35 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate 51 seats needed for a majority
Majority party
Minority party
Leader
Bob Dole
George Mitchell (retired)
Party
Republican
Democratic
Leader since
January 3, 1985
January 3, 1989
Leader's seat
Kansas
Maine
Seats before
44
56
Seats after
52[a]
48
Seat change
8
8
Popular vote
29,155,739[1]
25,627,430[1]
Percentage
50.0%
44.0%
Seats up
13
22
Races won
21
14
Results of the elections: Democratic hold Republican gain Republican hold No electionRectangular inset (Tennessee): both seats up for election
Majority leader before election
George Mitchell
Democratic
Elected Majority leader
Bob Dole
Republican
The 1994 United States Senate elections were held November 8, 1994, with the 33 seats of Class 1 contested in regular elections. Special elections were also held to fill vacancies. The Republican Party took control of the Senate from the Democrats. Like for most other midterm elections, the opposition, this time being the Republicans, held the traditional advantage. The congressional Republicans campaigned against the early presidency of Bill Clinton, including his unsuccessful health care plan. Democrats held a 56-44 majority, after having lost a seat in Texas in a 1993 special election.
The Republicans successfully defended all of their seats and won eight from the Democrats by defeating the incumbent Senators Harris Wofford (Pennsylvania) and Jim Sasser (Tennessee), in addition to picking up six open seats in Arizona, Maine, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. Notably, since Sasser's defeat coincided with a Republican victory in the special election to replace Al Gore, Tennessee's Senate delegation switched from entirely Democratic to entirely Republican in a single election. That would not happen again until 2021, when the Democrats flipped Georgia's delegation in the state's regularly-scheduled and special Senate elections.
The elections marked the first time Republicans controlled the Senate since January 1987 and coincided with the first change of control in the House of Representatives since January 1955 and a Republican net gain of ten governorships. Furthermore, this was the first popular election in which Republicans won all Senate seats up in the Deep South. Collectively, the Republican gains are known as the Republican Revolution. Minority leader Robert J. Dole became Majority Leader, and on the Democratic side, Tom Daschle became Minority Leader after the retirement of the previous Democratic leader, George J. Mitchell. It was also the first time since 1980 that Republicans made net gains in the Senate but the last time until 2018 the Republicans also made gains among Class 1 senators.
Initially, the balance was 52–48 in favor of the Republicans, but after the power change, the Democrats Richard Shelby and Ben Nighthorse Campbell switched parties and brought the balance to 54–46. The Democrat Ron Wyden won a 1996 special election to replace the Republican Bob Packwood, which left the balance at 53–47 before the next election cycle. As of 2023[update], it is the last election cycle in which Republicans won Senate elections in Delaware, Michigan, and Washington. These are also the most recent elections from which none of the first-term senators elected remain serving in the Senate as of 2024.
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