The 1988 United States Senate elections were elections for the United States Senate. Held on November 8, 1988, the 33 seats of Class 1 were contested in regular elections. In spite of the Republican victory by George H. W. Bush in the presidential election, the Democrats gained a net of one seat in the Senate. Seven seats changed parties, with four incumbents being defeated. The Democratic majority in the Senate increased by one to 55–45.

This is the last Senate election cycle in which California voted for a Republican, the last in which Texas and Maine voted for a Democrat, and the last time Arizona voted for a Democrat until 2018. This would also be the last Senate election cycle until 1998 to not have at least one special election during that cycle.

This is also the last Senate election cycle in which no woman was elected to the Senate from either party, as all of the winners were men.

Results summary Summary of the 1988 United States Senate election results

+ ↓ 55 45 Democratic Republican

Parties Total Democratic Republican Libertarian Conservative Other Last elections (1986) 55 45 0 0 0 100 Before these elections 54 46 0 0 0 100 Not up 36 31 — — — 67 Up 18 15 — — — 33 Incumbent retired 3 3 — — — 6 1 2 — — — 3 1 Republican replaced by 1 Democrat2 Democrats replaced by 2 Republicans — — — 3 Result 2 4 — — — 6 Incumbent ran 15 12 — — — 27 14 9 — — — 23 3 Republicans replaced by 3 Democrats1 Democrat replaced by 1 Republican — — — 4 0 0 — — — 0 Result 17 10 — — — 27 Total elected 19 14 — — — 33 Net gain/loss 1 1 1 Nationwide vote 35,137,786 31,151,251 268,053 189,226 677,928 67,424,244 Share 52.11% 46.20% 0.40% 0.28% 1.01% 100% Result 55 45 0 0 0 100

Source:

Gains and losses Retirements Three Republicans and three Democrats retired instead of seeking re-election.

StateSenator Age at end of term AssumedofficeReplaced by Florida 58 1971 Mississippi 83 1947 Vermont 75 1971 Virginia 42 1983 Washington 63 1983 Wisconsin 73 1957

Defeats Three Republicans and one Democrat sought re-election but lost in the general election.

StateSenatorAssumedofficeReplaced by Connecticut 1971 Montana 1977 Nebraska 1987 Nevada 1983

Post-election changes One Republican resigned on January 3, 1989, while one Democrat died on May 16, 1990. Initially, they were replaced by appointees.

StateSenatorReplaced by Hawaii(Class 1) Indiana(Class 3)

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 R D 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 D D D D D D Majority → D R R R R R D D 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 Key D Democratic R Republican

Race summary

Special elections There were no special elections in 1988.

Elections leading to the next Congress In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 1989; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 1 seats.

State Incumbent Result Candidates Senator Party Electoral history Arizona Democratic 19761982 Incumbent re-elected. California Republican 1982 Incumbent re-elected. Connecticut Republican 197019761982 Incumbent lost re-election.Democratic gain. Delaware Republican 19701971 19761982 Incumbent re-elected. Florida Democratic 197019761982 Incumbent retired.Republican gain. Hawaii Democratic 19761982 Incumbent re-elected. Indiana Republican 19761982 Incumbent re-elected. Maine Democratic 1980 1982 Incumbent re-elected. Maryland Democratic 19761982 Incumbent re-elected. Massachusetts Democratic 1962 1964197019761982 Incumbent re-elected. Michigan Democratic 19761976 1982 Incumbent re-elected. Minnesota Republican 1978 1982 Incumbent re-elected. Mississippi Democratic 1947 195219581964197019761982 Incumbent retired.Republican gain. Missouri Republican 19761976 1982 Incumbent re-elected. Montana Democratic 19761982 Incumbent lost re-election.Republican gain. Nebraska Republican 1987 Interim appointee lost election.Democratic gain. Nevada Republican 1982 Incumbent lost re-election.Democratic gain. New Jersey Democratic 19821982 Incumbent re-elected. New Mexico Democratic 1982 Incumbent re-elected. New York Democratic 19761982 Incumbent re-elected. North Dakota Democratic-NPL 1960 1964197019761982 Incumbent re-elected. Ohio Democratic 1974 1974 1974 19761976 1982 Incumbent re-elected. Pennsylvania Republican 19761982 Incumbent re-elected. Rhode Island Republican 19761976 1982 Incumbent re-elected. Tennessee Democratic 19761982 Incumbent re-elected. Texas Democratic 197019761982 Incumbent re-elected. Utah Republican 19761982 Incumbent re-elected. Vermont Republican 1971 1972 19761982 Incumbent retired.Republican hold. Virginia Republican 1982 Incumbent retired.Democratic gain. Washington Republican 1983 1983 Incumbent retired.Republican hold. West Virginia Democratic 19581964197019761982 Incumbent re-elected. Wisconsin Democratic 1957 19581964197019761982 Incumbent retired.Democratic hold. Wyoming Republican 19761982 Incumbent re-elected.

Closest races

In eleven races the margin of victory was under 10%.

State Party of winner Margin Wyoming Republican 0.73% Connecticut Democratic (flip) 0.77% Florida Republican (flip) 0.85% Washington Republican 2.17% Montana Republican (flip) 3.73% Nevada Democratic (flip) 4.06% Wisconsin Democratic 4.53% Mississippi Republican (flip) 7.82% New Jersey Democratic 8.37% California Republican 8.77% Rhode Island Republican 9.19%

Ohio was the tipping point state, with a margin of 13.95%.

Arizona

Incumbent Democrat Dennis DeConcini was reelected to a third term over Republican Keith DeGreen, Marine veteran and financial advisor.

California

Incumbent Republican Pete Wilson won re-election to a second term over Democrat Leo T. McCarthy, lieutenant governor of California and former Speaker of the California State Assembly. As of 2020, this is the last Senate election in California won by a Republican.

Connecticut

Incumbent Republican Lowell P. Weicker Jr. ran for re-election to a fourth term, but was defeated by Democratic candidate Joe Lieberman, the Connecticut attorney general and eventual 2000 nominee for vice president of the United States, who would remain in office until his retirement in 2013.

Delaware

Incumbent Republican William Roth won re-election to a fourth term, beating Democrat Shien Biau Woo, lieutenant governor of Delaware.

Florida

Incumbent Democrat Lawton Chiles decided to retire instead of seeking a fourth term. Republican U.S. Representative Connie Mack III won the open seat over Democratic Congressman Buddy Mackay.

This senate election was heavily targeted by both parties. U.S. Representative Mack had announced his candidacy in October 1987. President Ronald Reagan endorsed Mack in June 1988 to allow Mack to focus on the general election, and easily won the September 6 Republican primary against U.S. Attorney Robert Merkle. In May 1988, then-Congressman MacKay announced he would run for the open seat, and defeated Insurance Commissioner Bill Gunter in a close October 4 runoff election.

The general election soon became nasty, with Mackay portraying Mack as "extremist." Mack also attacked his opponent in television ads by connecting him to liberal Massachusetts governor and Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis. Mack had help from vice presidential candidate Dan Quayle. The election was so close that there was a recount until Mackay conceded eight days after election day.

Hawaii

Incumbent Democrat Spark Matsunaga won re-election to a third term, beating Republican cattle rancher Maria Hustace.

Indiana

Incumbent Republican Richard Lugar was re-elected to a third term over Democratic attorney Jack Wickes.

Lugar, a popular incumbent, had token opposition in this election. An April 1988 poll showed that Lugar lead 65% to 23%. By June, Lugar raised over $2 million, while Wickes raised just over $100,000. Lugar agreed to debate Wickes on September 10, 1988.

Lugar won overall with two-thirds of the vote and won 91 of Indiana's 92 counties, Wickes won only the Democratic stronghold of Lake County.

Maine

Incumbent Democrat George J. Mitchell won re-election to a second full term over Republican Jasper Wyman, leader of Maine Christian Civic League and businessman. As of 2020, this is the last Senate election in Maine won by a Democrat.

Maryland

Incumbent Democratic Paul Sarbanes was reelected to a third term over Republican Alan Keyes, former Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs.

Massachusetts

Incumbent Democrat Ted Kennedy won re-election to his sixth (his fifth full) term over Republican Joseph D. Malone.

Michigan

Incumbent Democrat Don Riegle won re-election to a third term over Republican U.S. Congressman James Whitney Dunn.

Minnesota

Incumbent Republican David Durenberger won re-election to his second full term, beating Democrat Skip Humphrey, the Minnesota attorney general and former state senator.

Mississippi

Incumbent Democrat John C. Stennis decided to retire instead of seeking an eighth term (and his seventh full term). Republican Trent Lott won the open seat, beating Democrat Wayne Dowdy, U.S. congressman from the 4th district.

Missouri

Incumbent Republican John Danforth won re-election over Democratic state senator and future governor Jay Nixon.

Montana

Incumbent John Melcher, who was first elected to the Senate in 1976 and was re-elected in 1982, ran for re-election. After winning the Democratic primary, he faced Yellowstone County Commissioner Conrad Burns in the general election, and in the general election a grueling campaign followed. Ultimately, Melcher was narrowly defeated in his bid for re-election by Burns.

Nebraska

Republican David Karnes decided to seek election to his first complete term after being appointed to the seat of the late Edward Zorinsky in March 1987, but was soundly defeated by Democratic former governor Bob Kerrey in the November general election.

Nevada

Incumbent Republican Chic Hecht ran for re-election to a second term, but lost to Democratic governor Richard Bryan.

New Jersey

Incumbent Democrat Frank Lautenberg won re-election to a second term with a margin of 8.37% over Republican Pete Dawkins, military veteran and CEO of Primerica Financial Services, Inc.

The campaign was full of political mudslinging, with Lautenberg accusing Dawkins of being a carpetbagger, noting his very brief residency in the state, and accusing Dawkins' campaign of lying about his war record. Dawkins accused Lautenberg of running a smear campaign, called him a "swamp dog", and criticized him for saying he voted eight times against a senatorial pay raise without mentioning the fact that he did vote once for the pay raise.

New Mexico

Incumbent Democrat Jeff Bingaman won re-election to a second term, beating Republican New Mexico State Senator Bill Valentine.

New York

Incumbent Democrat Daniel Patrick Moynihan won re-election to a third term, over Republican Robert R. McMillan, business executive of Avon Products and Reagan Administration advisor.

North Dakota

The incumbent, Quentin Burdick of the North Dakota Democratic NPL Party, sought and received re-election to his sixth term, defeating Republican candidate Earl Strinden.