1988 United States Senate election in Connecticut

1988 United States Senate election in Connecticut
	Lieberman: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%; Weicker: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%; Tie: 40–50%
U.S. senator before election; Lowell Weicker; Republican	Elected U.S. Senator ; Joe Lieberman; Democratic

The 1988 United States Senate election in Connecticut took place on November 8, 1988. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Lowell Weicker ran for re-election to a fourth term, but was narrowly defeated by Democrat Joe Lieberman, the Connecticut Attorney General and eventual 2000 nominee for Vice President of the United States, who would remain in office until 2013. This is the last time a Connecticut Senator lost re-election.

Both Weicker and Lieberman would go on to win state-wide elections as independents, in 1990 for governor and in 2006 for Senate respectively. Joe Lieberman's swearing-in marked the first time since 1971 that Democrats held both Senate seats from Connecticut.

Lieberman was often considered to the right of Weicker, with him benefiting from the support of National Review founder William F. Buckley Jr., and his brother, former U.S. Senator from New York James Buckley, with William Buckley running columns in support of Lieberman.

General election

Candidates

Joe Lieberman (D), Connecticut Attorney General
Lowell P. Weicker Jr. (R), incumbent U.S. Senator since 1971
Howard A. Grayson Jr. (L)
Melissa M. Fisher (NAP)

Debates

Dates	Lieberman	Weicker	Link
October 22, 1988	Participant	Participant	C-SPAN

Fundraising

Campaign finance reports as of December 31, 1988
Candidate	Raised	Spent	Cash on hand
Joe Lieberman (D)	$2,650,603	$2,570,779	$79,824
Lowell Weicker (R)	$2,781,538	$2,681,294	$52,517
Source: Federal Election Commission^[1]

Results

General election results^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Joe Lieberman	688,499	49.91%
	Republican	Lowell Weicker (incumbent)	677,903	49.15%
	Libertarian	Howard A. Grayson Jr.	12,409	0.90%
	New Alliance	Melissa M. Fisher	4,154	0.30%
Total votes			1,379,362	100.0%
	Democratic gain from Republican

References

[1] "Candidate financial totals". Federal Election Commission.

[2] "Our Campaigns - CT US Senate Race - Nov 08, 1988".

[1]

[2]

v t e Elections in Connecticut
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U.S. House	1788 1790 1792 1794 1796 1798 1800 1802 1804 1806 1808 1810 1812 1814 1816 1818 1821 1823 1825 1827 1829 1831 1833 1835 1837 1839 1840 1843 1845 1847 1849 1851 1853 1855 1857 1859 1861 1863 1865 1867 1869 1871 1873 1875 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1928 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1956 1958 1960 1962 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1978 1980 1982 1984 1990 1994 1998 2000 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024
See also: Political party strength in Connecticut

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