Colonel William A. Phillips

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The 1994 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania was held November 8, 1994. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Harris Wofford, who was appointed to the position in 1991 and won a special election the same year, sought re-election to a full six-year term, but he was defeated by Republican Rick Santorum.[1] By a margin of 2.5%, this election was the second-closest race of the 1994 Senate election cycle, behind only the election in California.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Democratic primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Harris Wofford (incumbent) Unopposed
Total votes 714,930 100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Republican primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Rick Santorum 667,115 81.55%
Republican Joseph P. Watkins 150,969 18.45%
Total votes 100.00%

General election

Candidates

Campaign

Wofford's campaign was hurt from the outset by his strong connection with President Bill Clinton's failed healthcare reform proposals; Wofford had made working toward universal healthcare a crucial issue in his prior campaign and was one of the executive's strongest allies on the issue. After this failure, however, the senator ran a relatively passive campaign. He instead attempted to focus attention on his challenger, an arch-conservative who did not attempt to moderate his views after the primary election. The polarizing Santorum took strong positions against abortion, gay rights, and affirmative action, and he even clashed with some of the traditional fixtures of the state's moderate Republican establishment. Early in the campaign and with little statewide name recognition, Santorum made a critical error by attacking Social Security, and Wofford appeared to be in relatively safe position. However, Santorum ran an effective grassroots campaign and specifically targeted many union Democrats who had reservations about the liberal social values advocated by many of their party's leaders.[2]

In the closing weeks of the campaign, Santorum was greatly helped by strong Republican enthusiasm because of anger over Clinton's failed initiatives. He solidified his status by running a series of positive ads that attempted to define his character strengths and to contrast with Wofford's negative commercials. Santorum eventually received a close victory by performing well (and nearly winning) his home in the suburban Pittsburgh region and through particularly low turnout in Democratic strongholds, such as Philadelphia, Scranton, and Pittsburgh.[2]

Debates

Results

General election results[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Rick Santorum 1,735,691 49.40% Increase4.41
Democratic Harris Wofford (incumbent) 1,648,481 46.92% Decrease8.09
Patriot Party Diane G. Blough 69,825 1.99% N/A
Libertarian Donald Ernsberger 59,115 1.68% N/A
Write-in 249 0.01% N/A
Majority 87,210 2.48% -7.53%
Totals 3,513,361 100.00%
Republican gain from Democratic

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 8, 1994" (PDF). Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  2. ^ a b Kennedy, John J. (2006). Pennsylvania Elections: Statewide Contests from 1950-2004. University Press of America. ISBN 9780761832799. Retrieved March 18, 2021.