United States Senate elections, 1996

United States Senate elections, 1996

November 5, 1996
Class 2 (33 of the 100) seats in the United States Senate and one mid-term vacancy from Class 3 51 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Trent Lott Tom Daschle Party Republican Democratic Leader's seat Mississippi South Dakota Last election 52 seats 48 seats Seats before 53 47 Seats won 55 45 Seat change 2 2 Popular vote 24,211,395 23,490,651 Percentage 49.4% 47.9% Swing 0.5% 3.9% Seats up 19 15
Democratic gain   Democratic hold   Republican hold   Republican gain
Majority Leader before election Trent Lott Republican Elected Majority Leader Trent Lott Republican

The United States Senate elections, 1996 coincided with the presidential election, in which Democrat Bill Clinton was re-elected President.

Despite the re-election of Clinton and Gore, and despite Democrats picking up a net two seats in the elections to the United States House of Representatives held the same day, the Republicans had a net gain of two seats in the Senate, following major Republican gains two years previously in the 1994 elections. As such, Clinton became the first president re-elected since Theodore Roosevelt in 1904 to win either of his terms without any Senate coattails.

The Republicans captured open seats in Alabama, Arkansas, and Nebraska. In South Dakota, Democrat Tim Johnson narrowly defeated incumbent Republican Larry Pressler.

The 1996 election marked the first time since 1980 that the Republican party made gains in the Senate for at least two consecutive election cycles.

Notable freshmen included future United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Results summary

Does not include Oregon's January 1996 special election, which was not held at the same time as this election.

Parties						Total
		Democratic	Republican	Libertarian	Other
Last election: 1994		47	53	—	—	100
End of last (104th) Congress		47	53	—	—	100
Not Up		32	34	—	—	66
Up		15	19	—	—	34
Incumbent retired	Held by same party	5	4	—	—	9
	Replaced by other party	3	0	—	—	3
Incumbent ran	Won re-election	7	13	—	—	20
	Lost re-election	0	1	—	—	1
	Lost renomination, but held by same party	0	1	—	—	1
Summary	Won	12	18	—	—	30
	Lost	3	1	—	—	4
	Gained	1	3	—	—	4
Elected		13	21	—	—	34
Result		45	55	—	—	100
Change		2	2
Popular Vote	Votes	23,490,651	24,211,395	362,208	939,895	49,004,149
	Share	47.94%	49.41%	0.74%	1.92%	100%

Sources:

• Party Division in the Senate, 1789-Present, via Senate.gov
• Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 5, 1996, via Clerk.House.gov

Change in Senate composition

Senate composition before the elections

Senate composition as a result of the elections

Gains, losses, and holds

Democratic gains

• South Dakota: Three-term Sen. Larry Pressler (R) faced a tough challenge from Rep. Tim Johnson (D). Johnson would defeat Pressler by 51% to 49% and become the only candidate to defeat an incumbent in this year's election cycle.

Democratic holds

• Georgia: Incumbent Senator Sam Nunn decided not to run for re-election and gave his endorsements to Secretary of State Max Cleland, the democratic nominee. However, Cleland faced a tough election against Republican Businessman Guy Milner who accused Cleland on rejecting war request and raising taxes for the rich. However Cleland claimed Milner was rich already and if elected would use the advantage of the senate for his wealth. Cleland won by a very narrow margin.
• Illinois: Two-term incumbent Senator Paul Simon decided not to seek reelection. The Democratic nominee was Congressman Richard Durbin, who had Simon's strong support. In the general election, he defeated Republican state Representative Al Salvi by a comfortable margin.
• Louisiana: Four-term Senator Bennett Johnson decided not to run for reelection. In the general election, state Treasurer Mary Landrieu faced up against longtime state Representative Woody Jenkins, who had run against Johnson in 1978. In the closest U.S. Senate race of the year, Landrieu won by less than 1%, a margin which held up to a recount.

Republican gains

• Alabama: Sen. Howell Heflin (D), 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) 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) 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). 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).

Summary of contests

Separate election

November elections

See also

• United States elections, 1996
  • United States gubernatorial elections, 1996
  • United States presidential election, 1996
  • United States House of Representatives elections, 1996
• 104th United States Congress
• 105th United States Congress