34 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate 51 seats needed for a majority
Majority party
Minority party
Leader
Trent Lott
Tom Daschle
Party
Republican
Democratic
Leader since
June 12, 1996
January 3, 1995
Leader's seat
Mississippi
South Dakota
Seats before
55
45
Seats after
55
45
Seat change
Popular vote
25,346,613
26,768,699
Percentage
46.8%
49.5%
Swing
2.7%
1.6%
Seats up
16
18
Races won
16
18
Results of the elections: Democratic gain Democratic hold Republican gain Republican hold No election
Majority leader before election
Trent Lott
Republican
Elected Majority leader
Trent Lott
Republican
The 1998 United States Senate elections were held on November 3, with the 34 seats of Class 3 contested in regular elections. This was seen as an even contest between the Republican Party and Democratic Party. While the Democrats had to defend more seats up for election, Republican attacks on the morality of President Bill Clinton failed to connect with voters and anticipated Republican gains did not materialize. The Republicans picked up open seats in Ohio and Kentucky and narrowly defeated Democratic incumbent Carol Moseley Braun (Illinois), but these were cancelled out by the Democrats' gain of an open seat in Indiana and defeats of Republican Senators Al D'Amato (New York) and Lauch Faircloth (North Carolina). The balance of the Senate remained unchanged at 55–45 in favor of the Republicans.
With Democrats gaining five seats in the House of Representatives, this marked the first time since 1934 that the party not in control of the White House failed to gain congressional seats in mid-term election cycles, which would also happen in 2002. These are the last Senate elections that resulted in no net change in the balance of power. This is the last time Democrats won a U.S. Senate race in South Carolina.
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