1992 United States Senate elections

← 1990 November 3, 1992 November 24 (Georgia runoff) December 4 (North Dakota special) 1994 →
← 1986 Class 3 1998 →
36[a] of the 100 seats in theUnited States Senate 51 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader George Mitchell Bob Dole Party Democratic Republican Leader since January 3, 1989 January 3, 1985 Leader's seat Maine Kansas Seats before 57 43 Seats after 57 43 Seat change Popular vote 40,589,727[1][b] 35,449,473[1][b] Percentage 49.9% 43.6% Seats up 21 15 Races won 21[b] 15
Results of the elections:      Democratic gain     Democratic hold      Republican gain     Republican hold      No election Rectangular inset (Calif. &N. D.): both seats up for election
Majority Leader before election George Mitchell Democratic ElectedMajority Leader George Mitchell Democratic

The1992 United States Senate elections, held November 3, 1992, were elections for theUnited States Senate. The 34 seats ofClass 3 were contested in regular elections, along with special elections to fill vacancies. They coincided withBill Clinton's victory in thepresidential election. This was the first time since 1956 that the balance of the Senate remained the same.

Both parties swapped a pair of seats, resulting in no net change in the partisan breakdown, which had been at 57–43 since Democrats flipped a seat in Pennsylvania in a special election. Democratic victories over RepublicansJohn F. Seymour in thespecial California race andBob Kasten inWisconsin were canceled out by the defeats of DemocratsWyche Fowler inGeorgia andTerry Sanford inNorth Carolina.

The election of 4 new Democratic women to the Senate was notable with it being referred to in the press as the "Year of the Woman". Due to aspecial election in California, both of California's Senate seats were up for election in 1992, and these seats were won byDianne Feinstein andBarbara Boxer. Thus, California became the first state to have elected women to occupy both of its Senate seats. DemocratCarol Moseley Braun ofIllinois, became the first African-American woman in the United States Senate. As of 2025^[update], this was the last election cycle in which Republicans won a Senate election inNew York and Democrats inKentucky.

Seat totals include both the special elections inCalifornia andNorth Dakota, but vote totals exclude the North Dakota total.

Parties							Total
		Democratic	Republican	Libertarian	Independent	Other
Last elections (1990)		56	44	0	0	0	100
Before these elections		57	43	0	0	0	100
Not up		36	28	—	—	—	64
Up		21	15	—	—	—	36
	Class 3 (1986→1992)	20	14	—	—	—	34
	Special: Class 1	1	1	—	—	—	2
Incumbent retired		5[c]	3	—	—	—	8
	Held by same party	5	3	—	—	—	8
	Replaced by other party	0	0	—	—	—	0
	Result	5	3	—	—	—	8
Incumbent ran		16[d]	12[e]	—	—	—	28
	Won re-election	13	10	—	—	—	23
	Lost re-election	2 Republicans replaced by2 Democrats 2 Democrats replaced by2 Republicans		—	—	—	4
	Lost renomination, but held by same party	1	0	—	—	—	1
	Result	16	12	—	—	—	28
Total elected		21	15	—	—	—	36
Net gain/loss							0
Nationwide vote		40,589,727	35,449,473[f]	1,234,416	624,673	3,486,729	81,385,018
	Share	49.87%	43.56%	1.52%	0.77%	4.28%	100%
Result		57	43	—	—	—	100

Source: Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives^[1]

Three Republicans and four Democrats retired instead of seeking re-election. One Democrat also retired instead of finishing the unexpired term.

One Republican and three Democrats sought re-election but lost either in the primary or general election. One Republican also sought election to finish the term but lost in the special election.

Two Democrats resigned and were replaced by appointees. In Texas, a1993 special election was held prior to the1994 United States Senate elections, where Kay Bailey Hutchison won the special election to succeed Democratic appointee Bob Krueger, who lost election to finish the term.

In these special elections, the winners were elected and seated in the fall of 1992. Elections are sorted by election date then state and class.

In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 1993; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 3 seats.

In thirteen races, the margin of victory was under 10%.

Illinois was the tipping point state, decided by a margin of 10%.

Alabama election

← 1986 1998 →

Nominee Richard Shelby Richard Sellers Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,022,698 522,015 Percentage 64.8% 33.1%

County results Shelby:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     90–100% Sellers:     50–60%

U.S. senator before election Richard Shelby Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Richard Shelby Democratic

Incumbent DemocratRichard Shelby won re-election to a second term, beatingRichard Sellers, a conservative activist.^[2]

Alaska election

← 1986 1998 →

Nominee Frank Murkowski Tony Smith Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 127,163 92,065 Percentage 53.05% 38.41%   Nominee Mary Jordan Party Green Popular vote 20,019 Percentage 8.35%

Results by state house district Murkowski:     40–50%     50–60% Smith:     40–50%     50–60%

U.S. senator before election Frank Murkowski Republican Elected U.S. Senator Frank Murkowski Republican

Incumbent RepublicanFrank Murkowski sought re-election to a third term in theUnited States Senate. Tony Smith, the Democratic nominee and a formerCommissioner of Economic Development, won his party's nomination in a crowded primary and faced off against Murkowski in the general election. Though Murkowski was held to a lower vote percentage than he receivedsix years prior, he was ultimately re-elected.

Arizona election

← 1986 1998 →

Nominee John McCain Claire Sargent Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 771,395 436,321 Percentage 55.8% 31.6%   Nominee Evan Mecham Party Independent Popular vote 145,361 Percentage 10.3%

County results McCain:     40–50%     50–60% Sargent:     40–50%

U.S. senator before election John McCain Republican Elected U.S. Senator John McCain Republican

Incumbent RepublicanJohn McCain won re-election to a second term over Democrat Claire Sargent, community activist^[6] and Independent former GovernorEvan Mecham.

Arkansas election

← 1986 1998 →

Nominee Dale Bumpers Mike Huckabee Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 553,635 366,373 Percentage 60.2% 39.8%

County results Bumpers:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Huckabee:     50–60%

U.S. senator before election Dale Bumpers Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Dale Bumpers Democratic

Incumbent Democratic senatorDale Bumpers won re-election to a fourth term. His Republican opponent was future Arkansas lieutenant governor, governor, and two-time presidential candidateMike Huckabee, a church pastor fromTexarkana.

The 1992 election coincided with Arkansas governorBill Clinton's election asPresident of the United States, in which he also won his home state. In contrast with Bumpers' landslide where he won over 60% of the vote, Clinton won only 53.21% of the vote. Bumpers would serve another term in the U.S. Senate before deciding to retire in 1998.

Due to the resignation ofPete Wilson to becomeGovernor of California, there were two senate elections in California as both seats were up for election and both won by women. California ultimately become the first state to have two sitting women senators.

California general election

← 1986 1998 →

Nominee Barbara Boxer Bruce Herschensohn Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 5,173,467 4,644,182 Percentage 47.9% 43.0%

County results Boxer:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70% Herchensohn:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%

U.S. senator before election Alan Cranston Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer Democratic

Incumbent DemocratAlan Cranston decided to retire. Democratic U.S. CongresswomanBarbara Boxer won the open seat over Republican conservative TV talk show commentatorBruce Herschensohn. Both of California's senators were elected for the first time. This is not a unique occurrence; it would happen again inTennessee in 1994,Kansas in 1996 andGeorgia in 2020-2021. Fellow DemocratDianne Feinstein, California's other senator, won the special election and was inaugurated in November 1992.

The election between Boxer and Herschensohn was very close. At the eleventh hour, controversy emerged that the Republican nominee attended a strip club, which some Republican operatives later blamed for Herschensohn's loss.^[8]

Four days beforeElection Day polls showed Herschensohn had narrowed a double digit deficit, trailing by 3 points.Political operativeBob Mulholland disrupted a campaign appearance with a large poster advertising astrip club shouting "Should the voters of California elect someone who frequently travels the strip joints of Hollywood?" Herschensohn admitted he had visited a strip club once, with his girlfriend and another couple. Withpress coverage of the story, Herschensohn spent the waning days of the campaign denying related allegations. When the votes were cast and counted, Barbara Boxer won the election by five points.^[9] Although Republicans have blamed the defeat on the underhanded tactics of the Boxer campaign, evidence of the connection between Mulholland's outburst and the campaign never surfaced.^[10][11][12]

The election was very close. Boxer was declared the winner by theAssociated Press at 1:22 A.M. Pacific Coast Time.

California special election

← 1988 1994 →

Nominee Dianne Feinstein John F. Seymour Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 5,853,651 4,093,501 Percentage 54.29% 37.96%

County results Feinstein:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Seymour:     40–50%     50–60%

U.S. senator before election John F. Seymour Republican Elected U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein Democratic

In the1990 gubernatorial election, Republican senatorPete Wilson had beaten DemocratDianne Feinstein for governor. He appointedJohn F. Seymour to the Senate to replace himself. In this special election held simultaneously with the regular Senate election, Feinstein defeated Seymour to serve the remaining 2 years of the term and took office November 4, only 1 day after the election. Fellow DemocratBarbara Boxer won the regular election and was sworn in in January 1993.

Both of California's senators were simultaneously elected for the first time. This is not a unique occurrence; it would happen again inTennessee in 1994,Kansas in 1996, andGeorgia in 2020.

Colorado election

← 1986 1998 →

Nominee Ben Nighthorse Campbell Terry Considine Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 803,725 662,893 Percentage 51.8% 42.7%

County results Nighthorse Campbell:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Considine:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%

U.S. senator before election Tim Wirth Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell Democratic

Incumbent DemocratTim Wirth decided to retire instead of seeking a second term. Democratic congressmanBen Nighthorse Campbell won the open seat, beating Republican State senatorTerry Considine.

Connecticut election

← 1986 1998 →

Nominee Chris Dodd Brook Johnson Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 882,569 572,036 Percentage 58.8% 38.1%

County results Municipality results Dodd:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Johnson:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%

U.S. senator before election Chris Dodd Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Chris Dodd Democratic

Incumbent DemocratChristopher Dodd won re-election for a third term over Republican businessman Brook Johnson.

Johnson, a millionaire businessman who had never run for public office before, spent about $900,000 during the primary campaign. His television and radio commercials said that he would bring "a dose of success Washington needs." Dodd had $2 million cash on hand following the primaries.^[14]

Florida election

← 1986 1998 →

Nominee Bob Graham James W. Grant Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 3,245,585 1,716,511 Percentage 65.4% 35.4%

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

U.S. senator before election Bob Graham Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Bob Graham Democratic

Incumbent DemocratBob Graham won re-election to a second term, beating Republican former U.S. RepresentativeBill Grant.

Graham defeated Grant in a landslide, as Grant won just one county in the state (Okaloosa County, Florida). There were no third party or independent candidates.

1992 United States Senate election in Georgia

← 1986 November 3, 1992 (first round) November 24, 1992 (runoff) 1998 →

Nominee Paul Coverdell Wyche Fowler Party Republican Democratic First round 1,073,282 47.67% 1,108,416 49.23% Runoff 635,118 50.65% 618,774 49.35%

First round county results Runoff county results Coverdell:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Fowler:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%

U.S. senator before election Wyche Fowler Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Paul Coverdell Republican

Incumbent DemocratWyche Fowler did not receive asimple majority in the general election, which demanded a runoff.Paul Coverdell, former Director of thePeace Corps and former State senator, edged out Fowler in the runoff with a narrow margin.^[5]

The general primary was held July 21, 1992.^[18] A run-off between the top two Republican contenders was held on August 11, in whichPaul Coverdell defeatedBob Barr.

Results^[19] for the first round showed that since Paul Coverdell did not win a majority of the vote, a runoff was held between him and Barr. Coverdell subsequently won the runoff.

As no candidate reached a majority on November 3, a runoff election was held on November 24, which Coverdell won.

Hawaii election

← 1986 1998 →

Nominee Daniel Inouye Rick Reed Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 208,266 97,928 Percentage 57.3% 26.9%   Nominee Linda Martin Party Green Popular vote 49,921 Percentage 13.7%

County results Inouye:     50–60%     60–70%

U.S. senator before election Daniel Inouye Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye Democratic

Incumbent DemocratDaniel Inouye won re-election to a sixth term over Republican State senator Rick Reed.^[20]

Idaho election

← 1986 1998 →

Nominee Dirk Kempthorne Richard H. Stallings Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 270,468 208,036 Percentage 56.5% 43.5%

County results Kempthorne:     50–60%     60–70% Stallings:     50–60%     60–70%

U.S. senator before election Steve Symms Republican Elected U.S. Senator Dirk Kempthorne Republican

Incumbent RepublicanSteve Symms decided to retire instead of seeking a third term. Republican Mayor ofBoiseDirk Kempthorne won the open seat, beating Democratic congressmanRichard H. Stallings.

Illinois election

← 1986 1998 →

Nominee Carol Moseley Braun Richard S. Williamson Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,631,229 2,162,833 Percentage 53.0% 43.0%

County Results Braun:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70% Williamson:     40–50%     50–60%

U.S. senator before election Alan J. Dixon Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Carol Moseley Braun Democratic

Incumbent DemocratAlan J. Dixon decided to run for re-election a third term, but was defeated in the primary againstCarol Moseley Braun, Cook County Recorder of Deeds and former State Representative, who then won the general election over RepublicanRichard S. Williamson, formerAssistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs. Braun (whose victory coincided withBill Clinton's win in thepresidential election andIllinois) made history in this election by becoming the first African-American woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate, and also the first African-American elected to the U.S. Senate as a Democrat.

This defeat shocked observers; at the time no senator had been defeated in a primary in over a decade and Dixon had a long record of electoral success. He was a moderate Democrat, who recently voted to confirmClarence Thomas to theSupreme Court.^[23] Braun, a black woman and known reformist liberal, got a large share of black, liberal, and women voters ("The Year of the Woman").

In addition, she carriedCook County, Illinois, by far the most populated county in the state. Another factor was the third candidate in the race, multi-millionaire attorney Al Hofeld. Hofeld drew away some of the moderate and conservative Democrats who normally supported Dixon. He also spent a lot of money running advertisements attacking Dixon, weakening his support.

Moseley Braun won the 1992 Illinois Senate Race by a fairly comfortable margin. Moseley Braun did well as expected inCook County home ofChicago. Williamson did well in the Chicago collar counties, and most northern parts of the state. Moseley Braun had a surprisingly strong showing in southern Illinois, which Republicans had come to dominate in the last several decades. Braun also did well inRock Island County.

Indiana election

← 1990 (special) 1998 →

Nominee Dan Coats Joe Hogsett Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,267,972 900,148 Percentage 57.3% 40.8%

County results Coats:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Hogsett:     40–50%     50–60%

U.S. senator before election Dan Coats Republican Elected U.S. Senator Dan Coats Republican

Incumbent RepublicanDan Coats won re-election to his first full term, beating the DemocraticIndiana Secretary of StateJoe Hogsett.^[24]

When incumbent RepublicanDan Quayle resigned from the Senate after being electedVice President of the United States in 1988, Coats was appointed to Quayle's former seat. He then won election to serve the remainder of the term in 1990.

Coats won 79 ofIndiana's counties compared to 13 for Hogsett.^[25]

Iowa election

← 1986 1998 →

Nominee Chuck Grassley Jean Hall Lloyd-Jones Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 899,761 351,561 Percentage 69.6% 27.2%

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 RepublicanChuck Grassley ran for re-election to a third term in theUnited States Senate, which he won easily against his Democratic opponent,State senator Jean Hall Lloyd-Jones.

Kansas election

← 1986 1996 (special) →

Nominee Bob Dole Gloria O'Dell Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 706,246 349,525 Percentage 62.70% 31.03%

County results Dole:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

U.S. senator before election Bob Dole Republican Elected U.S. Senator Bob Dole Republican

Incumbent Republican senatorBob Dole won re-election to a fifth term, defeating Democratic nominee Gloria O'Dell, teacher and former journalist.^[27] Nearly two decades after his failed vice-presidential bid in1976, this would be Dole's last election to the Senate. He would resign in 1996 whilerunning for President of the United States. Dole also became theRepublican Leader of the United States Senate seven years prior.

Kentucky election

← 1986 1998 →

Nominee Wendell Ford David L. Williams Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 836,888 476,604 Percentage 62.9% 35.8%

County results Ford:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Williams:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

U.S. senator before election Wendell Ford Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Wendell Ford Democratic

Incumbent Democratic U.S. senatorWendell Ford won re-election to a fourth term, easily beating Republican State senatorDavid L. Williams. As of 2023^[update], this was the last Senate election in Kentucky in which a Democrat won.

Denny Ormerod, a machinist fromLouisville dropped out before the primary election.^[29] Though Williams and Thompson represented opposing factions in the state Republican Party – Williams managedLarry Hopkins' 1991 primary campaign while Thompson worked full-time for Hopkins' primary opponentLarry Forgy – the two virtually ignored each other in the primary campaign, choosing instead to focus their rhetoric against Ford.^[29] Thompson did question Williams'conservative credentials on grounds that he voted in favor of the tax increase associated with the Kentucky Education Reform Act.^[29] Ormerod's campaign largely focused onsocially conservative issues, but it was Williams who secured the endorsement of KentuckyRight to Life, who cited his lawsuit to free three anti-abortion bills from committee in the 1992 legislative session.^[29] As a result of the largely uninspiring primary campaigns, there was only an 18% voter turnout in the Republican primary. Williams won the nomination.^[30]

Ford, theSenate Majority Whip and a former governor, raised $2.4 million for his campaign, about eight times the amount Williams raised.^[32] Given his limited finances, Williams relied on news conferences and interviews on small town radio stations to get his message out.^[32] Williams repeatedly lamented that Ford would not agree to a formal debate; Ford said that could not be arranged because Congress was still in session and he needed to be inWashington.^[33] During the campaign, Williams attempted to paint Ford as tooliberal for Kentucky voters, citing his votes against the Gulf War andClarence Thomas' confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court.^[34] Both candidates declared their support for aBalanced Budget Amendment, but Williams said that Ford's support ofpork barrel projects for the state and a procedural vote that kept the amendment from a vote in 1991 were evidence that Ford's support was not genuine.^[34]

Ford had no trouble winning on election night. Ford won easily, despite the fact that fellowDemocratBill Clinton was not declared the winner of the presidential race inKentucky until around 10:00E.S.T. Ford pulled big margins out of the majority of Kentucky's 124 counties. This would be Ford's last term in the senate. He served his final term from January 3, 1993, to January 3, 1999. Ford died some fifteen years after his retirement at the age of 90.

Louisiana election

← 1986 1998 →

Nominee John Breaux Jon Khachaturian Party Democratic Independent Popular vote 616,021 74,785 Percentage 73.07% 8.87%   Nominee Lyle Stocksill Nick Joseph Accardo Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 69,986 45,839 Percentage 8.30% 5.44%

Parish results Breaux:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%      80–90%

U.S. senator before election John Breaux Democratic Elected U.S. Senator John Breaux Democratic

Incumbent DemocratJohn Breaux won a majority in Louisiana'sjungle primary on October 3, 1992, winning re-election to another term.

Maryland election

← 1986 1998 →

Nominee Barbara Mikulski Alan Keyes Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,307,610 533,688 Percentage 71.0% 28.9%

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

U.S. senator before election Barbara Mikulski Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski Democratic

Incumbent DemocratBarbara Mikulski won re-election to a second term over RepublicanAlan Keyes, formerAssistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs.