Ben Sasse (R) resigned from the U.S. Senate on Jan. 8 to become the University of Florida’s 13th president.
Prior to joining the U.S. Senate in 2015, Sasse served as president of Midland University. He most recently ran for re-election in 2020, winning with 62.7% of the vote.
Nebraska is one of 37 states where vacancies are temporarily filled by gubernatorial appointment. A special election is then held coinciding with the next regularly scheduled election to replace the appointee.
As of Jan. 8, there has been one vacancy in the U.S. Senate. With Sasse’s resignation, there are 48 Democrats and Republicans, three independents (two of which caucus with Democrats), and one vacancy.
The office of Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger reported that 3.5 million Georgians voted in the runoff election for U.S. Senate this year. That number 25% less than two years ago, when 4.5 million Georgians cast their ballots in the runoffs that took place on January 5, 2021.
This year, 44.7% of all registered voters voted in the runoff, down 13.5% from 2021, when 58.2% of all registered voters voted in the runoff. (The office of the Secretary of State distinguishes between active registered voters and inactive registered voters. We used estimates for all registered voters, active and inactive, to calculate these percentages.)
Turnout for this year’s runoff was 89.8% of the November 8 general election turnout, in which 3.9 million Georgians voted. That’s a slight decline from 2021, when the runoff turnout was 91.3% of the general election turnout, in which 4.9 million people voted.
More than 1.9 million voters cast their ballots early this year, including 1.7 million who voted early in person and over 188 thousand voters who voted absentee by mail. That number is 48% less than 2021, when 3.1 million Georgians voted early, including 2.1 million who did so in person and 1.1 million who voted absentee by mail.
The number of voters who cast their ballots on Election Day increased from two years ago. This year, over 1.6 million Georgians voted on Election Day, 20.7% more than in 2021, when 1.3 million voters did so.
Incumbent Raphael Warnock (D) defeated Herschel Walker (R) in the runoff election for U.S. Senate in Georgia on December 6, 2022.
Warnock and Walker were the top-two vote-getters in the November 8, 2022, general election, with Warnock winning 49.4% of the vote to Walker’s 48.5%. Libertarian Chase Oliver won 2.1% of the vote and did not advance to the runoff. In Georgia, a runoff is held between the two top finishers if no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote.
Warnock’s win means Democrats will expand their majority in the U.S. Senate from 50 seats to 51. Ahead of the election, The Cook Political Report’s Jessica Taylor wrote that “a 51-49 majority would give Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer more flexibility in votes and no longer require a power-sharing agreement on committees. And Vice President Kamala Harris could make fewer trips to Capitol Hill for tie-breaking votes.”
This was the second Georgia Senate election in a row to go to a runoff. In 2020, Georgia held two elections for the U.S. Senate. In the regular election, incumbent U.S. Sen. David Perdue (R) and Jon Ossoff (D) advanced to a runoff after neither received the votes to win the general election outright. In the special election to replace U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R), Warnock and incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R)—whom Gov. Brian Kemp (R) appointed to fill the vacancy created when Isakson retired—also went to a runoff. The runoffs occurred on January 5, 2021.
Warnock defeated Loeffler and Ossoff defeated Perdue, giving Democrats an effective majority in the U.S. Senate (the partisan split following the runoffs was 50-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris (D) casting tie-breaking votes).
Before assuming office, Warnock served as the senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. also served as pastor. Warnock’s campaign said, “As the 18th most bipartisan Senator, Reverend Warnock successfully negotiated investments for Georgia businesses to grow jobs in state and end our reliance on foreign countries like China, capped the cost of insulin for seniors to $35 a month, fought to keep open the Savannah Combat Readiness Training Center, and took on the shipping companies and big corporations making record prices while increasing costs for Georgians.”
Walker, a businessman and a Hall of Fame professional football player, represented the U.S. in the 1992 Olympics. Walker’s campaign said, “Herschel Walker is fully prepared to lower taxes and curb inflation, back law enforcement and fight back against crime. He will secure our border from drugs and illegal immigrants and take men out of women’s sports.”
As a result of a change in Georgia state law, the 2022 runoffs took place on December 6, not January 5. On March 25, 2021, Gov. Kemp signed Senate Bill 202, which shortened the time between a general election and a runoff from nine weeks to 28 days.
According to data from Open Secrets, candidate campaign committees and satellite spending groups had spent $416 million on the Georgia U.S. Senate election as of December 6, making it the most expensive Senate election of 2022. The race also ranked as the second most expensive Senate race ever, ahead of the 2020 special election between Warnock and Loeffler, and behind only the 2020 general election between Ossoff and Perdue.
Including the 2021 runoffs, four Senate runoffs have taken place in Georgia. The first Senate runoff occurred in 1992. Incumbent Wyche Fowler (D) lost to Paul Coverdell (R) in that election. In 2008, incumbent Saxby Chambliss (R) won re-election after defeating Jim Martin (D) in a runoff.
Incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) defeated Kelly Tshibaka (R), and Patricia Chesbro (D) in the general election for U.S. Senate in Alaska on November 8, 2022.
The three candidates advanced from the top-four primary held on August 16, 2022, the first time Alaska used such a system in a Senate race since voters there approved it in 2020. All candidates, regardless of party affiliation, ran in a single primary. Murkowski, Tshibaka, Chesbro, and Buzz Kelley (R) received the most votes and advanced to the general election, where the winner was decided using ranked-choice voting.
On September 12, 2022, Kelley withdrew from the race and endorsed Tshibaka. His name still appeared on the ballot.
Murkowski and Tshibaka led in media attention and together won more than 80% of the primary vote, with Murkowski receiving 45% and Tshibaka receiving 38.6%. In July, FiveThirtyEight’s Geoffrey Skelley and Zoha Qamar wrote, “the ranked choice voting process seems likely to set up a contest between the two leading Republicans, [Murkowski and Tshibaka]”.
Murkowski first took office in 2002. Lisa Murkowski’s father, Frank Murkowski (R), was a senator from 1981 to 2002, when he resigned to become governor of Alaska. After taking office, the elder Murkowski appointed his daughter to the U.S. Senate seat. After losing the Republican Senate primary in 2010, Lisa Murkowski successfully ran for re-election as a write-in candidate, becoming the second senator in U.S. history to do so. In 2016, Murkowski was re-elected after defeating second-place finisher Joe Miller (L) 44.4% to 29.2%.
Murkowski highlighted her seniority and said her willingness to work with Democrats helped steer federal funding to Alaska. Murkowski said, “This race is about who can deliver best for Alaska. Through my seniority and ability to work across party lines, I’m getting real results for Alaska.” Murkowski also highlighted her support for energy development in the state and said her vote for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act had already brought billions to Alaska.
Tshibaka, a former commissioner at the Alaska Department of Administration, accused Murkowski of not using her seniority to block more of President Joe Biden’s (D) agenda. Tshibaka said, “Lisa Murkowski has enabled Biden’s agenda by casting the tie-breaking deciding vote to advance his anti-energy Interior Secretary nominee and confirming over 90% of his radical nominees.” Tshibaka also focused on economic issues and said she supports a Parental Bill of Rights that would give parents “a right to be fully informed and to approve of any sex education, gender identification, or race theory material being presented or discussed with their child.”
In February 2021, Murkowski voted to convict then-President Donald Trump (R) after the U.S. House impeached him over the events surrounding the January 6 breach of the Capitol. In June 2021, Trump endorsed Tshibaka. The Republican Party of Alaska also endorsed Tshibaka.
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) and fellow Alaska U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R) endorsed Murkowski. Murkowski also had the endorsements of several Democratic elected officials, including Alaska’s At-Large U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola (D), Sen. Joe Manchin (D) and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D).
Chesbro, a retired educator, highlighted her support for renewable energy. In her responses to Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection survey, Chesbro said, “We cannot turn off the spigot on fossil fuels. We can invest in our future through developing our renewable resources to create the energy on which we depend.” Chesbro also focused on her support for abortion rights.
In addition to the candidates on the ballot, write-in candidates included Joe Stephens (Independent), Ted Gianoutsos (Nonpartisan), Shoshana Gungurstein (Nonpartisan), and Sid Hill (Nonpartisan).
Democrats retained their majority in the U.S. Senate in 2022. As of November 28, Democrats had won 50 seats to Republicans’ 49, with the Senate election in Georgia headed to a December 6 runoff.
Incumbent Raphael Warnock (D) and Herschel Walker (R) are running in the runoff election for U.S. Senate in Georgia on December 6, 2022.
Warnock and Walker were the top-two vote-getters in the November 8, 2022, general election, with Warnock winning 49.4% of the vote to Walker’s 48.5%. Libertarian Chase Oliver won 2.1% of the vote and did not advance to the runoff. In Georgia, a general election advances to a runoff between the two top finishers if no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote.
This is the second Georgia Senate election in a row to go to a runoff. In 2020, Georgia held two elections for the U.S. Senate. In the regular election, incumbent U.S. Sen. David Perdue (R) and Jon Ossoff (D) advanced to a runoff after neither received the votes to win the general election outright. In the special election to replace U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R), Warnock and incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R)—whom Gov. Brian Kemp (R) appointed to fill the vacancy created when Isakson retired—advanced to a runoff for the same reason. The runoffs took place on January 5, 2021.
Warnock defeated Loeffler in the runoff and Ossoff defeated Perdue, giving Democrats an effective majority in the U.S. Senate (the partisan split following the runoffs was 50-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris (D) casting tie-breaking votes).
Unlike the 2021 runoffs, the 2022 runoff will not determine control of the U.S. Senate. Democrats won 50 Senate seats in the November 8 general election, enough to maintain effective control of the chamber. If Warnock wins, Democrats would expand their majority to 51.
Before assuming office, Warnock served as the senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. also served as pastor. Warnock’s campaign said, “As the 18th most bipartisan Senator, Reverend Warnock successfully negotiated investments for Georgia businesses to grow jobs in state and end our reliance on foreign countries like China, capped the cost of insulin for seniors to $35 a month, fought to keep open the Savannah Combat Readiness Training Center, and took on the shipping companies and big corporations making record prices while increasing costs for Georgians.”
Walker is a businessman and a Hall of Fame professional football player who represented the U.S. in the 1992 Olympics. Walker’s campaign said, “Herschel Walker is fully prepared to lower taxes and curb inflation, back law enforcement and fight back against crime. He will secure our border from drugs and illegal immigrants and take men out of women’s sports.”
As a result of a change in Georgia state law, the 2022 runoffs will take place on December 6, not January 5. On March 25, 2021, Gov. Kemp signed Senate Bill 202, which shortened the time between a general election and a runoff from nine weeks to 28 days.
As of November 22, the U.S. Senate election in Georgia ranked as the second most expensive Senate election in 2022 and the fourth most expensive Senate race ever. According to data from Open Secrets, candidate campaign committees and satellite spending groups had spent $307 million in the race.
Including the 2021 runoffs, four Senate runoffs have taken place in Georgia. The first Senate runoff occurred in 1992. Incumbent Wyche Fowler (D) lost to Paul Coverdell (R) in that election. In 2008, incumbent Saxby Chambliss (R) won re-election after defeating Jim Martin (D) in a runoff.
Incumbent Maggie Hassan (D), Don Bolduc (R), and Jeremy Kauffman (L) are running for U.S. Senate in New Hampshire on November 8, 2022.
Hassan took office in 2017. Hassan is campaigning on what she describes as a bipartisan record and her support for a gas tax holiday through 2022, saying she has worked to lower costs for residents. Hassan says Bolduc is an extremist and that he “said he would vote for any anti-choice legislation in the U.S. Senate, and that he would never compromise.”
Bolduc, a retired Army brigadier general, said the election “is about the economy, fiscal responsibility and the safety and security of this nation.” He attributes inflation and high gas prices to Hassan and other Democrats. Bolduc’s campaign ads emphasize his military background and call Hassan a career politician. Bolduc said he’d support allowing states to set abortion policy.
A mid-September poll showed Hassan leading Bolduc 51% to 40%. The poll’s credibility interval, similar to a margin of error, was +/- 3.4 percentage points.
In the state’s 2020 Senate election, incumbent Jeanne Shaheen (D) won re-election against Bryant Messner (R) by a margin of 16 percentage points. In 2016, Hassan defeated incumbent Kelly Ayotte (R) by 0.1 percentage points.
President Joe Biden (D) won New Hampshire by 7 percentage points in 2020. Hillary Clinton (D) won the state in the 2016 presidential election by 0.3 percentage points.
The outcome of this race will affect the partisan balance of the U.S. Senate. Thirty-five of 100 seats are up for election, including one special election. Democrats have an effective majority, with the chamber split 50-50 and Vice President Kamala Harris (D) having the tie-breaking vote. Fourteen seats held by Democrats and 21 seats held by Republicans are up for election in 2022.
Incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R), Kelly Tshibaka (R), Patricia Chesbro (D), and Buzz Kelley (R) are running for a seat in the U.S. Senate from Alaska on November 8, 2022.
The four candidates advanced from the top-four primary held on August 16, 2022, the first time Alaska used such a system in a Senate race since voters there approved it in 2020. All candidates, regardless of party affiliation, ran in a single primary. Murkowski, Tshibaka, Chesbro, and Kelley received the most votes and advanced to the general election, where the winner will be decided using ranked-choice voting.
Murkowski and Tshibaka have led in media attention and together received more than 80% of the primary vote, with Murkowski receiving 45% and Tshibaka receiving 38.6%. FiveThirtyEight’s Geoffrey Skelley and Zoha Qamar wrote, “the ranked choice voting process seems likely to set up a contest between the two leading Republicans, [Murkowski and Tshibaka].”
Murkowski first took office in 2002. Lisa Murkowski’s father, Frank Murkowski (R), was a senator from 1981 to 2002, when he resigned to become governor of Alaska. After taking office, the elder Murkowski appointed his daughter to the U.S. Senate seat. In 2010, after losing the Republican nomination, Lisa Murkowski successfully ran for re-election as a write-in candidate, only the second senator in U.S. history to do so. In 2016, Murkowski was re-elected with 44.4% of the vote, defeating second-place finisher Joe Miller (L) by 15.2 percentage points.
Murkowski has highlighted her seniority and said her willingness to work with Democrats has helped steer federal funding to Alaska. Murkowski said, “This race is about who can deliver best for Alaska. Through my seniority and ability to work across party lines, I’m getting real results for Alaska.” Murkowski has also highlighted her support for energy development in the state and said her vote for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act has already brought billions to Alaska.
Tshibaka, a former commissioner at the Alaska Department of Administration, has accused Murkowski of not using her seniority to block more of President Joe Biden’s (D) agenda. Tshibaka said, “Lisa Murkowski has enabled Biden’s agenda by casting the tie-breaking deciding vote to advance his anti-energy Interior Secretary nominee and confirming over 90% of his radical nominees.” Tshibaka has also focused on economic issues and said she supports a Parental Bill of Rights that would give parents “a right to be fully informed and to approve of any sex education, gender identification, or race theory material being presented or discussed with their child.”
In February 2021, Murkowski voted to convict then-President Donald Trump (R) after the U.S. House impeached him over the events surrounding the January 6 breach of the Capitol. In June 2021, Trump endorsed Tshibaka. The Republican Party of Alaska also endorsed Tshibaka.
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) and fellow Alaska U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R) endorsed Murkowski. Murkowski also has the endorsements of several Democratic elected officials, including Sens. Joe Manchin (D) and Kyrsten Sinema (D).
Chesbro, a retired educator who serves on the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Planning Commission, has highlighted her support for renewable energy. In her responses to Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection survey, Chesbro said, “We cannot turn off the spigot on fossil fuels. We can invest in our future through developing our renewable resources to create the energy on which we depend” Chesbro has also focused on her support for abortion rights.
Kelley, a retired mechanic, said he supports lowering government spending and said the United States should become energy independent through oil exploration and solar energy development. Kelley also said he supports unions. “Union jobs provide a good income. Those union hands then go out into their communities and spend that money. That is how you have an economy folks,” Kelley said.
The outcome of this race will affect the partisan balance of the U.S. Senate. Thirty-five of 100 seats are up for election, including one special election. Democrats have an effective majority, with the chamber split 50-50 and Vice President Kamala Harris (D) having the tie-breaking vote. Fourteen seats held by Democrats and 21 seats held by Republicans are up for election in 2022.
Nineteen candidates ran in the top-four Senate primary in Alaska on August 16, 2022. Incumbent Lisa Murkowski (R), Kelly Tshibaka (R), Patricia Chesbro (D), and Buzz Kelley (R) advanced to the general election.
This was the first time the top-four primary was used in a Senate race since Alaska voters approved the concept in 2020. Under this system, all candidates, regardless of party affiliation, run in a single primary election. The four candidates who receive the most votes advance to the general election, where the winner is decided using ranked-choice voting.
The 19 candidates included eight Republicans, three Democrats, one Libertarian, five independents, and two Alaskan Independence Party candidates.
FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver wrote it was likely at least two Republican candidates and a Democratic one would advance to the general election.
Murkowski, the incumbent since 2002, had the endorsements of U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R), fellow Alaska U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R), and Sens. Joe Manchin (D) and Kyrsten Sinema (D).
Tshibaka, a former commissioner at the Alaska Department of Administration had the endorsements of former President Donald Trump (R) and the Alaska Republican Party.
Chesbro is an educator from Palmer, and Kelley is a retired mechanic from Wasilla.
Three election forecasters rate the general election Solid or Safe Republican.
Murkowski’s father, Frank Murkowski (R), was Senator from 1980 to 2002, when he resigned to become governor of Alaska. After taking office, the elder Murkowski appointed his daughter to the U.S. Senate seat. In 2010, after losing the Republican nomination, Lisa Murkowski successfully ran for re-election as a write-in candidate. As of 2022, she was one of two U.S. Senators, alongside South Carolina’s Strom Thurmond in 1954, to have been elected as a write-in candidate.
Incumbent Marco Rubio (R), Val Demings (D), and seven other candidates are running in the general election for U.S. Senate in Florida on November 8, 2022.
The Hill‘s Caroline Vakil said, “Florida’s Senate race is considered one of the most competitive this November.” In 2018, the last U.S. Senate race in the state before this one, Rick Scott (R) defeated incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson (D) by 0.2 percentage points. In 2016, incumbent Marco Rubio won re-election by a margin of 7.7 percentage points.
Rubio was first elected to the Senate in 2010 to replace retiring incumbent Mel Martinez (R). In the general election, Rubio defeated Kendrick B. Meek (D) and Gov. Charlie Crist (I). Rubio was a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 2000 to 2008, serving as majority leader from 2003 to 2006 and House speaker from 2006 to 2008. Rubio has emphasized his Senate career; according to his campaign website, “As a U.S. Senator, Marco has advanced commonsense, conservative ideas that address the issues Americans face.”
Demings has represented Florida’s 10th Congressional District in the U.S. House since 2017. During her time in Congress, Demings has served on the Committee on Homeland Security and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Prior to her time in office, Demings worked in law enforcement for nearly three decades. From 2007 to 2012, she served as the chief of police in Orlando, Florida. Demings said she is “running for U.S. Senate to fight for every Floridian to have that same opportunity to live the American Dream.”
Dennis Misigoy (L), Steven B. Grant, Tuan Nguyen, Uloma Ekpete, Edward A. Gray, Howard Knepper, and Moses Quiles are also running
The two most recent presidential elections in Florida were both decided by less than 4 percentage points. Incumbent President Donald Trump (R) won the state over Joe Biden (D) by 3.3 percentage points in 2020. Trump won the state over Hillary Clinton (D) in 2016 by 1.2 percentage points.
The outcome of this race will affect the partisan balance of the U.S. Senate. Thirty-five of 100 seats are up for election, including one special election. Democrats have an effective majority, with the chamber split 50-50 and Vice President Kamala Harris (D) having the tie-breaking vote. Fourteen seats held by Democrats and 21 seats held by Republicans are up for election in 2022.
John Wood (I), a former senior investigator for the January 6th Select Committee, announced that he was suspending his campaign for U.S. Senate in Missouri. Wood qualified for the ballot on August 1, one day before the state’s Republican primary. On August 23, Wood said that he saw no path to victory in the general election following Eric Greitens’ loss to Eric Schmitt in the Republican primary.
In a statement, Wood said, “I made the decision to run for the United States Senate when Eric Greitens was the favorite for the Republican nomination. That would have been unacceptable, embarrassing, and dangerous for my party, my state, and my country.”
Former U.S. Sen. John Danforth (R) endorsed Wood, while Danforth’s Missouri Stands United PAC spent more than $3 million supporting Wood’s campaign. Wood said he filed to run “as an independent to offer Missourians who are fed up and exhausted by the status quo something better. A common sense campaign that unites our state instead of dividing us,” and that he would serve as an independent who caucuses with the Republican Party.
Trudy Busch Valentine (D), Eric Schmitt (R), and five other candidates are running in the general election for one of Missouri’s U.S. Senate seats on November 8, 2022. Sen. Roy Blunt (R), who first took office in 2011, announced on March 8, 2021, that he would not seek re-election.
As of August 2022, three independent election forecasters rated the general election as Solid Republican or Safe Republican. Donald Trump (R) won the state in the 2020 presidential election by a 15.4 percentage point margin. The last time a Democratic candidate won a statewide election in Missouri was in 2012, when U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) and Gov. Jay Nixon (D) both won re-election. Missouri’s other U.S. Senator, Josh Hawley (R), won the 2018 election by a 5.8 percentage point margin.
