

1998 United States Senate election in Iowa^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Chuck Grassley (Incumbent)	648,480	68.41%	-1.20%
	Democratic	David Osterberg	289,049	30.49%	+3.29%
	Natural Law	Susan Marcus	7,561	0.80%	-0.47%
	Socialist Workers	Margaret Trowe	2,542	0.27%	+0.16%
	Write-ins		275	0.03%
Majority			359,431	37.92%	-4.50%
Turnout			947,907
	Republican hold

Kansas[edit]

Kansas election

← 1996

2004 →


Nominee	Sam Brownback	Paul Feleciano
Party	Republican	Democratic
Popular vote	474,639	229,718
Percentage	65.3%	31.6%

County results

Brownback: 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% 80-90%

Feleciano: 50–60%

U.S. senator before election

Sam Brownback
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Sam Brownback
Republican

Incumbent Republican Sam Brownback won re-election to his first full term. Brownback was first elected in a special election held in 1996, when then-Senator Bob Dole resigned to campaign for U.S. President, after 27 years in the Senate. This would've been Dole's seventh term in office had he remained in his seat.

Democratic primary^[23]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Paul Feleciano, Jr.	58,097	58.73%
	Democratic	Todd Covault	40,825	41.27%
Total votes			98,922	100.00%

Republican Party primary^[23]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sam Brownback (Incumbent)	255,747	100.00%
Total votes			255,747	100.00%

General election^[24]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Sam Brownback (Incumbent)	474,639	65.27%	+11.35%
	Democratic	Paul Feleciano, Jr.	229,718	31.59%	-11.74%
	Libertarian	Tom Oyler	11,545	1.59%
	Reform	Alvin Bauman	11,334	1.56%	-1.20%
Majority			244,921	33.68%	+23.10%
Turnout			727,236
	Republican hold

Kentucky[edit]

Kentucky election

← 1992

2004 →


Nominee	Jim Bunning	Scotty Baesler
Party	Republican	Democratic
Popular vote	569,817	563,051
Percentage	49.8%	49.2%

County results
Bunning: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%
Baesler: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%

U.S. senator before election

Wendell Ford
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Jim Bunning
Republican

Incumbent Democratic U.S Senator Wendell Ford decided to retire, instead of seeking a fifth term. Republican Representative Jim Bunning won the open seat.

Democratic primary^[25]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Scotty Baesler	194,125	34.16%
	Democratic	Charlie Owen	166,472	29.29%
	Democratic	Steve Henry	156,576	27.55%
	Democratic	Jim Brown	19,975	3.51%
	Democratic	David L. Williams	16,366	2.88%
	Democratic	Ken Buchanan Thompson	14,778	2.60%
Total votes			568,292	100.00%

Republican primary^[25]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jim Bunning	152,493	74.28%
	Republican	Barry Metcalf	52,798	25.72%
Total votes			205,291	100.00%

General election^[26]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Jim Bunning	569,817	49.75%	+13.94%
	Democratic	Scotty Baesler	563,051	49.16%	-13.73%
	Reform	Charles R. Arbegust	12,546	1.10%
Majority			6,766	0.59%	-26.48%
Total votes			1,145,414	100.00%
	Republican gain from Democratic		Swing

Louisiana[edit]

Louisiana election

← 1992

2004 →


Nominee	John Breaux	Jim Donelon
Party	Democratic	Republican
Popular vote	620,502	306,616
Percentage	64.0%	31.6%

Parish results
Breaux:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
     70–80%
Donelon:      50–60%

U.S. senator before election

John Breaux
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

John Breaux
Democratic

Incumbent Democrat John Breaux won re-election to a third term. As of 2022, this is the last time the Democrats have won the Class 3 Senate Seat from Louisiana.

1998 Louisiana United States Senate election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Breaux (Incumbent)	620,502	64.0%
	Republican	Jim Donelon	306,616	31.6%
	Independent	Raymond Brown	12,203	1.3%
	Independent	Sam Houston Melton	9,893	1.0%
	Independent	Darryl Paul Ward	7,964	0.8%
	Independent	L. D. Knox	6,366	0.7%
	Independent	Jeffrey H. Diket	3,227	0.3%
	Independent	Martin A. Rosenthal	2,398	0.3%
Majority			313,886	32.4%
Turnout			969,169	100.0%
	Democratic hold

Maryland[edit]

Maryland election

← 1992

2004 →


Nominee	Barbara Mikulski	Ross Pierpont
Party	Democratic	Republican
Popular vote	1,062,810	444,637
Percentage	70.5%	29.5%

County results
Mikulski: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%
Pierpont: 50–60%

U.S. senator before election

Barbara Mikulski
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Barbara Mikulski
Democratic

Incumbent Democrat Barbara Mikulski won re-election to a third term.

Democratic primary^[27]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Barbara A. Mikulski (Incumbent)	349,382	84.36%
	Democratic	Ann L. Mallory	43,120	10.41%
	Democratic	Kauko H. Kokkonen	21,658	5.23%
Total votes			414,160	100.00%

Republican primary^[27]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ross Z. Pierpont	32,691	18.40%
	Republican	John Taylor	22,855	12.87%
	Republican	Michael Gloth	19,926	11.22%
	Republican	Kenneth Wayman	16,505	9.29%
	Republican	Bradlyn McClanahan	16,439	9.25%
	Republican	Howard David Greyber	16,177	9.11%
	Republican	John Stafford	15,031	8.46%
	Republican	George Liebmann	14,440	8.13%
	Republican	Barry Steve Asbury	11,881	6.69%
	Republican	Thomas Scott	11,707	6.59%
Total votes			177,652	100.00%

1998 United States Senate election in Maryland^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Barbara A. Mikulski (Incumbent)	1,062,810	70.50%	-0.51%
	Republican	Ross Z. Pierpont	444,637	29.50%	+0.51%
Majority			618,173	41.01%	-1.02%
Total votes			1,507,447	100.00%
	Democratic hold

Missouri[edit]

Missouri election

← 1992

2004 →


Nominee	Kit Bond	Jay Nixon
Party	Republican	Democratic
Popular vote	830,625	690,208
Percentage	52.7%	43.8%

County results

Bond: 40-50% 50-60% 60-70% 70-80%

Nixon: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%

U.S. senator before election

Kit Bond
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Kit Bond
Republican

Incumbent Republican Kit Bond won re-election to a third term.^[4]

General election results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Kit Bond (Incumbent)	830,625	52.68%
	Democratic	Jay Nixon	690,208	43.77%
	Libertarian	Tamara Millay	31,876	2.02%
	Constitution	Curtis Frazier	15,368	0.98%
	Reform	James Newport	8,780	0.56%
Majority			140,417	8.90%
Turnout			1,576,857
	Republican hold

Nevada[edit]

Nevada election

← 1992

2004 →


Nominee	Harry Reid	John Ensign
Party	Democratic	Republican
Popular vote	208,621	208,220
Percentage	47.9%	47.8%

County results
Reid: 50–60%
Ensign: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%

U.S. senator before election

Harry Reid
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Harry Reid
Democratic

Incumbent Democrat Harry Reid won re-election to a third term.

Republican primary^[28]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Ensign	105,263	80.57%
	Republican	Ralph W. Stephens	13,679	10.47%
	Republican	None of these candidates	11,704	8.96%
Total votes			130,646	100.00%

Reid won in a close election by 401 votes—even closer than Tim Johnson's Senate run in South Dakota in 2002, when he narrowly defeated Congressman John Thune by 524 votes. Ensign did not contest the results, and Reid won the race.

General election^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Harry Reid (Incumbent)	208,621	47.86%	-3.19%
	Republican	John Ensign	208,220	47.77%	+7.56%
	Libertarian	Michael Cloud	8,129	1.87%	+0.41%
	None of These Candidates		8,113	1.86%	-0.79%
	Natural Law	Michael E. Williams	2,781	0.64%	-0.83%
Majority			401	0.09%	-10.74%
Turnout			435,864
	Democratic hold

New Hampshire[edit]

New Hampshire election

← 1992

2004 →


Nominee	Judd Gregg	George Condodemetraky
Party	Republican	Democratic
Popular vote	213,477	88,883
Percentage	67.8%	28.2%

Gregg: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90%
Condodemetraky: 50–60%

U.S. senator before election

Judd Gregg
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Judd Gregg
Republican

Incumbent Republican Judd Gregg won re-election to his second term.

General election^[29]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Judd Gregg (Incumbent)	213,477	67.8%
	Democratic	George Condodemetraky	88,883	28.2%
	Libertarian	Brian Christeson	7,603	2.4%
	Independent American	Roy Kendel	4,733	1.5%
Majority			124,594	39.6%
Turnout			314,696	100.0%
	Republican hold

New York[edit]

New York election

← 1992

2004 →


Nominee	Chuck Schumer	Al D'Amato
Party	Democratic	Republican
Popular vote	2,551,065	2,058,988
Percentage	54.6%	44.1%

County results
Schumer: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%
D'Amato: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%

U.S. senator before election

Al D'Amato
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Chuck Schumer
Democratic

Incumbent Republican Al D'Amato was running for re-election to a fourth term, but lost to Chuck Schumer in what was considered by many to be the "high[est] profile and nastiest" contest of the year.^[30]

Geraldine Ferraro, former U.S. Representative and nominee for Vice President in 1984, was well known for having been the 1984 Democratic vice presidential nominee and had also run but lost in the Democratic primary in the 1992 U.S. Senate election in New York. Mark Green, New York City Public Advocate, had been the Democratic nominee in the 1986 election, but lost in the general election to D'Amato.

At the start of 1998, Ferraro had done no fundraising, out of fear of conflict of interest with her job hosting the CNN program Crossfire, but was nonetheless perceived as the front-runner by virtue of her name recognition;^[31] indeed, December and January polls had her 25 percentage points ahead of Green in the race and even further ahead of Schumer.^[32]^[33] Unlike her previous campaigns, Ferraro's family finances never became an issue in 1998.^[32] However, she lost ground during the summer, with Schumer catching her in the polls by early August and then soon passing her.^[34] Schumer, a tireless fundraiser, outspent her by a five-to-one margin, and Ferraro failed to establish a political image current with the times.^[32]^[35] In the September 15, 1998, primary, she was beaten soundly by Schumer with a 51 percent to 26 percent margin.^[32] Unlike the bitter 1992 Democratic senatorial primary, this contest was not divisive, and Ferraro and third-place finisher Green endorsed Schumer at a unity breakfast the following day.^[36]

The primaries were held on September 15, 1998.

Democratic primary for the 1998 United States Senate election in New York^[37]
	Candidate	Votes	%
Democratic	Chuck Schumer	388,701	50.84%
Democratic	Geraldine Ferraro	201,625	26.37%
Democratic	Mark Green	145,819	19.07%
Democratic	Eric Ruano-Melendez	28,493	3.73%

Independence Party primary for the 1998 United States Senate election in New York^[38]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independence	Chuck Schumer	2,562	58.04%
	Independence	Mark Green	1,852	41.96%

Right to Life Party primary for the 1998 United States Senate election in New York^[39]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Right to Life	Al D'Amato	3,798	63.07%
	Right to Life	Thomas Drolesky	2,224	36.93%

During the general campaign, D'Amato attempted to brand Schumer as a diehard liberal, while Schumer accused D'Amato of being a liar. When D'Amato's first strategy failed, D'Amato attacked his opponent's attendance record as a member of Congress, which Schumer refuted.^[40]^[41]

Late in the campaign, D'Amato called Schumer a "putzhead" in a private meeting with Jewish supporters ("putz" is Yiddish for penis, and can be slang for "fool").^[42] The senator later apologized.^[30]

In the last days of the campaign, D'Amato campaigned with popular Governor George Pataki, who was also running for re-election, and was also supported by New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Mayor Ed Koch (a Democrat)^[42] Vice President Al Gore and First Lady Hillary Clinton personally campaigned for Schumer, as D'Amato was a prominent critic of President Bill Clinton^[40] who led the investigation into Whitewater.^[43] Though the Republican party was well organized, the Democratic party benefited from robocalls from President Clinton and mobilization from two big unions, United Federation of Teachers and 1199.^[40]

Though D'Amato was effective in obtaining federal government funds for New York State projects during his Senate career, he failed to capitalize on this in the election.^[40] Also, Schumer was a tenacious fund-raiser and was aggressive in his attacks.^[43] The candidates spent $30 million during the race.^[40]

The race was not close with Schumer defeating the incumbent D'Amato by just over 10%. D'Amato did win a majority of New York's counties, but his wins were in less populated areas. Schumer's win is attributed to strong performance in New York City. Schumer also performed well in heavily populated upstate cities, like Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester, and Albany.

1998 United States Senate election in New York^[44]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	*Chuck Schumer*	*2,386,314*
	Independence	Chuck Schumer	109,027
	Liberal	Chuck Schumer	55,724
	Total	Chuck Schumer	2,551,065	54.62%
	Republican	Al D'Amato	1,680,203
	Conservative	Al D'Amato	274,220
	Right to Life Party (New York)	Al D'Amato	104,565
	Total	Al D'Amato (Incumbent)	2,058,988	44.08%
	Marijuana Reform Party	Corinne Kurtz	34,281	0.73%
	Green	Joel Kovel	14,735	0.32%
	Libertarian	William McMillen	8,223	0.18%
	Socialist Workers	Rose Ana Berbeo	3,513	0.08%
Majority
Turnout
	Democratic gain from Republican

Per New York State law, Schumer and D'Amato totals include minor party line votes: Independence Party and Liberal Party for Schumer, Right to Life Party for D'Amato.

North Carolina[edit]

North Carolina election

← 1992

2004 →


Nominee	John Edwards	Lauch Faircloth
Party	Democratic	Republican
Popular vote	1,029,237	945,943
Percentage	51.15%	47.01%

County results
Edwards: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%
Faircloth: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%

U.S. senator before election

Lauch Faircloth
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

John Edwards
Democratic

Incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth decided to seek re-election to a second term, but was unseated by Democrat John Edwards.^[4]

In the Democratic primary, Edwards defeated D. G. Martin, Ella Scarborough, and several minor candidates. In the Republican primary, Faircloth easily defeated two minor candidates.^[45]

1998 North Carolina United States Senate election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Edwards	1,029,237	51.15%
	Republican	Lauch Faircloth (Incumbent)	945,943	47.01%
	Libertarian	Barbara Howe	36,963	1.84%
Majority			83,294	4.14%
Turnout			2,012,143
	Democratic gain from Republican

North Dakota[edit]

North Dakota election

← 1992

2004 →


Nominee	Byron Dorgan	Donna Nalewaja
Party	Democratic–NPL	Republican
Popular vote	134,747	75,013
Percentage	63.2%	35.2%

County results
Dorgan: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%
Tie: 40–50%

U.S. senator before election

Byron Dorgan
Democratic–NPL

Elected U.S. Senator

Byron Dorgan
Democratic–NPL

Incumbent NPL–Democrat Byron Dorgan won re-election to a second term.^[46]

Republican Donna Nalewaja, State Senator's campaign focused on the suggestion that Dorgan had served in the United States Congress for nearly 20 years, and had accomplished relatively little. Dorgan and Nalewaja won the primary elections for their respective parties. McLain had previously run for North Dakota's other Senate seat in 1980 against Mark Andrews.

1998 United States Senate election, North Dakota
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic–NPL	Byron Dorgan (Incumbent)	134,747	63.16%
	Republican	Donna Nalewaja	75,013	35.16%
	Reform	Harley McLain	3,598	1.69%
Majority
Turnout			213,358
	Democratic hold

Ohio[edit]

Ohio election

← 1992

2004 →


Nominee	George Voinovich	Mary Boyle
Party	Republican	Democratic
Popular vote	1,922,087	1,482,054
Percentage	56.5%	43.5%

County results

Voinovich: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%

Boyle: 50–60% 60–70%

U.S. senator before election

John Glenn
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

George Voinovich
Republican

Incumbent Democratic U.S Senator John Glenn decided to retire, instead of seeking a fifth term. Republican Governor George Voinovich won the open seat.

General election^[47]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	George V. Voinovich	1,922,087	56.5%
	Democratic	Mary Boyle	1,482,054	43.5%
Majority			440,033	13.0%
Turnout			3,404,141	100.0%
	Republican hold

Oklahoma[edit]

Oklahoma election

← 1992

2004 →


Nominee	Don Nickles	Don Carroll
Party	Republican	Democratic
Popular vote	570,682	268,898
Percentage	66.4%	31.3%

County results
Nickles: 40-50% 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% 80-90%
Carroll: 50–60%

U.S. senator before election

Don Nickles
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Don Nickles
Republican

Incumbent Republican Don Nickles won re-election to his fourth term.

OK U.S. Senate Election, 1998^[48]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Don Nickles (Incumbent)	570,682	66.4%
	Democratic	Don Carroll	268,898	31.3%
	Independent	Mike Morris	15,516	1.8%
	Independent	Argus W. Jr. Yandell	4,617	0.4%
Majority			301,784	35.1%
Turnout			859,713	100.0%
	Republican hold

Oregon[edit]

Oregon election

← 1996 (special)

2004 →


Nominee	Ron Wyden	John Lim
Party	Democratic	Republican
Popular vote	682,425	377,739
Percentage	61.1%	33.8%

County results

Wyden: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%

Lim: 50–60%

U.S. senator before election

Ron Wyden
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Ron Wyden
Democratic

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1998 United States Senate elections

Results summary[edit]

Gains, losses, and holds[edit]

Retirements[edit]

Defeats[edit]

Post-election changes[edit]

Change in composition[edit]

Before the elections[edit]

After the elections[edit]

Race summary[edit]

Special elections during the 105th Congress[edit]

Elections leading to the next Congress[edit]

Closest races[edit]

Alabama[edit]

Alaska[edit]

Arizona[edit]

Arkansas[edit]

California[edit]

Colorado[edit]

Connecticut[edit]

Florida[edit]

Georgia[edit]

Hawaii[edit]

Idaho[edit]

Illinois[edit]

Indiana[edit]

Iowa[edit]

Kansas[edit]

Kentucky[edit]

Louisiana[edit]

Maryland[edit]

Missouri[edit]

Nevada[edit]

New Hampshire[edit]

New York[edit]

North Carolina[edit]

North Dakota[edit]

Ohio[edit]

Oklahoma[edit]

Oregon[edit]

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