1982 United States Senate elections

The 1982 United States Senate elections were held on November 2, 1982. They were elections for the United States Senate following Republican gains in 1980. A total of four seats changed hands between parties, and the lone independent, Senator Harry Byrd Jr., retired. Democrats made a net gain of one seat in the elections. A special election was held in Washington state in 1983.

Results summary

Parties		Total Seats			Popular Vote
		1980	1982	+/-	Vote	%
	Democratic	46	46		27,899,651	54.08%
	Republican	53	54	1	22,412,928	43.44%
	Libertarian Party	0	0		291,576	0.57%
	Others	1	0	1	985,840	1.91%
Total		100	100		51,589,995	100.0%

Source: Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk

↓

46	54
Democratic	Republican

Gains and losses

Incumbents Howard Cannon of Nevada and Harrison Schmitt of New Mexico lost seats to the opposite party.

The open seat in Virginia that had been held by independent Harry F. Byrd Jr. was taken by a Republican.

The open seat in New Jersey that was held by an appointed Republican was taken by a Democrat.

Change in composition

Before the elections

D1	D2	D3	D4	D5	D6	D7	D8	D9	D10
D20	D19	D18	D17	D16	D15	D14	D13	D12	D11
D21	D22	D23	D24	D25	D26	D27 Ariz. Ran	D28 Fla. Ran	D29 Hawaii Ran	D30 Maine Ran
D40 Ohio Ran	D39 N.D. Ran	D38 N.Y. Ran	D37 Nev. Ran	D36 Neb. Ran	D35 Mont. Ran	D34 Miss. Ran	D33 Mich. Ran	D32 Mass. Ran	D31 Md. Ran
D41 Tenn. Ran	D42 Texas Ran	D43 Wash. Ran	D44 W.Va. Ran	D45 Wis. Ran	I1 Va. Retired	R54 N.J. Retired	R53 Calif. Retired	R52 Wyo. Ran	R51 Vt. Ran
Majority →
R41	R42 Conn. Ran	R43 Del. Ran	R44 Ind. Ran	R45 Minn. Ran	R46 Mo. Ran	R47 N.M. Ran	R48 Pa. Ran	R49 R.I. Ran	R50 Utah Ran
R40	R39	R38	R37	R36	R35	R34	R33	R32	R31
R21	R22	R23	R24	R25	R26	R27	R28	R29	R30
R20	R19	R18	R17	R16	R15	R14	R13	R12	R11
R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10

After the elections

D1	D2	D3	D4	D5	D6	D7	D8	D9	D10
D20	D19	D18	D17	D16	D15	D14	D13	D12	D11
D21	D22	D23	D24	D25	D26	D27 Ariz. Re-elected	D28 Fla. Re-elected	D29 Hawaii Re-elected	D30 Maine Re-elected
D40 Tenn. Re-elected	D39 Ohio Re-elected	D38 N.D. Re-elected	D37 N.Y. Re-elected	D36 Neb. Re-elected	D35 Mont. Re-elected	D34 Miss. Re-elected	D33 Mich. Re-elected	D32 Mass. Re-elected	D31 Md. Re-elected
D41 Texas Re-elected	D42 Wash. Re-elected	D43 W.Va. Re-elected	D44 Wis. Re-elected	D45 N.J. Gain	D46 N.M. Gain	R54 Va. Gain	R53 Nev. Gain	R52 Calif. Hold	R51 Wyo. Re-elected
Majority →
R41	R42 Conn. Re-elected	R43 Del. Re-elected	R44 Ind. Re-elected	R45 Minn. Re-elected	R46 Mo. Re-elected	R47 Pa. Re-elected	R48 R.I. Re-elected	R49 Utah Re-elected	R50 Vt. Re-elected
R40	R39	R38	R37	R36	R35	R34	R33	R32	R31
R21	R22	R23	R24	R25	R26	R27	R28	R29	R30
R20	R19	R18	R17	R16	R15	R14	R13	R12	R11
R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10

Key:	D# Democratic R# Republican I# Independent

Race summaries

Special elections

There were no special elections during 1982.

Elections leading to the next Congress

In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 1983; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 1 seats.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	Electoral history
Arizona	Dennis DeConcini	Democratic	1976	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Dennis DeConcini (Democratic) 56.9% Pete Dunn (Republican) 40.3% Randall Clamons (Libertarian) 2.8%
California	S. I. Hayakawa	Republican	1976 1977 (Appointed)	Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Republican hold.	Y Pete Wilson (Republican) 51.5% Jerry Brown (Democratic) 44.8% Tena Dietrich (American Ind.) 1.4% David Wald (Peace & Freedom) 1.2% Joseph Fuhrig (Libertarian) 1.1%
Connecticut	Lowell P. Weicker Jr.	Republican	1970 1976	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Lowell Weicker (Republican) 50.4% Toby Moffett (Democratic) 46.1% Lucien DiFazio (Conservative) 2.8% James A. Lewis (Libertarian) 0.7%
Delaware	William Roth	Republican	1970 1971 (Appointed) 1976	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Bill Roth (Republican) 55.2% David N. Levinson (Democratic) 44.2%
Florida	Lawton Chiles	Democratic	1970 1976	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Lawton Chiles (Democratic) 61.7% Van B. Poole (Republican) 38.3%
Hawaii	Spark Matsunaga	Democratic	1976	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Spark Matsunaga (Democratic) 80.1% Clarence J. Brown (Republican) 17.0% E. Bernier-Nachtwey (Independent) 2.9%
Indiana	Richard Lugar	Republican	1976	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Richard Lugar (Republican) 53.8% Floyd Fithian (Democratic) 45.6% Raymond James (American) 0.6%
Maine	George J. Mitchell	Democratic	1980 (Appointed)	Interim appointee elected.	Y George Mitchell (Democratic) 60.9% David F. Emery (Republican) 39.1%
Maryland	Paul Sarbanes	Democratic	1976	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Paul Sarbanes (Democratic) 63.5% Lawrence Hogan (Republican) 36.5%
Massachusetts	Ted Kennedy	Democratic	1962 (Special) 1964 1970 1976	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Ted Kennedy (Democratic) 60.8% Ray Shamie (Republican) 38.3% Howard S. Katz (Libertarian) 0.9%
Michigan	Donald W. Riegle Jr.	Democratic	1976 1976 (Appointed)	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Don Riegle (Democratic) 57.7% Philip Ruppe (Republican) 40.9%
Minnesota	David Durenberger	Republican	1978 (Special)	Incumbent re-elected.	Y David Durenberger (Republican) 52.6% Mark Dayton (Democratic) 46.6%
Mississippi	John C. Stennis	Democratic	1947 (Special) 1952 1958 1964 1970 1976	Incumbent re-elected.	Y John C. Stennis (Democratic) 64.2% Haley Barbour (Republican) 35.8%
Missouri	John Danforth	Republican	1976 1976 (Appointed)	Incumbent re-elected.	Y John Danforth (Republican) 50.8% Harriett Woods (Democratic) 49.1%
Montana	John Melcher	Democratic	1976	Incumbent re-elected.	Y John Melcher (Democratic) 54.4% Larry R. Williams (Republican) 41.7% Larry Dodge (Libertarian) 3.9%
Nebraska	Edward Zorinsky	Democratic	1976 1976 (Appointed)	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Edward Zorinsky (Democratic) 66.6% Jim Keck (Republican) 28.5% Virginia Walsh (Independent) 4.9%
Nevada	Howard Cannon	Democratic	1958 1964 1970 1976	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Republican gain.	Y Chic Hecht (Republican) 50.1% Howard Cannon (Democratic) 47.7%
New Jersey	Nicholas F. Brady	Republican	1982 (Appointed)	Interim appointee retired. New senator elected. Democratic gain. Incumbent resigned December 20, 1976 to give successor preferential seniority. Winner appointed December 27, 1976.	Y Frank Lautenberg (Democratic) 50.9% Millicent Fenwick (Republican) 47.8%
New Mexico	Harrison Schmitt	Republican	1976	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Democratic gain.	Y Jeff Bingaman (Democratic) 53.8% Harrison Schmitt (Republican) 46.2%
New York	Daniel Patrick Moynihan	Democratic	1976	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Daniel P. Moynihan (Democratic) 65.1% Florence M. Sullivan (Republican) 34.2%
North Dakota	Quentin N. Burdick	Democratic	1960 (Special) 1964 1970 1976	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Quentin N. Burdick (Democratic) 62.8% Gene Knorr (Republican) 34.0% Anna B. Bourgois (Independent) 3.1%
Ohio	Howard Metzenbaum	Democratic	1974 (Appointed) 1974 (Lost) 1974 (Resigned) 1976 1976 (Appointed)	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Howard Metzenbaum (Democratic) 56.7% Paul E. Pfeifer (Republican) 41.1%
Pennsylvania	H. John Heinz III	Republican	1976	Incumbent re-elected.	Y H. John Heinz III (Republican) 59.3% Cyril Wecht (Democratic) 39.2%
Rhode Island	John Chafee	Republican	1976 1976 (Appointed)	Incumbent re-elected.	Y John Chafee (Republican) 51.2% Julius C. Michaelson (Democratic) 48.8%
Tennessee	Jim Sasser	Democratic	1976	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Jim Sasser (Democratic) 61.9% Robin Beard (Republican) 38.1%
Texas	Lloyd Bentsen	Democratic	1970 1976	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Lloyd Bentsen (Democratic) 58.6% James M. Collins (Republican) 40.5%
Utah	Orrin Hatch	Republican	1976	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Orrin G. Hatch (Republican) 58.3% Ted Wilson (Democratic) 41.3% George Mercier (Libertarian) 0.2% Lawrence R Kauffman (American) 0.2%
Vermont	Robert Stafford	Republican	1971 (Appointed) 1972 (Special) 1976	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Robert Stafford (Republican) 50.3% James A. Guest (Democratic) 47.2%
Virginia	Harry F. Byrd Jr.	Independent	1965 (Appointed) 1966 (Special) 1970 1976	Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Republican gain.	Y Paul Trible (Republican) 51.2% Dick Davis (Democratic) 48.8%
Washington	Henry M. Jackson	Democratic	1952 1958 1964 1970 1976	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Henry M. Jackson (Democratic) 68.9% Doug Jewett (Republican) 24.3% King Lysen (Independent) 5.3% Jesse Chiang (Libertarian) 1.5%
West Virginia	Robert Byrd	Democratic	1958 1964 1970 1976	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Robert Byrd (Democratic) 68.5% Cleve Benedict (Republican) 30.8% William B. Howland (Socialist Workers) 0.7%
Wisconsin	William Proxmire	Democratic	1957 (Special) 1958 1964 1970 1976	Incumbent re-elected.	Y E. William Proxmire (Democratic) 63.6% Scott McCallum (Republican) 34.1%
Wyoming	Malcolm Wallop	Republican	1976	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Malcolm Wallop (Republican) 56.7% Rodger McDaniel (Democratic) 43.3%

Arizona

Incumbent Democrat Dennis DeConcini won re-election to a second term over Republican Pete Dunn, State Representative.

General election results^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Dennis DeConcini (Incumbent)	411,970	56.91	+2.90%
	Republican	Peter Dunn	291,749	40.30	-3.04%
	Libertarian	Randall Clamons	20,100	2.78	+1.79%
	Write-ins		66	0.01
Majority			120,221	16.61	+5.94%
Turnout			723,885
	Democratic hold		Swing

California

Incumbent Republican S. I. Hayakawa decided to retire after one term. Republican Pete Wilson, Mayor of San Diego and former Assemblyman, won the open seat over Democratic Governor Jerry Brown.

Wilson was known as a fiscal conservative who supported Proposition 13, although Wilson had opposed the measure while mayor of San Diego. However, Brown ran on his gubernatorial record of building the largest state budget surpluses in California history. Both Wilson and Brown were moderate-to-liberal on social issues, including support for abortion rights. The election was expected to be close, with Brown holding a slim lead in most of the polls leading up to Election Day. Wilson hammered away at Brown's appointment of California Chief Justice Rose Bird, using this to portray himself as tougher on crime than Brown was. Brown's late entry into the 1980 Democratic presidential primary, after promising not to run, was also an issue. President Ronald Reagan made a number of visits to California late in the race to campaign for Wilson. Reagan quipped that the last thing he wanted to see was one of his home state's U.S. Senate seats falling into Democrats' hands, especially to be occupied by the man who succeeded him as governor. Despite exit polls indicating a narrow Brown victory, Wilson won by a wide margin.

General election results^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Pete Wilson	4,022,565	51.5
	Democratic	Jerry Brown	3,494,968	44.8
	Libertarian	Joseph Fuhrig	107,720	1.4
	Peace and Freedom	David Wald	96,388	1.2
	American Independent	Theresa Dietrich	83,809	1.1
	Independent	Thomas Kendall (Write In)	36	0.0
	Independent	Ben Leonik (Write In)	34	0.0
Majority			527,597	6.7
Turnout			7,805,520
	Republican hold

Connecticut

Incumbent Republican Lowell P. Weicker Jr. won re-election to a third term over Democratic member of the House Toby Moffett.

General election results^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Lowell Weicker (Incumbent)	545,987	50.4
	Democratic	Toby Moffett	499,146	46.1
	Conservative	Lucien DiFazio	30,212	2.8
	Libertarian	James Lewis	8,163	0.8
Majority			46,841	4.3
Turnout			1,083,508
	Republican hold

Delaware

Incumbent Republican Bill V. Roth won reelection to a third term over the state's Democratic Insurance Commissioner David N. Levinson.

General election results^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Republican	Bill V. Roth (Incumbent)	105,357	55.17	-0.64%
	Democratic	David N. Levinson	84,413	44.20	+0.59%
	Libertarian	Lawrence Sullivan	653	0.34
	American Independent	Charles Baker	537	0.28	-0.01%
Majority			20,944	10.97	-1.23%
Turnout			190,960
	Republican hold		Swing

Florida

Incumbent Democrat Lawton Chiles won re-election to a third term over Republican state senator Van B. Poole.

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Lawton Chiles	1,044,246	100.0

Republican primary results^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Van B. Poole	154,163	41.57
	Republican	David H. Bludworth	116,040	31.29
	Republican	George Snyder	100,609	27.13
Total votes			370,812	100

Republican primary runoff results^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Van B. Poole	131,655	58.08
	Republican	David H. Bludworth	95,035	41.92
Total votes			226,690	100

General election results^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Lawton Chiles	1,637,667	61.72	-1.26%
	Republican	Van B. Poole	1,015,330	38.26	+1.24%
	Write-ins		422	0.02
Majority			622,337	23.45	-2.50%
Total votes			2,653,419	100
	Democratic hold		Swing

Hawaii

Incumbent Democrat Spark Matsunaga won re-election to a second term^[6] over Republican Clarence Brown, a retired Foreign Service officer^[7]

General election results^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Spark Matsunaga (Incumbent)	245,386	80.1
	Republican	Clarence Brown	52,071	17.0
	Independent Democrat	E. Bernier-Nachtwey	8,953	2.9
Majority			193,315	63.1
Turnout			306,410
	Democratic hold

Indiana

Incumbent Republican Richard Lugar faced Democratic United States Representative Floyd Fithian in the general election. Lugar won with a margin of 54% of the vote, compared to Fithian's 46%.

After the 1980 Census, the Indiana General Assembly redistricted Indiana's congressional districts, pushing Democratic representative Floyd Fithian's district into more conservative territory.^[9] After redistricting, Fithian, the three term incumbent of Indiana's 2nd congressional district, decided to run for Secretary of State of Indiana, but withdrew from the primary to ultimately run for the United States Senate.^[10] He challenged fellow Democrat and one term Indiana State Senator Michael Kendall of Jasper, Indiana, who Fithian earlier encouraged to run for the Senate.^[11] Kendall, who represented Indiana's 47th Senate district and formed the Notre Dame Students for Robert Kennedy organization during the 1968 presidential election,^[12] was seen a young progressive alternative to Fithian, who he called the "ideological twin of Richard Lugar."^[13] After the bitterly contested primary, Fithian prevailed over Kendall, winning with 59% of the vote.^[14]

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Floyd Fithian	262,644	59.51
	Democratic	Michael Kendall	178,702	40.49
Total votes			441,346	100

Incumbent United States Senator Richard Lugar won the republican nomination in an uncontested primary on May 4, 1982.^[15]

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Richard Lugar (Incumbent)	498,248	100
Total votes			498,248

In the general election, Lugar faced Fithian and American Party candidate Raymond James.^[1]

On November 5, 1982, Lugar defeated Fithian and James in the general election, winning 74 of Indiana's 93 counties.^[16]

Indiana election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Richard Lugar (Incumbent)	978,301	53.83
	Democratic	Floyd Fithian	828,400	45.58
	American	Raymond James	10,586	0.58
Majority			149,901	8.25
Turnout			1,817,287
	Republican hold

Maine

Maine election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	George J. Mitchell (Incumbent)	279,819	60.87
	Republican	David F. Emery	179,882	39.13
	None	Write-Ins	14	0.00
Majority			99,937	21.74
Turnout			459,715
	Democratic hold

Maryland

Incumbent Democrat Paul Sarbanes won re-election to a second term in office. He defeated the Republican former Representative from Maryland's 5th district and Prince George's County Executive Lawrence Hogan.^[17]

Maryland election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Paul Sarbanes (Incumbent)	707,356	63.46
	Republican	Lawrence Hogan	407,334	36.54
Majority			300,022	26.92
Turnout			1,114,690
	Democratic hold

Massachusetts

Incumbent Democrat Ted Kennedy won re-election to his fourth full term over Republican Ray Shamie, a millionaire businessman and metalwork entrepreneur.

General election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Ted Kennedy (Incumbent)	1,247,084	60.81	-8.50
	Republican	Ray Shamie	784,602	38.26	+9.25
	Libertarian	Howard S. Katz	18,878	0.92	+0.92
		All others	205	0.01	+0.00
Total votes			2,050,769	70.26%
Majority			462,482	22.55%
	Democratic hold		Swing

Michigan

Michigan election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Donald Riegle (incumbent)	1,728,793	57.74
	Republican	Philip Ruppe	1,223,288	40.85
	Libertarian	Bette Erwin	19,131	0.64
	American Independent	Daniel Eller	12,660	0.42
	Workers League	Helen Halyard	6.085	0.20
	Socialist Workers	Steve Beumer	4,335	0.14
	None	Write-Ins	42	0.00
Majority			505,505	16.89
Turnout			2,994,334
	Democratic hold

Minnesota

Incumbent Republican David Durenberger won re-election to his first full term over Democratic businessman Mark Dayton.^[18]

General election results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mark Dayton	359,014	69.06
	Democratic	Eugene McCarthy	125,229	24.09
	Democratic	Charles E. Pearson	19,855	3.82
	Democratic	William A. Branstner	15,754	3.03

Dayton, 35, self-financed his campaign. Married to a Rockefeller and heir to a department store, his net worth was an estimated $30 million. Durenberger, who in 1978 and won the special election to finish the term of the late Hubert Humphrey, was largely unknown. He was considered a moderate, but supported Reagan's tax cuts. Dayton ran against Reaganomics. He has also campaigned against tax breaks for the wealthy and even promised "to close tax loopholes for the rich and the corporations—and if you think that includes the Daytons, you're right."^[19] By the end of September, the senate election already became the most expensive election of all-time, with over $8 million being spent. Dayton spent over $5 million,^[20] while Durenberger spent over $2 million.^[21]

General election results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	David Durenberger (Incumbent)	949,207	52.60
	Democratic	Mark Dayton	840,401	46.57
	Socialist Workers	Bill Onasch	5,897	0.33
	Libertarian	Frederick Hewitt	5,870	0.33
	New Union Party	Jeffrey M. Miller	3,300	0.18
Majority			108,806	6.03
Turnout			1,804,675
	Republican hold

Mississippi

Incumbent Democrat John C. Stennis won re-election to his seventh term over Republican Haley Barbour, a political operative who campaigned for U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.

General election results^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Stennis (Incumbent)	414,099	64.2
	Republican	Haley Barbour	230,927	35.8
Majority			184,172	28.4
Turnout			645,026
	Democratic hold

Missouri

Missouri election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Danforth (Incumbent)	784,876	50.85
	Democratic	Harriett Woods	758,629	49.15
	None	Write-Ins	16	0.00
Majority
Turnout			1,543,521
	Republican hold

Montana

Incumbent John Melcher, who was first elected to the Senate in 1976, opted to run for re-election. He won the Democratic primary after he faced a tough intraparty challenger, and advanced to the general election, where he faced Larry R. Williams, an author and the Republican nominee, and Larry Dodge, the Libertarian nominee. Though his margin was reduced significantly from his initial election, Melcher still comfortably won re-election to his second and final term in the Senate.

During his first term in the Senate, Melcher's relative conservatism for a Democrat prompted a primary challenger in Michael Bond, a housing contractor who campaigned on his opposition to nuclear war. Bond attacked Melcher for voting to increase spending on nuclear arms, and pledged to reduce military spending to $60 billion and to use the savings to reduce interest rates.^[23] During the campaign, Bond came under fire from the state branches of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Disabled American Veterans for turning in his draft card in 1967 to protest the Vietnam War, who put out a statement, saying, "There is no place in the U.S. Senate for any draft dodger, draft card burner or draft protester of any kind."^[24]

Democratic Party primary results^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jack Melcher (Incumbent)	83,539	68.27
	Democratic	Mike Bond	33,565	27.43
Total votes			122,369	100.00

Republican Primary results^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Larry Williams	49,615	88.11
	Republican	Willie Dee Morris	6,696	11.89
Total votes			56,311	100.00

Montana election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	John Melcher (Incumbent)	174,861	54.46	-9.69%
	Republican	Larry Williams	133,789	41.67	+5.83%
	Libertarian	Larry Dodge	12,412	3.87
Majority			41,072	12.79	-15.52%
Turnout			321,062
	Democratic hold		Swing

Nebraska

Incumbent Democrat Edward Zorinsky won re-election.

1982 Nebraska U.S. Senate Election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward Zorinsky	363,350	66.59
	Republican	Jim Keck	155,760	28.55
	Independent	Virginia Walsh	26,443	4.85
	None	Write-Ins	94	0.02
Majority			207,590	38.04
Turnout			545,647
	Democratic hold

Nevada

Incumbent Democrat Howard Cannon ran for re-election to a fifth term, but lost to Republican State Senator Chic Hecht.

General election results^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Chic Hecht	120,377	50.1
	Democratic	Howard Cannon (Incumbent)	114,720	47.7
	None of These Candidates		5,297	2.2
Majority			15,657	2.4
Turnout			240,394
	Republican gain from Democratic

New Jersey

Democrat Frank Lautenberg won for the seat held by retiring incumbent Republican Senator Nicholas Brady. Lautenberg won the seat with a margin of 3.19% over member of the House Millicent Fenwick.

Cresitello dropped out of the race on May 27 but remained on the June 8 primary ballot.^[27]

Democratic Party primary results^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Frank Lautenberg	104,666	25.97
	Democratic	Andrew Maguire	92,878	23.05
	Democratic	Joseph A. LeFante	81,440	20.21
	Democratic	Barbara Boggs Sigmund	45,708	11.34
	Democratic	Howard Rosen	28,427	7.05
	Democratic	Angelo Bianchi	17,684	4.39
	Democratic	Cyril Yannarelli	10,188	2.53
	Democratic	Frank Forst	9,563	2.37
	Democratic	Richard D. McAleer	8,110	2.01
	Democratic	Donald Cresitello	4,295	1.07
Total votes			402,959	100.00

Republican Party primary results^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Millicent Fenwick	193,683	54.28
	Republican	Jeff Bell	163,145	45.72
Total votes			356,828	100.00

The seat had been occupied by Democrat Harrison A. Williams, who resigned on March 11, 1982, after being implicated in the Abscam scandal. After Williams' resignation, Republican Governor Thomas Kean appointed Republican Nicholas F. Brady to the seat. Brady served in the Senate through the primary and general elections but did not run for the seat himself.

In the general election, Lautenberg faced popular Republican member of the House Millicent Fenwick. She ran on a very progressive platform and polls in the Summer of 1982 put her ahead by 18 points. Even Lautenberg quipped that she was "the most popular candidate in the country."^[29] Lautenberg spent more of his own money, eventually out-spending Fenwick two-to-one. He emphasised President Reagan's unpopularity, reminded the voters that she would be a vote for a Republican majority in the Senate and called Fenwick, who was 72, "eccentric" and "erratic" but denied that he was referring to her age.^[29][30] He did however point out that she would be almost 80 at the end of her first term and was therefore unlikely to gain much seniority in the Senate.^[29] Coincidentally, the age issue would be used against Lautenberg in his own re-election bid in 2008.

Lautenberg won by 51% to 48%, in what was considered a major upset.^[29] Brady, who had just a few days left in his appointed term, resigned on December 27, 1982, allowing Lautenberg to take office several days before the traditional swearing-in of senators, which gave him an edge in seniority over the other freshman senators.

General election results^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Frank Lautenberg	1,117,549	50.94
	Republican	Millicent Fenwick	1,047,626	47.75
	Libertarian	Henry Koch	9,934	0.45
	Socialist Labor	Julius Levin	5,580	0.25
	Independent	Martin E. Wendelken	4,745	0.22
	Socialist Workers	Claire Moriarty	3,726	0.17
	Grassroots	Robert T. Bastien	2,955	0.14
	Repeal TF 807	Rose Zeidwerg Monyek	1,830	0.08
Majority			69.923	3.19
Turnout			2,193,945	100.00
	Democratic gain from Republican		Swing

New Mexico

Incumbent Republican Harrison Schmitt was running for re-election to a second term, but lost to Democrat Jeff Bingaman, Attorney General of New Mexico.

New Mexico election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Jeff Bingaman	217,682	53.77	+11.07%
	Republican	Harrison Schmitt (Incumbent)	187,128	46.23	-10.59%
Majority			30,554	7.55	-6.57%
Turnout			404,810
	Democratic gain from Republican		Swing

New York

Incumbent Democrat Daniel Patrick Moynihan won re-election to a second term over Republican Assemblywoman Florence Sullivan.

General election results^[32]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Daniel Patrick Moynihan (Incumbent)	3,232,146	65.1
	Republican	Florence Sullivan	1,696,766	34.2
	Libertarian	James J. McKeown	23,379	0.5
	Socialist Workers	Steven Wattenmaker	15,206	0.5
	None	Write-Ins	232	0.0
Majority			1,535,380	30.9
Turnout			4,967,729
	Democratic hold

North Dakota

The incumbent, North Dakota Democratic NPL Party (Dem-NPL) Quentin Burdick, sought and received re-election to his fifth term, defeating Republican candidate Gene Knorr.^[1]

Only Burdick filed as a Dem-NPLer, and the endorsed Republican candidate was cattle rancher Gene Knorr. Burdick and Knorr won the primary elections for their respective parties. Burdick's campaign was known for employing more television advertisement spending when compared with his campaigns in the past, as well as making several negative portrayals. Knorr had the support of Vice President George H. W. Bush, who campaigned in state to support his candidacy. The election was also noted as the first where Burdick's age began to become an issue. Burdick, who was 74 during the year of the election, faced a much younger Knorr, who was 41. At one point, Burdick challenged Knorr to a fistfight to prove his vitality; but the challenge, assumed to be a joke, never occurred. After being defeated, Knorr moved to Washington, D.C., where he took the position of staff vice president with Philip Morris International.

One independent candidate, Anna B. Bourgois, also filed before the deadline, running under her self-created party titled God, Family, and Country. Bourgois would later run for North Dakota's other United States Senate seat as an independent in 1986, challenging Mark Andrews. She received over 8,000 votes in the election, which is rather high for an independent. Some attribute her large number of votes to the name of her party – which was based on things that North Dakotans valued. Despite the result, Bourgois' campaign still had little impact on the outcome.

North Dakota election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Quentin Burdick (Incumbent)	164,873	62.84
	Republican	Gene Knorr	89,304	34.03
	Independent	Anna B. Bourgois	8,288	3.13
Majority
Turnout			262,465
	Democratic hold

Prior to the 1982 Senate campaign, Knorr had been working in Washington, DC since 1970 when he worked for the Department of Treasury. He began working in Washington, DC, residing in McLean, Virginia after receiving a Juris Doctorate from Northwestern University where he was celebrated in debate. From Treasury, he worked as a lobbyist with Charls E. Walker Associates.

Ohio

Ohio election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Howard M. Metzenbaum (Incumbent)	1,923,767	56.66
	Republican	Paul Pfeifer	1,396,790	41.14
	Independent	Alicia Merel	38,803	1.14
	Libertarian	Philip Herzing	36,103	1.06
Majority			526,977	15.52
Turnout			3,395,463
	Democratic hold

Pennsylvania

Incumbent Republican H. John Heinz III successfully sought re-election to another term, defeating Democratic nominee Cyril Wecht, member of the Allegheny County Board of Commissioners.

John Heinz's Democratic opponent in the 1982 election was Allegheny County commissioner and former coroner Cyril Wecht, who lacked significant name recognition outside of Pittsburgh, his home town. Although the 1982 elections were a setback nationally for incumbent President Ronald Reagan and the Republican Party, neither Heinz nor incumbent Republican governor Dick Thornburgh, who was also up for re-election in 1982, were challenged by Democrats with statewide prominence. Wecht ran a low-budget campaign lacking the assets to boost his name recognition; the Philadelphia Inquirer ran a headline dubbing the race "The Race for Senator No One Seemed to Notice."^[33] Despite this, Heinz ran a cautious campaign, running as a moderate due to Pennsylvania's unemployment, 11%, one of the highest in the nation at the time, as well as the declining health of Pennsylvania's coal mining, manufacturing and steel industries. In the end, Heinz won the election by a wide margin, winning 59.3% of the popular vote. Wecht won 39.2% of the popular vote.^[33]

General election results^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Republican	H. John Heinz III (Incumbent)	2,136,418	59.28	+6.89%
	Democratic	Cyril Wecht	1,412,965	39.20	-7.59%
	Libertarian	Barbara I. Karkutt	19,244	0.53	+0.53%
	Socialist Workers	William H. Thomas	18,951	0.53	+0.41%
	Consumer	Liane Norman	16,530	0.46	+0.46%
Majority			723,453	20.08	+14.48%
Turnout			3,604,108
	Republican hold		Swing

Rhode Island

Incumbent Republican John Chafee successfully sought re-election to a second term, defeating Democrat Julius C. Michaelson, former Attorney General of Rhode Island.

Democratic primary results^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Julius C. Michaelson	56,800	82.37
	Democratic	Helen E. Flynn	12,159	17.63
Majority			44,641	64.74
Total votes			68,959	100.00

General election results^[35][1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Chafee (Incumbent)	175,495	51.20
	Democratic	Julius C. Michaelson	167,283	48.80
Majority			8,212	2.40
Total votes			342,778	100.00
	Republican hold

Tennessee

Democrat Jim Sasser was re-elected with 61.93% of the vote, over Republican Robin Beard, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

General election results^[36]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jim Sasser (Incumbent)	780,113	61.93
	Republican	Robin Beard	479,642	38.07
Majority			1,259,755
Turnout			300,471	23.86
	Democratic hold

Texas

Democrat incumbent, Lloyd Bentsen, won re-election.

Texas election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Lloyd Bentsen (Incumbent)	1,818,223	58.59
	Republican	James M. Collins	1,256,759	40.50
	Libertarian	John E. Ford	23,494	0.76
	Citizens	Lineaus Hooper Lorette	4,564	0.15
	None	Write-Ins	127	0.00
Majority			561,464	18.09
Turnout			3,103,167
	Democratic hold

Utah

Orrin Hatch won re-election

Utah election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Orrin Hatch (Incumbent)	309,332	58.28
	Democratic	Ted Wilson	219,482	41.35
	Libertarian	George Mercier	1,035	0.19
	American	Lawrence R. Kauffman	953	0.19
Majority			89,850	16.93
Turnout			530,802
	Republican hold

Vermont

Incumbent Republican Robert Stafford successfully ran for re-election to another term in the United States Senate, defeating Democratic candidate James A. Guest.

Republican primary results^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Robert Stafford (Incumbent)	26,323	46.2
	Republican	Stewart M. Ledbetter	19,743	34.7
	Republican	John McClaughry	10,692	18.8
	Republican	Other	162	0.3
Total votes			'65,920'	'100'

Democratic primary results^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	James A. Guest	11,352	67.1
	Democratic	Thomas E. McGregor	3,749	22.2
	Democratic	Earl S. Gardner	1,281	7.6
	Democratic	Other	536	3.2
Total votes			'16,918'	'100'

Vermont election^[38]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Robert Stafford (Incumbent)	84,450	50.3
	Democratic	James A. Guest	79,340	47.2
	Independent	Michael Edward Hackett	1,463	1.0
	Independent	Ion Laskaris	897	0.5
	Libertarian	Bo Adlerbert	892	0.5
	N/A	Other	961	0.6
Total votes			168,003	'100'
Majority			5,109	3.0
	Republican hold

Virginia

U.S. Representative from Virginia's 1st district, Paul Trible replaced Independent Senator Harry F. Byrd Jr., who was stepping down after three terms. He beat Democratic Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, Richard Joseph Davis.

Virginia election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Republican	Paul Trible	724,571	51.18	+51.18%
	Democratic	Dick Davis	690,839	48.80	+10.53%
	Write-ins		212	0.01
Majority			33,732	2.38	-16.55%
Turnout			1,415,622
	Republican gain from Independent		Swing

Washington

Washington election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Henry M. Jackson (Incumbent)	943,655	68.96
	Republican	Doug Jewett	332,273	24.28
	Independent	King Lysen	72,297	5.28
	Independent	Jesse Chiang	20,251	1.48
Majority			611,382	44.68
Turnout			1,368,476
	Democratic hold

West Virginia

Incumbent Democrat Robert Byrd won re-election to a fifth term over Republican Cleve Benedict, a freshman member of the House.

Benedict made great note of Byrd's record of high office in the Ku Klux Klan, his avoidance of service in World War II, and the fact that Byrd, then alone among members of Congress, owned no home in the state he represented. His campaign represented the last serious and well-funded effort to unseat Byrd, spending $1,098,218. Byrd was Minority Leader at the time.

General election^[40]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Robert Byrd (Incumbent)	387,170	68.5
	Republican	Cleve Benedict	173,910	30.8
Majority			213,260	37.7
Turnout			565,314
	Democratic hold

Wisconsin

Wisconsin election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	William Proxmire (Incumbent)	983,311	63.65
	Republican	Scott McCallum	527,355	34.14
	Wis. Labor-Farm	William Osborne Hart	21,807	1.41
	Libertarian	George Liljenfeldt	7,947	0.51
	Constitution	Sanford G. Knapp	4,463	0.29
Majority			455,956	29.51
Turnout			1,544,883
	Democratic hold

Wyoming

Wyoming election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Malcolm Wallop (Incumbent)	94,725	56.66
	Democratic	Rodger McDaniel	72,466	43.34
Majority			22,259	13.32
Turnout			167,191
	Republican hold

See also

• 1982 United States elections
  • 1982 United States gubernatorial elections
  • 1982 United States House of Representatives elections
• 97th United States Congress
• 98th United States Congress

Notes