1998 United States Senate election in Colorado

1998 United States Senate election in Colorado

←  1992 November 3, 1998 2004  →

Nominee Ben Nighthorse Campbell Dottie Lamm Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 829,370 464,754 Percentage 62.49% 35.02%

County results Nighthorse Campbell:      50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Lamm:     50–60%

U.S. senator before election Ben Nighthorse Campbell Republican Elected U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell Republican

The 1998 United States Senate election in Colorado was held November 3, 1998, alongside other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell won re-election to a second term by a landslide. This was Campbell's first election as a Republican as he left the Democratic Party in 1995.

As of 2024, this is the last time that a Republican won the Class 3 Senate seat from Colorado, and the last time that a Native American was elected to the United States Senate until 2022.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Dottie Lamm, former First Lady of Colorado
• Gil Romero, former state legislator ^[1]

Results

Democratic primary results ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dottie Lamm	84,929	57.98%
	Democratic	Gil Romero	61,548	42.02%
Total votes			146,477	100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

• Ben Nighthorse Campbell, incumbent U.S. Senator
• Bill Eggert, 1994 Republican congressional candidate

Results

Republican primary results ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ben Nighthorse Campbell (Incumbent)	154,702	70.62%
	Republican	Bill Eggert	64,347	29.38%
Total votes			219,049	100.00%

General election

Candidates

• Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R), incumbent U.S. Senator
• Dottie Lamm, former First Lady of Colorado

Campaign

Campbell, who was elected in 1992 as a Democrat, switched parties after the 1994 Republican Revolution. He faced a primary challenger, but won with over 70% of the vote. In the general election, Democratic nominee Dottie Lamm criticized Campbell of flip flopping from being a moderate liberal to moderate conservative. ^{[3] [4]} In fact, throughout the entire campaign, Lamm mostly sent out negative attack advertisements about Campbell. ^[5]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size [a]	Margin of error	Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R)	Dottie Lamm (D)	Undecided
Mason Dixon [6]	October 26–28, 1998	831 (LV)	± 3.5%	58%	32%	10%
Mason Dixon [6]	October 9–12, 1998	804 (LV)	± 3.5%	50%	37%	13%
Ciruli Associates [6] [A]	October 1–10, 1998	407 (LV)	± 5.0%	54%	33%	13%
Mason Dixon [6]	July 27–29, 1998	849 (LV)	± 3.5%	46%	34%	20%

Results

General election ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Ben Nighthorse Campbell (Incumbent)	829,370	62.49%	+19.78%
	Democratic	Dottie Lamm	464,754	35.02%	−16.76%
	Libertarian	David S. Segal	14,024	1.06%	+1.06%
	Constitution	Kevin Swanson	9,775	0.74%
	Natural Law	Jeffrey Peckham	4,101	0.31%
	Independent	John Heckman	3,230	0.24%
	Independent	Gary Swing	1,981	0.15%
Majority			364,616	27.47%	+18.40%
Turnout			1,327,235
	Republican hold		Swing

See also

• 1998 United States Senate elections

Notes

1. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear

Partisan clients

1. Poll sponsored by 9News, KOA Radio, and The Denver Post

References

1. McAvoy, Tom (November 18, 1998). "Romero starts new career as lobbyist". Pueblo Chieftain. Retrieved May 9, 2025.
2. http://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/ElectionArchives/1998/Primary/1998UnitedStatesSenateResults.pdf%5B%5D
3. By Blake, Peter; 700+ words. "Data". Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
4. "Archives : The Rocky Mountain News". nl.newsbank.com.
5. "Denver Post: Archive Results". nl.newsbank.com.
6. "CNN AllPolitics Election '98 - Colorado 1998 Polls". CNN. Archived from the original on June 16, 2025. Retrieved June 16, 2025.
7. "Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives". Clerk.house.gov. Retrieved May 4, 2021.