1998 United States Senate election in Nevada

The 1998 United States Senate election in Nevada was held on November 3, 1998. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Harry Reid won re-election to a third term.

1998 United States Senate election in Nevada

November 3, 1998

Nominee Harry Reid John Ensign Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 208,650 208,222 Percentage 47.9% 47.8%

County results Reid:      50–60% Ensign:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

U.S. senator before election Harry Reid Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Harry Reid Democratic

Republican primary

Candidates

• John Ensign, U.S. Representative
• Ralph W. Stephens

Results

Republican primary results[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Ensign	105,263	80.57%
	Republican	Ralph W. Stephens	13,679	10.47%
	Republican	None of these candidates	11,704	8.96%
Total votes			130,646	100.00%

General election

Candidates

• Michael Cloud (L)
• John Ensign (R), U.S. Representative
• Harry Reid (D), incumbent U.S. Senator
• Michael Williams (NL)

Campaign

Early in the campaign, Reid held a double-digit lead over Ensign in most polls. After a fierce battle of attack ads on television by both candidates, Ensign pulled into a dead heat with Reid. This reversal of fortune was attributed to several factors. More than 125,000 new residents had arrived in Nevada since 1992, many of them settling in Ensign's suburban Clark County congressional district. As such, many of them were more familiar with Ensign than with Reid, whose previous Republican opponents had hailed from other regions of the state. Republican consultant John Maddox observed that Ensign's greater familiarity to the Las Vegas metropolitan region gave him an advantage, adding that "he has won votes from Democrats who have never voted for Reid." In contrast, Reid was believed to hold an advantage with longtime Nevada residents, particularly those in slower-growing regions of the state. In addition, the number of registered Republicans in Nevada had dramatically increased as well; in 1992, Democrats had held an advantage of approximately 40,000 registered voters, but by 1998 Republicans outnumbered Democrats by 4,000. John Ralston, a political analyst in Las Vegas, claimed that Reid was also hurt by declining voter enthusiasm in the wake of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Reid had been one of the first senators to express dissatisfaction with President Clinton over the scandal, describing the president's behavior as "immoral."[2]

During the campaign, Reid cited his efforts to block the storage of nuclear waste at the Yucca Mountain repository, while also using the issue to attack Ensign. In one campaign speech, Reid claimed, "You send Ensign to the Senate, you send nuclear waste to Nevada." Ensign responded to the attacks by pointing out his own position against the depository and indicated he would work with Richard Bryan, the state's other senator, to stop it. "Bryan's a Democrat who works with Republicans," he said, "and I'm a Republican who works with Democrats." The Reid campaign also attacked Ensign as an "extremist" who would weaken Social Security and referred to environmentalists as "socialists." Ensign, meanwhile accused Reid of supporting tax increases in Washington even as he claimed to support lower taxes at home.[2]

Results

On November 3, 1998, Reid won by 428 votes in an exceptionally close election—even closer than South Dakota in 2002, when incumbent Senator Tim Johnson defeated Congressman John Thune by 524 votes. Ensign did not contest the results, and was elected to Nevada's other Senate seat in 2000, much like Thune who was elected to South Dakota's other Senate seat in 2004.

General election results[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Harry Reid (incumbent)	208,650	47.88%	-3.19%
	Republican	John Ensign	208,222	47.78%	+7.56%
	Libertarian	Michael Cloud	8,129	1.87%	+0.41%
	None of These Candidates		8,113	1.86%	-0.79%
	Natural Law	Michael E. Williams	2,781	0.64%	-0.83%
Turnout			435,864
	Democratic hold		Swing

County Breakdown

County	Reid	%	Ensign	%	Others	%
Carson City	7,029	42.2%	8,699	52.2%	930	5.6%
Churchill	1.594	22.0%	5,260	72.5%	402	5.5%
Clark	134,163	52.6%	111,718	43.8%	8,961	3.5%
Douglas	4,766	33.3%	8,810	61.6%	715	5.0%
Elko	2,589	25.7%	7,051	69.9%	453	4.5%
Esmeralda	151	28.0%	343	63.5%	46	8.5%
Eureka	162	24.0%	461	68.2%	53	7.8%
Humboldt	1,601	37.7%	2,428	57.1%	220	5.2%
Lander	704	34.0%	1,209	58.4%	156	7.5%
Lincoln	616	31.4%	1,238	63.1%	109	5.6%
Lyon	3,242	34.8%	5,486	58.9%	585	6.3%
Mineral	1,176	54.3%	822	37.9%	169	7.8%
Nye	4,052	42.7%	4,912	51.7%	533	5.6%
Pershing	577	36.9%	902	57.7%	85	5.4%
Storey	691	41.3%	838	50.1%	144	8.6%
Washoe	44,118	46.1%	46,300	48.4%	5,194	5.4%
White Pine	1,419	42.7%	1,745	52.4%	163	5.9%

[4][5]

See also

• United States Senate elections, 1998

References

1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-06-21. Retrieved 2013-01-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
2. Cannon, Lou (25 September 1998). "Demographic Changes Leave Nevada Senator in Jeopardy". Washington Post.
3. http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1998/98Stat.htm#28
4. Leip, David. "1998 Senatorial General Election Data Graphs - Nevada". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
5. "Results of the 1998 U.S. Senate Recount". Nevada Secretary of State. December 9, 1998. Retrieved April 11, 2019.