U.S. Senate election, 2004
Elections to the United States Senate will be held on November 2 2004. One-third of the seats of the Senate will be up for re-election. Since Senators are elected for six-year terms, those Senators elected in 1998 will be seeking re-election (or retiring) in 2004.
For the same date are scheduled:
as well as many state and local elections.
Major parties
The Senate is currently composed of 51 Republicans, 48 Democrats, and 1 independent. The independent, James Jeffords of Vermont, is allied with the Democratic caucus. The Democrats thus need to make a net gain of two seats to gain control of the Senate.
It is considered almost certain, however, that the Democrats will lose the seat in South Carolina being vacated by retiring Democratic Senator Ernest Hollings. The seats now held by retiring Democrats in Florida (Bob Graham), Georgia (Zell Miller), Louisiana (John Breaux) and North Carolina (John Edwards) are also considered vulnerable. The only southern Democrat seeking reelection to the Senate is Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas.
The only Republican seat clearly vulnerable is the seat in Illinois being vacated by Peter Fitzgerald. Most political observers believe that these circumstances make it unlikely that the Democrats will gain control of the Senate in 2004.
Third parties
The Libertarian Party will be contesting most of the seats. The Constitution and Green parties will also contest many of the seats. While none of these parties are yet strong enough to have a significant chance of winning in 2004, they often have enough support to swing elections. The Constitution party draws conservatives from the Republicans, the Greens draw liberals from the Democrats, while the Libertarians draw voters in favor of both social and economic freedom from both major parties. Libertarians can swing a close election either way depending on the particular politics of the other candidates and the issues at play in the particular election. It is possible that the Natural Law and Reform parties may contest several seats, though these two parties have both been waning in recent years. The last time a third party held a US Senate seat was 2002 (Minnesota).
Minor parties
Minor parties in a number of states will contest one or more Senate seats. Examples include the American First Party, the Labor Party, the Peace and Freedom Party, and the Socialist Workers Party. These parties are unlikely to overcome ballot access hurdles, so will have almost no chance of gaining any seats.
Senate contests in 2004
External Links
- Voter Guide Toolkit - local election coverage, including issue positions on congressional candidates
Referenced By
2004 US election | 2004 United States Presidential Election | Alex Penelas | Betty Castor | Congress of the United States | Joe Hoeffel | U.S. Congress | U.S. House election, 2004 | U.S. Presidential election, 2004 | US Congress | US presidential election, 2004 | United State Congress | United States/Congress | United States Congress
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