2008 United States Senate elections

2008 United States Senate elections

← 2006 November 4, 2008 December 2 (Georgia runoff) 2010 →
35 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate 51 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Harry Reid Mitch McConnell Party Democratic Republican Leader since January 3, 2005 January 3, 2007 Leader's seat Nevada Kentucky Seats before 49 49 Seats after 57 41 Seat change 8 8 Popular vote 33,650,061[1][a] 28,863,067[1][a] Percentage 51.88% 44.5% Seats up 12 23 Races won 20 15   Third party   Party Independent Seats before 2[b] Seats after 2 [c] Seat change Popular vote 176,752[1] Percentage 0.27% Seats up 0 Races won 0
Results of the elections:      Democratic hold      Democratic gain      Republican hold      No election Rectangular inset (Miss. & Wyo.): both seats up for election
Majority Leader before election Harry Reid Democratic Elected Majority Leader Harry Reid Democratic

The 2008 United States Senate elections were held on November 4, 2008, with 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate being contested. 33 seats were up for regular elections; the winners were eligible to serve 6-year terms from January 3, 2009, to January 3, 2015, as members of Class 2. There were also 2 special elections, the winners of those seats would finish the terms that ended on January 3, 2013. The presidential election, which was won by Democrat Barack Obama, elections for all House of Representatives seats; elections for several gubernatorial elections; and many state and local elections occurred on the same date.

Going into these elections, the Senate consisted of 49 Democrats, 49 Republicans, and 2 Independents who caucused with the Democrats, giving the Democratic caucus the slightest 51–49 majority.^[2] Of the seats up for election in 2008, 23 were held by Republicans and 12 by Democrats. The Republicans, who openly conceded early on that they would not be able to regain the majority in this election,^[3][4] lost 8 seats. Democratic candidates defeated Republican incumbents in Alaska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oregon, and, after a lengthy recount process, Minnesota. Additionally, they won Republican-held open seats in Colorado, New Mexico, and Virginia.

Each major party has Hill committees that work to support its candidates for the House and Senate, chiefly by providing funds. On the Senate side, the committees are the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC). In this cycle, the DSCC was more successful at fundraising. As of June 30, 2008, data from the Federal Election Commission showed the NRSC with $24.6 million on hand, as compared with the DSCC's $43 million.^[5] The NRSC chair, senator John Ensign, took the unusual step of chastising the Republican Senators who, like him, were not facing re-election, and who he thought should have done more to help raise money for their colleagues.^[5]

This election cycle was the second cycle in a row in which no seats switched from Democratic to Republican, and the first since 1990 in which the Democrats retained all their seats. In addition, this was the largest Democratic Senate gain since 1986, where they also won 8 seats. These elections marked the first time since 1964 in which a Democratic presidential candidate who won the White House had a Senate coattail effect. As of 2024, this is the last time Democrats won U.S. Senate seats in Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Louisiana, North Carolina, and South Dakota.

Along with 2 independents who caucus with them, Democrats held at least 58 seats as a result of the elections. The April 2009 party switch of Pennsylvania senator Arlen Specter from Republican to Democrat and the July 2009 resolution of the Minnesota election in favor of Democrat Al Franken increased the Democratic majority to 60–40 (briefly providing the Democrats a filibuster-proof majority, and thus they were able to hypothetically override any filibusters). Republicans gained a seat in a January 2010 special election in Massachusetts, thereby making the balance 59–41 before the start of the next election cycle.

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