1990 United States elections

Summary

The 1990 United States elections were held on November 6 and elected the members of the 102nd United States Congress. The elections occurred in the middle of Republican President George H. W. Bush's term and during the Gulf War. The Democratic Party slightly built on their control of Congress.

1990 United States elections
1988          1989          1990          1991          1992
Midterm elections
Election dayNovember 6
Incumbent presidentGeorge H. W. Bush (Republican)
Next Congress102nd
Senate elections
Overall controlDemocratic hold
Seats contested35 of 100 seats
(33 seats of Class 2 + 2 special elections)
Net seat changeDemocratic +1
1990 United States Senate election in Indiana1990 United States Senate election in Hawaii1990 United States Senate election in Alabama1990 United States Senate election in Alaska1990 United States Senate election in Arkansas1990 United States Senate election in Colorado1990 United States Senate election in Delaware1990 United States Senate election in Georgia1990 United States Senate election in Idaho1990 United States Senate election in Illinois1990 United States Senate election in Iowa1990 United States Senate election in Kansas1990 United States Senate election in Kentucky1990 United States Senate election in Louisiana1990 United States Senate election in Maine1990 United States Senate election in Massachusetts1990 United States Senate election in Michigan1990 United States Senate election in Minnesota1990 United States Senate election in Mississippi1990 United States Senate election in Montana1990 United States Senate election in Nebraska1990 United States Senate election in New Hampshire1990 United States Senate election in New Jersey1990 United States Senate election in New Mexico1990 United States Senate election in North Carolina1990 United States Senate election in Oklahoma1990 United States Senate election in Oregon1990 United States Senate election in Rhode Island1990 United States Senate election in South Carolina1990 United States Senate election in South Dakota1990 United States Senate election in Tennessee1990 United States Senate election in Texas1990 United States Senate election in Virginia1990 United States Senate election in West Virginia1990 United States Senate election in Wyoming
1990 Senate election results
  Democratic gain   Democratic hold
  Republican hold
House elections
Overall controlDemocratic hold
Seats contestedAll 435 voting seats
Popular vote marginDemocratic +7.8%
Net seat changeDemocratic +7
1990 House of Representatives election results
  Democratic gain   Democratic hold
  Republican gain   Republican hold
  Independent gain
Gubernatorial elections
Seats contested38 (36 states, 2 territories)
Net seat changeAlaskan Independence +1, A Connecticut Party +1
1990 Alabama gubernatorial election1990 Alaska gubernatorial election1990 Arizona gubernatorial election1990 Arkansas gubernatorial election1990 California gubernatorial election1990 Colorado gubernatorial election1990 Connecticut gubernatorial election1990 Florida gubernatorial election1990 Georgia gubernatorial election1990 Hawaii gubernatorial election1990 Idaho gubernatorial election1990 Illinois gubernatorial election1990 Iowa gubernatorial election1990 Kansas gubernatorial election1990 Maine gubernatorial election1990 Maryland gubernatorial election1990 Massachusetts gubernatorial election1990 Michigan gubernatorial election1990 Minnesota gubernatorial election1990 Nebraska gubernatorial election1990 Nevada gubernatorial election1990 New Hampshire gubernatorial election1990 New Mexico gubernatorial election1990 New York gubernatorial election1990 Ohio gubernatorial election1990 Oklahoma gubernatorial election1990 Oregon gubernatorial election1990 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election1990 Rhode Island gubernatorial election1990 South Carolina gubernatorial election1990 South Dakota gubernatorial election1990 Tennessee gubernatorial election1990 Texas gubernatorial election1990 Vermont gubernatorial election1990 Wisconsin gubernatorial election1990 Wyoming gubernatorial election1990 Guam gubernatorial election1990 United States Virgin Islands gubernatorial election
1990 gubernatorial election results
  Democratic gain   Democratic hold
  Republican gain   Republican hold
  Alaskan Independence gain   A Connecticut Party gain

The Democratic Party built on its majorities in both chambers of Congress. They picked up a net of one seat in the Senate.[1] Democrats won the nationwide popular vote for the House of Representatives by a margin of 7.8 percentage points, picking up a net of seven seats. In the gubernatorial elections, both parties lost a net of one seat to third parties.

Federal elections edit

Senate elections edit

The 1990 Senate elections featured the smallest number of seats changing parties in US history since the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913 with only one seat changing parties. That election featured Democrat Paul Wellstone defeating incumbent Republican Rudy Boschwitz in Minnesota.

House of Representatives elections edit

Democrats won the nationwide popular vote for the House of Representatives by a margin of 7.8 percentage points, picking up a net of seven seats.[2]

State elections edit

Heading into the elections, there were 20 seats held by Democrats and 16 held by Republicans. By the end of the elections, 19 seats would be held by a Democrat, 15 would be held by a Republican, and two would be held by other parties.

Notably in these elections, there were two people elected from a third party: a former Alaskan governor and Secretary of the Interior, Joseph Hickel, was elected governor as a part of the Alaskan Independence Party, and former U.S. Senator Lowell Weicker of Connecticut won on A Connecticut Party's ticket. In addition to Weicker, two other U.S. senators were elected governors that year: Republican Pete Wilson of California and Democrat Lawton Chiles of Florida. The 1990 cycle saw six incumbent governors defeated. These were Republicans Mike Hayden of Kansas, Kay Orr of Nebraska, Bob Martinez of Florida and Edward DiPrete of Rhode Island, as well as Democrats James Blanchard of Michigan and Rudy Perpich of Minnesota.

References edit

  1. ^ "1990 Senatorial General Election Results". Uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
  2. ^ "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 6, 1990" (PDF). U.S. House of Reps, Office of the Clerk. Retrieved 10 April 2017.