- U.S.
Senate
| U.S. House | Governors
this
page
updated Nov. 20, 2018
U.S. Senate Races, 2017-18
- Starting balance Jan. 2018: 51R, 47D, 2I.*
- 35
seats at stake in 2018: 24D, 9R, 2I.**
- 4
retirements: 4R. Flake
(AZ),
Corker
(TN),
Hatch
(UT),
Cochran
(MS)
- 31 seeking re-election: 23D, 6R, 2I.
- 5 incumbents defeated: 4D, 1R. D: Nelson (FL), Donnelly (IN), McCaskill (MO), Heitkamp (ND). R: Heller (NV)
- 6 seats changed control—pickups: 2D, 4R. D: Sinema (AZ), Rosen (NV). R: Scott (FL), Braun (IN), Hawley (MO), Cramer (ND)
- 8 new members elected: 2D, 6R. D:
Sinema (AZ), Rosen (NV). R: Scott (FL), Braun (IN), Hawley (MO),
Cramer (ND), Blackburn (TN), Romney (UT)
- Balance after Nov. 6, 2018: 53R, 45D, 2I.
*Effectively the balance is
51R, 49D as the
two independents, King (ME) and Sanders (VT) caucus with the
Democrats. Four new members joined the Senate during 2018.
In AL, Doug Jones (D) won
the Dec.
12, 2017 special election and was sworn in on Jan. 3, 2018;
he will face election in 2020. In MN Sen.
Al Franken (DFL-MN) announced on Dec. 7, 2017 he would resign amid
sexual
harrassment allegations. On Dec. 13 Gov. Mark Dayton (DFL)
announced he would appoint Lt. Gov. Tina Smith
(DFL) to
fill the seat. Franken resigned on Jan. 2, 2018 and Smith was
sworn in on Jan. 3, 2018 and faced
special election in Nov. 2018. In MS, Sen. Thad Cochran (R)
announced on Mar. 5, 2018 that he would
resign effective April 1. Gov. Phil Bryant (R) appointed
Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce Cindy Hyde-Smith to replace
him. Hyde-Smith faced a special election and runoff in Nov.
2018. In Arizona, Sen. John McCain (R) died on Aug. 25, 2018; on
Sept. 4 Gov. Doug Ducey (R) announced former Sen. Jon Kyl (R) to fill
the seat.
**The 35 seats includes the special elections in
MN and MS.
 |
 |
|
|
 |
| Primary |
IND. INCUMBENT |
DEM.
CHALLENGER |
REP.
CHALLENGER |
|
| ME |
June
12 |
Angus King |
Zak Ringelstein |
Eric
Brakey |
| VT |
Aug.
14 |
Bernie Sanders |
no Democrat other candidates: Reid Kane (LU) and six independents |
Lawrence Zupan |
| Primary |
REP. INCUMBENT |
DEM. CHALLENGER |
MORE |
|
| AZ |
Aug.
28 |
Jeff
Flake ...retiring Martha McSally |
Krysten Sinema |
Angela Green (G) |
| MS |
June
5 |
Roger Wicker | runoff June 26: David Baria def. Howard Sherman |
Danny Bedwell (L) |
| MS |
Nov.
6 if no majority, runoff Nov. 27 |
Cindy Hyde-Smith [Thad Cochran]
...retired
effective April 1, 2018 being challenged by Chris McDaniel |
Mike Espy |
Tobey Bartee (I) |
| NE |
May
15 |
Deb Fischer |
Jane Raybould |
Jim Schultz (L) |
| NV |
June
12 |
Dean Heller |
Jacky Rosen |
Tim
Hagan
(L) Barry Michaels (I) |
| TN |
Aug.
2 |
Bob
Corker ...retiring Marsha Blackburn |
Phil Bredesen |
six independents |
| TX |
Mar.
6 |
Ted
Cruz |
Beto O'Rourke |
Neal Dikeman (L) |
| UT |
Jun
26 |
Orrin Hatch ...retiring Mitt Romney | Jenny Wilson |
Tim
Aalders
(C) Craig Bowden (L) sev. others |
| WY |
Aug.
21 |
John Barrasso |
Gary Trauner |
n/a |
Overview
Of 35 seats at stake, 24 were held by Democrats, two others by Independents who caucus with the Democrats, and nine by Republicans. Democrats thus faced a very challenging cycle defending so many seats and did about as well as could be expected. For Senate Republicans, the midterms were a success. They didn't pick up as many seats as they might have, but Sen. Mitch McConnell continued as majority leader, and he gained a couple more seate to work with. Democrats only needed a net gain of two seats to achieve a majority, but due to the map they faced very long odds in achieving that.
Ten Democratic incumbents represented states that voted for Trump in 2016, and five of those states are generally considered Republican (IN, MO, MT, ND and WV). Sens. Joe Donnelly, Claire McCaskill, Jon Tester, Heidi Heitkamp and Joe Manchin were seen as particularly vulnerable. Democrats saw a few possibilities for pick ups. Sen. Dean Heller (NV) was seen as the most vulnerable Republican, and they also eyed Arizona (Flake open seat) and Texas (Cruz).
There were just a handful of open seats; three Republican Senators announced they would retire at the end of term. Sens. Bob Corker (TN) and Jeff Flake (AZ) had stood up to Trump at times. Sen Orrin Hatch (UT), first elected in 1976, opted not to seek an eighth term. In addition to the open seats, a couple of appointed Senators faced the voters. In Minnesota and Mississippi there were two Senate races on the ballot. Minnesotans decided both the Amy Klobuchar (DFL) full term and the Tina Smith (DFL) special election and Mississippians decided the Roger Wicker (R) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) special election (which went to a Nov. 27 runoff).
The 2018 primaries set the stage for the general election. Steve Bannon's threat to primary GOP senators who had not been sufficiently supportive of President Trump received a lot of attention, and may have helped Corker and Flake decide to retire, but Bannon was completely marginalized after the Moore campaign debacle and after he lost his position at Breitbart. President Trump helped convince U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci to challenge Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio, and U.S. Rep. Kevin Cramer to challenge Sen. Heidi Heitkamp in North Dakota and dissauded a Republican challenge to Sen. Dean Heller in Nevada. No incumbents of either party were defeated.
The Dec. 12, 2017 U.S. Senate special election in Alabama provided a prologue to the midterms, producing a very surprising Democratic win. Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore proved to be an extremely flawed candidate. Moore defeated appointed Sen. Luther Strange (R) in the Sept. 26 primary. Allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced in November, but Moore refused to withdraw. Republican leaders posited all manner of scenarios, including running a write in candidate, possibly Strange or Attorney General Jeff Sessions; having Strange resign and hold a special election; and voting to expel Moore from the Senate if he were in fact elected. The Democratic nominee, former U.S. Attorney Doug Jones, faced long odds in this very red state; the last Democrat to represent Alabama in the Senate was Sen. Howell Heflin, who retired in 1996. As Election Day drew close Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell changed his tune, stating on Dec. 3 that, "I'm going to let the people of Alabama make the call." On Dec. 4, President Trump endorsed Moore; in one tweet he stated, "Democrats refusal to give even one vote for massive Tax Cuts is why we need Republican Roy Moore to win in Alabama. We need his vote on stopping crime, illegal immigration, Border Wall, Military, Pro Life, V.A., Judges 2nd Amendment and more. No to Jones, a Pelosi/Schumer Puppet!" Following Trump's move, the RNC quickly restored its support for Moore. McConnell did say that if Moore were elected his case would be put to the Senate ethics committee. Meanwhile Democrats started using the RNC's support of Moore to attack Republican candidates (+). On Election Day, propelled by high turnout among black voters, Jones achieved the upset, defeating Moore by 1.5 percentage points (+); he took office on Jan. 3 and will not be up for re-election until 2020.
There was considerable room for improvement in the representativeness of the Senate. Twenty-three of the 100 U.S. Senators were women (17D, 6R). Eleven of the 24 Democrats and two of the eight Republicans seeking re-election (or election) were women. Two women were defeated (C.McCaskill (D-MO) and H.Heitkamp (D-ND)) and three new women Senators elected (K.Sinema (D-AZ), J.Rosen (D-NV) and M.Blackburn (R-TN)). There will be 24 women Senators in the 116th Congress (17D, 7R) and possibly 25 if M.McSally (R) is appointed in AZ. In terms of ethnic diversity, there were no changes; the balance remained at nine minority Senators—C.Booker (D-NJ), K.Cortez-Masto (D-NV), T.Cruz (R-TX), T.Duckworth (D-IL), K.Harris (D-CA), M.Hirono (D-CA), R.Menendez (D-NJ), M.Rubio (R-FL), T.Scott (R-SC) (+).
Links:
Party Committees: DSCC [Organization] | NRSC [Organization] | FEC
Key Super PACs: D - Senate Majority PAC (+) | R - Senate Leadership Fund
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball
The Cook Political Report
General Election Debates
Alabama Special Election (Dec. 12, 2017)
Roy Moore (R) | Doug Jones (D) | Ron Bishop (L) w/in | Lee Busby w/in launched Nov. 27
Of 35 seats at stake, 24 were held by Democrats, two others by Independents who caucus with the Democrats, and nine by Republicans. Democrats thus faced a very challenging cycle defending so many seats and did about as well as could be expected. For Senate Republicans, the midterms were a success. They didn't pick up as many seats as they might have, but Sen. Mitch McConnell continued as majority leader, and he gained a couple more seate to work with. Democrats only needed a net gain of two seats to achieve a majority, but due to the map they faced very long odds in achieving that.
Ten Democratic incumbents represented states that voted for Trump in 2016, and five of those states are generally considered Republican (IN, MO, MT, ND and WV). Sens. Joe Donnelly, Claire McCaskill, Jon Tester, Heidi Heitkamp and Joe Manchin were seen as particularly vulnerable. Democrats saw a few possibilities for pick ups. Sen. Dean Heller (NV) was seen as the most vulnerable Republican, and they also eyed Arizona (Flake open seat) and Texas (Cruz).
There were just a handful of open seats; three Republican Senators announced they would retire at the end of term. Sens. Bob Corker (TN) and Jeff Flake (AZ) had stood up to Trump at times. Sen Orrin Hatch (UT), first elected in 1976, opted not to seek an eighth term. In addition to the open seats, a couple of appointed Senators faced the voters. In Minnesota and Mississippi there were two Senate races on the ballot. Minnesotans decided both the Amy Klobuchar (DFL) full term and the Tina Smith (DFL) special election and Mississippians decided the Roger Wicker (R) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) special election (which went to a Nov. 27 runoff).
The 2018 primaries set the stage for the general election. Steve Bannon's threat to primary GOP senators who had not been sufficiently supportive of President Trump received a lot of attention, and may have helped Corker and Flake decide to retire, but Bannon was completely marginalized after the Moore campaign debacle and after he lost his position at Breitbart. President Trump helped convince U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci to challenge Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio, and U.S. Rep. Kevin Cramer to challenge Sen. Heidi Heitkamp in North Dakota and dissauded a Republican challenge to Sen. Dean Heller in Nevada. No incumbents of either party were defeated.
The Dec. 12, 2017 U.S. Senate special election in Alabama provided a prologue to the midterms, producing a very surprising Democratic win. Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore proved to be an extremely flawed candidate. Moore defeated appointed Sen. Luther Strange (R) in the Sept. 26 primary. Allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced in November, but Moore refused to withdraw. Republican leaders posited all manner of scenarios, including running a write in candidate, possibly Strange or Attorney General Jeff Sessions; having Strange resign and hold a special election; and voting to expel Moore from the Senate if he were in fact elected. The Democratic nominee, former U.S. Attorney Doug Jones, faced long odds in this very red state; the last Democrat to represent Alabama in the Senate was Sen. Howell Heflin, who retired in 1996. As Election Day drew close Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell changed his tune, stating on Dec. 3 that, "I'm going to let the people of Alabama make the call." On Dec. 4, President Trump endorsed Moore; in one tweet he stated, "Democrats refusal to give even one vote for massive Tax Cuts is why we need Republican Roy Moore to win in Alabama. We need his vote on stopping crime, illegal immigration, Border Wall, Military, Pro Life, V.A., Judges 2nd Amendment and more. No to Jones, a Pelosi/Schumer Puppet!" Following Trump's move, the RNC quickly restored its support for Moore. McConnell did say that if Moore were elected his case would be put to the Senate ethics committee. Meanwhile Democrats started using the RNC's support of Moore to attack Republican candidates (+). On Election Day, propelled by high turnout among black voters, Jones achieved the upset, defeating Moore by 1.5 percentage points (+); he took office on Jan. 3 and will not be up for re-election until 2020.
There was considerable room for improvement in the representativeness of the Senate. Twenty-three of the 100 U.S. Senators were women (17D, 6R). Eleven of the 24 Democrats and two of the eight Republicans seeking re-election (or election) were women. Two women were defeated (C.McCaskill (D-MO) and H.Heitkamp (D-ND)) and three new women Senators elected (K.Sinema (D-AZ), J.Rosen (D-NV) and M.Blackburn (R-TN)). There will be 24 women Senators in the 116th Congress (17D, 7R) and possibly 25 if M.McSally (R) is appointed in AZ. In terms of ethnic diversity, there were no changes; the balance remained at nine minority Senators—C.Booker (D-NJ), K.Cortez-Masto (D-NV), T.Cruz (R-TX), T.Duckworth (D-IL), K.Harris (D-CA), M.Hirono (D-CA), R.Menendez (D-NJ), M.Rubio (R-FL), T.Scott (R-SC) (+).
Links:
Party Committees: DSCC [Organization] | NRSC [Organization] | FEC
Key Super PACs: D - Senate Majority PAC (+) | R - Senate Leadership Fund
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball
The Cook Political Report
General Election Debates
Alabama Special Election (Dec. 12, 2017)
Roy Moore (R) | Doug Jones (D) | Ron Bishop (L) w/in | Lee Busby w/in launched Nov. 27
Senate
Primary
Dates
| Mar. |
May |
June |
Aug. |
Sept. |
||
| 6-TX |
8-IN 8-OH 8-WV 15-NE 15-PA |
5-CA 5-MS 5-MT 5-NJ 5-NM 12-ME 12-NV 12-ND 12-VA* 28-MD 28-UT |
2-TN 7-MI 7-MO 7-WA 11-HI 14-CT 14-MN 14-VT 14-WI 21-WY 28-AZ 28-FL |
4-MA 6-DE 11-NY 12-RI |
none in Apr., July.
NCSL
Primary
Dates
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Copyright
© 2017, 2018
Eric
M.
Appleman/Democracy
in
Action.
All
rights
reserved.