Election 1996 Results
Each election opens in its own mode: the forecast before the votes are counted, the live count while races are still too close to call, and the results once every race is decided.
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1996 Senate election results by state and county
Clinton won a second term, but Republicans took 20 of the Senate seats up and added two to their majority, mostly by winning open seats in the South.
33 Senate races were held in 1996, plus 2 special elections. Democrats won 13 and Republicans 20.
The closest were Louisiana (D+0.3), Georgia (D+1.3) and South Dakota (D+2.6). 6 seats changed party: Alabama to the Republicans, Arkansas to the Republicans, Nebraska to the Republicans, Oklahoma to the Republicans, South Dakota to the Democrats and Tennessee to the Republicans.
Early projection, based on early and incomplete polling: the likely matchups, each weighted by the betting markets' odds of both nominations, not a result. Each county is its 2024 presidential margin moved by its state's projected swing; set a national vote and every state, district and county moves by the same amount from our projection. Colours run in 100 steps from a safe Republican to a safe Democratic margin. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.
About the 1996 Senate elections
Clinton beat Bob Dole, who had resigned as Senate majority leader to run, with 379 electoral votes. Voters kept Republicans in charge of Congress. Republicans won 20 Senate races and Democrats 13, and Republicans made a net gain of two seats for a 55-45 majority. Retirements of Southern Democrats opened the way. Jeff Sessions won Alabama, Tim Hutchinson won Arkansas, and Chuck Hagel won Nebraska. Democrats gained South Dakota, where Tim Johnson beat Larry Pressler by 2.6 points, the only incumbent to lose. Several races were very close. In Louisiana, Mary Landrieu beat Woody Jenkins by 0.3 points. Jenkins challenged the result, and the Senate allowed it to stand. Max Cleland won Georgia by 1.3 points. In Oregon, Gordon Smith lost a special election to Ron Wyden early in the year and then won the state's other seat in November. In Maine, Susan Collins won an open seat, and in Virginia John Warner beat Mark Warner, who later won the state's other seat.
Every race
| State | Democrat | Votes | Republican | Votes | Others | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama flip | Roger Bedford | 681,651 (45.5%) | Jeff Sessions | 786,436 (52.5%) | 31,306 | R+7.0 |
| Alaska | Theresa Obermeyer | 23,977 (10.3%) | Ted Stevens | 177,893 (76.7%) | Jed Whittaker (Green) 29,037 (12.5%) |
R+66.4 |
| Arkansas flip | Winston Bryant | 400,241 (47.3%) | Y. Tim Hutchinson | 445,942 (52.7%) | R+5.4 | |
| Colorado | Tom Strickland | 667,600 (45.7%) | Wayne Allard | 750,315 (51.4%) | 41,686 | R+5.7 |
| Delaware | Joseph R. Biden Jr. | 165,465 (60.0%) | Raymond J. Clatworthy | 105,088 (38.1%) | 5,038 | D+21.9 |
| Georgia | Max Cleland | 1,103,993 (48.9%) | Guy W. Millner | 1,073,969 (47.5%) | 81,262 | D+1.3 |
| Idaho | Walt Minnick | 198,422 (39.9%) | Larry E. Craig | 283,532 (57.0%) | 15,279 | R+17.1 |
| Illinois | Richard J. Durbin | 2,384,028 (56.1%) | Al Salvi | 1,728,824 (40.7%) | 137,870 | D+15.4 |
| Iowa | Tom Harkin | 634,166 (51.8%) | Jim Lightfoot | 571,807 (46.7%) | 18,081 | D+5.1 |
| Kansas | Sally Thompson | 362,380 (34.4%) | Pat Roberts | 652,677 (62.0%) | 37,243 | R+27.6 |
| Kansas (special) | Jill Docking | 461,344 (43.3%) | Sam Brownback | 574,021 (53.9%) | 29,351 | R+10.6 |
| Kentucky | Steven L. Beshear | 560,012 (42.8%) | Mitch McConnell | 724,794 (55.5%) | 22,240 | R+12.6 |
| Louisiana | Mary Landrieu | 852,945 (50.2%) | Woody Jenkins | 847,157 (49.8%) | D+0.3 | |
| Louisiana: Decided in the November general election after the September open primary. | ||||||
| Maine | Joseph E. Brennan | 266,226 (43.9%) | Susan M. Collins | 298,422 (49.2%) | 42,129 | R+5.3 |
| Massachusetts | John F. Kerry | 1,334,135 (52.2%) | William F. Weld | 1,143,120 (44.7%) | 78,687 | D+7.5 |
| Michigan | Carl Levin | 2,195,738 (58.4%) | Ronna Romney | 1,500,106 (39.9%) | 66,731 | D+18.5 |
| Minnesota | Paul Wellstone | 1,098,430 (50.3%) | Rudy Boschwitz | 901,194 (41.3%) | Dean Barkley (Reform) 152,328 (7.0%) |
D+9.0 |
| Mississippi | Bootie Hunt | 240,647 (27.4%) | Thad Cochran | 624,154 (71.0%) | 13,861 | R+43.7 |
| Montana | Max Baucus | 201,935 (49.6%) | Dennis Rehberg | 182,111 (44.7%) | 23,444 | D+4.9 |
| Nebraska flip | Ben Nelson | 281,904 (41.6%) | Chuck Hagel | 379,933 (56.1%) | 15,121 | R+14.5 |
| New Hampshire | Dick Swett | 227,355 (46.2%) | Bob Smith | 242,257 (49.3%) | 22,261 | R+3.0 |
| New Jersey | Robert Torricelli | 1,519,328 (53.1%) | Dick Zimmer | 1,227,817 (42.9%) | 113,012 | D+10.2 |
| New Mexico | Art Trujillo | 164,356 (29.8%) | Pete V. Domenici | 357,171 (64.7%) | 30,294 | R+34.9 |
| North Carolina | Harvey B. Gantt | 1,173,875 (45.9%) | Jesse Helms | 1,345,833 (52.6%) | 36,748 | R+6.7 |
| Oklahoma flip | Jim Boren | 474,162 (40.1%) | James M. Inhofe | 670,610 (56.7%) | 38,378 | R+16.6 |
| Oregon | Tom Bruggere | 624,370 (45.9%) | Gordon Smith | 677,336 (49.8%) | 58,524 | R+3.9 |
| Oregon (special) flip | Ron Wyden | 571,739 (47.8%) | Gordon H. Smith | 553,519 (46.3%) | 71,350 | D+1.5 |
| Rhode Island | Jack Reed | 230,676 (63.3%) | Nancy J. Mayer | 127,368 (35.0%) | 6,327 | D+28.4 |
| South Carolina | Elliot Springs Close | 510,951 (44.0%) | Strom Thurmond | 619,859 (53.4%) | 30,421 | R+9.4 |
| South Dakota flip | Tim Johnson | 166,533 (51.3%) | Larry Pressler | 157,954 (48.7%) | D+2.6 | |
| Tennessee flip | Houston Gordon | 654,937 (36.8%) | Fred Thompson | 1,091,554 (61.4%) | 32,173 | R+24.6 |
| Texas | Victor M. Morales | 2,428,776 (43.9%) | Phil Gramm | 3,027,680 (54.8%) | 70,985 | R+10.8 |
| Virginia | Mark R. Warner | 1,115,982 (47.4%) | John W. Warner | 1,235,744 (52.5%) | 2,989 | R+5.1 |
| West Virginia | John D. Rockefeller IV | 456,526 (76.6%) | Betty A. Burks | 139,088 (23.4%) | D+53.3 | |
| Wyoming | Kathy Karpan | 89,103 (42.2%) | Michael B. Enzi | 114,116 (54.1%) | 7,858 | R+11.9 |
Margin: the Democrat's share of all votes minus the Republican's. Margins are Democrat minus Republican, of all votes. Certified results, from the states' own archives, the MIT Election Data and Science Lab, Heideman (2026) and Algara & Amlani (2021). How these results were checked.