How many U.S. Senate seats changed party in 1994?

8 seats changed party in the 1994 Senate elections: Arizona (Democrat to Republican), Maine (Democrat to Republican), Michigan (Democrat to Republican), Ohio (Democrat to Republican), Oklahoma (Democrat to Republican), Pennsylvania (Democrat to Republican), Tennessee (Democrat to Republican), Tennessee (Democrat to Republican).

Which new senators were elected in 1994?

11 new senators won seats in 1994: Jon Kyl (Republican-AZ), Olympia Snowe (Republican-ME), Spencer Abraham (Republican-MI), Rod Grams (Republican-MN), John Ashcroft (Republican-MO), Michael DeWine (Republican-OH), James Inhofe (Republican-OK), Rick Santorum (Republican-PA), William Frist (Republican-TN), Fred Thompson (Republican-TN), Craig Thomas (Republican-WY).

1994 U.S. Senate Elections: Results

35 Senate seats were decided on Tuesday, November 8, 1994: the 33 Class I seats and 2 special elections. 24 incumbents kept their seats, 11 new senators were elected, and 8 seats changed party.

All cycles 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 2026 2028 2030

Seats on the ballot

33 Class I + 2 special

Held going in

22 Democrat · 13 Republican

New senators

24 incumbents re-elected

Seats that changed party

AZ, ME, MI, OH, OK, PA, TN, TN

Special Elections

Oklahoma (Class II seat): David Boren (Democrat) held the seat going into the special election on November 8, 1994. Won by James Inhofe (Republican), whose term for the seat ran through January 7, 1997.
Tennessee (Class II seat): Harlan Mathews (Democrat) was appointed on January 5, 1993 and held the seat going into the special election on November 8, 1994. Won by Fred Thompson (Republican), whose term for the seat ran through January 7, 1997.

Every Seat on the 1994 Ballot

Incumbent is whoever held the seat on election day; the result is who was sworn in for it afterwards.

State ▲	Incumbent ↕	Party ↕	Seat ↕	Since ↕	Result ↕
Arizona	Dennis DeConcini Since 1977	Democrat	Class I	1977	Jon Kyl (Republican) Party change
California	Dianne Feinstein Since 1992	Democrat	Class I	1992	Re-elected
Connecticut	Joseph Lieberman Since 1989	Democrat	Class I	1989	Re-elected
Delaware	William Roth, Jr. Since 1971	Republican	Class I	1971	Re-elected
Florida	Connie Mack, III Since 1989	Republican	Class I	1989	Re-elected
Hawaii	Daniel Akaka Since 1990	Democrat	Class I Appointed	1990	Re-elected
Indiana	Richard Lugar Since 1977	Republican	Class I	1977	Re-elected
Maine	George Mitchell Since 1980	Democrat	Class I	1980	Olympia Snowe (Republican) Party change
Maryland	Paul Sarbanes Since 1977	Democrat	Class I	1977	Re-elected
Massachusetts	Ted Kennedy Since 1962	Democrat	Class I	1962	Re-elected
Michigan	Donald Riegle, Jr. Since 1976	Democrat	Class I	1976	Spencer Abraham (Republican) Party change
Minnesota	David Durenberger Since 1978	Republican	Class I	1978	Rod Grams (Republican)
Mississippi	Trent Lott Since 1989	Republican	Class I	1989	Re-elected
Missouri	John Danforth Since 1976	Republican	Class I	1976	John Ashcroft (Republican)
Montana	Conrad Burns Since 1989	Republican	Class I	1989	Re-elected
Nebraska	J. Kerrey Since 1989	Democrat	Class I	1989	Re-elected
Nevada	Richard Bryan Since 1989	Democrat	Class I	1989	Re-elected
New Jersey	Frank Lautenberg Since 1982	Democrat	Class I	1982	Re-elected
New Mexico	Jeff Bingaman, Jr. Since 1983	Democrat	Class I	1983	Re-elected
New York	Daniel Moynihan Since 1977	Democrat	Class I	1977	Re-elected
North Dakota	Kent Conrad Since 1987	Democrat	Class I	1987	Re-elected
Ohio	Howard Metzenbaum Since 1974	Democrat	Class I	1974	Michael DeWine (Republican) Party change
Oklahoma	David Boren Since 1979	Democrat	Class II Special	1979	James Inhofe (Republican) Party change
Pennsylvania	Harris Wofford Since 1991	Democrat	Class I Appointed	1991	Rick Santorum (Republican) Party change
Rhode Island	John Chafee Since 1976	Republican	Class I	1976	Re-elected
Tennessee	James Sasser Since 1977	Democrat	Class I	1977	William Frist (Republican) Party change
Tennessee	Harlan Mathews Since 1993	Democrat	Class II Special Appointed	1993	Fred Thompson (Republican) Party change
Texas	Kay Hutchison Since 1993	Republican	Class I	1993	Re-elected
Utah	Orrin Hatch Since 1977	Republican	Class I	1977	Re-elected
Vermont	James Jeffords Since 1989	Republican	Class I	1989	Re-elected
Virginia	Charles Robb Since 1989	Democrat	Class I	1989	Re-elected
Washington	Slade Gorton, III Since 1981	Republican	Class I	1981	Re-elected
West Virginia	Robert Byrd Since 1959	Democrat	Class I	1959	Re-elected
Wisconsin	Herbert Kohl Since 1989	Democrat	Class I	1989	Re-elected
Wyoming	Malcolm Wallop Since 1977	Republican	Class I	1977	Craig Thomas (Republican)

New Senators Elected in 1994

Jon Kyl

Republican · Arizona

Succeeded Dennis DeConcini (Democrat)

Olympia Snowe

Republican · Maine

Succeeded George Mitchell (Democrat)

Spencer Abraham

Republican · Michigan

Succeeded Donald Riegle, Jr. (Democrat)

Rod Grams

Republican · Minnesota

Succeeded David Durenberger

John Ashcroft

Republican · Missouri

Succeeded John Danforth

Michael DeWine

Republican · Ohio

Succeeded Howard Metzenbaum (Democrat)

James Inhofe

Republican · Oklahoma

Succeeded David Boren (Democrat) · special election

Rick Santorum

Republican · Pennsylvania

Succeeded Harris Wofford (Democrat)

William Frist

Republican · Tennessee

Succeeded James Sasser (Democrat)

Fred Thompson

Republican · Tennessee

Succeeded Harlan Mathews (Democrat) · special election

Craig Thomas

Republican · Wyoming

Succeeded Malcolm Wallop

About this page

Seats, incumbents and results are derived from the Senate's service records (via the congress-legislators dataset): the seats on a year's ballot are the class whose terms end the following January, plus any seat held by appointment pending a special election, and a result is recorded when the winner is sworn in. Incumbent status and candidates for the next election come from FEC candidate filings; a seat is listed as open when the FEC tags its candidates as running for a seat with no incumbent. Election day is the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. See every cycle since 1990, the seniority list and the voting analysis.