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EspañolUNITED STATES SENATE ELECTIONS, 1996
The 'U.S. Senate election, 1996' was an election for United States Senate which coincided with the re-election of Bill Clinton as president. It followed the major Republican gains of 1994. Because of the staggered nature of the Senate, some of the alignment shift of 1994 carried over to this year, even though the Republicans lost seats in the House. The Republicans made a net gain of two seats by capturing the open seats in Alabama, Arkansas, and Nebraska, but Democrat Tim Johnson defeated incumbent Sen. Larry Pressler (R-SD).
| Contents |
| Results summary |
| Notable Races |
| Democratic Gains |
| Republican Gains |
| Senate contests in 1996 |
| See also |
| Senate composition before and after elections |
Results summary
| Parties | Breakdown | Total Seats | Popular Vote | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up | Elected | Not Up | 1994 | '1996 | +/- | Vote | % | ||
| Republican Party | 19 | 21 | 53 | 55 | +2 | ||||
| Democratic Party | 15 | 13 | 47 | 45 | -2 | ||||
| 'Total' | '34' | '34' | '66' | '100' | '100' | '-' | ' ' | '100.0%' | |
| Source: Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk | |||||||||
Notable Races
Democratic Gains
★ South Dakota: Three-term Sen. Larry Pressler (R-SD) faced a tough challenge from Democratic Rep. Tim Johnson (D-SD). Johnson would defeat Pressler by 2 points and become the only candidate to defeat an incumbent in this year's election cycle.
Republican Gains
★ Alabama: Sen. Howell Heflin (D-AL), one of the last Conservative Democrats in the Senate, retired after three terms. Republican nominee Jeff Sessions, the state Attorney General, defeated Democratic State Senator Roger Bedford in the general election
★ Arkansas: Popular Sen. David Pryor (D-AR) chose not to seek a fourth term. The Democratic Party in Arkansas had been badly damaged by the resignation of Governor Jim Guy Tucker after being convicted of mail fraud. This helped Rep. Tim Hutchinson (R-AR) defeat Democratic state Attorney General Winston Bryant to become Arkansas' first Republican Senator since Reconstruction.
★ Nebraska: Democratic Governor Ben Nelson was expected to easily win the race to succeed retiring Sen. J. James Exon (D-NE). Republican businessman Chuck Hagel, however, made it a highly competitive race and pulled off a huge fourteen point upset over the popular governor (Nelson won election to Nebraska's other Senate seat four years later).
Senate contests in 1996
Winning candidates in 'bold'
Democratic pickups in ''
Republican pickups in ''
| State | Incumbent | Party | Status | Candidates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Howell Heflin | Democratic | Retired: Republican victory | 'Jeff Sessions' (Republican) 52.5% Roger Bedford (Democratic) 45.5% Mark Thornton (Libertarian) 1.4% Charles R. Hebner (Natural Law) 0.6% |
| Alaska | 'Ted Stevens' | Republican | Re-elected, 77% | Jeff Whittaker (Green) 13% Theresa Obermeyer (Democratic) 10% |
| Arkansas | David Pryor | Democratic | Retired: Republican victory | 'Tim Hutchinson' (Republican) 53% Winston Bryant (Democratic) 47% |
| Colorado | Hank Brown | Republican | Retired: Republican victory | 'Wayne Allard' (Republican) 51% Tom Strickland (Democratic) 46% Randy MacKenzie (Natural Law) 3% |
| Delaware | 'Joe Biden' | Democratic | Re-elected 60% | Raymond J. Clatworthy (Republican) 38.1% Mark Jones (Libertarian) 1.2% Jacqueline Kossoff (Natural Law) 0.6% |
| Georgia | Sam Nunn | Democratic | Retired: Democratic victory | 'Max Cleland' (Democratic) 48.9% Guy Millner (Republican) 47.5% John Gregory Cashin (Libertarian) 3.6% |
| Idaho | 'Larry E. Craig' | Republican | Re-elected, 57% | Walt Minnick (Democratic) 40% Mary J. Charbonneau (Independent) 2% Susan Vegors (Natural Law) 1% |
| Illinois | Paul Simon | Democratic | Retired: Democratic victory | 'Richard J. Durbin' (Democratic) 56.1% Al Salvi (Republican) 40.7% Steven H. Perry (Reform) 1.4% Robin J. Miller (Libertarian) 1% Chad Koppie (U.S. Taxpayers) 0.4% James E. Davis (Natural Law) 0.3% |
| Iowa | 'Tom Harkin' | Democratic | Re-elected, 52% | Jim Ross Lightfoot 47% (Republican) |
| Kansas | Nancy Kassebaum | Republican | Retired: Republican victory | 'Pat Roberts' (Republican) 62% Sally Thompson (Democratic) 34% |
| Kansas1 | Sheila Frahm | Republican | Defeated in Primary: Republican victory | 'Sam Brownback' (Republican) 54% Jill Docking (Democratic) 43% |
| Kentucky | 'Mitch McConnell' | Republican | Re-elected, 55% | Steve Beshear (Democratic) 43% |
| Louisiana | Bennett Johnston Jr. | Democratic | Retired: Democratic victory | 'Mary Landrieu' (Democratic) 50% Woody Jenkins (Republican) 50% |
| Maine | William Cohen | Republican | Retired: Republican victory | 'Susan M. Collins' (Republican) 49.2% Joe Brennan (Democratic) 43.8% John Rensenbrink (Green) 4% William P. Clarke (U.S. Taxpayers) 3% |
| Massachusetts | 'John Kerry' | Democratic | Re-elected, 52% | William Weld (Republican) 45% |
| Michigan | 'Carl Levin' | Democratic | Re-elected, 58% | Ronna Romney (Republican) 40% |
| Minnesota | 'Paul Wellstone' | Democratic (DFL) | Re-elected, 50.3% | Rudy Boschwitz (Republican) 41.3% Dean Barkley (Reform) 7% Tim Davis (Grass Roots) 0.6% Roy Ezra Carlton (Libertarian) 0.2% Steve Johnson (Natural Law) 0.2% Thomas A. Fiske (Socialist Workers) 0.1% |
| Mississippi | 'Thad Cochran' | Republican | Re-elected, 71% | James Hunt (Democratic) 27% |
| Montana | 'Max Baucus' | Democratic | Re-elected, 49.5% | Dennis Rehberg (Republican) 44.7% Becky Shaw (Reform) 4.7% Stephen Heaton (Natural Law) 1% |
| Nebraska | J. James Exon | Democratic | Retired: Republican victory | 'Chuck Hagel' (Republican) 56% Ben Nelson (Democratic) 42% |
| New Hampshire | 'Bob Smith' | Republican | Re-elected, 49.3% | Dick Swett (Democratic) 46.2% Ken Blevens (Libertarian) 4.5% |
| New Jersey | Bill Bradley | Democratic | Retired: Democratic victory | 'Robert Torricelli' (Democratic) 53% Dick Zimmer (Republican) 43% |
| New Mexico | 'Pete Domenici' | Republican | Re-elected, 64% | Art Trujillo (Democratic) 30% Abraham Guttman (Green) 4.5% |
| North Carolina | 'Jesse Helms' | Republican | Re-elected, 53% | Harvey Gantt (Democratic) 46% |
| Oklahoma | 'Jim Inhofe' | Republican | Re-elected, 57% | James Boren (Democratic) 40% |
| Oregon | Mark Hatfield | Republican | Retired: Republican victory | 'Gordon H. Smith' (Republican) 50% Tom Bruggere (Democratic) 46% Gary Kutcher (Green) 1% |
| Rhode Island | Claiborne Pell | Democratic | Retired: Democratic victory | 'John F. Reed' (Democratic) 63.3% Nancy Mayer (Republican) 35% Donald W. Lovejoy (Independent) 1.7% |
| South Carolina | 'Strom Thurmond' | Republican | Re-elected, 53% | Elliot Close (Democratic) 44% |
| South Dakota | Larry Pressler | Republican | Defeated, 49% | 'Tim Johnson' (Democratic) 51% |
| Tennessee | 'Fred Thompson' | Republican | Re-elected, 61% | Houston Gordon (Democratic) 37% |
| Texas | 'Phil Gramm' | Republican | Re-elected, 55% | Victor Morales (Democratic) 44% |
| Virginia | 'John Warner' | Republican | Re-elected, 52% | Mark Warner (Democratic) 47% |
| West Virginia | 'Jay Rockefeller' | Democratic | Re-elected, 77% | Betty Burkes (Republican) 23% |
| Wyoming | Alan K. Simpson | Republican | Retired: Republican victory | 'Michael B. Enzi' (Republican) 54% Joyce Jansa Corcoran (Democratic) 42% W. David Herbert (Libertarian) 2.5% Lloyd Marsden (Natural Law) 1% |
1 Special election due to resignation of Bob Dole to pursue the presidency -- next regular election held in 1998
2 Smith also lost in 1996, to Democrat Ron Wyden, in a January special election.
See also
★ United States presidential election, 1996
★ United States House elections, 1996
Senate composition before and after elections
| '104th Congress Senate Composition' | '105th Congress Senate Composition' | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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