1988 United States Senate elections

1988 United States Senate elections

← 1986 November 8, 1988 1990 →
33 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate 51 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Robert Byrd Bob Dole Party Democratic Republican Leader since January 3, 1977 January 3, 1985 Leader's seat West Virginia Kansas Seats before 54 46 Seats after 55 45 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 35,137,786 31,151,251 Percentage 52.1% 46.2% Seats up 18 15 Races won 19 14
Results of the elections:      Democratic gain      Democratic hold      Republican gain      Republican hold      No election
Majority Leader before election Robert Byrd Democratic Elected Majority Leader George Mitchell Democratic

The 1988 United States Senate elections were elections for the United States Senate. Held on November 8, the 33 seats of Class 1 were contested in regular elections. In spite of the Republican victory by George H. W. Bush in the presidential election, the Democrats gained a net of one seat in the Senate. Seven seats changed parties, with four incumbents being defeated. The Democratic majority in the Senate increased by one to 55–to–45.

This is the last Senate election cycle in which California voted for a Republican, and the last in which Texas and Maine voted for the Democrat^[a], and the last time Arizona voted Democratic until 2018. This would also be the last Senate election cycle until 1998 to not have at least one special election during that cycle.

This is also the last Senate election cycle in which no woman was elected to the Senate from either party as all the winners were men.
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