Most of the incumbents were reelected by wide margins. Some, including House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., and Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., ran without opposition. In Mica's case, this election was very different from two years ago, when the American Federation of Government Employees mounted a spirited but unsuccessful effort to oust the chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Subcommittee on the Civil Service.
Despite the overwhelming vote for incumbents, some changes will be occurring on the Hill. Sen. Lauch Faircloth, R-N.C., who served on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal Service and General Government and the Subcommittee on Military Construction, was unseated by Democrat John Edwards. Faircloth had pushed legislation requiring the removal of computer games from all federal computers.
The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee will also see a key leadership change, with the retirement of longtime chairman and then ranking member John Glenn, D-Ohio. Ohio Gov. George Voinovich defeated Democrat Mary Boyle in the race to succeed Glenn.
Former House Ways and Means Committee Social Security Subcommittee Chairman and ex-athlete Jim Bunning, R-Ky., moves to the Senate after narrowly defeating Rep. Scotty Baesler, D-Ky., for the seat left vacant by retiring Democratic Sen. Wendell H. Ford. This summer Bunning led a series of hearings on union officials' use of official time at the Social Security Administration.
In a race that pitted one ex-federal employee against another, Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., who worked at the Department of Health, Education and Welfare and at the Library of Congress, defeated Demaris Miller, a former research psychologist at the Office of Personnel Management. Both candidates focused on issues key to federal employees such as raising pay, controlling health insurance costs and mitigating the effects of federal downsizing.
Following are election results for key Representatives and Senators. Winners are listed in boldface.
Key Representatives
|
Incumbent
|
Challenger
|
| Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) 62% | Gene Ward (R) 36% |
| Bill Archer (R-Texas) 93% | Unopposed |
| Dick Armey (R-Texas) 88% | Unopposed |
| Tom Barrett (D-Wisc.) 78% | Jack Melvin (R) 22% |
| Herb Bateman (R-Va.) 77% | Unopposed |
| Dan Burton (R-Ind.) 72% | Bob Kern (D) 17% |
| Steve Buyer (R-Ind.) 63% | David Steele (D) 36% |
| James Clyburn (D-S.C.) 72% | Gary McLeod (R) 26% |
| Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) 86% | Kenneth Kondner (R) 14% |
| Tom Davis (R-Va.) 83% | Unopposed |
| Lane Evans (D-Ill.) 52% | Mark Baker (R) 48% |
| Terry Everett (R-Ala.) 69% | Joe Fondren (D) 31% |
| Chakah Fattah (D-Penn.) 86% | Anne Marie Mulligan (R) 14% |
| Bob Filner (D-Calif.) 100% | Unopposed |
| Denny Hastert (R-Ill.) 70% | Robert Cozzi (D) 30% |
| Joel Hefley (R-Colo.) 73% | Ken Alford (D) 26% |
| Stephen Horn (R-Calif.) 53% | Peter Mathews (D) 44% |
| Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) 66% | Robert Ostrom (R) 34% |
| Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) 76% | Unopposed |
| John R. Kasich (R-Ohio) 63% | Edward Brown 37% |
| Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.) 52% | Tom Volgy (D) 45% |
| Bob Livingston (R-La.) 100% | Unopposed |
| John McHugh (R-N.Y.) 79% | Neil Tallon (D) 21% |
| John Mica (R-Fla.) 100% | Unopposed |
| Jim Moran (D-Va.) 67% | Demaris Miller (R) 33% |
| Constance Morella (R-Md.) 60% | Ralph Neas (D) 40% |
| Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) 90% | Edward Henry Wolterbeek (R) 6% |
| David R. Obey (D-Wis.) 61% | Scott West (R) 39% |
| Jack Quinn (R-N.Y.) 68% | Crystal Peoples (D) 32% |
| Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) 93% | David Cunningham (R) 6% |
| Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) 70% | Cecilia Noland (R) 28% |
| Floyd D. Spence (R-S.C.) 58% | Jane Frederick (D) 41% |
| John Spratt (D-S.C.) 58% | Mike Burkhold (R) 40% |
| Fortney "Pete" Stark (D-Calif.) 71% | James Goetz (R) 27% |
| Bob Stump (R-Ariz.) 67% | Stuart Marc Starky (D) 33% |
| Bill Thomas (R-Calif.) 79% | Unopposed |
| Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) 74% | Michael Gottlieb (R) 22% |
| Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) 72% | Martin D'Urso (D) 28% |
| Albert Wynn (D-Md.) 86% | John Kimble (R) 14% |
Key Senators
|
Incumbent
|
Challenger
|
| Bob Bennett (R-Utah) 64% | Scott Leckman (D) 33% |
| Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) 65% | Paul Feleciano (D) 32% |
| Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.) 63% | Dottie Lamm (D) 35% |
| Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) 62% | Ron Schmidt (R) 37% |
| Lauch Faircloth (R-N.C.) 47% | John Edwards (D) 51% |
| Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) 68% | David Osterberg (R) 31% |
| Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) 79% | Crystal Young (R) 18% |
| John McCain (R-Ariz.) 68% | Ed Ranger (D) 28% |
| Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) 71% | Ross Pierpont (R) 29% |
| Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) 61% | William Lloyd (D) 35% |