2022 Senate Elections (Part 1/3 Series)

The 2022 United States Senate Election took place on November 8th, 2022. This cycle had 34 of the 100 United States Senate seats up for election, with 14 Democratic seats and 20 Republican held seats up for grabs. The Democrats held but made a net gain of zero seats, with Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman in Pennsylvania picking the open seat of retiring Senator Pat Toomey, while Republicans made a gain when incumbent Senator Maggie Hassan lost to Governor Chris Sununu in New Hampshire, as well as Democrats also holding on to the seats in Georgia, Nevada, and Arizona.

Retirements
Democrats:

Patrick Leahy in Vermont retired.

Republicans:

Richard Shelby in Alabama retired.

Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania retired.

Rob Portman in Ohio retired.

Roy Blunt in Missouri retired.

Richard Burr in North Carolina retired.

John Thune in South Dakota retired.

Alabama
Incumbent Senator Republican Richard Shelby retired after defeating Democrat Ron Crumpton in 2016 with 64.0% of the vote, leaving an open seat.

Congressman from AL-05 Mo Brooks won in the Republican primary over former Ambassador to Slovenia in the Trump administration Lynda Blanchard and former Chief of Staff to Richard Shelby Katie Britt. Brooks' win came likely from Trump's and other Trump affiliates endorsements, winning 64.1%-30.6%-5.3%, with Britt in second, winning mostly establishment Republicans and Blanchard coming in third and collecting a mixture and establishment and Trump voters, giving Brooks the Republican nomination.

On the Democratic side of things, with Democratic chair and State Representative Christopher England defeating Minority Leader in the State House Anthony Daniels 71.8%-28.2%, giving England the Democratic nomination.

The race was not seen as generally competitive and it was not, with Brooks receiving 62.3% of the vote and Daniels getting 37.6% of the vote, which was a 24.7% margin of victory for Mo Brooks.

Alaska
Incumbent Senator Republican Lisa Murkowski was in a tough reelection bid in 2022 after winning in 2016 with 44.4% of the vote in a four-way race. Her reelection was exponentially difficult due to her moderate nature and her anti-Trump sentiments, such as voting to impeach him in 2021 and with statements made by her against him. This left the door open for a Trump Republican to come in and attempt a victory.

The Trump Republican base became excited as former Alaska Commissioner of the Department of Administration Kelly Tshibaka announced her candidacy and quickly got the Trump endorsement. Things were further complicated when many national Republicans and even Joe Manchin endorsed Murkowski, but the state party endorsed Tshibaka.

The Democrats again went with the Independent who says he will causes with them the Orthopedic Surgeon Al Gross.

The general election was grueling, especially with the new Ranked Choice Voting system, which has voters rank the candidates from most wanted to least wanted. This system helped propel Murkowski to a victory, as most Gross voters ranked Murkowski higher than Tshibaka. The results when all three candidates were still in were 45.8% for Tshibaka, 38.2% for Murkowski and 16.0% for Al Gross. The final results after Gross' eliminatation were 52.3% for Murkowski and 47.7% for Tshibaka, leading to an overall 4.6% margin of victory for Lisa Murkowski.

Arizona
Incumbent Senator Democrat Mark Kelly faced a tough reelection bid after winning a Special Election in 2020, defeating incumbent Senator Republican Martha McSally with 51.2% of the vote.

The Democratic primaries were a breeze for Kelly, facing no opposition even as a Moderate, likely due to his appeal to Independents and fundraising skills.

On the Republican side, incumbent Attorney General Mark Brnovich won the primary pretty easily, only facing mild competition by businessman Blake Masters, but Brnovich about 88.5% to Masters 14.5%, with Brnovich securing the Republican nomination.

Arizona was seen as quite a competitive election, so the campaign was quite aggressive, with Brnovich consistently attacking Kelly on immigration, saying Kelly was much too soft on immigration, in an attempt to tie Kelly to Biden and Harris, who both endorsed Kelly, and Kelly saying Brnovich was too Conservative and too much like Trump, which Kelly used the Trump endorsement of Brnovich against Brnovich. Due to Mark Kelly's grassroots style of campaigning and fundraising and with him winning 58% of Independents, those factors caused Kelly to win the general election, which was called for Kelly at 12:11AM. Kelly won 51.4% to Brnovich's 48.6%, winning by 2.8%, a slightly larger margin than his win when he won against Martha McSally in 2020.

Arkansas
Incumbent two-term Senator Republican John Boozman was up for reelection in 2022 after winning with 59.8% in 2016 over Democrat Connor Eldridge.

Boozman faced a minor challenge in the Republican from former NFL player Jake Bequette, but defeated him 90.3%-9.7% in the primaries.

On the Democratic side of the things, former Independent and Progressive activist Dan Whitfield faced no major opposition and won the Democratic primaries with ease.

The general election was seen as an easy win for Boozman, and it was for him. Boozman won with 60.7% of the vote to Whitfield's 38.0%, meaning Boozman won with a 22.7% margin of victory.

California
Incumbent Democrat Alex Padilla faced reelection in 2022 after being appointed to the Senate to fill the vacancy of Vice President Kamala Harris in 2021.

The Democrats in the primary were headlined by incumbent Senator Alex Padilla and State Assemblyman Jerome Horton, with Padilla taking 53.2% and Horton taking 22.6%%, making them the top two candidates.

Republican Congressman from CA-25 Mike Garcia ran and was the only serious Republican to run, as he was getting drawn out by redistricting, so he gave a Senate run a chance and he got third in the primaries with 22.3%% of the vote, just missing out on the general election.

The general election was quite easy for Padilla, as he was seen as the more Progressive candidate, taking more Democratic support with about 85% of Democrats and 68% Independents voting for him, while Horton got about 65% of the Republican vote. Overall, Padilla won by a massive margin, with Padilla winning 66.8% of the vote to Horton's 33.2% of the vote, a margin of victory of 33.6% for Alex Padilla.

Colorado
Incumbent two-term Senator Democrat Michael Bennet faced reelection in 2022 after winning in 2016 over Republican Darryl Glenn with 50.0% of the vote.

The Republican primary was a cakewalk for Olympic athlete, U.S. Air Force major, and former chair of the El Paso Republican Party Eli Bremer, as he faced no major opposition, thus giving Bremer the Republican nomination.

For Michael Bennet, the Democratic party had him running unopposed, so he won the Democratic nomination.

The general election was seen as mostly uncompetitive, but the NRSC and Rick Scott considered putting resources into Colorado, but decided against it. seemed to be the best chance for the GOP. This proved to be a wise decision, as Michael Bennet who got 56.0% of the vote defeating to Bremer who got 41.6% of the vote, quite a large margin for Michael Bennet, which was a margin of victory of 14.4% for Michael Bennet.

Connecticut
Incumbent two-term Senator Democrat Richard Blumenthal faced reelection in 2022 after winning in 2016 over Republican Dan Carter with 63.2% of the vote.

Within the Republican party primary, former candidate for Governor in 2018 and Businessman Bob Stefanowski ran unopposed for the Republican nomination, giving Stefanowski the Republican nomination.

For the Democratic party primary, incumbent Senator Richard Blumenthal ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination, giving Blumenthal the Democratic nomination.

The general election was seen as uncompetitive, and the race was, even with Stefanowski's previous strong performance in the 2018 Connecticut Gubernatorial election, with Blumenthal receiving 60.4% to Stefanowski's 38.7%, meaning a margin of victory of 21.7% for Richard Blumenthal.

Florida
Incumbent Senator Republican Marco Rubio faced a tough reelection bid after winning in 2016 with 52.0% over Democrat Patrick Murphy.

The Republican primary was a breeze for Incumbent Marco Rubio, as he got the Republican nomination without any major opposition, giving Rubio the Republican nomination.

The Democratic primary also had one major candidate who was poised to get the nomination, Congresswoman from FL-10 Val Demings, this was clear after Congresswoman from FL-07 Stephanie Murphy announced she would be seeking reelection instead of running for Senate in 2022. Demings did get the nomination, but former Congressman Alan Grayson gave her a challenge, but lost to Val Demings with the Democratic primary going 82.7%-17.3% in favor of Val Demings, giving Demings the Democratic nomination.

The general election also seemed to lean Rubio, but Demings put up a fight, getting the race nationalized getting endorsements from POTUS Joe Biden and VPOTUS Kamala Harris. However, Rubio in the end won with 52.8%-46.3%, likely due to his margin in Miami-Dade county even surpassing Donald Trump's, only losing the county by 4.2%, which gave Marco Rubio a margin of victory of 6.5%.

Georgia
Incumbent Senator Democrat Raphael Warnock faced an extremely tough reelection bid in 2022 after defeating Republican Kelly Loeffler in a special election in 2021 with 51.0% of the vote.

The Democratic primary was smooth sailing for Raphael Warnock, facing no opposition, giving Warnock the Democratic nomination.

The Republican primary was slightly more competitive, as former football player Herschel Walker faced Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black in a not very competitive primary. Herschel Walker easily won getting the endorsements of almost all Republican Georgia elected officials except former Governor Nathan Deal who endorsed Gary Black, with Walker also getting Trump's and Trump's allies endorsements. Herschel Walker defeated Gary Black in the primary 78.8%-21.2% to get the Republican nomination.

The general election was seen to be quite competitive, and it was, especially with the possibility of a runoff looming. This election was one of the most nationalized Senate races in the entire country, with Walker getting Trump's and other top Republicans endorsements, and Warnock getting Biden and Harris's endorsements, as well as other top Democrats endorsements. The campaign was an extremely nasty one, with Warnock and his ex-wife being brought up, as well as Walker being accused of issues with his past relationships as well and carpetbagging, as he was seen as more of a Texas native than a Georgia native. The debates also sealed the election, with Warnock exploited how Walker was unprepared for the U.S. Senate and touted his achievements and accomplishments, while Walker struck back by called Warnock a Socialist and touting Trump's achievements and accomplishments. On election night, Warnock always seemed ahead, but it was unknown if he would get above 50%, but at 1:13AM EST, the race was called for Warnock with no runoff necessary, with Warnock getting 50.2% to Walker's 49.0%, giving Raphael Warnock a margin of victory of 1.2%.

Hawaii
Incumbent Senator Democrat Brian Schatz faced reelection in 2022 after defeating Republican John Carroll with 73.6% of the vote.

In the Democratic primary, Schatz faced no opposition, thus becoming the Democratic nominee.

On the Republican side of things, things were quite similar, with former Minority Leader of the Hawaii House of Representatives Gene Ward getting the Republican nomination with no opposition.

The general election was seen as uncompetitive, and it was, with Schatz getting 76.0% to Ward's 23.2%, a margin of victory of 52.8% for Brian Schatz.

Idaho
Incumbent Senator Republican Mike Crapo faced reelection in 2022 after defeating Democrat Jerry Sturgill and Constitution Party member Ray Writz with 66.1% of the vote.

The Republican primary was not a complete cakewalk for Crapo, as he had a Trump Republican who is a law firm operations director and U.S. Army veteran Jeremy Gilbert, however, Crapo had the Trump endorsement, making the primary much easier. Crapo ended up winning the primary with 81.2% of the vote to Gilbert's 15.6% of the vote, giving Crapo the Republican nomination.

In the Democratic primary, former law enforcement officer James Vandermaas ran unopposed, giving Vandermaas the Democratic nomination.

The general election was seen as uncompetitive, and it was, with Crapo getting 67.6% and with Vandermaas getting 28.8%, a margin of victory of 38.8% for Mike Crapo.

Illinois
Incumbent Senator Democrat Tammy Duckworth faced reelection after unseating then Senator Republican Mark Kirk with 54.9% of the vote.

The Republican primary was left to just two major candidates after former Minority Leader of the Illinois Senate Bill Brady decided not run, those candidates were State Representative Tom Demmer and former police officer and U.S. Navy veteran Peggy Hubbard, who also ran for Senate in 2020 and placed second in the Republican primary. Hubbard attempted to pin herself as the Trump Republican to prove why she is the best candidate and attempted to point Demmer as an insider, while Demmer states his experience as to why he is the candidate. In the end, Demmer won the primary 58.9%-37.1%.

In the Democratic primary, however, things were much different, as Tammy Duckworth ran unopposed, giving Duckworth the Democratic nomination.

The general election at first was thought to have resources put into it from the NRSC and Rick Scott due to the flip in 2010, however, the NRSC and Rick Scott realized that resources being put into Illinois would be futile. This was further proven when Duckworth defeated Demmer 56.3%-39.1%, a margin of victory of 17.2% for Tammy Duckworth.

Indiana
Incumbent Senator Republican Todd Young faced reelection in 2022 after defeating Democrat Evan Bayh and Libertarian Lucy Brenton with 52.1% of the vote.

The Republican primary was smooth sailing for Todd Young, facing no major opposition, giving Young the Republican nomination.

In the Democratic primary, two candidates stood out, Mayor of Hammond Thomas McDermott and State Senator J.D. Ford, with McDermott defeating Ford 67.8%-30.5%, giving McDermott the Democratic nomination.

The general election was seen as uncompetitive, and it was, with Young defeating McDermott 56.0%-39.2%, a margin of victory of 16.8% for Todd Young.

Iowa
Incumbent Senator Republican Chuck Grassley faced reelection in 2022 after defeating Democrat Patty Judge in 2016 with 60.1% of vote.

In the Republican primary, all eyes were on incumbent Senator Chuck Grassley, and on if he would run for an 8th term, this was because of his popularity and seniority, along with the fact that he would be 95 at the end of his next term. Many did think Grassley would retire, however, on September 24th, 2021, Grassley announced his reelection bid, thus clearing any major opposition, giving Grassley the Republican nomination.

In the Democratic primary, things were much more competitive than expected, as the primary had four major contenders. Those contenders were former Congresswoman for IA-01 Abby Finkenauer, member of the Minden city council and chair of the Iowa Democratic Party Rural Caucus Glenn Hurst, former Crawford County supervisor Dave Muhlbauer, and retired U.S. Navy Admiral and former aide to former U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy Michael T. Franken. Finkenauer and Franken split the moderate vote, Muhlbauer and Hurst split the progressive, populist, and rural vote, with Finkenauer winning a majority of women and young voters. All of these factors caused a Finkenauer win, with Hurst in second, Muhlbauer in third, and Franken in fourth, with the percentages being 42.7%-30.8%-15.6-10.9%, giving Finkenauer the Democratic nomination.

The general election was seen as quite uncompetitive due to Chuck Grassley running again. Finkenauer did decently well however, winning a fair amount of Democratic support, along with doing well in the newly drawn Cindy Axne district of IA-03. However, Grassley dominated in the other Iowa districts, winning 61% of Independents, and doing incredible among Republicans and even some conservative and rural Democrats, likely due to his outreach and the amount of campaigning done in rural areas. Democrats held off some resources from this election to put into other elections, as Democrats this was an unwinnable election, which proved to be the best plan, as Grassley defeated Finkenauer 57.6%-39.6%, a margin of victory of 18.0% for Chuck Grassley.

Kansas
Incumbent Senator Republican Jerry Moran faced reelection in 2022 after defeating Democrat Patrick Wiesner and Libertarian Robert Garrard with 62.2% of the vote.

In the Republican primary, Jerry Moran ran completely unopposed, which gave Moran the Republican nomination.

In the Democratic primary, former Congresswoman from KS-02 Nancy Boyda changed her mind about the nonprofit after her 2020 Senate campaign and ran in 2022 without any major Democratic primary opposition, giving Boyda the Democratic nomination.

The general election was seen as uncompetitive, and it was, even with Boyda being an incredibly strong candidate, Moran was still incredibly popular. This caused Moran to receive 65.4% of the vote to Boyda's 31.4% of the vote, a margin of victory of 34.0% for Jerry Moran.

Kentucky
Incumbent Senator Republican Rand Paul faced a nationalized reelection bid in 2022 after defeating Democrat Jim Gray in 2016 with 57.3% of the vote.

In the Republican primary, Rand Paul ran completely unopposed, giving Paul the Republican nomination.

In the Democratic primary, former State Representative Charles Booker ran without any major opposition, giving Booker the chance as a Progressive after Amy McGrath losing to Mitch McConnell by 19.4%, giving Booker the Democratic nomination.

The general election was seen as uncompetitive but much was much more nationalized, as Rand Paul was a national figure, and Booker ran an excellent campaign. Even with Booker's excellent campaign and Paul's nationalized, the election was still not close, but was closer than McConnell vs. McGrath, as Paul got 57.7% of the vote to Booker's 42.3% of the vote, a margin of victory of 15.4% for Rand Paul.

Louisiana
Incumbent Senator Republican John Kennedy ran for reelection in 2022 after defeating Democrat Foster Campbell in 2016 with 60.7% of the vote.

For the Republicans, the only major candidate run was Incumbent Republican Senator John Kennedy, having Kennedy be the presumptive front-running Republican.

For the Democrats, the only major candidate run was former Congressman from LA-06 Don Cazayoux, having Cazayoux be the presumptive front-running Democrat.

The general election was seen uncompetitive, and it was, not even requiring a runoff, with Kennedy and Cazayoux finishing in the top two, with Kennedy receiving 61.4% of the vote and Cazayoux receiving 31.0% of the vote, a margin of vote of 30.4% for John Kennedy.

Maryland
Incumbent Senator Democrat Chris Van Hollen faced reelection in 2022 after defeating Republican Kathy Szeliga in 2016 with 60.9% of the vote.

In the Democratic primary, Chris Van Hollen faced minor opposition from Mayor of Greenbelt Colin Byrd and federal employee and business owner Michelle Laurence Smith, but Van Hollen easily prevailed as the incumbent, receiving 80.9% of vote to Byrd's 13.4% of vote to Smith's 5.7%, giving Van Hollen the Democratic nomination.

In the Republican primary, community activist and member of the Baltimore County Republican Committee Kim Klacik faced no major opposition in the Republican primary, giving Klacik the Republican nomination.

The general election was seen as uncompetitive, and it was, with Van Hollen receiving 63.7% of the vote to Klacik's 33.5% of the vote, a margin of victory of 30.2% for Chris Van Hollen.

Missouri
Incumbent Senator Republican Roy Blunt retired after defeating Democrat Jason Kander in 2016 with 49.2% of vote, leaving a more competitive open seat than initially expected.

The Republican primary was absolutely crowded, with five major candidates running and all trying to get the Trump endorsement. Those candidates included former Governor of Missouri Eric Greitens, Attorney General of Missouri Eric S. Schmitt, Congresswoman from MO-04 Vicky Hartzler, Congressman from MO-07 Billy Long, and attorney and 2020 Republican National Convention speaker known for his involvement in the St. Louis gun-toting controversy Mark McCloskey. There were three debates with the five, with McCloskey getting obliterated for his controversy by all four, and Greitens getting attacking for his scandal and resignation by all four, but holding his own and was perceived to win all three debates. Finally, on March 17th, 2022, Donald Trump giving his endorsement to Eric Greitens, which all but sealed the deal for Greitens. On the primary day of August 2nd, 2022, even after the referendum of a runoff without reaching over 50% of the vote, which was led in effort to stop Greitens, Greitens prevailed, with Greitens receiving 52.9% of the vote to Hartzler's 17.7% of the vote, Long's 14.8% of the vote, Schmitt's 7.8% of vote, and McCloskey's 5.4% of the vote, giving Greitens the Republican nomination.

In the Democratic primary, three candidates stood out as front-runners. Those candidates were tech executive and LGBT rights activist Tim Shepard former State Senator Scott Sifton, and retired U.S. Marine Corps officer, national security director of the American Economic Liberties Project Lucas Kunce. Shepard was a progressive without much traction, so he eventually dropped out on February 5th, 2022 and endorsed as well every other minor candidate dropped out shortly before and after. Sifton was seen as more moderate and the endorsements of Nicole Galloway, Quinton Lucas, and Brian Williams. Kunce was a progressive populist who seemed to have some rural strength and received two endorsements which brought him over the top, Jay Nixon and Cori Bush. Kunce thus defeated Sifton with rural, and urban support, with Sifton getting most suburban voters, with the margins of 59.1% for Kunce and 40.9% for Sifton, giving Kunce the Democratic nomination.

The general election was much more competitive than anyone was expecting, as Greitens had plenty of baggage and Kunce was a great candidate, who performed well in the three debates the two had. Kunce has trailing by very little at some points, to the point that the NRSC and Rick Scott pumped way more funds into this election than the Republicans wanted to, along with Trump doing many rallies with Greitens, which overall could have cost Republicans resources in other states. Kunce had a lot of energy as well though, campaigning with Nixon in rural areas, Sifton in suburban areas after Sifton endorsed Kunce, and Bush in urban areas. However, the partisanship of Missouri caught up to Kunce, as Greitens defeated Kunce in a narrower margin than expected, with Greitens getting 51.7% of the vote to Kunce's 44.5% of the vote, a margin of victory of 6.2% for Eric Greitens.

Nevada
Incumbent Senator Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto faced a tough reelection bid in 2022 after defeating Republican Joe Heck with 47.2%.

In the Democratic primary, Catherine Cortez Masto faced no major opposition in the Democratic primary, giving Cortez Masto the Democratic nomination.

In the Republican Primary, former Attorney General Adam Laxalt faced no major opposition in the Republican primary, giving Laxalt the Republican nomination.

The general election was seen as one of the competitive in the country, and it was. The NRSC and Rick Scott targeted this seat heavily, with ads and funding for Laxalt, but Gary Peters and the DSCC played defense, with Cortez Masto being heavily funded as well. Cortex Masto was also fairly popular, with approval ratings average from about +1% to +3%, but Laxalt was also fairly popular and well-known, which helped his case. Cortez Masto enjoyed some major endorsements of her own, which as POTUS Joe Biden's and VPOTUS Kamala Harris' endorsements as well as fellow Nevada Senator Jack Rosen's endorsement, with campaigning with all three. However, Laxalt backed that up with former POTUS Trump's endorsement and campaigning, so both campaigns had a good amount of energy towards them. Laxalt heavily attacked Cortez Masto on immigration, in an attempt to win over Hispanic voters shifting to the right, as well as moderates who feel disenfranchised by the Biden administration; Cortez Masto attacked back at Laxalt, however, attempting to directly tie Laxalt to Trump in all the worst ways. In the end, the election was not called until 1:51AM, but the election did end being called for Cortez Masto, winning 47.8% of the vote Laxalt's 46.0%, a margin of victory of 1.8% for Catherine Cortez Masto.

New Hampshire
Incumbent Senator Maggie Hassan faced a tough reelection bid in 2022 after unseating then Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte with 47.98% of the vote.

In the Democratic primary, Maggie Hassan faced no major opposition in the Democratic primary, giving Hassan the Democratic nomination.

In the Republican primary, all eyes were set on then Governor Chris Sununu, and on if he was going to run for Senate in 2022. Sununu announced his decision on October 4th, 2021, announcing he would run for Senate in 2022. This then cleared the Republican primary field of any major candidates besides Chris Sununu, giving Sununu the Republican nomination.

The general election was seen as one of the most competitive in the country, and that was certainly the case. Sununu and Hassan were both seen as moderate, so all issues were nationalized. Sununu attempted to tie Hassan to Biden and Harris, and how Hassan was much too lenient on immigration, which Hassan denounced as she was one of the most anti-illegal immigration hawks in the Democratic Senate Caucus, and Hassan attempted to tie Sununu to Trump. Hassan also attacked Sununu on abortion, as New Hampshire is incredibly Libertarian in general, but Sununu defended himself, stated that he is pro-choice and that he disagrees with the Texas abortion law. Jeanne Shaheen was also present in campaigning for Hassan, which helped with suburbanites on the issue of abortion, but Sununu also did well in the suburbs due to his popularity and his great campaign and attacks on Hassan. This election was also extremely funded on both ends, making this election one of the most expensive in the country. Sununu also performed well in the debates and was able to show his non-federal record to tie himself to Trump less, while Hassan had a difficult tie untying herself to Biden and Harris, as she voted with them in the Senate over 95% of the time. Overall, a calling for change in New Hampshire, along with his popularity and ability to run a great campaign gave Chris Sununu the victory in a fairly close election which was called at 11:42PM, whilst also unseating Senator Maggie Hassan, who also ran a great campaign, but Sununu just outplayed Hassan in the right spots, winning 50.6% of the vote to Hassan 49.2% of the vote, a margin of victory of 1.4% for Chris Sununu.