2022 United States Senate elections

← 2020 November 8, 2022 December 6 (Georgia runoff) 2024 →
← 2016 2028 →
35 of the 100 seats in theUnited States Senate 51[a] seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Chuck Schumer Mitch McConnell Party Democratic Republican Leader since January 3, 2017 January 3, 2007 Leader's seat New York Kentucky Seats before 48 +VP[b][c] 50 Seats after 49[d] 49 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 46,208,845[e] 43,850,241[e] Percentage 50.0% 47.4% Seats up 14 21 Races won 15 20   Third party   Party Independent Seats before 2[b] Seats after 2 Seat change Seats up 0 Races won 0
Results of the elections:      Democratic gain      Democratic hold     Republican hold      No election Rectangular inset (Oklahoma): both seats up for election
Majority Leader before election Chuck Schumer Democratic ElectedMajority Leader Chuck Schumer Democratic

The2022 United States Senate elections were held on November 8, 2022, concurrently with other midterm elections at the federal, state, and local levels. Regularly scheduled elections were held for 34 of the 100 seats in theU.S. Senate, the winners of which would serve six-year terms beginning with the118th United States Congress. Two special elections were held to complete unexpired terms. While pundits considered theRepublican Party a slight favorite to gain control of the Senate, the Democrats outperformed expectations and expanded the majority they had held since 2021,^[2][3] gaining a seat for a functioning 51–49 majority.

Senators are divided into three classes whose terms are staggered so that a different class is elected every other year. All 34 Class 3 Senate seats, last elected in 2016, were up for election in 2022. Before the elections, Class 3 consisted of 14 Democrats and 20 Republicans. Special elections were concurrently held in California, to fill Vice PresidentKamala Harris's unexpired Senate term ending in 2022,^[4] and in Oklahoma, to fill the remaining four years ofJim Inhofe's unexpired term.^[5] Five Republican senators and one Democratic senator retired instead of seeking re-election; 15 Republicans and 13 Democrats ran for re-election. Before the elections, Democrats had held a majority in the Senate since January 20, 2021. There were 48 Democratic and two independent senators who caucused with them; Harris's tie-breaking vote as vice president gave Democrats control of the chamber.^[2]

While Republicans appeared slightly favored in several competitive races, ared wave election did not materialize.^[6][7][8] Democrats gained a seat, in Pennsylvania where DemocratJohn Fetterman won the election to succeed retiring Republican Pat Toomey.^[9] All incumbents won re-election, and all other open seats besides Pennsylvania were held by the same party as the retiring senator. For the first time since the ratification of the17th Amendment, no incumbent lost a U.S. Senate primary or general election.^[10][f]

The better-than-expected performance of Democrats has been attributed to several factors,^[11] including the issue of abortion afterDobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization,^[12] the role ofDonald Trump, and alleged extremism orelection denialism among Republicans.^[13][14][15] The 2022 election cycle was the first time in U.S. history in which multiple Senate races in the same year were contested between two Black nominees (Georgia and South Carolina).^[16][g]

All 34Class 3 senators were up for election in 2022; beforeElection Day, Class 3 consisted of 14 Democrats and 20 Republicans, including a seat in California held by an interim appointee up for aspecial election. Additionally, a special election was held for a Class 2 seat in Oklahoma. Of the senators not up for election, 34 were Democrats, 29 were Republicans, and two were independent members who caucused with theSenate Democrats.^[2]

In recent cycles, partisanship in Senate elections has much more closely matched partisanship in presidential elections, and the number of senators representing states won recently by presidential candidates of the opposite party has dwindled. In 2018, Democrats were defending 10 seats in states thatDonald Trump won in the2016 U.S. presidential election,^[h] while Republicans held only one seat in a state thatHillary Clinton won in 2016 (Nevada, which Democrats flipped). In contrast, Democrats in this cycle held no seats in states that Trump won in the2020 U.S. presidential election, while Republicans were defending only two seats in statesJoe Biden won in 2020 (Pennsylvania, which Democrats flipped, and Wisconsin, which Republicans narrowly held).^[2]

Democrats had held a majority in the Senate since January 20, 2021, following the party's twin victories in the run-offs for Georgia'sregular andspecial 2020–2021 Senate elections, and the inauguration of Harris as vice president. While many pundits believed Republicans had a strong chance to flip control of the chamber, ared wave election did not materialize.^[6][7][8] Instead, Democrats performed better than expected in many states, including Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and Ohio.^[2][17][18] In Colorado, where some Republican strategists hoped for a competitive race,Michael Bennet won re-election handily, and in New Hampshire, another hopeful Republican target,Maggie Hassan ran ahead of Biden's 2020 margin in the state.^[17][18] Democrats also beat expectations inRust Belt states; althoughTim Ryan lost in Ohio, his performance in the race had acoattail effect that boosted Democrats in competitive House districts in the state,^[19] and in Pennsylvania, whereJohn Fetterman defeated Trump-endorseeMehmet Oz, vulnerable House Democrats also benefitted from strong Democratic performance at the top of the ticket.^[20] Fetterman improved upon Biden's 2020 results from white voters without a college degree.^[21] In Georgia's first round,Raphael Warnock improved upon his margin from 2020–2021 and finished first,^[2] before winning by 3 percentage points in the December runoff.^[22]

Democrats' strong performance has been attributed to, among other factors,^[11] backlash to abortion-rights restrictions following theU.S. Supreme Court's June 2022 decision inDobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that overturnedRoe v. Wade,^[12] negative reaction to Republican extremism and election denialism,^[14][15] better candidate quality among Democrats than Republicans,^[13] and youth turnout andvote splitting in key races.^[23][24] Some Republicans blamed Trump for the party's underwhelming showing, citing the underperformance of candidates he endorsed such asHerschel Walker in Georgia and Oz in Pennsylvania.^[25][26][27] Democrats won full terms in the Class 3 Senate seats in Arizona and Pennsylvania for the first time since the1962 elections.

The 2022 election cycle was the first time since the2006 Senate elections that Democrats made net gains in a midterm year, and the 2022 cycle tied with the1990 elections for the lowest number of party flips, at only 1 seat each. This was only the third election in U.S. history (after 1914 and1934) where the opposition party failed to flip any Senate seats. It is the most recent election cycle in which the president's party gained Senate seats and simultaneously lost House seats in a midterm, which also occurred in 1914, 1962, 1970, and 2018; it was the first midterm in which Democrats did so since 1962.^[28] It was a historically good cycle for incumbents;^[29] it was the first time ever since the ratification of the17th Amendment, which mandated the popular election of U.S. senators, in which no incumbents were defeated for either a primary or general election.^[10][f]Maggie Hassan (New Hampshire),Ron Johnson (Wisconsin),Mark Kelly (Arizona),Catherine Cortez-Masto (Nevada),Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), and Warnock (Georgia) faced competitive races but were all re-elected.^[2][3]

Parties					Total
		Democratic	Independent	Republican
Last elections (2020)		48	2	50	100
Before these elections		48	2	50	100
Not up		34	2	29	65
	Class 1 (2018→2024)	21	2	10	33
	Class 2 (2020→2026)	13	0	19	32
Up		14[i]	0	21	35
	Class 3 (2016→2022)	14	0	20	34
	Special: Class 2 & 3	1	—	1	2
General election
Incumbent retiring		1	—	5	6
	Held by same party	1	—	4	5
	Replaced by other party	1 Republican replaced by 1 Democrat			1
	Result	2	—	4	6
Incumbent running		13[i]	—	15	28
	Won re-election	13	—	15	28
	Lost re-election	—	—	—	—
	Result	13	—	15	28
Special elections
Incumbent resigning		—	—	1[j]	1
Appointee running		1[i]	—	—	1
	Individuals elected	1	–	1	2
	Result	1	–	1	2
Result		49	2	49	100

National results^[30]

Parties		Votes	%	Seats
				Total before	Up	Won	Total after	+/-
	Democratic	46,208,845	49.95	48	14	15	49	1
	Republican	43,850,241	47.40	50	21	20	49	1
	Libertarian	711,078	0.77	0	0	0	0
	Independent	686,281	0.74	2	0	0	2
	Green	87,964	0.10	0	0	0	0
	Constitution	23,108	0.02	0	0	0	0
	Other parties	904,848	0.98	0	0	0	0
	Write-in	35,037	0.04	0	0	0	0
Total		92,507,402	100.00	100	35	35	100

9 races had a margin of victory under 10%:

Each block represents one of the one hundred seats in the U.S. Senate. "D_#" is a Democratic senator, "I_#" is an independent senator, and "R_#" is a Republican senator. They are arranged so the parties are separated and a majority is clear by crossing the middle.

Each block indicates an incumbent senator's actions going into the election.

Several sites and individuals publish predictions of competitive seats. These predictions look at factors such as the strength of theincumbent (if the incumbent is running for re-election) and the other candidates and the state's partisan lean (reflected in part by the state'sCook Partisan Voting Index rating). The predictions assign ratings to each seat, indicating the predicted advantage that a party had in winning that seat. Most election predictors use:

• "tossup" / "battleground": no advantage
• "tilt" (used by some predictors): minimal, smallest advantage
• "lean": slight advantage
• "likely": significant, but surmountable, advantage
• "safe" or "solid": near-certain chance of victory

One Democrat and five Republicans retired instead of seeking re-election.

One Republican resigned two years into his six-year term.

In each special election, the winner's term can begin immediately after their election is certified by their state's government. In cases where a resignation has been previously announced, the new senator's term can begin once the previous senator's resignation is submitted officially.

Elections are sorted by date, then state.

In these general elections, the winners will be elected for the term beginning January 3, 2023.

Alabama election

← 2016 2028 →

Nominee Katie Britt Will Boyd Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 942,154 436,746 Percentage 66.6% 30.9%

County results Britt:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Boyd:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

U.S. senator before election Richard Shelby Republican Elected U.S. senator Katie Britt Republican

Six-term RepublicanRichard Shelby wasre-elected in 2016 with 64% of the vote. On February 8, 2021, Shelby announced that he would not seek re-election to a seventh term.^[56]Katie Britt, Shelby's former chief of staff,^[57] andMo Brooks, a six-termU.S. representative, finished ahead of businesswoman Karla DuPriest, former Army pilot and authorMichael Durant, and author Jake Schafer in the first round of the Republican primary election, with Britt going on to defeat Brooks in a runoff.^[58]Perennial candidate Will Boyd^[59] defeated formerBrighton mayor Brandaun Dean^[60] and Lanny Jackson^[61][62] in the Democratic primary. Britt won the Senate election, becoming the first woman elected to the United States Senate from Alabama.^[63]

Alaska election

← 2016 2028 →

Candidate Lisa Murkowski Kelly Tshibaka Party Republican Republican First round 113,495 43.4% 111,480 42.6% Final round 136,330 53.7% 117,534 46.3%

First round results byState House district Maximum round results byState House district Maximum round results by borough and census area Murkowski:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Tshibaka:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

U.S. senator before election Lisa Murkowski Republican Elected U.S. senator Lisa Murkowski Republican

Three-term RepublicanLisa Murkowski wasre-elected in 2016 with 44.4% of the vote. Alaska voters passed aballot initiative in 2020 that adopted a newtop-four ranked-choice voting system: all candidates compete in anonpartisan blanket primary, the top four candidates advance to the general election, and the winner is determined byinstant-runoff voting usingranked-choice ballots. On March 30, following the Alaska Republican Party's decision to censure senator Murkowski, formerAlaska Department of Administration commissioner Kelly Tshibaka announced her campaign against Murkowski, later receivingDonald Trump's endorsement.^[66] RepublicangovernorMike Dunleavy, who was considered another potential challenger to Murkowski, insteadran for re-election.^[67]

Murkowski, Tshibaka, Republican Buzz Kelley, and Democrat Pat Chesbro advanced to the general election.^[68] Kelley suspended his campaign in September and endorsed Tshibaka, although his name remained on the ballot.^[69]

Murkowski received a slight plurality of the first-choice votes and a majority of all votes following the ranked choice tabulation, winning re-election to a fourth full term.^[50]

Arizona election

← 2020 (special) 2028 →

Nominee Mark Kelly Blake Masters Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,322,027 1,196,308 Percentage 51.4% 46.5%

County results Kelly:     50–60%     60–70% Masters:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

U.S. senator before election Mark Kelly Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Mark Kelly Democratic

Incumbent DemocratMark Kelly took office on December 2, 2020, after winning aspecial election with 51.2% of the vote.

Six-term senator and 2008 Republican presidential nomineeJohn McCain was re-elected to this seat in 2016. He died on August 25, 2018, and former U.S. senatorJon Kyl was appointed to replace him. Kyl resigned at the end of 2018 and U.S. representativeMartha McSally was appointed to replace him. Kelly defeated McSally in the 2020 special election.

In the Republican primary,Blake Masters, the chairman of the Thiel Foundation, defeated Jim Lamon, chair of the solar power company Depcom,^[71] andArizona attorney generalMark Brnovich.^[72]

Kelly defeated Masters, winning election to his first full term.^[50]

Arkansas election

← 2016 2028 →

Nominee John Boozman Natalie James Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 592,437 280,187 Percentage 65.7% 31.1%

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

U.S. senator before election John Boozman Republican Elected U.S. senator John Boozman Republican

Two-term RepublicanJohn Boozman wasre-elected in 2016 with 59.8% of the vote. Boozman ran for a third term.^[75]

Boozman defeated former NFL player and U.S. Army veteranJake Bequette,^[76] gun range owner and2018 gubernatorial candidate Jan Morgan,^[77] and pastor Heath Loftis^[78] in the Republican primary.^[79] A fourth challenger, corporate analyst Michael Deel withdrew prior to the primary election citing a lack of viability.^[80]

Natalie James, a real estate broker fromLittle Rock,^[81] defeated Dan Whitfield, who attempted to run as an independent for Arkansas' other U.S. Senate seat in 2020 but failed to meet the ballot access requirements,^[82] and formerPine BluffCity alderman Jack Foster in the Democratic primary.^[83]

Boozman defeated James, winning re-election to a third term.^[50]

California election

← 2016 2028 →

Candidate Alex Padilla Mark Meuser Party Democratic Republican Special election 6,559,308 60.9% 4,212,450 39.1% Regular election 6,621,621 61.1% 4,222,029 38.9%

Special election county results Regular election county results Padilla:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Meuser:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

U.S. senator before election Alex Padilla Democratic Elected U.S. senator Alex Padilla Democratic

Incumbent DemocratAlex Padilla took office on January 20, 2021. He was appointed by GovernorGavin Newsom following the resignation of incumbent DemocratKamala Harris on January 18, 2021, in advance of her swearing-in asVice President of the United States.^[86]

Due to a rule change, there were two ballot items for the same seat: a general election, to elect aClass 3 senator to a full term beginning with the118th United States Congress, sworn in on January 3, 2023, and a special election, to fill that seat for the final weeks of the117th Congress. Padilla ran in both races,^[87] as did the Republican nominee, attorney Mark Meuser. Padilla defeated Meuser in both races, winning election to his first full term.

Colorado election

← 2016 2028 →

Nominee Michael Bennet Joe O'Dea Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,397,170 1,031,693 Percentage 55.9% 41.3%

County results Bennet:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% O'Dea:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%

U.S. senator before election Michael Bennet Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Michael Bennet Democratic

Two-term DemocratMichael Bennet took office on January 21, 2009, after being appointed by thenColorado governorBill Ritter to replace outgoing DemocratKen Salazar, who was nominated by then presidentBarack Obama to serve asUnited States secretary of the interior. He had narrowly won reelection bids, in2010 to his first full term, with 48.08% of the vote, and, in2016 to his second, with 49.97% of the vote.

In the Republican primary, construction company owner Joe O'Dea defeatedstate representativeRon Hanks.^[90][91]

Bennet defeated O'Dea, winning election to his third full term.

Connecticut election

← 2016 2028 →

Nominee Richard Blumenthal Leora Levy Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 723,864 535,943 Percentage 57.5% 42.5%

County results Blumenthal:     50–60%     60–70% Levy:     50–60%

U.S. senator before election Richard Blumenthal Democratic Elected U.S. senator Richard Blumenthal Democratic

Two-term DemocratRichard Blumenthal wasre-elected in 2016 with 63.2% of the vote.

Formerstate Houseminority leaderThemis Klarides ran for the Republican nomination,^[94] but lost tocommodities traderLeora Levy.

Florida election

← 2016 2026 (special) →

Nominee Marco Rubio Val Demings Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 4,474,847 3,201,522 Percentage 57.7% 41.3%

County results Rubio:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     90–100% Demings:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%

U.S. senator before election Marco Rubio Republican Elected U.S. senator Marco Rubio Republican

Two-term RepublicanMarco Rubio wasre-elected in 2016 with 52% of the vote. He announced on November 9, 2020, via Facebook, that he was running for re-election.^[97]

U.S. representativeVal Demings was the Democratic nominee.^[98]

Ivanka Trump, daughter and formersenior advisor to former presidentDonald Trump, was seen as a potential candidate to challenge Rubio for the Republican nomination.^[99] However, on February 18, 2021, it was confirmed that she would not seek the nomination.^[100]

Rubio defeated Demings, winning re-election to a third term.

Georgia election

← 2020–21 (special) November 8, 2022 (first round) December 6, 2022 (runoff) 2028 →

Candidate Raphael Warnock Herschel Walker Party Democratic Republican First round 1,946,117 49.4% 1,908,442 48.5% Runoff 1,820,633 51.4% 1,721,244 48.6%

First round county results Runoff county results Warnock:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Walker:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%

U.S. senator before election Raphael Warnock Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock Democratic

Incumbent DemocratRaphael Warnock won the2020–2021 special election against incumbent RepublicanKelly Loeffler to fill the remainder of former senatorJohnny Isakson's term. Isakson resigned at the end of 2019 due to health problems, and Loeffler was appointed by GovernorBrian Kemp following Isakson's resignation. No candidate in the open election on November 3 received the 50% required by Georgia law to avoid a run-off, a type of election colloquially known as a "jungle primary"^[103]—Warnock received just 32.9% of the vote—and so, a run-off election between Warnock and Loeffler was held on January 5, 2021, which Warnock won with 51% of the vote.

Former Republican senatorDavid Perdue, who narrowly lost his race to Democratic challengerJon Ossoff in 2021,^[104] and former U.S. representativeDoug Collins^[105] both considered challenging Warnock, but eventually announced they were not running.^[106]

FormerNFL playerHerschel Walker,^[107] who had been endorsed by former president Donald Trump,^[108] defeated banking executive Latham Saddler^[109] and others in the Republican primary.

In the general election, no candidate received a majority of the vote.^[110] Warnock defeated Walker in arunoff between the top-two finishers on December 6.^[111]

Hawaii election

← 2016 2028 →

Nominee Brian Schatz Bob McDermott Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 290,894 106,358 Percentage 71.2% 26.0%

County results Schatz:     70–80%

U.S. senator before election Brian Schatz Democratic Elected U.S. senator Brian Schatz Democratic

One-term DemocratBrian Schatz was appointed to the Senate in 2012, following the death of incumbentDaniel Inouye. He won aspecial election to finish Inouye's term in 2014, and won his first full term in2016 with 73.6% of the vote. Republicanstate representativeBob McDermott challenged Schatz.^[115]