2000 United States Senate elections

← 1998 November 7, 2000 2002 →
← 1994 2006 →
34 of the 100 seats in theUnited States Senate 51[a] seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Trent Lott Tom Daschle Party Republican Democratic Leader since June 12, 1996 January 3, 1995 Leader's seat Mississippi South Dakota Seats before 54 46 Seats after 50 +VP[b] 50[b] Seat change 4 4 Popular vote 36,725,431[c] 36,780,875[c] Percentage 46.96% 47.04% Seats up 19 15 Races won 15 19
Results of the elections:      Democratic gain     Democratic hold      Republican gain     Republican hold      No election
Majority leader before election Trent Lott Republican ElectedMajority leader Trent Lott[d] Republican

The2000 United States Senate elections were held on November 7, 2000. The elections coincided with other federal and state elections, including thepresidential election which was won by RepublicanGeorge W. Bush. These elections took place6 years after Republicans had won a net gain of eight seats inSenate 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 inDelaware,Michigan,Minnesota,Missouri, andWashington, and they won an open Republican-held seat inFlorida. InMissouri, the winner was elected posthumously. The Republicans defeated Democratic incumbentChuck Robb inVirginia, and won an open seat inNevada. Additionally, Republican SenatorPaul Coverdell of Georgia died earlier in the year and was replaced by Democratic appointeeZell 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, sinceAl Gore was stillVice President and President of the Senate at the beginning of the new congressional term on January 3, 2001, and would remain so until the new Vice President and President of the SenateDick Cheney would be inaugurated onInauguration Day on January 20th, 2001. The Republicans regained the majority on this date. However, the Republican majority would only last until June 6, 2001, when Republican SenatorJim Jeffords of Vermont became anindependent and caucused with the Democrats.^[1]

Until2020, 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 inRhode Island andVermont.

Summary of the 2000 United States Senate election results

Parties		Breakdown			Total seats		Popular vote		Total candidates
		Up	Elected	Not up	2000	+/-	Vote	%	General[e]
	Democratic Party	15	19	31	50	4	36,780,875[c]	47.039%	33
	Republican Party	19	15	35	50	4	36,725,431[c]	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%	-
Total		34	34	66	100	-	78,191,797	100.0%	153

Source:Clerk of the House of Representatives (June 21, 2001)."Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 7, 2000" – via House.gov.

After the July 27, 2000, appointment in Georgia.

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.

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

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

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

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

All of the elections involved the Class 1 seats.

In ten races the margin of victory was under 10%

Arizona election

← 1994 2006 →

Nominee Jon Kyl William Toel Party Republican Independent Popular vote 1,101,196 109,230 Percentage 79.3% 7.8%   Nominee Vance Hansen Barry Hess Party Green Libertarian Popular vote 108,926 70,724 Percentage 7.8% 5.1%

County results Kyl:     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%

U.S. senator before election Jon Kyl Republican Elected U.S. senator Jon Kyl Republican

Incumbent RepublicanJon Kyl won re-election to a second term, as no candidate was nominated from the Democratic Party.^[3] Independent Bill Toel,^[4] 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 election

← 1994 2006 →

Nominee Dianne Feinstein Tom Campbell Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 5,932,522 3,886,853 Percentage 55.84% 36.59%

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

U.S. senator before election Dianne Feinstein Democratic Elected U.S. senator Dianne Feinstein Democratic

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 anyPAC money.^[5] Campbell has generally supportedgay rights andabortion. He also opposes theWar on Drugs and calls himself a "maverick", similar to U.S. senatorJohn McCain.^[6] Campbell was badly defeated, losing by over 19 points.

Connecticut election

← 1994 2006 →

Nominee Joe Lieberman Philip Giordano Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 828,902 448,077 Percentage 63.2% 34.2%

County results Municipality results Lieberman:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Giordano:     50–60%

U.S. senator before election Joe Lieberman Democratic Elected U.S. senator Joe Lieberman Democratic

Incumbent DemocratJoe Lieberman won re-election to a third term over RepublicanPhilip Giordano, Mayor ofWaterbury and formerState Representative. While running for re-election, he was alsoAl Gore's running mate in the2000 presidential campaign. With Gore losing the presidency toGeorge W. Bush, Lieberman returned to the Senate and remained there for another13 years, when he retired. Had the Gore–Lieberman ticket won, Lieberman would have becomeU.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 GovernorJohn G. Rowland to temporarily appoint an interim replacement.^[7]

Lieberman, a very popular^[8] centrist^[9] incumbent, focused on his vice presidential campaign. He refused to show up at the debates.^[10] Giordano was a heavy underdog, as he was ignored by the press and as he debated alone.^[11]

Delaware election

← 1994 2006 →

Nominee Tom Carper William Roth Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 181,566 142,891 Percentage 55.5% 43.7%

County results Carper:     60–70% Roth:     50–60%

U.S. senator before election William Roth Republican Elected U.S. senator Tom Carper Democratic

Incumbent RepublicanWilliam Roth ran for re-election to a sixth term, but was defeated by GovernorTom Carper.

For 16 years the same four people had held the four major statewide positions. Because of term limits on the Governor's positionThomas Carper could not run again. Both he and U.S. RepresentativeMichael Castle wanted to beU.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 ofDelaware's At-large congressional district, who announced his major candidacy against Roth back in September 1999.^[13] Both candidates were moderates. Roth was one of the few Republicans to vote for theBrady 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.^[14] 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.^[14][15][16]

2000 United States Senate election in Florida

← 1994 November 7, 2000 2006 →

Nominee Bill Nelson Bill McCollum Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,989,487 2,705,348 Percentage 51.04% 46.19%

Nelson:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70% McCollum:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

U.S. senator before election Connie Mack III Republican Elected U.S. Senator Bill Nelson Democratic

Incumbent RepublicanConnie Mack III decided to retire instead of seeking a third term. DemocratBill Nelson,State Treasurer and former U.S. Representative, won the open seat over Republican CongressmanBill McCollum.

This election was in conjunction to thepresidential election, where Bush narrowly defeated Gore after an intenserecount. The senate election was evenly matched with two U.S. Congressmen named Bill in their mid-50s. Both parties heavily targeted this senate seat.^[18] The election became very nasty as Nelson called his opponent "an extremist who would sacrifice the elderly, the poor, and the working class to coddle the rich". McCollum called the Democrat "a liberal who would tax everything that moves, and some things that don't." The election advertisements were very negative, as both candidates talked more about each other than themselves.^[19]

Nelson raised onlysoft money,^[20] but had help from PresidentBill Clinton and VPAl Gore.^[21] Two days before the election, McCollum predicted he would win by a 6-point margin.^[22] On election day, he lost by a 5-point margin.

Georgia special election

← 1998 2004 →

Nominee Zell Miller Mack Mattingly Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,413,224 920,478 Percentage 58.1% 37.9%

Miller:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Mattingly:     40–50%     50–60%

U.S. senator before election Zell Miller Democratic Elected U.S. senator Zell Miller Democratic

Incumbent DemocratZell Miller, who was appointed by Democrat GovernorRoy Barnes to replace RepublicanPaul Coverdell following his death, won re-election to serve the remainder of the term, beating RepublicanMack Mattingly, former Ambassador toSeychelles and former U.S. senator. Until2020, whenRaphael Warnock won this seat, andJon Ossoff won the other Senate seat, this was the last Senate election in Georgia won by a Democrat and also until2020, this was the last time the Democrats have won the Class III Senate seat from Georgia.

One of the biggest campaign issues wasSocial Security. Miller attacked Mattingly for supporting a raise in the retirement age.^[23] The Republican fought back by connecting him to liberal DemocratTed Kennedy of Massachusetts, and on his vote to block legislation aimed at protecting Social Security. Mattingly said he would vote forTexas GovernorGeorge W. Bush for president, who was very popular in the state and led Vice PresidentAl Gore in many Georgia polls. Mattingly then asked Miller who he was supporting in the presidential election. Miller conceded he would vote for Gore because he helped him when he was governor includingdrought relief,welfare reform, and theAtlanta Olympics. "That does not mean I agree with all of his policies," he concluded.^[24] In early October, a poll showed Miller leading with 59% of the vote, despite the fact that Bush was leading Gore by a double-digit margin.^[25]

Note: This election was a non-partisan election due to it being a special election. Each candidate ran without a party. The parties below reflect which party label each candidate would have run under if given the option.

Hawaii election

← 1994 2006 →

Nominee Daniel Akaka John Carroll Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 251,215 84,701 Percentage 72.7% 24.5%

County results Akaka:     70–80%

U.S. senator before election Daniel Akaka Democratic Elected U.S. senator Daniel Akaka Democratic

Incumbent DemocratDaniel Akaka won re-election to his second full term, over RepublicanJohn Carroll, former State senator and former State Representative.^[26]

Indiana election

← 1994 2006 →

Nominee Richard Lugar David L. Johnson Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,427,944 683,273 Percentage 66.5% 31.9%

County results Lugar:     50-60%     60-70%     70-80%     80-90% Johnson:     50–60%

U.S. senator before election Richard Lugar Republican Elected U.S. senator Richard Lugar Republican

Incumbent RepublicanRichard Lugar was re-elected to his fifth six-year term over Democrat David Johnson.

Lugar easily won re-election taking 66.5% one of the largest margins in a statewide race in Indiana history. Johnson only took one county,Lake County, a Democratic stronghold which bordersChicago.

Maine election

← 1994 2006 →

Nominee Olympia Snowe Mark Lawrence Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 437,689 197,183 Percentage 68.94% 31.06%

County results Municipality results Snowe:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Lawrence:     50–60%

U.S. senator before election Olympia Snowe Republican Elected U.S. senator Olympia Snowe Republican

Incumbent RepublicanOlympia Snowe was re-elected to a second term, defeating Democratic candidate Mark Lawrence, former President of theMaine State Senate.

Snowe, a popular moderate incumbent, outpolled and outspent Lawrence.^[28] The two candidates agreed to debate on October 15 and 25.^[29]

Maryland election

← 1994 2006 →

Nominee Paul Sarbanes Paul Rappaport Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,230,013 715,178 Percentage 63.2% 36.7%

County results Sarbanes:     50–60%     60–70%     80–90% Rappaport:     50–60%     60–70%

U.S. senator before election Paul S. Sarbanes Democratic Elected U.S. senator Paul S. Sarbanes Democratic

Incumbent DemocratPaul Sarbanes won re-election to a fifth term over Republican Paul Rappaport, formerHoward County police chief and nominee for Lieutenant Governor in1994.^[30][31]

Rappaport won the Republican primary againstS. Rob Sobhani, Ross Zimmerman Pierpont,Robin Ficker,Kenneth R. Timmerman, Kenneth Wayman andJohn Stafford^[32] through agrassroots movement with a plurality of just 23%.^[33] Rappaport, a major underdog, pushed for three debates. The four term incumbent actually agreed to one debate on October 26.^[34]

Massachusetts election

← 1994 2006 →

Nominee Ted Kennedy Jack E. Robinson III Carla Howell Party Democratic Republican Libertarian Popular vote 1,889,494 334,341 308 860 Percentage 72.7% 12.9% 11.9%

County Results Municipality Results Kennedy   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%

U.S. senator before election Ted Kennedy Democratic Elected U.S. senator Ted Kennedy Democratic

Incumbent DemocratTed Kennedy won re-election to his eighth (his seventh full) term. The election was notable for a strong third-party performance fromLibertarianCarla Howell, who finished less than a percent behind Republican Jack E. Robinson.

Michigan election

← 1994 2006 →

Nominee Debbie Stabenow Spencer Abraham Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,061,952 1,994,693 Percentage 49.5% 47.9%

Stabenow:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70% Abraham:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

U.S. senator before election Spencer Abraham Republican Elected U.S. senator Debbie Stabenow Democratic

Incumbent RepublicanSpencer Abraham ran for re-election to a second term, but was defeated by DemocratDebbie Stabenow.

Abraham, who was first elected in the 1994Republican Revolution despite never running for public office before, was considered vulnerable by theDemocratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Major issues in the campaign included prescription drugs for the elderly.^[35] By September 4, Abraham still had failed to reach 50% in polls despite having spent over $6 million on television ads.^[36] In mid-October, he came back and reached 50% and 49% in two polls respectively.^[37]

The election was very close with Stabenow prevailing by just over 67,000 votes. Stabenow was also likely helped by the fact thatAl Gore won Michigan on the presidential level. Ultimately, Stabenow pulled out huge numbers of the Democratic stronghold ofWayne County, which covers theDetroit Metropolitan Area. Stabenow also performed well in other heavily populated areas such asIngham County home to the state's capital ofLansing, and the college town ofAnn Arbor. Abraham did not concede right after major news networks declared Stabenow the winner; He held out hope that the few outstanding precincts could push him over the edge. At 4:00 am, Abraham conceded defeat. Senator Abraham called Stabenow and congratulated her on her victory. A historic election, Stabenow became the first woman to representMichigan in theUnited States Senate.

Minnesota election

← 1994 2006 →

Nominee Mark Dayton Rod Grams Party Democratic (DFL) Republican Popular vote 1,181,553 1,047,474 Percentage 48.8% 43.3%   Nominee James Gibson Party Independence Popular vote 140,583 Percentage 5.81%

Dayton:     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70% Grams:     40–50%     50–60%

U.S. senator before election Rod Grams Republican Elected U.S. senator Mark Dayton Democratic (DFL)

The race pitted incumbent Republican senatorRod Grams against formerMinnesota State AuditorMark Dayton.

Mississippi election

← 1994 2006 →

Nominee Trent Lott Troy D. Brown Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 654,941 314,090 Percentage 65.9% 31.6%

Lott:     40-50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Brown:     40-50%     50–60%     60–70%

U.S. senator before election Trent Lott Republican Elected U.S. senator Trent Lott Republican

Incumbent RepublicanTrent Lott won re-election to a third term over perennial Democratic candidate Troy Brown.

Missouri election

← 1994 2002 (special) →

Nominee Mel Carnahan † John Ashcroft Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,191,812 1,142,852 Percentage 50.5% 48.4%

County results Carnahan:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Ashcroft:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

U.S. senator before election John Ashcroft Republican Elected U.S. senator Mel Carnahan † Democratic

Incumbent RepublicanJohn Ashcroft lost the election to GovernorMel Carnahan, despite Carnahan's death three weeks before election day.

In 1998, Ashcroft briefly considered running forpresident. On January 5, 1999, he announced that he would not seek the presidency and would instead defend his Senate seat in the 2000 election.^[39]Missouri GovernorMel Carnahan announced he would contest the Senate election as a Democrat.

In the general election for the state's seat in the U.S. Senate, Ashcroft was facing then-GovernorMel Carnahan in a "tight" race, despite the senator having a larger budget than Carnahan, awar chest that included significant contributions from corporations such asMonsanto Company,^[40] headquartered inSt. Louis, Missouri, which gave five times more to Ashcroft's campaign fund than to the fund of any other congressional hopeful at the time.^[41]

Carnahan was killed in a plane crash three weeks before the November election date. Nonetheless, Carnahan's name remained on the ballot due to Missouri's election laws. Lieutenant GovernorRoger B. Wilson became Governor upon Carnahan's death, to serve the remaining term of Carnahan'sgovernorship. Ashcroft suspended all campaigning on the day of the plane crash in light of the tragedy and resumed it eight days before the election date.^[42]

The voters of Missouri, by a margin of approximately fifty thousand votes,^[43] chose for the U.S. Senate Mel Carnahan, their Governor who had died two weeks before the election. No one had ever posthumously won election to the Senate, though voters on at least three other occasions had until then chosen deceased candidates for theHouse of Representatives:Clement Woodnutt Miller (D) inCalifornia in 1962;Nick Begich (D) inAlaska, 1972; andHale Boggs (D) inLouisiana, 1972. Hence, John Ashcroft became the first U.S. Senate candidate to be defeated by a dead opponent.^[44]

Governor Roger B. Wilson appointed Carnahan's 66-year-old widow,Jean Carnahan, to fill her husband'svacant seat until thenext cycle of Senate elections when a successor could beelected to serve out the remaining four years of the deceased Carnahan's would-be term.^[45] Ashcroft stated that he hoped the appointment would be "a matter of comfort for Mrs. Carnahan."

Montana election

← 1994 2006 →

Nominee Conrad Burns Brian Schweitzer Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 208,082 194,430 Percentage 50.6% 47.2%

County results Burns:     40-50%     50-60%     60-70%     70-80%     80-90% Schweitzer:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

U.S. senator before election Conrad Burns Republican Elected U.S. senator Conrad Burns Republican

Incumbent RepublicanConrad Burns won re-election to a third term.

Though Sam Rankin won theReform Party's nomination for the United States Senate, he dropped out of the race over the summer and was replaced by Gary Lee.^[47]

Conrad, in a poll released September 21, was leading Schweitzer 48% to 39%^{[citation needed]} that went down from 49% in November 1999^{[citation needed]}. Schweitzer had his polls go up by 11 points.

Burns faced a surprisingly difficult re-election campaign in 2000. In February 1999, he announced that he would break his 1988 promise to only hold office for two terms, claiming "Circumstances have changed, and I have rethought my position."^[48] Later that same month, while giving a speech aboutU.S. dependence on foreign oil to the Montana Equipment Dealers Association, he referred toArabs as "ragheads". Burns soon apologized, saying he "became too emotionally involved" during the speech.^[49]

Burns facedBrian Schweitzer, a rancher fromWhitefish, Montana. While Burns attempted to link Schweitzer with presidential candidateAl Gore, whom Schweitzer never met, Schweitzer "effectively portrayed himself as nonpolitical".^[50] Schweitzer primarily challenged Burns on the issue ofprescription drugs, organizing busloads of senior citizens to take trips toCanada andMexico for cheaper medicine.^[51] Burns charged that Schweitzer favored "Canadian-style government controls"^[50] and claimed that senior citizens went to doctors to have "somebody to visit with. There's nothing wrong with them."^[51] Burns also faced trouble regarding deaths fromasbestos inLibby, Montana. While he initially supported a bill to limit compensation in such cases, he withdrew his support for the bill, under public criticism, and added $11.5 million for the town to an appropriations bill.^[50][52]

Burns spent twice as much money as Schweitzer on the election^[50] and only defeated him by a slim margin, 51-47 percent, while the state voted 58-33 percent for Republican presidential nomineeGeorge W. Bush. Schweitzer went on to becomegovernor in 2004.

Nebraska election

← 1994 2006 →

Nominee Ben Nelson Don Stenberg Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 353,093 337,977 Percentage 51.0% 48.8%

County results Nelson:     50–60%     60–70% Stenberg:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

U.S. senator before election Bob Kerrey Democratic Elected U.S. senator Ben Nelson Democratic

Incumbent DemocratBob Kerrey decided to retire. DemocratBen Nelson won the open seat, beatingDon Stenberg, the RepublicanAttorney General of Nebraska.

Nevada election

← 1994 2006 →

Nominee John Ensign Ed Bernstein Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 330,687 238,260 Percentage 55.1% 39.7%

County results Ensign:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80-90%

U.S. senator before election Richard Bryan Democratic Elected U.S. senator John Ensign Republican

Incumbent DemocratRichard Bryan decided to retire, instead of seeking a third term. Republican nomineeJohn Ensign won the open seat over Democratic attorney Ed Bernstein.

New Jersey election

← 1994 2006 →

Nominee Jon Corzine Bob Franks Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,511,237 1,420,267 Percentage 50.1% 47.1%

Corzine:     40-50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Franks:     40-50%     50–60%     60–70%

U.S. senator before election Frank Lautenberg Democratic Elected U.S. senator Jon Corzine Democratic