Election 1990 Results
Each election opens in its own mode: the forecast before the votes are counted, the live count while races are still too close to call, and the results once every race is decided.
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1990 Senate election results by state and county
Democrats won 17 of the Senate seats up and gained one, Minnesota, in a midterm dominated by a budget fight and the Gulf crisis.
33 Senate races were held in 1990, plus 2 special elections. Democrats won 17 and Republicans 16.
The closest were Minnesota (D+2.6), New Jersey (D+3.0) and Kentucky (R+4.4). 1 seat changed party: Minnesota to the Democrats.
Early projection, based on early and incomplete polling: the likely matchups, each weighted by the betting markets' odds of both nominations, not a result. Each county is its 2024 presidential margin moved by its state's projected swing; set a national vote and every state, district and county moves by the same amount from our projection. Colours run in 100 steps from a safe Republican to a safe Democratic margin. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.
About the 1990 Senate elections
President Bush had broken his "no new taxes" pledge in a budget deal that year, and Iraq had invaded Kuwait in August. Voters were sour on incumbents, but few lost. Democrats won 17 Senate races and Republicans 16, and Democrats gained one seat to hold a 56-44 majority. The only incumbent defeated was in Minnesota, where Paul Wellstone, a college professor who campaigned from a green school bus, beat Rudy Boschwitz by 2.6 points. In New Jersey, Bill Bradley came within 3 points of losing to Christine Todd Whitman, who was little known at the start of the race and was elected governor three years later. In North Carolina, Jesse Helms beat Harvey Gantt, the former mayor of Charlotte, by 5.1 points in a bitter race. Mitch McConnell held Kentucky by 4.4 points. Dan Coats won an Indiana special for the seat Dan Quayle left to become vice president, and Daniel Akaka won a Hawaii special.
Every race
| State | Democrat | Votes | Republican | Votes | Others | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Howell Heflin | 717,814 (60.6%) | Bill Cabaniss | 467,190 (39.4%) | 150 | D+21.2 |
| Alaska | Michael Beasley | 61,152 (32.2%) | Ted Stevens | 125,806 (66.2%) | 2,999 | R+34.0 |
| Arkansas | David H. Pryor | 493,910 (99.8%) | none | 825 | D+99.8 | |
| Colorado | Josie Heath | 425,746 (41.7%) | Hank Brown | 569,048 (55.7%) | 27,233 | R+14.0 |
| Delaware | Joseph R. Biden Jr. | 112,918 (62.7%) | M. Jane Brady | 64,554 (35.8%) | 2,685 | D+26.9 |
| Georgia | Sam Nunn | 1,033,439 (100.0%) | none | D+100.0 | ||
| Hawaii (special) | Daniel K. Akaka | 188,901 (54.0%) | Patricia F. Saiki | 155,978 (44.6%) | 4,787 | D+9.4 |
| Idaho | Ron J. Twilegar | 122,295 (38.7%) | Larry E. Craig | 193,641 (61.3%) | R+22.6 | |
| Illinois | Paul Simon | 2,115,377 (65.1%) | Lynn Martin | 1,135,628 (34.9%) | D+30.1 | |
| Indiana (special) | Baron P. Hill | 696,639 (46.4%) | Dan Coats | 806,048 (53.6%) | R+7.3 | |
| Iowa | Tom Harkin | 535,975 (54.5%) | Thomas J. Tauke | 446,869 (45.4%) | 1,089 | D+9.1 |
| Kansas | Dick Williams | 207,491 (26.4%) | Nancy Landon Kassebaum | 578,605 (73.6%) | 139 | R+47.2 |
| Kentucky | G. Harvey Sloane | 437,976 (47.8%) | Mitch McConnell | 478,034 (52.2%) | R+4.4 | |
| Louisiana | J. Bennett Johnston | 753,198 (53.9%) | David Duke | 607,091 (43.5%) | 35,923 | D+10.5 |
| Louisiana: Decided in the open primary, where the winner took a majority. | ||||||
| Maine | Neil Rolde | 201,053 (38.6%) | William S. Cohen | 319,167 (61.3%) | 100 | R+22.7 |
| Massachusetts | John Kerry | 1,321,712 (57.1%) | Jim Rappaport | 992,917 (42.9%) | 1,583 | D+14.2 |
| Michigan | Carl Levin | 1,471,753 (57.5%) | Bill Schuette | 1,055,695 (41.2%) | 33,046 | D+16.3 |
| Minnesota flip | Paul David Wellstone | 911,999 (50.4%) | Rudy Boschwitz | 864,375 (47.8%) | 31,671 | D+2.6 |
| Mississippi | none | Thad Cochran | 274,244 (100.0%) | R+100.0 | ||
| Montana | Max Baucus | 217,563 (68.1%) | Allen C. Kolstad | 93,836 (29.4%) | 7,937 | D+38.8 |
| Nebraska | J. James Exon | 349,779 (58.9%) | Hal Daub | 243,013 (40.9%) | 1,036 | D+18.0 |
| New Hampshire | John A. Durkin | 91,299 (31.3%) | Robert C. Smith | 189,792 (65.1%) | 10,302 | R+33.8 |
| New Jersey | Bill Bradley | 977,810 (50.4%) | Christine Todd Whitman | 918,874 (47.4%) | 41,770 | D+3.0 |
| New Mexico | Tom Benavidez | 110,033 (27.0%) | Pete Domenici | 296,712 (72.9%) | 193 | R+45.9 |
| North Carolina | Harvey B. Gantt | 981,573 (47.4%) | Jesse Helms | 1,087,331 (52.5%) | 681 | R+5.1 |
| Oklahoma | David L. Boren | 735,684 (83.2%) | Stephen Jones | 148,814 (16.8%) | D+66.4 | |
| Oregon | Harry Lonsdale | 507,743 (46.2%) | Mark O. Hatfield | 590,095 (53.7%) | 1,417 | R+7.5 |
| Rhode Island | Claiborne Pell | 225,105 (61.8%) | Claudine Schneider | 138,947 (38.2%) | 10 | D+23.7 |
| South Carolina | Bob Cunningham | 244,112 (32.5%) | Strom Thurmond | 482,032 (64.2%) | 24,572 | R+31.7 |
| South Dakota | Ted Muenster | 116,727 (45.1%) | Larry Pressler | 135,682 (52.4%) | 6,567 | R+7.3 |
| Tennessee | Albert Gore Jr. | 530,898 (67.7%) | William R. Hawkins | 233,703 (29.8%) | 19,321 | D+37.9 |
| Texas | Hugh Parmer | 1,429,986 (37.4%) | Phil Gramm | 2,302,357 (60.2%) | 89,814 | R+22.8 |
| Virginia | none | John Warner | 876,782 (80.9%) | Nancy Spannaus (Independent) 196,755 (18.2%) |
R+80.9 | |
| West Virginia | John D. Rockefeller IV | 276,234 (68.3%) | John Yoder | 128,071 (31.7%) | D+36.7 | |
| Wyoming | Kathy Helling | 56,848 (36.1%) | Alan K. Simpson | 100,784 (63.9%) | R+27.9 | |
Margin: the Democrat's share of all votes minus the Republican's. Margins are Democrat minus Republican, of all votes. Certified results, from the states' own archives, the MIT Election Data and Science Lab, Heideman (2026) and Algara & Amlani (2021). How these results were checked.