1988 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania

none March 2026 September 2023 1988 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania Pennsylvania presidential no 1982 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania 1982 1991 United States Senate special election in Pennsylvania 1991 (special) November 8, 1988 File:JohnHeinz.png 150x150px John Heinz Republican Party (United States) 2,901,715 66.45% File:3x4.svg Joseph Vignola Democratic Party (United States) 1,416,764 32.45% 1988 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania results map by county.svg 260px County results Heinz: #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #d72f30 70–80% #c21b18 80–90%Vignola: #584cde 70–80% U.S. Senator John Heinz Republican Party (United States) John Heinz Republican Party (United States) The 1988 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania was held on November 8, 1988. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator John Heinz successfully sought re-election to another term, defeating Democratic nominee Joe Vignola. General election Candidates Sam Blancato (New Alliance) Samuel Cross (Populist) Henry E. Haller II (Libertarian) H. John Heinz III, incumbent U.S. Senator (Republican) Darcy Richardson (Consumer) Joe Vignola, Philadelphia City Controller (Democratic) Campaign Joe Vignola was not expected by Democratic Party leaders to have a substantial chance at defeating the popular incumbent John Heinz, even predicting that Vignola would become "Heinz's 58th variety,"Kennedy John J. Pennsylvania elections : statewide contests from 1950-2004 2006 University Press of America Lanham, Md. 0761832793 67–68 https://books.google.com/books?id=1J_9q-lIWRkC&q=santorum&pg=PA112 referring to an advertising slogan of the H. J. Heinz Company. Heinz, knowing this, ran a low-profile re-election campaign and was safely ahead in polling. Vignola traveled across Pennsylvania promoting an increase in domestic spending, including education and healthcare, while decreasing the defense budget to compensate. Vignola ran a positive campaign, in contrast with Cyril Wecht six years previously, although many Democratic ward leaders and committee members had given up on the campaign and had stopped campaigning for Vignola. Results Heinz easily defeated Vignola to win the election and another term in the Senate, carrying every Pennsylvania county except Philadelphia, Vignola's hometown, and by a comfortable 1.49 million vote margin. Heinz performed well in suburban areas, as well as the central, southwestern and northeastern portions of the state. Outside of Philadelphia, Vignola's best county-wide showing was in Fayette County, where he won 45% of the vote; his poorest county-wide performance was in Snyder County, where he won 12% of the vote. Although Heinz's landslide victory was largely expected among Democratic leaders, Heinz won by a wide margin despite the Democrats' 551,000-voter registration advantage statewide. General election resultsStatistics of the Congressional and Presidential Election of November 8, 1988 http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1988election.pdf Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House July 9, 2014 Republican Party (United States) H. John Heinz III (Incumbent) 2,901,715 66.45% +7.17% Democratic Party (United States) Joseph Vignola 1,416,764 32.45% -6.75% Consumer Darcy Richardson 25,273 0.58% +0.12% Libertarian Party (United States) Henry E. Haller II 11,822 0.27% -0.26% Populist Party (United States) Samuel Cross 6,455 0.15% +0.15% New Alliance Party Sam Blancato 4,569 0.11% +0.11% 4,366,598 100% 1,484,951 34.00% +13.92% Republican Party (United States) Aftermath Heinz died in an airplane crash on April 4, 1991, in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania.HEINZ, Henry John, III, (1938 - 1991) http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=H000456 Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress July 6, 2012 Democrat Harris Wofford was appointed on May 8 to fill the vacancy caused by Heinz's death, and subsequently won a special election in November 1991. In the 1994 election, however, Wofford was defeated by Republican Rick Santorum.WOFFORD, Harris, (1926 - ) http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=w000665 Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress July 6, 2012SANTORUM, Richard John (Rick), (1958 - ) http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=s000059/ Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress July 6, 2012 See also 1988 United States Senate elections References Pennsylvania 1988 Category:1988 Pennsylvania elections