Governor Mitt Romney's 1994 Campaign for United States Senate

In 1994, Romney was the Massachusetts Republican Party's nominee for U.S. Senate after he defeated businessman John Lakian in the primary. The general election between Romney and Senator Ted Kennedy was extremely competitive leading up to election day. The debates between Romney and Kennedy were lively, and the polls showed Romney only slightly behind Kennedy. One poll taken in October 2004, sponsored by the Boston Herald and WCVB-TV, actually showed Romney ahead 44 percent to 42 percent. A few other polls showed Romney within the "margin of error."

Romney spent over $7 million on his race, with Kennedy's campaign spending over $10 million, mostly in the last weeks of the campaign.

(This was the most expensive race of the 1994 election cycle, after the Dianne Feinstein vs. Michael Huffington Senate race in California.)

Kennedy would eventually win the election decisively with 58% of the vote to Romney's 41%. The 17% winning margin was the smallest in Kennedy's long career as a Senator.

Even though he lost the election, Romney's unexpectedly strong showing in the Senate race established him as a national political figure.