Nov. 6, 2018 U.S. Senate Races

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At Stake: 35 Seats
Before Nov. 6: 51R, 47D and 2I.

AZ  -  CA  -  CT  -  DE  -  FL  -  HI  -  IN  -  ME  -  MD  -  MA  -  MI  -  MN (f)  -  MN (s)  -  MS (f)  -  MS (s)  -  MO  -  MT  -  NE  -  NV  -  NJ  -  NM  -  NY  -  ND  -  OH  -  PA  -  RI  -  TN  -  TX  -  UT  -  VT  -  VA  -  WA  -  WV  -  WI  -  WY



Democrats Republicans Third Party/Independent
Arizona

D+





California



no Republican candidate
no other candidates




Connecticut





Delaware

missing





Florida

R+





Hawaii
missing
no literature





Indiana

R+





Maine




Maryland




Massachusetts





Michigan





Minnesota

 





Minnesota




Mississippi





Mississippi




Missouri

R+




Montana





Nebraska





Nevada

D+





New Jersey






New Mexico




New York
no literature





North Dakota

R+





Ohio





Pennsylvania





Rhode Island





Tennessee





Texas




Utah





Vermont
no Democratic candidate

+




Virginia




Washington
no literature




West Virginia





Wisconsin





Wyoming

Thank you to the many people who have helped make this page possible.

After Nov. 27: 52R, 46D and 2I.
  Margin of Victory in Percentage Points
25.01 +
20.01-25.0
15.01-20.0
10.01-15.0
5.01-10.0
0-5.0
0-5.0
5.01-10.0
10.01-15.0
15.01-20.0
20.01-25.0
25.01 +
NY 34.00
MD 34.55
HI 42.30
CT 20.18
DE 22.14
RI 23.11
NM 23.56
MN 24.10
MA 24.17
VA 15.99
WA 16.86
MNs 10.52
WI 10.83
NJ 11.16
PA 12.87
NV 5.03*
MI 6.50
OH 6.62
AZ 2.34*
WV 3.31
MT 3.55
FL 0.12*
TX 2.56
MO 5.81*
IN 5.89*
MSs 7.26
TN 10.79
ND 10.84*
MS 19.02
NE 19.07

UT 31.68
WY 36.86
    Not shown: CA (two Democrats), ME (Indep. A.King won by 19.09 percentage points) and VT (Indep. B.Sanders won by 39.13 percentage points).
    *Seat changed parties.

 


2018 SENATE RACE OVERVIEW [more]

For Senate Republicans, the midterms were a moderate 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 seats to work with.  Democrats only needed a net gain of two seats to achieve a majority, but they faced a difficult map and were defending 24 seats.  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 had 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). 

Balance before Nov. 6, 2018:  51 Republicans, 47 Democrats and 2 Indeps.


35 seats at stake:  24 held by Democrats, 9 by Republicans and 2 by Indeps.*
 

3 retirements:
all Republicans.
Jeff Flake (AZ), Bob Corker (TN), Orrin Hatch (UT). 
  

0 incumbents were defeated in primaries.

5 incumbents defeated in the general election:  4 Democrats, 1 Republican
.
D: Bill Nelson (FL), Joe Donnelly (IN), Claire McCaskill (MO), Heidi Heitkamp (ND). R: Dean Heller (NV).

1 open seat flipped to the Democrats.

AZ: Jeff Flake (R) to Kyrsten Sinema (D).

8 new Senators elected:  2 Democrats, 6 Republicans.
D:
Kyrsten Sinema (AZ), Jacky Rosen (NV).
R: Rick Scott (FL), Mike Braun (IN), Josh Hawley (MO), Kevin Cramer (ND), Marsha Blackburn (TN), Mitt Romney (UT).


Balance after Nov. 6, 2018 and Nov. 27 MS runoff:  53 Republicans, 45 Democrats and 2 Indeps.
 

*Thirty-five includes two appointed Senators who were running in Nov. 6 special elections:

-
In MN, Sen. Al Franken (DFL-MN) announced on Dec. 7, 2017 he would resign amid sexual harassment allegations.  Gov. Mark Dayton (DFL) announced he would appoint Lt. Gov. Tina Smith (DFL) to fill the seat.  Smith was sworn in on Jan. 3, 2018 and won the 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 won Nov. 27, 2018 runoff. 

- Also note, 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.

 





HIGHLIGHTS
 
  • The most expensive race of the cycle was Florida where, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a total of $204.4 million was spent ($114.3 million by the campaigns and $90.0 million in outside spending), setting a new record for the most expensive Senate race.  All told six races came in at over $100 million.  The other $100 million-plus races were Texas at $137.8 million ($124.3 million and $13.5 million), Missouri at $127.0 million ($50.3 million and $76.7 million), Nevada at $106.1 million ($40.2 million and $65.8 million), Arizona at $105.5 million ($44.6 million and $60.9 million), and Indiana at $105.0 million ($35.3 million and $69.7 million). >
  • The closest Senate race of the cycle was in Florida, where Gov. Rick Scott (R) defeated incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson (D) by, after the recount process, 10,033 votes out of 8,190,005 (0.12 percentage points).
  • Of the 69 major party nominees, 23 were women (33.3%): 15 of 35 Democrats or 42.9% (11 incumbents and 4 challengers) and 8 of 34 Republicans or 23.5% (2 incumbents and 6 challengers).  For the Democrats 9 of 11 incumbents and 2 of 4 challengers won; Sens. Claire McCaskill (MO) and Heidi Heitkamp (ND) were defeated while Kirsten Sinema (AZ) and Jacky Rosen (NV) were elected.  For the Republicans both incumbents won as did 1 of the 6 challengers, Marsha Blackburn (TN); also McSally was later appointed in AZ.  Both major party nominees were women in six states: AZ, MN, NE, NY, WA and WI.
  • Excluding incumbent Sens. Angus King (ME) and Bernie Sanders (VT), the strongest showings by third party or independent candidates were former Gov. Gary Johnson (L) with 15.4% in New Mexico and Rusty Hollen (L) with 4.2% in West Virginia.
  • A total of 61 general election U.S. Senate debates were noted, 47 of which occurred in the month of October.  In most races there were either one (14) or two (14) debates.  Third party and independent candidates had a hard time getting on the stage.  Only ten of the 61 debates had more than two candidates participating.



   see also:
campaign managers



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