The 1988 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania was held on November 8, 1988. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator John Heinz successfully sought re-election to another term, defeating Democratic nominee

Joe Vignola Joseph C. Vignola, Sr. (born August 11, 1949) is a Democratic politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Political career City Controller In November 1982, Philadelphia City Controller Thomas Leonard resigned his post and announced his intentio ...

General election

Candidates

* Sam Blancato (New Alliance) * Samuel Cross (Populist) * Henry E. Haller II (Libertarian) *

H. John Heinz III Henry John Heinz III (October 23, 1938 – April 4, 1991) was an American businessman and Republican politician from Pennsylvania. Heinz represented the Pittsburgh suburbs in the United States House of Representatives from 1971 to 1977 and ...

, incumbent U.S. Senator (Republican) * Darcy Richardson (Consumer) *

, Philadelphia City Controller (Democratic)

Campaign

Joe Vignola was not expected by Democratic Party leaders to have a substantial chance at defeating the popular incumbent John Heinz, even predicting that Vignola would become " Heinz's 58th variety," referring to an advertising slogan of the H. J. Heinz Company. Heinz, knowing this, ran a low-profile re-election campaign and was safely ahead in polling. Vignola traveled across Pennsylvania promoting an increase in domestic spending, including education and healthcare, while decreasing the defense budget to compensate. Vignola ran a positive campaign, in contrast with

Cyril Wecht Cyril Harrison Wecht (born March 20, 1931) is an American forensic pathologist. He has been the president of both the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and the American College of Legal Medicine, and headed the board of trustees of the Amer ...

six years previously, although many Democratic ward leaders and committee members had given up on the campaign and had stopped campaigning for Vignola.

Results

Heinz easily defeated Vignola to win the election and another term in the Senate, carrying every Pennsylvania county except Philadelphia, Vignola's home town, and by a comfortable 1.49 million vote margin. Heinz performed well in suburban areas, as well as the central, southwestern and northeastern portions of the state. Outside of Philadelphia, Vignola's best county-wide showing was in Fayette County, where he won 45% of the vote, and his poorest county-wide performance was in

Snyder County Snyder County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 39,736. The county seat is Middleburg. Snyder County was formed in 1855 from parts of Union County. Snyder County comprises the Selins ...

, where he won 12% of the vote. Although Heinz's landslide victory was largely expected among Democratic leaders, Heinz won by a wide margin despite the Democrats' 551,000-voter registration advantage statewide.

Aftermath

Heinz died in an airplane crash on April 4, 1991, in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania. Democrat

Harris Wofford Harris Llewellyn Wofford Jr. (April 9, 1926 – January 21, 2019) was an American attorney, civil rights activist, and Democratic Party politician who represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate from 1991 to 1995. A noted advocate of na ...

was appointed on May 8 to fill the vacancy caused by Heinz's death, and subsequently won a special election in November 1991. In the 1994 election, however, Wofford was defeated by Republican Rick Santorum.

References

{{United States elections, 1988 Pennsylvania

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...