The 2014 United States Senate elections were held on November 4, 2014. A total of 36 seats in the 100-member U.S. Senate were contested. There were 33 Class 2 seats contested for regular six-year terms to be served from January 3, 2015, to January 3, 2021, and three Class 3 seats were contested in special elections due to Senate vacancies. The elections marked 100 years of direct elections of U.S. senators. Going into the elections, 21 of the contested seats were held by the Democratic Party, while 15 were held by the Republican Party.
The Republicans regained the majority of the Senate in the 114th Congress, which started in January 2015; the Republicans had not controlled the Senate since January 2007. They needed a net gain of at least six seats to obtain a majority and were projected by polls to do so. On election night, they held all of their seats and gained nine Democratic-held seats. Republicans defeated five Democratic incumbents: Mark Begich of Alaska lost to Dan Sullivan, Mark Pryor of Arkansas lost to Tom Cotton, Mark Udall of Colorado lost to Cory Gardner, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana lost to Bill Cassidy, and Kay Hagan of North Carolina lost to Thom Tillis. Republicans also picked up another 4 open seats in Iowa, Montana, South Dakota, and West Virginia that were previously held by Democrats. Democrats did not pick up any Republican-held seats, but they did hold an open seat in Michigan.
This was the most recent time that any party lost control of the Senate in a midterm election cycle. With a net gain of nine seats, the Republicans made the largest Senate gain by any party since 1980. This is also the first election cycle since 1980 in which more than two incumbent Democratic senators were defeated by their Republican challengers. Days after the election cycle, the United States Election Project estimated that 36.4% of eligible voters voted, 4% lower than the 2010 elections, and possibly the lowest turnout rate since the 1942 election cycle.
This remains the most recent time that a Republican has won a U.S. Senate election in Colorado, that the president's party has suffered a net loss of Senate seats in a midterm election cycle, and that an incumbent senator was reelected unopposed.
Partisan composition For a majority, Republicans needed at least 51 seats. Democrats could have retained a majority with 48 seats (assuming the two Independents continued to caucus with them) because the Democratic Vice President Joe Biden would become the tie-breaker. From 1915 to 2013, control of the U.S. Senate flipped in 10 of 50 cycles, or 20% of the time. Republicans had lost ground in the 2012 elections, leading to an internal fight among the Republican leadership over the best strategies and tactics for the 2014 Senate races. By December 2013, eight of the twelve incumbent Republicans running for re-election saw Tea Party challenges. However, Republican incumbents won every primary challenge. Although Democrats saw some opportunities for pickups, the combination of Democratic retirements and numerous Democratic seats up for election in swing states and red states gave Republicans hopes of taking control of the Senate. 7 of the 21 states with Democratic seats up for election in 2014 had voted for Republican Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election compared to just 1 state with a Republican senator that voted for Barack Obama. Democrats also faced the lower voter turnout that accompanies midterm elections.
Poll aggregation website FiveThirtyEight gave the Republican Party a 60% chance of taking control of the Senate as of September 28. Another poll aggregation website, RealClearPolitics, gave the Republican Party a net gain of 7 seats. Due to the closeness of several races, it was initially believed that Senate control might not be decided on election night. Both Louisiana and Georgia were seen as competitive, and both states required a runoff election if no candidate won a majority of the vote.
Two independent candidates (in Kansas and South Dakota) refused to commit to caucusing with either party. In the final months of the race, polls showed them with viable chances of winning, leading some analysts to speculate on the possibility of an "Independent caucus" that could also include Maine Senator Angus King and possibly Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. However, no Independent won a Senate race in 2014, and King and Sanders continue to caucus with the Democratic Party following the 2014 election cycle.
By midnight ET, most major networks projected that the Republicans would take control of the Senate. The party held all three competitive Republican-held seats (Kentucky, Kansas, and Georgia), and defeated incumbent Democrats in North Carolina, Colorado, and Arkansas. Combined with the pick-ups of open seats in Iowa, Montana, South Dakota, and West Virginia, the Republicans made a net gain of 7 seats before the end of the night. Republicans defeated three incumbent Democrats, a task the party had not accomplished since the 1980 election cycle. Five of the seven confirmed pickups were in states that voted for Mitt Romney in 2012, but two of the seats that Republicans won represent states that voted for Barack Obama in 2012 (Colorado and Iowa). Of the three races that were not called by the end of election night, Alaska and Virginia were still too close to call, while Louisiana held a December 6 runoff election. Virginia declared incumbent Democrat Mark Warner the winner of his race by a narrow margin over Republican Ed Gillespie on November 7, and Alaska declared Dan Sullivan the winner against Democratic incumbent Mark Begich on November 12. Republican Bill Cassidy defeated Democratic incumbent Mary Landrieu in the Louisiana runoff on December 6.
Election spending Altogether, at least $3.67 billion was spent by candidates, parties, committees and outside groups in the 2014 election cycle.Chris Cillizza, The 2014 election cost $3.7 billion. We spend twice that much on Halloween., Washington Post (November 6, 2014).Overall Spending Inches Up in 2014: Megadonors Equip Outside Groups to Capture a Bigger Share of the Pie, OpenSecrets (October 29, 2014). Spending on the 2014 Senate elections by outside groups (i.e., organizations other than a candidate's campaign, such as super PACs and "dark money" nonprofit groups) more than doubled from 2010. In the 10 competitive races for which data were available, outside groups accounted for 47% of spending, candidates accounted for 41% of spending, and parties accounted for 12% of spending.Ian Vandewalker, Election Spending 2014: Outside Spending in Senate Races Since Citizens United, Brennan Center for Justice (2015). The Senate race with the most outside spending was in North Carolina, at $80 million, a new record.
The top outside spenders in the 11 most competitive Senate races were the following:
On the Republican side, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Crossroads GPS, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Ending Spending Action Fund, Freedom Partners Action Fund, American Crossroads, and the NRA Political Victory Fund. On the Democratic side, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Senate Majority PAC, and NextGen Climate Action Committee.
Results summary The Republican Party made a net gain of nine U.S. Senate seats in the 2014 elections.
Going into the elections, there were 53 Democratic, 45 Republican and 2 independent senators (both of whom caucus with the Democrats). In all, there were 36 elections: 33 senators were up for election this year as class 2 senators, and 3 faced special elections (all from Class 3). Of all these seats, 21 were held by Democrats and 15 were held by Republicans.
+ ↓ 44 2 54 Democratic Independent Republican
Colored shading indicates party with largest share of that row. Parties Total Democratic Republican Independent Libertarian Green Other Before these elections 53 45 2 — — — 100 Not up 32 30 2 — — — 64 23 8 2 — — — 33 9 22 — — — — 31 Up 21 15 — — — — 36 20 13 — — — — 33 1 2 — — — — 3 Incumbent retired 4 3 — — — — 7 1 3 — — — — 4 3 Democrats replaced by 3 Republicans — — — — 3 1 6 — — — — 7 Incumbent ran 17 12 — — — — 29 11 12 — — — — 23 5 Democrats replaced by 5 Republicans — — — — 5 — — — — — — 0 1 Democrat replaced by 1 Republican — — — — 1 11 18 — — — — 29 Total elected 12 24 0 — — — 36 Net gain/loss 9 9 — — — — 9 Nationwide vote 19,786,883 23,253,636 698,161 879,722 152,703 394,075 45,165,180 Share 43.81% 51.49% 1.55% 1.95% 0.34% 0.87% 100% Result 44 54 2 — — — 100
Source: Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives
Change in composition
Before the elections D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D Majority→ D R R R R R I I D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
After the elections D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D I I R R R R Majority → R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R Key: D Democratic R Republican I Independent, caucusing with the Democrats
Gains and losses Retirements
Four Democrats and two Republicans retired instead of seeking re-election. Max Baucus of Montana announced his intent to retire at the end of his term, but he resigned on February 6, 2014, after being appointed as the United States Ambassador to China. John Walsh, who was appointed by Montana governor Steve Bullock to finish Baucus's term, later withdrew to run for a full term (see Nomination withdrawn section below).
StateSenator Age at end of term AssumedofficeReplaced by Georgia 71 2003 Iowa 75 1985 Michigan 76 1979 Nebraska 64 2009 South Dakota 68 1997 West Virginia 77 1985
Resignations One Republican resigned four years into his six-year term. StateSenator Age of resignation AssumedofficeReplaced by Oklahoma (special) 66 2005
Nomination withdrawn One Democrat was originally to seek election for a full 6-year term in office but withdrew. StateSenatorAge atend of termAssumedofficeReplaced by Montana 54 2014
Defeats Five Democrats sought re-election but lost in the general election.
StateSenatorAge atend of termAssumedofficeReplaced by Alaska 52 2009 Arkansas 51 2003 Colorado 64 2009 Louisiana 59 1997 North Carolina 61 2009
Race summaries
Special elections during the preceding Congress
In these special elections, the winners were elected during 2014 and seated before January 3, 2015 — except that one was seated on January 3, 2015, the effective date of the predecessor's resignation.
State Incumbent Results Candidates Senator Party Electoralhistory Hawaii(Class 3) Democratic 2012 Interim appointee elected. Oklahoma(Class 3) Republican 20042010 Incumbent resigned, effective January 3, 2015.Republican hold. South Carolina(Class 3) Republican 2013 Interim appointee elected.
Elections leading to the next Congress In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 2015; ordered by state.
All of the elections involved the Class 2 seats.