United States Senate elections, 1992

Infobox Election
election_name = United States Senate elections, 1992
country = United States
type = legislative
ongoing = no
previous_election = United States Senate elections, 1990
previous_year = 1990
next_election = United States Senate elections, 1994
next_year = 1994
seats_for_election = 36 seats in the United States Senate
election_date = November 3, 1992

leader1 = George Mitchell
party1 = Democratic Party (United States)
leaders_seat1 = Maine
last_election1 = 56 seats
seats1 = 56
seat_change1 = +0
popular_vote1 =
percentage1 =
swing1 =

leader2 = Bob Dole
party2 = Republican Party (United States)
leaders_seat2 = Kansas
last_election2 = 44 seats
seats2 = 44
seat_change2 = +0
popular_vote2 =
percentage2 =
swing2 =

map_

leader1 = George Mitchell
party1 = Democratic Party (United States)
leaders_seat1 = Maine
last_election1 = 56 seats
seats1 = 56
seat_change1 = +0
popular_vote1 =
percentage1 =
swing1 =

leader2 = Bob Dole
party2 = Republican Party (United States)
leaders_seat2 = Kansas
last_election2 = 44 seats
seats2 = 44
seat_change2 = +0
popular_vote2 =
percentage2 =
swing2 =

map_

---

map_size = 320px
map_caption = legend|#800|Republican holdslegend|#00f|Democratic pickups

title = Majority Leader
before_election = George Mitchell
before_party = Democratic Party (United States)
after_election = George Mitchell
after_party = Democratic Party (United States)

The 1992 United States Senate election was an election for the United States Senate in which the victory of Bill Clinton in the presidential election was not accompanied by major Democratic gains in the Senate.

Democratic victories over John F. Seymour (R-CA) and Bob Kasten (R-WI) were cancelled out by the defeats of Wyche Fowler (D-GA) and Terry Sanford (D-NC). The election of four new Democratic women to the Senate was notable (referred to in the press as the "Year of the Woman"). Due to a special election in California, both of California's Senate seats were up for election in 1992. These seats were won by Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer.

In 1993, Democratic Senator Lloyd Bentsen (D-TX) resigned to become Secretary of the Treasury. His replacement, Bob Krueger (D-TX), lost a special election to Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX). This election was held in June 1993 and so is not included in the party balance numbers below.

Carol Moseley Braun, D-Illinois, became the first African-American woman to serve in the United States Senate.

Notable races

Democratic gains

*California: Sen. John F. Seymour (R-CA) was defeated in a special election by former San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein. Seymour had been appointed to the seat by Governor Pete Wilson following Wilson's resignation from the Senate after his election as Governor.
*Wisconsin: Sen. Bob Kasten (R-WI) survived a close call in his first re-election bid in 1986, but was upset in his bid for a third term by State Senator Russ Feingold. Feingold had won the Democratic primary as an underdog against two millionaire opponents thanks to an effective series of quirky campaign advertisements and he repeated the same formula in the general election against Kasten.

Republican gains

*Georgia: In the initial balloting, Sen. Wyche Fowler (D-GA) narrowly defeated former Republican State Senator Paul Coverdell, but he failed to gain 50% of the vote thanks to the strong showing of the Libertarian candidate and Fowler faced Coverdell in a run-off. Coverdell would win the run-off by an equally narrow margin.
*North Carolina: Sen. Terry Sanford (D-NC) became the third straight incumbent to lose this seat after one term when he was defeated by Democrat-turned-Republican Lauch Faircloth. Faircloth's victory was aided by Sanford's health scares and the considerable political organization of the state's other senator, Jesse Helms (R-NC).

enate contests in 1992

A bolded state name indicates an article about that state's election.