1994 United States Senate election in Florida

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1994 United States Senate election in Florida
Flag of Florida.svg
  1988 November 8, 1994 2000  
  Connie Mack III (3x4 crop).jpg Hugh Rodham.png
Nominee Connie Mack III Hugh Rodham
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote2,895,2001,210,577
Percentage70.50%29.48%

1994 United States Senate election in Florida results map by county.svg
FL Senate 1994.svg
Mack:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%
Rodham:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%
Tie:     50%     No votes

U.S. senator before election

Connie Mack III
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Connie Mack III
Republican

The 1994 United States Senate election in Florida was held November 8, 1994. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Connie Mack III won re-election easily, earning a second term and carrying every county in the state.

Contents

With his victory, Mack became the first Republican ever to win reelection to the United States Senate from Florida. As of 2025, this is the last time that a U.S. Senate candidate carried all counties in Florida. This is also the last time that Broward County and Gadsden County have voted Republican in a statewide race. Mack won by 1.7 Million votes. This is also the largest raw vote margin for a statewide race in Florida to date in 2025.

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Republican primary results
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Connie Mack III (incumbent) Unopposed 100.0

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Initial primary results by county Florida Senate D Primary 1994.svg
Initial primary results by county
Runoff results by county Florida Senate D Runoff 1994.svg
Runoff results by county
Democratic primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Hugh Rodham 255,605 33.78
Democratic Mike Wiley 188,551 24.92
Democratic Ellis Rubin161,38621.33
Democratic A. Perez151,12119.97
Total votes756,663 100
Democratic primary runoff results [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Hugh Rodham 221,424 58.09
Democratic Mike Wiley159,77641.91
Total votes381,200 100

General election

Candidates

Campaign

Rodham left the public defenders office to run for the United States Senate in Florida in 1994. He won the Democratic Party nomination by defeating Mike Wiley in a runoff election, [3] [4] after earlier finishing first in a four-person primary field with 34 percent. [4] After the first primary, the third-place finisher, flamboyant Miami lawyer and perennial losing candidate Ellis Rubin, joined forces with Rodham as a "senior executive consultant" and hatchet man. [5] In the presence of Rodham at a press conference, Rubin levelled the accusation that Wiley was hiding his Jewish faith by changing his name from his birth name, Michael Schreibman, [4] and that Wiley "changed his name before the campaign to deceive voters about his Jewish religion." Wiley accordingly refused to endorse Rodham after the runoff. [4] Rodham then lost by a 70%-30% margin to incumbent Senator Republican Connie Mack III in the general election. [6] Although Bill and Hillary Clinton both campaigned for him, his organization was unable to take advantage of their help, [7] he had few funds, almost no television commercials, and little support from the Florida Democratic party establishment in a year that saw Republican gains everywhere. [6] [8] After the election, Rubin switched allegiance again and charged Rodham with election law violations in the first primary; the Federal Election Commission eventually dismissed the allegations. [9]

Results

General election results [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican Connie Mack III (incumbent) 2,895,200 70.50 +20.10
Democratic Hugh Rodham 1,210,57729.48−20.12
Write-in 1,0390.02
Majority 1,684,62341.02+40.22
Total votes4,106,816 100.00
Republican hold Swing

See also

References

  1. "Florida Department of State - Election Results". Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
  2. "Florida Department of State - Election Results". Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  3. Jessica Reaves (February 22, 2002). "The Rumpled, Ragtag Career of Hugh Rodham". Time Magazine. Archived from the original on June 11, 2001. Retrieved March 26, 2006.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Florida Vote Goes to Brother Of First Lady". The New York Times . October 5, 1994. Retrieved January 29, 2008.
  5. Tom Fielder (September 22, 1994). "Rubin Joins Rodham Campaign, Rips Wiley" (fee required). The Miami Herald .
  6. 1 2 "The Rodham Family Biography". CNN. Retrieved July 8, 2007.
  7. Michael Wines, "Clinton Finds Few Listeners at Rally in Miami", The New York Times , October 16, 1994. Accessed July 10, 2007.
  8. Lynn Sweet (February 23, 2001). "Politics thicker than blood?". The Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved July 8, 2007.[ dead link ]
  9. Tom Fielder (April 6, 1996). "FEC Dismisses Allegations Against Rodham Campaign" (fee required). The Miami Herald .
  10. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. "STATISTICS OF THE CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION OF NOVEMBER 8, 1994" (PDF). United States House of Representatives. p. 8,10. Retrieved November 16, 2020.