But Representative Jim Slattery, a five-term Democrat from Kansas, said the party's Presidential nominee would be forced to deal with the quota issue in the 192 campaign.
Representative Tom Sawyer, a five-term Democrat who squeaked to victory last time, faced a challenge from Joyce George, a Republican who is a former United States Attorney and state judge.
Representative Darlene Hooley, a five-term Democrat, faced the stiffest challenge, in the Fifth District, from Mike Erickson, a businessman who put more than $1.3 million of his money into the race.
"Never before have I been accused of taking 30 pieces of silver," Mr. Inouye, a 63-year-old five-term Democrat from Hawaii, said in an emotional speech to an almost empty Senate chamber.
In the governor's race, Representative Tom Carper, a five-term Democrat, defeated B. Gary Scott, a retired real estate executive.
Roy Dyson, a five-term Democrat from Maryland, went down in defeat.
Representative Mike Synar today defeated a primary challenger who labeled the five-term Democrat too liberal for his largely rural district in northeast Oklahoma.
Ultimately, Mrs. Lynch said, she agreed to go to work for Representative Maurice D. Hinchey, a five-term Democrat who represents a highly competitive district upstate.
As a result, the five-term Democrat says she has renewed her long-standing interest in agriculture.
One Arkansas Congressman, Ray Thornton, a five-term Democrat, says he fears "a patchwork quilt of state laws" that would impose varying term limits.