United States Senate elections, 2014

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2014 U.S. Senate Elections

Election Date November 4, 2014

U.S. Senate Elections by State

Alabama • Alaska • Arkansas • Colorado • Delaware • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Montana • Nebraska • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New Mexico • North Carolina • Oklahoma • Oregon • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Virginia • West Virginia • Wyoming

U.S. House Elections by State

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Elections Information

Election Dates • Voting in Primaries • Voting on November 4, 2014 • Poll Opening and Closing Times

Elections to the U.S. Senate were held on November 4, 2014. A total of 33 of the 100 seats were up for regular election. Additionally, three special elections were held to fill vacancies that occurred in the 113th Congress (Hawaii, South Carolina and Oklahoma). All three special elections also took place on November 4, 2014, for a total of 36 Senate elections. A runoff election in Louisiana was required on December 6, 2014.

Republicans won a majority of the U.S. congressional seats up for election in 2014, taking 54 seats while Democrats secured 44. Two seats were held by independents who had previously caucused with the Democratic Party.

Those elected to the U.S. Senate in the 33 regular elections on November 4, 2014, began their six-year terms on January 3, 2015.

The 2014 elections marked the 100th anniversary of the direct popular election of U.S. Senators. Prior to the ratification of the Amendment XVII, United States Constitution in 1913, U.S. Senators were selected by state legislatures.

Seven senators announced they would not be running for re-election, while four U.S. Senators resigned their posts early. This meant that at least 10 seats would have a different occupant in January 2015. In 2012, 10 incumbent senators did not run for re-election, and 12 did not run for re-election in 2010.

According to a complex prediction model used by The Washington Post, Republicans were projected to have a 77 percent chance of winning the majority in 2014. They succeeded in obtaining the majority. Eight seats held by Democrats heading into the election that were consistently ranked by outside ratings as either being toss-ups or Republican leaning included: West Virginia, South Dakota, Montana, Arkansas, Louisiana, North Carolina, Alaska and Michigan. Additionally, elections in Republican-held seats in Georgia, Kansas and Kentucky became more competitive as the election neared.

There were incorrect predictions that the control of the Senate would not be decided on November 4. With races in Georgia and Louisiana tightening up, it was possible that one or both of those races could have been the deciding seats for the majority. A runoff in Louisiana took place on December 6, however, it did not decide the control of the Senate. Interestingly, a Georgia runoff would have been held on January 6, three days after the 114th Congress is sworn in.

Election results

Who ended up with majority control of the U.S. Senate?

All eyes were on which party would control the U.S. Senate in 2015. The Democratic-controlled Senate in the 113th Congress had a partisan breakdown of 53-45-2, with the two Independents caucusing with the Democrats. For Republicans to take the majority in the Senate, they needed to take at least six of the 36 seats up for election that were held by Democrats, and retain control of the 15 seats held by Republicans. The section updated the seat count for each party throughout the night and the vote totals in the hotly contested races.

Rep. Bill Cassidy (R) won the Louisiana seat in a runoff election on December 6, 2014.

U.S. Senate
Dem.	44
Rep.	54
Ind.	2
TOTAL	100
UNDECIDED	0
Click here for more details.

State	Before		After
	Incumbent	Party	Winner	Winner Party	Seat Party Change?
Alaska Senate	Mark Begich		Dan Sullivan		Yes
Arkansas Senate	Mark Pryor		Tom Cotton		Yes
Colorado Senate	Mark Udall		Cory Gardner		Yes
Georgia Senate	Saxby Chambliss*		David Perdue		No
Iowa Senate	Tom Harkin*		Joni Ernst		Yes
Kansas Senate	Pat Roberts		Pat Roberts		No
Kentucky Senate	Mitch McConnell		Mitch McConnell		No
Louisiana Senate	Mary Landrieu		Bill Cassidy		Yes
Montana Senate	John Walsh*		Steve Daines		Yes
New Hampshire Senate	Jeanne Shaheen		Jeanne Shaheen		No
North Carolina Senate	Kay Hagan		Thom Tillis		Yes
South Dakota Senate	Tim Johnson*		Mike Rounds		Yes
Virginia Senate	Mark Warner		Mark Warner		No
West Virginia Senate	Jay Rockefeller*		Shelley Moore Capito		Yes

"*" indicates that the incumbent retired in 2014.

U.S. Senate, Alabama General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Jeff Sessions Incumbent	97.3%	795,606
	N/A	Write-in	2.7%	22,484
Total Votes				818,090
Source: Alabama Secretary of State

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U.S. Senate, Alaska General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Dan Sullivan	48%	135,445
	Democratic	Mark Begich Incumbent	45.8%	129,431
	Libertarian	Mark Fish	3.7%	10,512
	Independent	Ted Gianoutsos	2%	5,636
	N/A	Write-in	0.5%	1,376
Total Votes				282,400
Source: Alaska Secretary of State

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U.S. Senate, Arkansas General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Tom Cotton	56.5%	478,819
	Democratic	Mark Pryor Incumbent	39.5%	334,174
	Libertarian	Nathan LaFrance	2%	17,210
	Green	Mark Swaney	2%	16,797
Total Votes				847,000
Source: Arkansas Secretary of State

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U.S. Senate, Colorado General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Cory Gardner	48.2%	983,891
	Democratic	Mark Udall Incumbent	46.3%	944,203
	Libertarian	Gaylon Kent	2.6%	52,876
	Independent	Steve Shogan	1.4%	29,472
	Independent	Raul Acosta	1.2%	24,151
	Unity Party of Colorado	Bill Hammons	0.3%	6,427
Total Votes				2,041,020
Source: Colorado Secretary of State

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U.S. Senate, Delaware General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Chris Coons Incumbent	55.8%	130,655
	Republican	Kevin Wade	42.2%	98,823
	Green	Andrew Groff	1.9%	4,560
Total Votes				234,038
Source: U.S. House Clerk "2014 Election Statistics"

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U.S. Senate, Georgia General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	David Perdue	52.89%	1,358,088
	Democratic	Michelle Nunn	45.21%	1,160,811
	Libertarian	Amanda Swafford	1.90%	48,862
Total Votes				2,567,761
Source: Georgia Secretary of State

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U.S. Senate, Idaho General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Jim Risch Incumbent	65.3%	285,596
	Democratic	Nels Mitchell	34.7%	151,574
Total Votes				437,170
Source: Idaho Secretary of State

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U.S. Senate, Illinois General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Richard Durbin Incumbent	53.5%	1,929,637
	Republican	Jim Oberweis	42.7%	1,538,522
	Libertarian	Sharon Hansen	3.8%	135,316
Total Votes				3,603,475
Source: Illinois Secretary of State Official Results

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U.S. Senate, Iowa General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Joni Ernst	52.1%	588,575
	Democratic	Bruce Braley	43.8%	494,370
	Independent	Rick Stewart	2.4%	26,815
	Libertarian	Douglas Butzier	0.7%	8,232
	Independent	Ruth Smith	0.5%	5,873
	Independent	Bob Quast	0.4%	4,724
	Write-in	Other	0.1%	1,111
Total Votes				1,129,700
Source: Iowa Secretary of State Official Results

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U.S. Senate, Kansas General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Pat Roberts Incumbent	53.1%	460,350
	Independent	Greg Orman	42.5%	368,372
	Libertarian	Randall Batson	4.3%	37,469
Total Votes				866,191
Source: Kansas Secretary of State Official Results

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U.S. Senate, Kentucky General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mitch McConnell Incumbent	56.2%	806,787
	Democratic	Alison Lundergan Grimes	40.7%	584,698
	Libertarian	David Patterson	3.1%	44,240
Total Votes				1,435,725
Source: Kentucky Secretary of State

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U.S. Senate, Louisiana Primary Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Mary Landrieu Incumbent	42.1%	619,402
	Democratic	Wayne Ables	0.8%	11,323
	Democratic	Vallian Senegal	0.3%	3,831
	Democratic	William Waymire Jr.	0.3%	4,673
	Republican	Bill Cassidy	41%	603,084
	Republican	Rob Maness	13.8%	202,556
	Republican	Thomas Clements	1%	14,173
	Libertarian	Brannon Lee McMorris	0.9%	13,034
Total Votes				1,472,076
Source: Mary Landrieu and Bill Cassidy headed to a runoff election on December 6, 2014. Louisiana Secretary of State

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U.S. Senate, Maine General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Susan Collins Incumbent	67%	413,505
	Democratic	Shenna Bellows	30.8%	190,254
	Other	Other	0%	269
	Blank	None	2.1%	12,968
Total Votes				616,996
Source: Maine Secretary of State Official Results

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U.S. Senate, Massachusetts General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Ed Markey Incumbent	59%	1,289,944
	Republican	Brian Herr	36.2%	791,950
	Write-in	Other	0.1%	3,078
	Blank	None	4.7%	101,819
Total Votes				2,186,791
Source: Massachusetts Secretary of State Official Results

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U.S. Senate, Michigan General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Gary Peters	54.6%	1,704,936
	Republican	Terri Lynn Land	41.3%	1,290,199
	Libertarian	Jim Fulner	2%	62,897
	U.S. Taxpayers Party	Richard Matkin	1.2%	37,529
	Green	Chris Wahmhoff	0.8%	26,137
Total Votes				3,121,698
Source: Michigan Secretary of State

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U.S. Senate, Minnesota General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Al Franken Incumbent	53.2%	1,053,205
	Republican	Mike McFadden	42.9%	850,227
	Libertarian	Heather Johnson	1.5%	29,685
	Independence	Steve Carlson	2.4%	47,530
	N/A	Write-in	0%	881
Total Votes				1,981,528
Source: Minnesota Secretary of State

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U.S. Senate, Mississippi General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Thad Cochran Incumbent	59.9%	378,481
	Democratic	Travis Childers	37.9%	239,439
	Reform	Shawn O'Hara	2.2%	13,938
Total Votes				631,858
Source: Mississippi Secretary of State Official Results

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U.S. Senate, Montana General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Steve Daines	57.8%	213,709
	Democratic	Amanda Curtis	40.1%	148,184
	Libertarian	Roger Roots	2.1%	7,933
Total Votes				369,826
Source: Montana Secretary of State

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U.S. Senate, Nebraska General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Ben Sasse	64.4%	347,636
	Democratic	Dave Domina	31.5%	170,127
	Independent	Jim Jenkins	2.9%	15,868
	Independent	Todd Watson	1.2%	6,260
Total Votes				539,891
Source: Nebraska Secretary of State

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U.S. Senate, New Hampshire General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jeanne Shaheen Incumbent	51.5%	251,184
	Republican	Scott Brown	48.2%	235,347
	N/A	Scatter	0.3%	1,628
Total Votes				488,159
Source: New Hampshire Secretary of State

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U.S. Senate, New Jersey General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Cory Booker Incumbent	55.8%	1,043,866
	Republican	Jeff Bell	42.3%	791,297
	Libertarian	Joe Baratelli	0.9%	16,721
	Independent	Jeff Boss	0.2%	4,513
	Independent	Antonio N. Sabas	0.2%	3,544
	Democratic-Republican	Eugene Lavergne	0.2%	3,890
	Economic Growth	Hank Schroeder	0.3%	5,704
Total Votes				1,869,535
Source: New Jersey Division of Elections

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U.S. Senate, New Mexico General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Tom Udall Incumbent	55.6%	286,409
	Republican	Allen Weh	44.4%	229,097
Total Votes				515,506
Source: New Mexico Secretary of State

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U.S. Senate, North Carolina General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Kay Hagan Incumbent	47.3%	1,377,651
	Republican	Thom Tillis	48.8%	1,423,259
	Libertarian	Sean Haugh	3.7%	109,100
	Write-in	John Rhodes	0%	621
	Write-in	David Waddell	0%	201
	Write-in	Barry Gurney	0%	142
	Write-in	Write-in (miscellaneous)	0.1%	4,307
Total Votes				2,915,281
Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections

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U.S. Senate, Oklahoma General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Jim Inhofe Incumbent	68%	558,166
	Democratic	Matt Silverstein	28.5%	234,307
	Independent	Ray Woods	1.2%	9,913
	Independent	Aaron DeLozier	0.9%	7,793
	Independent	Joan Farr	1.3%	10,554
Total Votes				820,733
Source: Oklahoma State Election Board

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U.S. Senate, Oregon General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jeff Merkley Incumbent	55.7%	814,537
	Republican	Monica Wehby	36.9%	538,847
	Libertarian	Mike Montchalin	3.1%	44,916
	Constitution	James Leuenberger	1.7%	24,212
	Green	Christina Jean Lugo	2.2%	32,434
	Miscellaneous	Miscellaneous	0.5%	6,672
Total Votes				1,461,618
Source: Oregon Secretary of State

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U.S. Senate, Rhode Island General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jack Reed Incumbent	70.6%	223,675
	Republican	Mark Zaccaria	29.2%	92,684
	N/A	Write-in	0.2%	539
Total Votes				316,898
Source: Rhode Island Board of Elections

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U.S. Senate, South Carolina General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Lindsey Graham Incumbent	55.3%	672,941
	Democratic	Brad Hutto	37.6%	456,726
	Libertarian	Victor Kocher	2.8%	33,839
	Independent	Thomas Ravenel	3.9%	47,588
	N/A	Write-in	0.4%	4,774
Total Votes				1,215,868
Source: South Carolina State Election Commission

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U.S. Senate, South Dakota General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mike Rounds	50.4%	140,741
	Democratic	Rick Weiland	29.5%	82,456
	Independent	Larry Pressler	17.1%	47,741
	Independent	Gordon Howie	3%	8,474
Total Votes				279,412
Source: South Dakota Secretary of State

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U.S. Senate, Tennessee General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Lamar Alexander Incumbent	61.9%	850,087
	Democratic	Gordon Ball	31.9%	437,848
	Independent	Ed Gauthier	0.2%	2,314
	Independent	Bartholomew Phillips	0.2%	2,386
	Independent	C. Salekin	0.1%	787
	Independent	Danny Page	0.6%	7,713
	Independent	Eric Schechter	0.1%	1,673
	Constitution	Joe Wilmoth	2.6%	36,088
	Independent	Joshua James	0.4%	5,678
	Independent	Rick Tyler	0.4%	5,759
	Tea Party	Tom Emerson, Jr.	0.8%	11,157
	Green	Martin Pleasant	0.9%	12,570
	Write-in	Erin Kent Magee	0%	5
Total Votes				1,374,065
Source: U.S. House Clerk "2014 Election Statistics"

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U.S. Senate, Texas General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	John Cornyn Incumbent	61.6%	2,861,531
	Democratic	David Alameel	34.4%	1,597,387
	Libertarian	Rebecca Paddock	2.9%	133,751
	Green	Emily Marie Sanchez	1.2%	54,701
	Write-in	Mohammed Tahiro	0%	988
Total Votes				4,648,358
Source: U.S. House Clerk "2014 Election Statistics"

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U.S. Senate, Virginia General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Mark Warner Incumbent	49.1%	1,073,667
	Republican	Ed Gillespie	48.3%	1,055,940
	Libertarian	Robert Sarvis	2.4%	53,102
	N/A	write-in	0.1%	1,764
Total Votes				2,184,473
Source: Virginia Department of Elections

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U.S. Senate, West Virginia General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Shelley Moore Capito	62.1%	281,820
	Democratic	Natalie Tennant	34.5%	156,360
	Libertarian	John Buckley	1.6%	7,409
	Constitution	Phil Hudok	0.6%	2,566
	Mountain	Bob Henry Baber	1.2%	5,504
	N/A	Write-ins	0%	30
Total Votes				453,689
Source: U.S. House Clerk "2014 Election Statistics"

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U.S. Senate, Wyoming General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mike Enzi Incumbent	72.2%	121,554
	Democratic	Charlie Hardy	17.4%	29,377
	Independent	Curt Gottshall	7.9%	13,311
	Libertarian	Joe Porambo	2.2%	3,677
	N/A	Write-in	0.3%	471
Total Votes				168,390
Source: Wyoming Secretary of State

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Margin of victory

The following table shows the margin of victory for each race winner, which is calculated by examining the percentage difference between the top-two vote getters. If the race was uncontested, the margin of victory is listed as 100%. Some general facts:

• The average margin of victory was 22.6 percent.
• On average, Democrats won closer races than Republicans. Average MOV for Democratic winners was 18.7 percent, while Republicans had an average margin of 24.7 percent.
• The closest race was in Virginia, where incumbent Mark Warner (D) held on to his seat, defeating Ed Gillespie by 0.8 percent of the vote.
• The largest margin of victory was in Alabama, where incumbent Jeff Sessions (R) faced no opponent in the general election. This election marked the first time in Alabama history that the Democratic Party fielded no candidates for the U.S. Senate race.

Margin of Victory in 2014 United States Senate Elections
State	Winner	Margin of Victory	Total Vote	Top Opponent
Alaska	Dan Sullivan	2.2%	282,400	Mark Begich
Alabama	Jeff Sessions	94.5%	818,090	Write-in
Arkansas	Tom Cotton	17.0%	847,000	Mark Pryor
Colorado	Cory Gardner	1.9%	2,041,020	Mark Udall
Delaware	Chris Coons	13.6%	234,038	Kevin Wade
Georgia	David Perdue	7.7%	2,567,761	Michelle Nunn
Hawaii	Brian Schatz	42.1%	353,689	Cam Cavasso
Iowa	Joni Ernst	8.3%	1,129,700	Bruce Braley
Idaho	Jim Risch	30.7%	437,170	Nels Mitchell
Illinois	Richard Durbin	10.9%	3,603,475	Jim Oberweis
Kansas	Pat Roberts	10.6%	866,191	Greg Orman
Kentucky	Mitch McConnell	15.5%	1,435,725	Alison Lundergan Grimes
Louisiana Runoff Election	Bill Cassidy	11.8%	1,273,589	Mary Landrieu
Massachusetts	Ed Markey	22.8%	2,186,791	Brian Herr
Maine	Susan Collins	36.2%	616,996	Shenna Bellows
Michigan	Gary Peters	13.3%	3,121,698	Terri Lynn Land
Minnesota	Al Franken	10.2%	1,981,528	Mike McFadden
Mississippi	Thad Cochran	22%	631,858	Travis Childers
Montana	Steve Daines	17.7%	369,826	Amanda Curtis
North Carolina	Thom Tillis	1.5%	2,915,281	Kay Hagan
Nebraska	Ben Sasse	32.9%	539,891	Dave Domina
New Hampshire	Jeanne Shaheen	3.2%	488,159	Scott Brown
New Jersey	Cory Booker	13.5%	1,869,535	Jeff Bell
New Mexico	Tom Udall	11.1%	515,506	Allen Weh
Oklahoma Special Election	James Lankford	38.9%	820,890	Constance Johnson
Oklahoma	Jim Inhofe	39.5%	820,733	Matt Silverstein
Oregon	Jeff Merkley	18.9%	1,461,618	Monica Wehby
Rhode Island	Jack Reed	41.3%	316,898	Mark Zaccaria
South Carolina Special Election	Tim Scott	24%	1,238,982	Joyce Dickerson
South Carolina	Lindsey Graham	17.8%	1,215,868	Brad Hutto
South Dakota	Mike Rounds	20.9%	279,412	Rick Weiland
Tennessee	Lamar Alexander	31.7%	1,301,733	Gordon Ball
Texas	John Cornyn	27.2%	4,647,371	David Alameel
Virginia	Mark Warner	0.8%	2,184,473	Ed Gillespie
West Virginia	Shelley Moore Capito	27.6%	451,498	Natalie Tennant
Wyoming	Mike Enzi	54.7%	168,390	Charlie Hardy

Partisan breakdown

In 2014, Republicans needed to pick up six seats held by Democrats in order to gain a majority.

Five incumbent Democratic U.S. Senators announced that they would not run for re-election in 2014 (please see table below), and the GOP was considered a favorite to pick up many of the seats they were leaving vacant. Three other states with Democratic U.S. Senators were up for re-election in 2014 (Alaska, Arkansas and North Carolina) were generally considered to have GOP-leaning electorates. A competitive race for the open seat in Georgia developed due to the retirement of Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R).

Open seats

See also: At least 52 new members will walk the halls of the U.S. Congress in 2015

Seven senators announced they would not for re-election in 2014. In addition to the following list, four senators left office early: Max Baucus (D-MA), John Kerry (D-MA), Jim DeMint (R-SC) and Tom Coburn (R-OK). The deaths of Sens. Daniel Inouye (D-HI) and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), and the early resignation of Coburn, necessitated three special elections that were held with the 33 regular elections on November 4, 2014.

• 5 Democrats
• 2 Republicans

This list includes John Walsh of Montana who was appointed to the Senate in February 2014, but decided against seeking a full-term.

Name:	Party:	Current office:
Carl Levin	Democratic	U.S. Senator, Michigan
Jay Rockefeller	Democratic	West Virginia
John Walsh	Democratic	Montana
Mike Johanns	Republican	Nebraska
Saxby Chambliss	Republican	Georgia
Tim Johnson	Democratic	South Dakota
Tom Harkin	Democratic	U.S. Senator, Iowa

In 2012, the Democratic Party retained control over the chamber, winning 25 of the 33 seats. With Republican candidates winning only eight seats, this was the worst performance by a major party since the 1950s.

The following table displays the partisan composition of the U.S. Senate before the 2014 elections.

U.S. Senate Partisan Breakdown
Party		As of 2014 Election	After the 2014 Election
	Democratic Party	53	44
	Republican Party	45	54
	Independent	2	2
Total		100	100

This map illustrates the 36 Senate seats up for election in 2014 (three of which were special elections). The red and blue colors indicate whether the seat was held by a Republican or a Democrat, respectively.

Senate primaries

See also: Contested primaries in U.S. Congressional elections, 2014

Although no incumbent senators lost in a 2014 primary, there were many marquee races. The hotly contested races involving incumbents included:

• Hawaii
• Kentucky
• Mississippi
• South Carolina
• Tennessee

Among the 2014 elections were also contentious Republican primaries involving open seats and possible battleground Senate seats:

• Alaska - Seat held by Mark Begich (D)
• Georgia - Open seat held by Saxby Chambliss (R)
• Nebraska - Open seat held by Mike Johanns (R)
• North Carolina - Seat held by Kay Hagan (D)

Campaign finance

August 2014

According to OpenSecrets.org, below are the races that had the most outside spending by August 2014. They included the U.S. Senate races in North Carolina, Kentucky, Mississippi, Georgia and Arkansas.

List of the races receiving the most in independent expenditure in August 2014, according to OpenSecrets.org.

July 2014

In July 2014, Politico released the highlights from the second quarter 2014 fundraising reports. They included:

• Tom Cotton (R-AR) raised $2.28 million, compared to Sen. Mark Pryor's $1.5 million in the Arkansas Senate race.

April 2014

According to an April 2014 Politico report, vulnerable Democrats were being outraised by Republican challengers. The candidates highlighted in the article were:

• Mark Pryor (AR) raised $1.22 million compared to challenger Rep. Tom Cotton's $1.35 million
• Mark Begich (AK) raised $1.05 million compared to the $2 million raised by challenger, Dan Sullivan, during the same period.

August 2013

An August 2013 Politico report reported that the 27 incumbents running for re-election in 2014 had together raised about $125 million by the end of June 2013. The report also found that 2014 had the potential to be the most expensive midterm election to date, pointing to the fact that the total amount raised for incumbents seeking re-election is $30 million more than at the same point in 2012 and on par with the amount they had raised in 2010.

The incumbents highlighted in the article were:

• Minority Leader Mitch McConnell led in fundraising, having raised more than $15 million for the 2014 cycle
• Lindsey Graham (SC) and John Cornyn (TX) had raised more than $8 million in the 2014 cycle
• Kay Hagan (NC), Mark Pryor (AR) and Mary Landrieu (LA) had each raised between $4 million to $7 million in the 2014 cycle

April 2013

According to an April 2013 Politico report, incumbent Democrats in red states raised "millions" in the first three months of 2013. The candidates highlighted in the article were:

• Mary Landrieu (LA) raised $1.2 million and had $3.5 million cash on hand
• Mark Pryor (AR) raised $1.9 million and had $3.4 million cash on hand
• Kay Hagan (NC) raised $1.6 million and had $2.7 million cash on hand
• Mark Begich (AK) raised $948,000 and had $1.5 million cash on hand

DSCC and NRSC

Both the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) work to elect candidates from their respective parties to the U.S. Senate.

Fundraising numbers

September 2014

The DSCC raised $16 million in September, while the NRSC was on their heels with $15.5. Both organizations had the highest September hauls in the organizations' histories.

July 2014

The DSCC had its strongest second quarter in organization history, raising $21.7 million during the quarter. As of July 2014, the DSCC had raised $70.3 million in the 2014 cycle, while the NRSC had raised $68.6 million in 2014.

April 2014

The DSCC outraised the NRSC, $6.3 million to $6.04 million. In April, the DSCC ended the month with $25 million on hand, while the NRSC had $21.9 million in the bank. Both organizations remained debt-free.

October 2013

The DSCC outraised their GOP counterpart, the NRSC, by one million dollars in October 2013. The DSCC raised $4.8 million compared to the NRSC's $3.8 million. This was the organization's best off-year October in their history.

At that time, the DSCC had raised $14 million more than the NRSC, a total of $43.5 million raised. They reported $11.1 million cash on hand. However, the organization was also carrying $6.2 million in debt. The NRSC had $5 million cash on hand at the end of October 2013.

July 2013 memo

In July 2013, NRSC president, Rob Collins, circulated a memo to top donors outlining the path to a majority in the Senate for the Republican Party. From the memo:

"Montana now joins West Virginia and South Dakota as the third red-state where Democrats have not only failed to land their top candidates, but to recruit a candidate capable of winning a general election matchup."

Collins reiterated that Republicans needed to win just three seats in states with incumbent Democratic senators.

Outside race ratings

Cook Political Report

Each month the Cook Political Report released race ratings for President, U.S. Senate, U.S. House (competitive only) and Governors in 2014. There were seven possible designations:

     Solid D
     Likely D
     Lean D

     Tossup

     Lean R
     Likely R
     Solid R

Cook Political Report Race Rating -- U.S. Senate
Month	Solid D	Likely D	Lean D	Tossup	Lean R	Likely R	Solid R	Total D	Total R	Total races
June 27, 2013	6	5	6	3	0	4	11	17	15	35
August 2, 2013	7	4	6	2	3	2	11	17	16	35
October 17, 2013	7	4	6	2	3	2	11	17	16	35
December 19, 2013	7	5	4	3	3	1	12	16	16	35
February 7, 2014	6	6	4	3	3	1	13	16	17	36
February 27, 2014	6	5	5	3	3	1	13	16	17	36
March 19, 2014	8	2	3	7	2	2	12	13	16	36
April 25, 2014	8	2	2	8	2	2	12	12	16	36
August 15, 2014	7	3	1	9	2	3	11	11	16	36
September 19, 2014	7	3	1	9	1	3	12	11	16	36
October 17, 2014	7	3	1	10	1	2	12	11	15	36

FiveThirtyEight

Race ratings

According to an analysis by Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight, Democrats had a tough road ahead of them in the U.S. Senate in 2014. Democrats held 21 of the 36 seats up for election in 2014, and there were more Democratic-controlled seats that lean Republican than Republican seats that lean Democratic.

Additionally, Democrats were predicted to suffer from a lower voter turnout of their base due to the fact that 2014 was a midterm election and President Obama would not be on the ballot.

Silver's March 2014 ratings predicted that Republicans would pick up the six seats needed to control the Senate.

Most notably, in his March 2014 analysis, Silver broke up the possible key Republican pick-ups into two categories:

• Democrat-held seats likely to be picked up by Republicans (four): West Virginia, South Dakota, Montana and Arkansas
• Democrat-held seats that are toss-ups (four): Louisiana, North Carolina, Alaska and Michigan

The table below lists Silver's race ratings overview for the 36 senate seats up for election in 2014.

FiveThirtyEight -- U.S. Senate
Month	Solid D	Likely D	Lean D	Tossup	Lean R	Likely R	Solid R
February 20, 2013	6	7	3	4	0	4	11
July 15, 2013	8	4	3	3	0	4	13
March 23, 2014	10	2	3	1	1	4	16

Analysis

In September 2014, FiveThirtyEight released a new Senate forecasting model. In the first edition of this exclusive model, Silver determined that Republicans had a 53 percent chance of winning the Senate majority.

Most vulnerable seats

The FiscalTimes compiled a list of the seven most vulnerable Senate seats up for election in 2014. The seven included in the list were: Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Dakota and West Virginia. Going into the 2014 election, all seven seats were held by Democrats.

Government shutdown

Government shutdown

See also United States budget debate, 2013

Beginning in August 2013, House and Senate members began discussing the possibility of a government shutdown over the funding of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). On September 20, Republicans passed a spending bill in the House that funded the government until December 2013, but stripped funding from Obamacare. When Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced that the Senate would hold a procedural vote on Wednesday, September 24, many senators began to announce their positions on voting against a cloture, the motion to end debate on a bill. After Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) gave a marathon speech, the motion for cloture was accepted and Reid was able to strip the Obamacare defunding language contained in the Republican House members' continuing resolution (CR).

Following the successful cloture vote and the Senate subsequently sending a clean continuing resolution back to the House, the two chambers began a high-stakes game of hot potato. By September 30, the House had voted and sent three resolutions to the Senate that all were struck down. The Senate then sent back a clean resolution stripped of any healthcare defunding language. With Obamacare being the issue-at-hand, Congress was unable to agree on whether a resolution would fund the landmark healthcare law.

In the midst of the government shutdown in October 2013, talks began regarding the need to increase the debt ceiling. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) drafted a proposal that would have addressed both the budget shutdown, through the repeal of the medical device tax, and a plan to increase the debt ceiling through January 2014. Collins explained, "I’m hearing from many Democrats that if there were a way to deal somehow with the debt limit as well as part of this plan that that would be helpful. And obviously time is of the essence." Although her plan was ultimately rejected by Senate Democrats, her framework began a bipartisan effort to draft a resolution. Ultimately, Sens. Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell were able to propose a plan on October 16.

A deal was reached late on October 16, just hours before the debt ceiling deadline. The government reopened.

Polling during the shutdown

Congressional approval rating
Poll	Total approve	Total disapprove	Margin of error	Sample size
AP-GfK (October 3-7, 2013)	5%	83%	+/-3.4	1,227
Gallup (October 3-6, 2013)	11%	85%	+/-4	1,028
CNN/ORC (September 27-29, 2013)	10%	87%	+/-3.5	803
CBS/New York Times (September 19-23, 2013)	14%	80%	+/-3	1,014
The Economist/YouGov (September 21-23, 2013)	9%	72%	+/-5.1	690
AVERAGES	9.8%	81.4%	+/-3.8	952.4
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Approval of own congressmen

During the shutdown, American's disapproval rating of their own congressmen reached new a new high, with almost as many people stating disapproval of their member (43%) to approval (44%). The Gallup poll concluded:

"While members of Congress may continue to argue that problems with the image of the body as a whole is not their fault, and that they are doing nothing more than faithfully representing their particular constituents, it is clear that even their own constituents are less positive about the job they are doing than they were in the past."

Affordable Care Act

For senators up for re-election in 2014, this was be the first election since the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. This may have been problematic for Democratic senators who voted in favor of the bill in states where it was no longer popular. Among these senators included:

• Mark Begich (AK)
• Mark Pryor (AR)
• Mary Landrieu (LA)
• Jay Rockefeller (WV)
• Tim Johnson (SD)

Sen. Lee letter

In July 2013, Lee authored a letter, which as of August 2013 had been signed by 14 Republican senators, which promised a government shutdown unless the Affordable Care Act was defunded. The senators up for re-election in 2014 who signed the letter were:

• Mike Enzi (WY)
• Jim Inhofe (OK)
• Jim Risch (ID)
• Pat Roberts (KS)

Healthcare.gov rollout

See also: Healthcare.gov website rollout

The open enrollment period ended on March 31, 2014. The penalty, payable to the federal government, for not being enrolled in a health insurance plan by March 31 was either $95 or 1 percent of income, whichever is greater. The White House stated anyone selecting a plan before the deadline would not be subject to the penalty. In March 2014, however, the administration announced that uninsured people were allowed to enroll in plans into April as long as they had a plan selected on the website by March 31.

The rollout date was met with high demand for the website, both by those seeking insurance and those curious to see how the site worked. Attempts to use the website resulted in errors, including:

• Error messages while creating an account and trying to log in
• Data transfer problems from the exchange to healthcare providers
• Errors in price quotes when not logged in
• Lack of ability to sign up directly through individual insurance providers

In an October 30, 2013, hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius stated, "Hold me accountable for the debacle. I’m responsible."

The first official report from the Obama administration was released November 13, 2013, covering October enrollment numbers. The report stated 26,794 users completed enrollment through the Healthcare.gov federal exchange. Another 79,391 users were able to enroll in the 15 state exchanges, bringing the total enrollment to 106,185 in October. Prior to rollout, the administration estimated 500,000 would sign up in the first month.

On November 22, 2013, the Obama administration announced an eight-day extension on completing applications for coverage starting January 1, 2014. The deadline to complete the application was moved from December 15 to December 23, 2013. Additionally, the 2014 open enrollment period was pushed back from the original October 15 start date to November 15, 2014, just after midterm elections. On November 25, 2013, the administration announced the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) would be delayed by one year. The program was supposed to be rolled out in October 2013 but was delayed until November 2014. Employers seeking the tax credit before the federal exchange rolls out SHOP in 2014 must use an insurance broker to sign up for eligible plans. The small business program delay did not impact states with state-run exchanges.

On April 10, 2014, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius resigned from her post as a result of the troubled rollout of Obamacare.

Senate Conservative Fund targets

The Senate Conservative Fund targeted Sens. Isakson (R-GA), Graham (R-SC), Alexander (R-TN) and Burr (R-NC) in August 2013 with two weeks of radio ads designed to push Senate Republicans to support Utah's Mike Lee's effort to defund Obamacare.

ISIS

See also: ISIS insurgency in Iraq and Syria

Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle were in disagreement over the need to pass congressional approval of the administration's air strikes in Iraq as well as any future strikes on ISIS. Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Carl Levin (D-MI) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) each stated on September 8, 2014, that gaining congressional approval was not necessary for the actions taken by President Barack Obama, with Levin claiming, "I think the president has an abundant amount of authority to conduct operations. It would be good to have Congress on board. I don’t think the War Powers Act is constitutional. If Congress doesn’t like what he’s doing, we can always cut the money off." Members such as Tim Kaine (D-VA), Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Rand Paul (D-KY) disagreed and continued to push for a vote. Paul argued, "It would show a disregard for the Constitution and for the history of our country."

Congressional leadership did not want to take quick action, bringing a vote to the floor, with one Republican aide stating, "We want to wait and see what he’s going to say to the four leaders and what he’s going to say to the nation. How he lays out his strategy will determine how our guys and members of Congress respond." Reid backed up that sentiment, saying, "Tomorrow the president is addressing the nation. That doesn’t happen very often. On Thursday afternoon we’re having a briefing here from the administration on what’s going on in the Middle East. I’m going to wait and get the facts before I jump off into something that you read on the Internet someplace."

While some members in tighter re-election campaigns were wary of a vote prior to the November elections, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) came out strongly in favor of the vote, even going so far as threatening to use a procedural workaround if Republican Majority Leader John Boehner did not put a vote on the calendar. McGovern defended his threat, explaining, "We have boots on the ground, even though everybody says we don't want any boots on the ground. We're doing more than just protecting U.S. personnel on the ground. And when I read the newspapers, we're talking about a multi-year commitment. So there's a role for Congress in this, and we need to make sure that we don't … shirk our constitutional responsibility. And I think most people feel that way."

Farm bill

See also: United States Farm Bill 2013

The Senate passed a $1 trillion farm bill in June 2013 to fund both food stamps and farmer subsidies. States heavy in agriculture, including ones that will be competitive in 2014, may turn more favorably to Democratic candidates due to Republican opposition of the bill. The vote was 66-27, with 25 of the 27 nay votes being from Republicans. The two Democratic senators to vote against the bill were Jack Reed (RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (RI)

The comprehensive bill failed in the House due largely in part to the votes of eight Democratic House members who joined the Republican majority to vote down the measure. Reps. Collin Peterson, John Barrow, Sanford Bishop, Cheri Bustos, Sean Maloney, Mike McIntyre, Bill Owens and Tim Walz were the eight Democratic members who voted to reject the bill. According to analysis by OpenSecrets.org, many of these Democratic members received significant political contributions from agricultural organizations that benefit from crop insurance subsidies.

Upon arrival at the House, the bill was altered by focusing solely on the farm programs and did not include the food stamp program.

State-by-state breakdown

United States Senate Elections Results in 2014
State	Incumbent	Incumbent Party	Incumbent Ran?	2014 Winner	Partisan switch?
Alabama	Jeff Sessions	Republican	Yes	Jeff Sessions	No
Alaska	Mark Begich	Democratic	Yes	Dan Sullivan	Yes
Arkansas	Mark Pryor	Democratic	Yes	Tom Cotton	Yes
Colorado	Mark Udall	Democratic	Yes	Cory Gardner	Yes
Delaware	Chris Coons	Democratic	Yes	Chris Coons	No
Georgia	Saxby Chambliss	Republican	No	David Perdue	No
Idaho	Jim Risch	Republican	Yes	Jim Risch	No
Illinois	Richard Durbin	Democratic	Yes	Richard Durbin	No
Iowa	Tom Harkin	Democratic	No	Joni Ernst	Yes
Kansas	Pat Roberts	Republican	Yes	Pat Roberts	No
Kentucky	Mitch McConnell	Republican	Yes	Mitch McConnell	No
Louisiana	Mary Landrieu	Democratic	Yes	Bill Cassidy	Yes
Maine	Susan Collins	Republican	Yes	Susan Collins	No
Massachusetts	Ed Markey	Democratic	Yes	Ed Markey	No
Michigan	Carl Levin	Democratic	No	Gary Peters	No
Minnesota	Al Franken	Democratic	Yes	Al Franken	No
Mississippi	Thad Cochran	Republican	Yes	Thad Cochran	No
Montana	John Walsh	Democratic	No	Steve Daines	Yes
Nebraska	Mike Johanns	Republican	No	Ben Sasse	No
New Hampshire	Jeanne Shaheen	Democratic	Yes	Jeanne Shaheen	No
New Jersey	Cory Booker	Democratic	Yes	Cory Booker	No
New Mexico	Tom Udall	Democratic	Yes	Tom Udall	No
North Carolina	Kay Hagan	Democratic	Yes	Thom Tillis	Yes
Oklahoma	Jim Inhofe	Republican	Yes	Jim Inhofe	No
Oregon	Jeff Merkley	Democratic	Yes	Jeff Merkley	No
Rhode Island	Jack Reed	Democratic	Yes	Jack Reed	No
South Carolina	Lindsey Graham	Republican	Yes	Lindsey Graham	No
South Dakota	Tim Johnson	Democratic	No	Mike Rounds	Yes
Tennessee	Lamar Alexander	Republican	Yes	Lamar Alexander	No
Texas	John Cornyn	Republican	Yes	John Cornyn	No
Virginia	Mark Warner	Democratic	Yes	Mark Warner	No
West Virginia	Jay Rockefeller	Democratic	No	Shelley Moore Capito	Yes
Wyoming	Mike Enzi	Republican	Yes	Mike Enzi	No

See also

• United States Congress elections, 2014
• United States House of Representatives elections, 2014
• Misconduct in the 113th Congress (2013-2014)

External links

• Senate Conservatives Fund, "2014 Senate Races"
• Roll Call, "Inside the 2014 Senate Races"
• Public Policy Polling, "US Senate 2014"