1990 Elections Analysis
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The 1990 elections were a blow to the Democratic Party and a lifeline to the floundering Republicans. With a net swing of 27 House seats, 4 governorships, and 3 Senate seats, the Democrats kept their majorities but on thinner margins. The hopes of smothering the Biden coalition before it could gain traction were not realized. Still, the national leaders and icons of the Party (Reps. Gingrich and Cheney, Chairman Ed Rollins, Sen. Wilson, etc.) were ecstatic about their gains nationwide. Although probably not considered by many voters, the election of state legislations in numerous states would have an impact on the redistricting process after the 1990 Census. Would gerrymandering secure state majorities for Republicans or would shifting changes in population and demographics push the Reagan Revolution into the dustbin?
Notable Races
Arkansas
Arkansas’s statewide races received nationwide attention in 1990. Senator David Pryor was running unopposed because the Republican Party was focusing on two other incumbents – Governor and Senator Clinton. Governor Bill Clinton was elected to his fifth term as Governor of Arkansas. Certain questions of impropriety and nepotism could not overtake the Governor’s popularity (now a national figure) and his record of economic growth and reform. Of course the biggest question of the election was his appointment of his wife, Hilary, to the open senate seat after Dale Bumper’s appointment to the Supreme Court.
Hilary Rodham Clinton was a well-known figure in Arkansas when she was appointed. A Yale graduate, where she met her future husband, Clinton’s first involvement in government affairs was as a member of the impeachment inquiry staff for the House Judiciary Committee during Watergate. When she moved to Arkansas and married Bill Clinton, who was soon elected as Attorney General, she started working at the Rose Law Firm, the oldest law firm in the United States west of the Mississippi. She would become the first woman to be made a full partner there, and as First Lady of Arkansas had a higher salary than her husband as Governor. She was a noted lawyer nationwide and active in children’s and education initiatives. Additionally, she held positions on the corporate of directors of the Arkansas-based companies TCBY and Wal-Mart Stores, being the first woman on Wal-Mart’s board.
Despite her personal achievements, she was not seen as an independent candidate of her own. Southern politics being what they are, her appointment was seen as a continuation of smoke-filled rooms of machine politics, with critics comparing Governor Clinton to George Wallace and him using his wife as a placeholder. Yet, when 1990 came around, Bill Clinton once again ran for Governor and Senator Clinton defended her seat on her own accord. When asked why he appointed his wife, Gov. Clinton would say, “She’s the right woman for the job.” Senator Clinton’s Republican opponent was former Congressman Ed Bethune. Bethune attempted to argue that the circle of leadership and governance in the state had been constricted by the Clintons and the Democratic Party. Still, on the issues, Clinton held impressive confidence and command, with a great focus on health and education, appealing to the woman vote. While sexist comments would bubble up, some women were also put off by Senator Clinton’s seemingly disparaging comment of wanting “to be more than just a housewife.” While the vote was close, both Clinton’s were reelected to their respective offices.
California Governor
Surprising some, Senator Pete Wilson did not run for the office (perhaps leaving room for a ’92 Presidential run?), leaving the Republican field open. By strong, Reagan White House veteran and first term Congressman Dana Rohrabacher claimed victory in the primary, who had been endorsed by Senator Wilson and out-going Governor George Deukmejian. With the support of the White House behind her, Secretary of Health and Human Services Dianne Feinstein left her Cabinet post to run for the seat. However, with the support of the Governor, Senator Wilson and a boost from his connections with Reagan, Rohrabacher proved a feisty and combative candidate and successfully painted Feinstein as too liberal for the state in a time of economic uncertainty and concern.
Illinois Senate
Senator Paul Simon made a surprise announcement of not seeking another term in office, citing his daughter’s car accident at the beginning of the year that nearly killed her had made him “think about what was truly important in life.” The Democratic field was suddenly wide open and several candidates scurried for support and attempted to gain traction in the truncated primary season. State Treasurer Roland Burris would win mostly with a near universal black vote, and a strong liberal activist support in part corralled by Jesse Jackson, while several lesser known white candidates would split the remainder of the vote. Facing Burris in the general election would be Congresswoman and Vice Presidential candidate Lynn Morley Martin, arguably the most widely known female politician in the country. While Burris led early on in the election season, Burris had a muddled debate showing while Martin gave a well-accepted, articulate performance which cemented her lead for the remainder of the campaign.
New Jersey Senate
Bill Bradley faced an unexpected challenge in Christine Todd Whitman. Bradley had not expected any serious challenge and had put out a laid-back campaign design – his primary add was of him walking on the beach, shooting hops and lounging at a desk. Meanwhile, Democratic Governor Jim Florio had proposed a $2 billion tax increase and the state economy was contracting, the largest state tax increase being proposed in the nation. The voters were frustrated with the Senator seemingly being out of touch with his constituents. A month out from the election, Bradley was seen as being up by 36 points. Whitman’s dark horse campaign snuck out a close victory, with a boost from suburban women and a third party populist candidate syphoning off 1% of the liberal vote.
New Mexico Governor
Republican Governor Garrey Carruthers was term-limited (New Mexico at the time did not allow consecutive terms) and could not run again in 1990. The Republican nomination went to Frank Bond, a former state representative. The Democrat nod seemed to be poised to go to former Governor Bruce King. However, young gun one-term Representative Tom Udall surprised the state party when he announced he would not seek reelection to Congress and instead would contest the Governorship. Udall, 42, was of the famous Udall political family. Fashioning himself as a Biden Democrat (baby boomer, proactive, pragmatic) he harnessed a trend and message that would prove effective in a Republican trending year, ushering him into the Governorship.
Texas
In Texas, like Arkansas, both of the Senate seats and the Governorship were up for election. Established Republican Senator Phil Gramm faced no major challenge to his reelection bid. Senator Beau Bolter, however, was an interim appointee of the term-limited Governor Bill Clements. Bolter was defeated in the primaries by a grassroots action by Ron Paul, former Congressman and presidential candidate. While secession talk may have hurt his nation campaign, in the Texas Republican primaries, his anti-establishment talk was well-received. He would face rising Democratic star State Treasurer Ann Richards. Richards gained national attention for her speech at the Democratic National Convention in 1988 for her wit and tactful derision of George H.W. Bush. Although Paul’s message had gained him substantial grassroots support in the Republican primary, his libertarian economic policies were lost on a wider audience and failed to reach the voters at large like Richards did, although her margin was perhaps not as wide as polling had first indicated.
In the race for Governor, former Democratic Governor Mark White won against businessman Clayton Williams, effectively running a law-and-order campaign, saying he was the one who knew how to make life and death decisions, while Williams came off as gaffe-prone and unfit for the highest office in the state. White eased concerns of Texans that he would be ‘Governor for Life’ by taking a one-term pledge, saying he would ‘finish the job he started.’
Relatively unnoted at the time, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Rick Perry was re-elected as a Republican, having switched parties upon his appointment.
Washington 5th District
One of the races of most historical note was that of Speaker of the House Tom Foley being defeated in his home district. It was the first time a sitting Speaker had been defeated for re-election since 1862. Foley, first elected in 1964, had been weakened by the House scandals which had elevated him to Speaker only the year before. His Republican opponent, former Chief of Staff for Senator Ted Stevens and family law attorney George Nethercutt, harped on Congressional term limits (which were becoming popular nationwide with the out-of-power Republican Party) and Foley’s parliamentary procedures which had delayed and limited action on the Flag Desecration Act and Amendment.
