1990 United States Senate election in New Hampshire

none March 2026 September 2023 1990 United States Senate election in New Hampshire New Hampshire presidential no 1984 United States Senate election in New Hampshire 1984 1996 United States Senate election in New Hampshire 1996 November 6, 1990 150x150px Bob Smith, official 99th Congress photo.png Bob Smith Republican Party (United States) 189,792 65.13% D000574.jpg John A. Durkin Democratic Party (United States) 91,299 31.33% x245px County results x245px Municipality results Smith: #FFB2B2 40–50% #E27F7F 50–60% #D75D5D 60–70% #D72F30 70–80% #c21b18 80–90% #a80000 >90%Durkin: #A5B0FF 40–50% #7996E2 50–60% #0D0596 >90% U.S. Senator Gordon J. Humphrey Republican Party (United States) Bob Smith Republican Party (United States) The 1990 United States Senate election in New Hampshire was held on November 6, 1990. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Gordon J. Humphrey decided to retire and not run for re-election to a third term. Republican Bob Smith won the open seat, easily defeating the Democratic nominee, former senator John A. Durkin. Republican primary Candidates Tom Christo, attorney Theo deWinter, engineer Bob Smith, U.S. Representative from Wolfeboro Ewing Smith, candidate for Senate in 1980 Results 1990 Republican U.S. Senate primaryNH US Senate - R Primary https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=251525 OurCampaigns 15 August 2019 August 30, 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200830173242/https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=251525 live Republican Party (United States) Bob Smith 56,215 65.00% Republican Party (United States) Tom Christo 25,286 29.24% Republican Party (United States) Theo deWinter 2,768 3.20% Republican Party (United States) Ewing Smith 2,009 2.32% Democratic Party (United States) John Rauh (write-in) 94 0.11% Democratic Party (United States) John A. Durkin (write-in) 66 0.08% Democratic Party (United States) James Donchess (write-in) 48 0.06% 86,486 100.00% Democratic primary Candidates James W. Donchess, Mayor of Nashua John A. Durkin, former U.S. Senator John Rauh, founder of Americans for Campaign Reform and former CEO of Griffon Corporation Results 1990 Democratic U.S. Senate primaryNH US Senate - D Primary https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=251529 OurCampaigns 15 August 2019 August 30, 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200830174009/https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=251529 live Democratic Party (United States) John A. Durkin 20,222 41.37% Democratic Party (United States) James W. Donchess 15,205 31.10% Democratic Party (United States) John Rauh 12,935 26.46% Write-in All others 523 1.07% 48,885 100.00% General election Candidates John A. Durkin, former U.S. Senator (Democratic) John G. Elsnau (Libertarian) Bob Smith, U.S. Representative from Wolfeboro (Republican) Campaign The 1990 New Hampshire Senate race garnered national news after John Durkin, previously a senator from New Hampshire in 1975–1980, made a remark that was perceived as a racial slur against the Japanese. Durkin told reporters interviewing him, "If you want a Jap in the United States Senate, then vote for Bob Smith". "Jap" is a term that was frequently used in WWII to describe the Japanese, and was, by 1990, considered racist terminology. The quote destroyed Durkin's campaign and he ended up losing to Smith by a more than 2-to-1 margin, a devastating blow for the ex-Senator.Leubsdorf Ben Former U.S. Senator John Durkin dies https://www.concordmonitor.com/Archive/2012/10/999638361-999638362-14-CM Concord Monitor CM 16 May 2019 August 30, 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200830174051/https://www.concordmonitor.com/Archive/2012/10/999638361-999638362-14-CM live Results 1990 U.S. Senate election in New Hampshirehttp://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=3533 Our Campaigns - NH US Senate Race - Nov 06, 1990 April 23, 2009 June 15, 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110615101406/http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=3533 live Republican Party (United States) Bob Smith 189,792 65.13% Democratic Party (United States) John A. Durkin 91,299 31.33% Libertarian Party (United States) John G. Elsnau 9,102 3.34% 585 0.20% 98,493 33.80% 291,393 Republican Party (United States) See also 1990 United States Senate elections References United States Senate New Hampshire 1990