In 1986, as a U.S. Representative, Fowler defeated the incumbent Republican Sen. Mack Mattingly. Fowler distinguished himself as the junior senator from Georgia (Sam Nunn was the serving senior senator at that time) in a moderate and dependable fashion. Fowler's voting record was progressive on social concerns and moderate on economic and national security issues. Despite being ranked among the most effective first term senators, he lost a tough re-election bid in 1992 to Georgia State Senator Paul Coverdell (who would later become leader of the state's Republican party). Fowler bested Coverdell on election night 1992, but Georgia law does not allow for a winner who has won less than 50 percent (an absolute majority) of the total vote, and a Libertarian Party candidate had siphoned off enough votes to keep Fowler's total below 50 percent-plus-one. In a subsequent run-off two weeks later, Coverdell upset Fowler by a narrow margin. Fowler went on to serve as an ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1996 to 2001, during the Clinton administration.