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1998 United States Senate election in Oregon

Summary

The 1998 United States Senate election in Oregon was held on November 3, 1998. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Ron Wyden won re-election to his first full term, defeating Republican nominee John Lim, a state senator in a landslide (Lim only carried Malheur County). As of 2022, this is the last time Grant County and Harney County have supported a Democrat in a U.S. Senate election.

1998 United States Senate election in Oregon
← 1996 (special) November 3, 1998 2004 →
 
Nominee Ron Wyden John Lim
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 682,425 377,739
Percentage 61.05% 33.79%
County results
Wyden:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Lim:      50–60%
U.S. senator before election

Ron Wyden
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Ron Wyden
Democratic

Democratic nomination edit

  • John Sweeney, retired city parks worker
  • Ron Wyden, incumbent U.S. Senator

Results edit

 
Results by county
Wyden
  •   80–90%
  •   >90%
Oregon Democratic U.S. Senate primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ronald Wyden (Incumbent) 283,654 91.51%
Democratic John Sweeney 25,456 8.21%
Democratic Write-ins 853 0.28%
Total votes 309,963 100.00%

Republican nomination edit

Results edit

 
Results by county
Lim
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
Fitzpatrick
  •   40–50%
Oregon Republican U.S. Senate primary results[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican John Lim 135,048 62.45%
Republican John Michael Fitzpatrick 58,139 26.88%
Republican Valentine Christian 20,569 9.51%
Republican Write-ins 2,509 1.16%
Total votes 216,265 100.00%

General edit

Wyden, a consistent liberal Democrat, was considered to be the favorite throughout the campaign. State Republicans were weakened by division between moderate and conservative wings, with few candidates on the already sparse bench able to reconcile them.[3] During his campaign, Wyden emphasized his work with fellow Oregon Senator and Republican Gordon H. Smith. Lim had very little name recognition outside of his Gresham-based State Senate district and focused his campaign on portraying Wyden as a Beltway insider and out-of-touch with the population of Oregon.[4]

Results edit

Wyden won in a landslide, winning every county in the state with the exception of Malheur County. Wyden's performance, both by his portion of the vote and margin of victory, would only be exceeded by his subsequent 2004 election, being his second-best performance in a Senatorial election.

General election results[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Ronald Wyden (Incumbent) 682,425 61.05% +13.27%
Republican John Lim 377,739 33.79% -12.47%
Pacific Green Karyn Moskowitz 22,024 1.97% +1.37%
Libertarian Jim Brewster 18,221 1.63% +0.32%
Natural Law Michael A. Campbell 8,372 0.75% +0.75%
Socialist Dean M. Braa 7,553 0.68% +.02%
Write-In Misc. 1,413 0.13% -1.12%
Total votes 1,117,747 100.0%
Democratic hold

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "OR US Senate D Primary". Our Campaigns. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  2. ^ "OR US Senate R Primary". Our Campaigns. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  3. ^ Rothenburg, Stuart. "Stuart Rothenberg on the 1998 Senate Races, State-by-State". CNN. CNN. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  4. ^ Cain, Brad (May 19, 1998). "Wyden, Lim cruise to victories". Eugene Register-Guard. The Associated Press. Google Books. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  5. ^ "Official Results: November 3, 1998 General Election, United States Senator". Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved August 21, 2009.