1988 United States Senate election in Connecticut

Not to be confused with 1988 Connecticut Senate election.

1988 United States Senate election in Connecticut

←  1982 November 8, 1988 1994  →
Turnout	81.4% [1]
Nominee Joe Lieberman Lowell Weicker Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 688,499 678,454 Percentage 49.76% 49.04%
County results Municipality results Congressional district results Lieberman:      40–50%     50–60%     60–70% Weicker:      40–50%     50–60%     60–70% Tie:     40–50%
U.S. senator before election Lowell Weicker Republican Elected U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman Democratic

The 1988 United States Senate election in Connecticut took place on November 8, 1988. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Lowell Weicker ran for re-election to a fourth term but was narrowly defeated by Democrat Joe Lieberman, the Connecticut Attorney General and eventual 2000 nominee for Vice President of the United States, who would remain in office until 2013. This is the last time a Connecticut Senator lost re-election.

Both Weicker and Lieberman would go on to win state-wide elections as independents respectively in 1990 for governor and in 2006 for Senate. Lieberman's swearing-in marked the first time since 1971 that Democrats held both Senate seats from Connecticut. Lieberman was at times considered to the right of Weicker, with him benefiting from the support of National Review founder William F. Buckley Jr., and his brother, former U.S. Senator from New York James L. Buckley, with William Buckley running columns in support of Lieberman.

General election

Candidates

• Joe Lieberman (D), Connecticut Attorney General
• Lowell P. Weicker Jr. (R), incumbent U.S. Senator since 1971
• Howard A. Grayson Jr. (L)
• Melissa M. Fisher (NAP)

Debates

Dates	Lieberman	Weicker	Link
October 22, 1988	Participant	Participant	C-SPAN

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Lowell Weicker (R)	Joe Lieberman (D)	Undecided
University of Connecticut [2]	November 1 - 3, 1988	515 (LV)	± 5%	42%	36%	22%
University of Connecticut [3]	October 23 - 30, 1988	1,000 (LV)	± 3.5%	38%	37%	25%
Hartford Courant [4]	October, 1988	512 (V)	–	39%	39%	22%
Quinnipiac University [5]	September 27 – October 5, 1988	742 (RV)	–	41.4%	26.9%	–
University of Connecticut [6]	September 12 – 18, 1988	512 (RV)	± 5%	44%	30%	27%
University of Connecticut [7]	July 11 – 18, 1988	508 (RV)	± 5%	47%	31%	–
Hartford Courant [8]	April, 1988	500 (RV)	–	51%	27%	22%

Fundraising

Campaign finance reports as of December 31, 1988
Candidate	Raised	Spent	Cash on hand
Joe Lieberman (D)	$2,650,603	$2,570,779	$79,824
Lowell Weicker (R)	$2,781,538	$2,681,294	$52,517
Source: Federal Election Commission [9]

Results

General election results ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Joe Lieberman	688,499	49.76%
	Republican	Lowell Weicker (incumbent)	678,454	49.04%
	Libertarian	Howard A. Grayson Jr.	12,409	0.90%
	New Alliance	Melissa M. Fisher	4,154	0.30%
Total votes			1,383,516	100.00%
	Democratic gain from Republican

By congressional district

Weicker and Lieberman won 3 of 6 congressional districts, respectively. Lieberman won one held by a Republican, while Weicker won one held by a Democrat. ^[11]

District	Joe Lieberman Democratic		Lowell Weicker Republican		Others		Total votes cast	Representative
	#	%	#	%	#	%
1st	122,631	52.05%	110,646	46.97%	2,290	0.98%	235,567	Barbara B. Kennelly
2nd	110,238	48.03%	116,207	50.64%	3,032	1.33%	229,477	Sam Gejdenson
3rd	123,634	53.95%	102,954	44.93%	2,571	1.12%	229,159	Bruce Morrison
4th	94,982	44.55%	115,244	54.06%	2,964	1.39%	213,190	Chris Shays
5th	113,984	49.16%	114,878	49.54%	3,001	1.30%	231,863	John G. Rowland
6th	123,030	50.37%	118,525	48.52%	2,705	1.11%	244,260	Nancy Johnson
Totals	688,499	49.76%	678,454	49.04%	16,563	1.20%	1,383,516

See also

• 1988 United States Senate elections

References

1. "Connecticut State Register and Manual, 1989". CT State Library.
2. "Weicker's lead grows, but Lieberman is still close". Record-Journal . November 6, 1988.
3. "Lieberman still bouyed by UConn poll results". Record-Journal . November 2, 1988.
4. "Weicker aide dismisses poll showing dead heat". Record-Journal . October 19, 1988.
5. Curran, Rick (October 14, 1988). "Poll: Lieberman gained little on Weicker". The Norwalk Hour .
6. "Weicker maintains lead over Lieberman - poll". The Norwalk Hour . September 22, 1988.
7. "State poll shows Weicker leads Lieberman by 16%". The Norwalk Hour . July 22, 1988.
8. "Weicker has big lead in early poll". Record-Journal . April 30, 1988.
9. "Candidate financial totals". Federal Election Commission .
10. "1988 Nov 8 :: General Election :: United States Senator :: State of Connecticut". Connecticut Secretary of State.
11. "Connecticut State Register and Manual, 1989". CT State Library.