1998 United States Senate election in Nevada
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![]() County results Reid: 50–60% Ensign: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||
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Elections in Nevada |
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The 1998 United States Senate election in Nevada was held on November 3, 1998. Incumbent Democratic Senator Harry Reid won re-election to a third term by a margin of less than 0.1% and 401 votes, making this the closest race of the 1998 Senate election cycle.
Republican primary
Candidates
- John Ensign, U.S. Representative
- Ralph W. Stephens
Results
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | John Ensign | 105,263 | 80.57% | |
Republican | Ralph W. Stephens | 13,679 | 10.47% | |
Republican | None of these candidates | 11,704 | 8.96% | |
Total votes | 130,646 | 100.00% |
General election
Candidates
- Michael Cloud (L)
- John Ensign (R), U.S. Representative
- Harry Reid (D), incumbent U.S. Senator
- Michael Williams (NL)
Campaign
Early in the campaign, Reid held a double-digit lead over Ensign in most polls. After a fierce battle of
During the campaign, Reid cited his efforts to block the storage of nuclear waste at the Yucca Mountain repository, while also using the issue to attack Ensign. In one campaign speech, Reid claimed, "You send Ensign to the Senate, you send nuclear waste to Nevada." Ensign responded to the attacks by pointing out his own position against the depository and indicated he would work with Richard Bryan, the state's other senator, to stop it. "Bryan's a Democrat who works with Republicans," he said, "and I'm a Republican who works with Democrats." The Reid campaign also attacked Ensign as an "extremist" who would weaken Social Security and referred to environmentalists as "socialists." Ensign, meanwhile accused Reid of supporting tax increases in Washington even as he claimed to support lower taxes at home.[2]
Results
On November 3, 1998, Reid won by 401 votes in an exceptionally close election—even closer than
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Harry Reid (incumbent) | 208,621 | 47.86% | -3.19% | |
Republican | John Ensign | 208,220 | 47.77% | +7.56% | |
Libertarian | Michael Cloud | 8,129 | 1.87% | +0.41% | |
None of These Candidates | 8,113 | 1.86% | -0.79% | ||
Natural Law | Michael E. Williams | 2,781 | 0.64% | -0.83% | |
Turnout | 435,864 | 100.00% | |||
Democratic hold | Swing |
County breakdown
County | Reid | % | Ensign | % | Others | % |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Carson City | 7,029 | 42.2% | 8,699 | 52.2% | 930 | 5.6% |
Churchill | 1,594 | 22.0% | 5,260 | 72.5% | 402 | 5.5% |
Clark | 134,163 | 52.6% | 111,718 | 43.8% | 8,961 | 3.5% |
Douglas | 4,766 | 33.3% | 8,810 | 61.6% | 715 | 5.0% |
Elko | 2,589 | 25.7% | 7,051 | 69.9% | 453 | 4.5% |
Esmeralda | 151 | 28.0% | 343 | 63.5% | 46 | 8.5% |
Eureka | 162 | 24.0% | 461 | 68.2% | 53 | 7.8% |
Humboldt | 1,601 | 37.7% | 2,428 | 57.1% | 220 | 5.2% |
Lander | 704 | 34.0% | 1,209 | 58.4% | 156 | 7.5% |
Lincoln | 616 | 31.4% | 1,238 | 63.1% | 109 | 5.6% |
Lyon | 3,242 | 34.8% | 5,486 | 58.9% | 585 | 6.3% |
Mineral | 1,176 | 54.3% | 822 | 37.9% | 169 | 7.8% |
Nye | 4,052 | 42.7% | 4,912 | 51.7% | 533 | 5.6% |
Pershing | 577 | 36.9% | 902 | 57.7% | 85 | 5.4% |
Storey | 691 | 41.3% | 838 | 50.1% | 144 | 8.6% |
Washoe | 44,118 | 46.1% | 46,300 | 48.4% | 5,194 | 5.4% |
White Pine | 1,419 | 42.7% | 1,745 | 52.4% | 163 | 5.9% |
See also
References
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on June 21, 2012. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ a b Cannon, Lou (September 25, 1998). "Demographic Changes Leave Nevada Senator in Jeopardy". Washington Post.
- ^ "Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives".
- ^ Leip, David. "1998 Senatorial General Election Data Graphs - Nevada". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
- ^ "Results of the 1998 U.S. Senate Recount". Nevada Secretary of State. December 9, 1998. Retrieved April 11, 2019.