Colonel William A. Phillips

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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 2023, this is the last time that the winning United States Senate candidate carried all counties in Florida.

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

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

Democratic primary

Candidates

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

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 Elections 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

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. ^ a b c d "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. ^ a b "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.