1994 United States Senate election in Florida

1994 United States Senate election in Florida

←  1988 November 8, 1994 2000  →

Nominee Connie Mack III Hugh Rodham Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 2,895,200 1,210,577 Percentage 70.50% 29.48%

County results Precinct results 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.

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.

Republican primary

Candidates

• Connie Mack III, incumbent U.S. Senator

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Connie Mack III (incumbent)	Unopposed	100.0

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Arturo Perez
• Hugh Rodham, public defender and brother to First Lady Hillary Clinton
• Ellis Rubin, criminal defense attorney
• Mike Wiley, talk radio personality and advocate of UFO conspiracy theories

Results

Initial primary results by county

Runoff results by county

Democratic primary results ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Hugh Rodham	255,605	33.78
	Democratic	Mike Wiley	188,551	24.92
	Democratic	Ellis Rubin	161,386	21.33
	Democratic	A. Perez	151,121	19.97
Total votes			756,663	100

Democratic primary runoff results ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Hugh Rodham	221,424	58.09
	Democratic	Mike Wiley	159,776	41.91
Total votes			381,200	100

General election

Candidates

• Connie Mack III (R), incumbent U.S. Senator
• Hugh Rodham (D), public defender and brother to first lady Hillary Clinton

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]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Connie Mack III (incumbent)	2,895,200	70.50	+20.10
	Democratic	Hugh Rodham	1,210,577	29.48	−20.12
	Write-in		1,039	0.02
Majority			1,684,623	41.02	+40.22
Total votes			4,106,816	100.00
	Republican hold		Swing

See also

• 1994 United States Senate elections

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. "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. "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.