United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, 1992

Last updated
United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, 1992

Flag of Pennsylvania.svg

←  1986 November 3, 1992 1998  →

  Arlen Specter official portrait.jpg Lynn Yeakel.JPG
Nominee Arlen Specter Lynn Yeakel
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote2,358,125 2,244,966
Percentage48.9% 46.6%

Pennsylvania Senatorial Election Results by County, 1992.svg

County results
U.S. Senator before election

Arlen Specter
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Arlen Specter
Republican

The 1992 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania was held on November 3, 1992. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Arlen Specter won re-election to a third term.

Arlen Specter American politician; former United States Senator from Pennsylvania

Arlen Specter was an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as United States Senator for Pennsylvania. Specter was a Democrat from 1951 to 1965, then a Republican from 1965 until 2009, when he switched back to the Democratic Party. First elected in 1980, he represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate for 30 years.

Contents

Major candidates

Democratic

Lynn Yeakel American politician

Lynn Hardy Yeakel is an American administrator and political figure. She is the Director of Drexel University College of Medicine's Institute for Women's Health and Leadership and holds the Betty A. Cohen Chair in Women's Health. Yeakel conducted an unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Senate in 1992.

Drexel University College of Medicine is the medical school of Drexel University. The medical school has one of the nation's largest enrollments for a private medical school and represents the consolidation of two medical schools: the first US medical school for women and the nation's first college of homeopathy. Drexel University College of Medicine is ranked #83 in research by U.S. News & World Report and is the second most applied-to medical school in the United States.

Republican

Campaign

Despite his powerful position in the Senate, Specter had numerous problems entering the election. A moderate who generally received only tepid support from his party's conservative wing, he was criticized by the right for opposing Ronald Reagan's nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court. Specter subsequently faced a primary challenge from an ultra-conservative State Representative named Stephen Freind; although the incumbent won handily, the battle was expensive and featured many damaging attack ads. The senator was also highly targeted by women's groups for his involvement in the Clarence Thomas proceedings; in his questioning of Anita Hill, Specter appeared to show no sympathy for her allegations of sexual harassment. Furthermore, President Bush's popularity was rapidly declining in the state over high unemployment rates, and was subsequently dragging down Republican candidates. [3]

Ronald Reagan 40th president of the United States

Ronald Wilson Reagan was an American politician who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. Prior to his presidency, he was a Hollywood actor and union leader before serving as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 to 1975.

Robert Bork 35th Solicitor General of the United States

Robert Heron Bork was an American judge, government official and legal scholar who served as the Solicitor General of the United States from 1973 to 1977. A professor at Yale Law School by occupation, he later served as a judge on the influential U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit from 1982 to 1988. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan nominated Bork to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the U.S. Senate rejected his nomination.

Stephen F. Freind is an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 166th district from 1976 until 1993. He unsuccessfully challenged Arlen Specter in the 1992 Republican primary election. He was most notable for authoring a law that was presented as a tort reform measure but was actually designed to restrict abortion rights, that included "requirements that a married woman notify her husband, that there be a 24-hour wait before any abortion, and that doctors show patients a pamphlet with pictures of developing fetuses". It was mostly upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States except for the spousal notification provision in the case of Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

Yeakel won the five-way primary with 45% of the vote, easily defeating the endorsed candidate, Lieutenant Governor Mark Singel, in an election cycle dubbed by pundits as the "year of the woman". Polls put her ahead of Specter by double digits. But Specter ran a campaign that was praised by political analysts for being almost flawless. [3] Despite Yeakel's personal wealth, her inexperience in politics led to fundraising problems; Specter outspent her by a two-to-one margin. This kept Yeakel from running television ads until September 23, a month and a half before the election. The moderate Specter portrayed Yeakel, despite her liberal attitude, as a member of an elitist blue-blood family. He emphasized her father's votes against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 while in Congress, her affiliation with an all-white country club, and her church's minister's vocal criticism of the Israeli government. [4] [5] It did not help matters that a newspaper strike in Pittsburgh crippled Yeakel's ability to introduce herself to voters in the southwest. [3]

Mark Singel American politician

Mark Stephen Singel is an American politician who served as the 27th lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania from 1987 to 1995, alongside Governor Bob Casey. Singel served as the state's acting governor from June 14, 1993 to December 13, 1993, during Casey's lengthy battle with amyloidosis and subsequent multiple organ transplant.

Civil Rights Act of 1964 legislation

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a landmark civil rights and U.S. labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It prohibits unequal application of voter registration requirements, and racial segregation in schools, employment, and public accommodations.

Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church is a church in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania; founded in 1873, it is currently a 2,500 member church of the PC(USA). It is located on the Main Line, just west of Philadelphia. Being a large congregation, the church is active seven days a week.

Despite her mistakes, including a frequent tendency to mispronounce the names of places in which she was campaigning, Yeakel continued to perform solidly. On Election Day she captured by large numbers the traditional Democratic strongholds of the state, such as Pittsburgh, Scranton, and Erie. However, Specter undercut Yeakel's support in the state's most critical Democratic county: Philadelphia. Specter campaigned hard in black neighborhoods, and received the endorsement of the NAACP. Furthermore, he capitalized on the ambivalence of many Philadelphia Democratic leaders to Yeakel. A self-described reform candidate, Yeakel distanced herself from the city's ward leaders. As a result, while Yeakel carried Philadelphia by a solid 122,000-vote margin, she significantly underperformed Bill Clinton's total there. [3]

Philadelphia Largest city in Pennsylvania, United States

Philadelphia, sometimes known colloquially as Philly, is the largest city in the U.S. state and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the sixth-most populous U.S. city, with a 2017 census-estimated population of 1,580,863. Since 1854, the city has been coterminous with Philadelphia County, the most populous county in Pennsylvania and the urban core of the eighth-largest U.S. metropolitan statistical area, with over 6 million residents as of 2017. Philadelphia is also the economic and cultural anchor of the greater Delaware Valley, located along the lower Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers, within the Northeast megalopolis. The Delaware Valley's population of 7.2 million ranks it as the eighth-largest combined statistical area in the United States.

NAACP Civil rights organization in the United States

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as a bi-racial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du Bois, Mary White Ovington and Moorfield Storey.

Bill Clinton 42nd president of the United States

William Jefferson Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Prior to the presidency, he was the governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981, and again from 1983 to 1992, and the attorney general of Arkansas from 1977 to 1979. A member of the Democratic Party, Clinton was ideologically a New Democrat and many of his policies reflected a centrist "Third Way" political philosophy.

Also critical to the campaign was Specter's grass-roots involvement in Yeakel's base, the traditionally GOP, but Democratic-trending, suburbs of Philadelphia. Yeakel also significantly underperformed in the northeast and southwest. She barely won Lackawanna County, home to Scranton, and barely lost Allegheny County, home to Pittsburgh; as mentioned above, she easily carried the cities themselves. [3]

Results

General election results [6]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Arlen Specter2,358,12548.9%
Democratic Lynn Yeakel 2,244,966 46.6%
Libertarian John Perry 219,319 4.6%

See also

Related Research Articles

2004 United States Senate elections

The 2004 United States Senate elections were elections for one-third of the seats in the United States Senate which coincided with the re-election of George W. Bush as president and the United States House election, as well as many state and local elections. Senators who were elected in 1998, known as Senate Class 3, were seeking re-election or retiring in 2004. This was the third consecutive election for Senate Class 3 where the Democrats failed to end up with a net gain. This also marked the first time since 1980 in which a presidential candidate from either party won with coattails in the Senate. As of 2018, these are the last elections held during a Presidential election year in which the Republicans made a net gain of seats.

1998 United States Senate elections

The 1998 United States Senate elections were held on November 3 and seen as an even contest between the Republican Party and Democratic Party. While the Democrats had to defend more seats up for election, Republican attacks on the morality of President Bill Clinton failed to connect with voters and anticipated Republican gains did not materialize. The Republicans picked up open seats in Ohio and Kentucky and narrowly defeated Democratic incumbent Carol Moseley Braun (Illinois), but these were cancelled out by the Democrats' gain of an open seat in Indiana and defeats of Republican Senators Al D'Amato and Lauch Faircloth. The balance of the Senate remained unchanged at 55–45 in favor of the Republicans. With Democrats gaining five seats in the House of Representatives, this marked the first time since 1934 that the out-of-presidency party failed to gain congressional seats in a mid-term election, and the first time since 1822 that the party not in control of the White House failed to gain seats in the mid-term election of a President's second term. These are the last senate elections that resulted in no net change in the balance of power.

1992 United States Senate elections

The 1992 United States Senate elections, held November 3, 1992, were elections for the United States Senate that coincided with Bill Clinton's victory the presidential election. Despite the presidential victory, Democrats had a net loss of a seat in the general elections, and only managed to break even by winning a seat in a special election.

1986 United States Senate elections

The 1986 United States Senate elections was an election for the United States Senate in the middle of Ronald Reagan's second presidential term. The Republicans had to defend an unusually large number of freshman Senate incumbents who had been elected on President Ronald Reagan's coattails in 1980. Democrats won a net of eight seats, defeating seven freshman incumbents and regaining control of the Senate for the first time since January 1981. The party not controlling the presidency gained seats, as usually occurs in mid-term elections.

1980 United States Senate elections

The 1980 United States Senate elections coincided with Ronald Reagan's victory in the presidential election. Reagan's large margin of victory over incumbent Jimmy Carter pulled in many Democratic voters and gave a huge boost to Republican Senate candidates.

Allyson Schwartz American politician

Allyson Young Schwartz is a former member of the United States House of Representatives for Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district, serving from 2005–2015. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district included parts of Montgomery County and Northeast Philadelphia. She was also National Chair for Recruitment and Candidate Services for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. In the 2014 election, Schwartz was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Pennsylvania, but was defeated in the primary.

2004 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania selection of Pennsylvanias presidential electors

The 2004 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania took place on November 2, 2004, and was part of the 2004 United States presidential election. Voters chose 21 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

2006 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election

The Pennsylvania gubernatorial election of 2006 was held on November 7, 2006 and included the races for the Governor of Pennsylvania and Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania.

2010 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania

The 2010 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania took place on November 2, 2010, during the 2010 midterm elections. Incumbent Republican-turned-Democrat U.S. Senator Arlen Specter ran for reelection to a sixth term, but lost in the Democratic primary to Joe Sestak. Republican nominee Pat Toomey then won the seat.

2004 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania

The 2004 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania was held on November 2, 2004. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Arlen Specter won re-election to a fifth term.

2010 United States Senate election in Maryland

The 2010 United States Senate election in Maryland was held on November 2, 2010. Primary elections were held on September 14, 2010. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski won re-election to a fifth term.

1994 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election

The Pennsylvania gubernatorial election of 1994 was held on November 8, 1994. The incumbent governor, Bob Casey, Sr. (Democrat), was barred from seeking a third term by the state constitution. The Republican Party nominated Congressman Tom Ridge, while the Democrats nominated Mark Singel, Casey's lieutenant governor. Ridge went on to win the race with 45% of the vote. Singel finished with 39%, and Constitution Party candidate Peg Luksik finished third, garnering 12% of the vote.

1998 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania

The 1998 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania was held November 3, 1998. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Arlen Specter won re-election to a fourth term.

1978 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election

The Pennsylvania gubernatorial election of 1978 was held on November 7, 1978 between Republican Dick Thornburgh and Democrat Pete Flaherty.

1986 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania

The 1986 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania was held on November 4, 1986. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Arlen Specter won re-election to a second term.

1980 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania

The 1980 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania was held on November 4, 1980. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Richard Schweiker decided to retire, instead of seeking a third term. Republican nominee Arlen Specter won the open seat, defeating Democratic nominee Peter F. Flaherty.

2010 United States Senate Democratic primary election in Pennsylvania

The Democratic primary for the 2010 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania took place on May 18, 2010, when Congressman Joe Sestak defeated incumbent Arlen Specter, which led to the end of Specter's five-term Senatorial career. Just prior to the start of the primary campaign, after serving in the Senate as a Republican for 29 years, Specter had switched to the Democratic Party in anticipation of a difficult primary challenge by Pat Toomey; Sestak was ultimately defeated by Toomey in the general election. Political observers and journalists described the race between Specter and Sestak as one of the bitterest and most watched of all the 2010 primary elections.

1976 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania

The 1976 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania was held on November 2, 1976. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator and Minority Leader Hugh Scott decided to retire. Republican John Heinz won the open seat.

References

  1. ↑ "Yeakel to oppose Specter, main target in Senate race". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. April 29, 1992. Retrieved August 20, 2010.
  2. ↑ "Yeakel, Lynn". OurCampaigns. Retrieved August 20, 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Kennedy, John J. (2006). Pennsylvania Elections: Statewide Contests from 1950-2004. United Press of America. ISBN   9780761832799.
  4. ↑ Kornacki, Steve (April 30, 2009). "Lynn Yeakel Isn't Angry Anymore". New York Observer. Retrieved August 20, 2010.
  5. ↑ http://articles.philly.com/1992-11-15/news/26007483_1_lynn-yeakel-pastor-first-church
  6. ↑ Clerk of the House of Representatives (1993). "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional election of November 3, 1992" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.