1994 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania

none March 2026 September 2023 1994 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania Pennsylvania presidential no 1991 United States Senate special election in Pennsylvania 1991 (special) 2000 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania 2000 November 8, 1994 150x150px Rick Santorum official photo (crop 2).jpg Rick Santorum Republican Party (United States) 1,735,691 49.40% Harris Wofford gradient background.jpg Harris Wofford Democratic Party (United States) 1,648,481 46.92% 260px County results 260px Congressional district results 260px Precinct results Santorum: #ffb2b2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #d72f30 70–80% #C21B18 80–90% #A80000 >90%Wofford: #a5b0ff 40–50% #7996e2 50–60% #6674DE 60–70% #584cde 70–80% #3933E5 80–90% #0D0596 >90%Tie: #DECDE6 30–40% #D2B1D9 40–50% #AE8BB1 50% #808080 No data U.S. Senator Harris Wofford Democratic Party (United States) Rick Santorum Republican Party (United States) The 1994 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania was held November 8, 1994. Democratic incumbent Harris Wofford ran for re-election to a second term in office but was defeated by Republican congressman Rick Santorum.Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 8, 1994 http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1994election.pdf Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House July 9, 2014 Santorum won by a margin of approximately 2.48 percentage points, making this election the second-closest election of the 1994 Senate elections, behind only California. Democratic primary Candidates Harris Wofford, incumbent U.S. senator since 1991 Results Democratic primary results Democratic Party (United States) Harris Wofford (incumbent) 714,930 100.00 Republican primary Candidates Rick Santorum, U.S. representative from Mt. Lebanon Joseph P. Watkins, pastor of the Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church in Philadelphia Results thumb|center|Republican primary results #E27F7F Santorum #E27F7F 50%–60% #D75D5D 60%–70% #D72F30 70%–80% #C21B18 80%–90% #A80000 90%–100% Republican primary resultsThe Pennsylvania Manual 1995 Pennsylvania Department of General Services Harrisburg 0-8182-0213-0 7–8 Rick Santorum Republican Party (United States) 667,115 81.55 Joseph P. Watkins Republican Party (United States) 150,969 18.45 818,084 100.00 General election Candidates Diane G. Blough (Patriot) Donald Ernsberger (Libertarian) Rick Santorum, U.S. representative from Mt. Lebanon (Republican) Harris Wofford, incumbent U.S. senator since 1991 (Democratic) 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.Kennedy John J. Pennsylvania Elections: Statewide Contests from 1950-2004 2006 University Press of America 9780761832799 https://books.google.com/books?id=1J_9q-lIWRkC&dq=santorum&pg=PA112 18 March 2021 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. Debates + 1994 Pennsylvania U.S. Senate election debate No. Number Date Host Moderators Link Democratic Republican Libertarian PatriotKey:black #90ff90  P  Participant  black #FFFFDD  A  Absent  black #ff9090  N  Not invited  black #CCFFCC  I  Invited #f0e68c W Withdrawn Wofford Santorum Ernsberger Blough1 October 14, 1994 WPVI-TV Marc Howard C-SPAN P P P P2 October 30, 1994 WQEDPittsburgh Post-Gazette Jane BlotzerJohn CraigDavid Michelmore C-SPAN P P N N Results 1994 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania Republican Party (United States) Rick Santorum 1,735,691 49.40 4.41 Democratic Party (United States) Harris Wofford (incumbent) 1,648,481 46.92 8.09 Patriot Party Diane G. Blough 69,825 1.99 N/A Libertarian Party (United States) Donald Ernsberger 59,115 1.68 N/A 249 0.01 N/A 87,210 2.48 -7.53 |-bgcolor="#EEEEEE" | colspan="3" align=right | Totals | align=right | 3,513,361 | align=right | 100.00 | align=right | Republican Party (United States) Democratic Party (United States) |} See also 1994 United States Senate elections References Category:1994 Pennsylvania elections Pennsylvania 1994 Category:Rick Santorum