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United States · Election results history · 1996 Senate · Iowa
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.

1996 US Senate election in Iowa

Tom Harkin (Democrat) beat Jim Lightfoot (Republican) in Iowa in 1996, 51.8% to 46.7%, a margin of 5.1 points and 62,359 votes.

The Democratic hold continued from 1990, when Tom Harkin also won.

Democrats led in 52 of the 99 counties and Republicans in 47. The largest, Polk, cast 157,342 votes and went to the Democrat by 12.4 points. The closest was Louisa, where 29 votes separated the two parties.

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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.

Senate

CandidatePartyVotesShare
Tom Harkin won Democratic 634,166 51.8%
Jim Lightfoot Republican 571,807 46.7%
All other candidates 18,081 1.5%
Total1,224,054

Every county

CountyDemocratRepublicanOthersTotalMargin
Polk 87,653 55.7% 68,099 43.3% 1,590 157,342 D+12.4
Linn 48,101 58.1% 33,806 40.8% 907 82,814 D+17.3
Scott 32,857 51.8% 29,636 46.7% 923 63,416 D+5.1
Black Hawk 30,770 58.5% 21,283 40.5% 504 52,557 D+18.1
Johnson 30,208 66.5% 14,140 31.1% 1,067 45,415 D+35.4
Dubuque 21,190 56.2% 15,954 42.3% 537 37,681 D+13.9
Woodbury 17,334 46.5% 19,343 51.8% 634 37,311 R+5.4
Story 18,216 56.1% 13,878 42.7% 381 32,475 D+13.4
Pottawattamie 14,551 44.8% 17,144 52.8% 761 32,456 R+8.0
Cerro Gordo 11,715 55.2% 9,186 43.2% 341 21,242 D+11.9
Clinton 11,381 54.2% 9,308 44.3% 320 21,009 D+9.9
Des Moines 10,727 59.6% 6,970 38.7% 301 17,998 D+20.9
Marshall 9,163 52.8% 7,995 46.1% 201 17,359 D+6.7
Warren 9,151 52.8% 8,043 46.4% 140 17,334 D+6.4
Jasper 8,908 53.6% 7,489 45.0% 232 16,629 D+8.5
Webster 8,551 52.2% 7,674 46.8% 160 16,385 D+5.4
Dallas 8,397 52.4% 7,450 46.5% 169 16,016 D+5.9
Lee 9,622 61.6% 5,672 36.3% 333 15,627 D+25.3
Muscatine 7,920 51.6% 7,154 46.7% 261 15,335 D+5.0
Wapello 8,584 57.9% 6,006 40.5% 232 14,822 D+17.4
Sioux 2,259 16.5% 11,358 83.0% 65 13,682 R+66.5
Marion 5,905 45.6% 6,943 53.6% 98 12,946 R+8.0
Boone 6,774 57.1% 4,956 41.8% 129 11,859 D+15.3
Benton 5,797 56.1% 4,393 42.5% 138 10,328 D+13.6
Bremer 5,258 51.7% 4,775 47.0% 135 10,168 D+4.8
Plymouth 3,366 35.0% 6,099 63.4% 155 9,620 R+28.4
Fayette 4,997 52.7% 4,373 46.1% 109 9,479 D+6.6
Buchanan 5,214 58.3% 3,583 40.0% 152 8,949 D+18.2
Mahaska 3,717 41.8% 5,085 57.3% 80 8,882 R+15.4
Carroll 3,859 44.0% 4,824 54.9% 96 8,779 R+11.0
Winneshiek 4,331 49.8% 4,226 48.6% 146 8,703 D+1.2
Jones 4,905 57.2% 3,516 41.0% 151 8,572 D+16.2
Kossuth 4,027 47.6% 4,307 50.9% 121 8,455 R+3.3
Hardin 4,068 48.7% 4,199 50.3% 89 8,356 R+1.6
Jackson 4,628 56.0% 3,468 42.0% 165 8,261 D+14.0
Henry 4,111 50.1% 3,903 47.6% 184 8,198 D+2.5
Poweshiek 4,288 52.6% 3,727 45.7% 137 8,152 D+6.9
Washington 4,016 49.6% 3,928 48.5% 158 8,102 D+1.1
Clayton 4,357 55.2% 3,441 43.6% 96 7,894 D+11.6
Buena Vista 3,450 43.7% 4,346 55.1% 94 7,890 R+11.4
Tama 4,175 54.1% 3,439 44.5% 108 7,722 D+9.5
Dickinson 3,546 46.6% 3,957 52.0% 110 7,613 R+5.4
Cedar 4,018 52.9% 3,442 45.3% 132 7,592 D+7.6
Jefferson 2,880 39.3% 2,841 38.8% 1,603 7,324 D+0.5
Clay 3,348 45.8% 3,880 53.1% 84 7,312 R+7.3
Hamilton 3,639 49.8% 3,569 48.9% 95 7,303 D+1.0
Delaware 3,754 51.8% 3,396 46.9% 92 7,242 D+4.9
Iowa 3,601 51.0% 3,349 47.4% 110 7,060 D+3.6
Page 1,796 25.6% 5,167 73.6% 60 7,023 R+48.0
Cass 2,666 38.9% 4,086 59.6% 109 6,861 R+20.7
Floyd 3,708 54.7% 2,959 43.6% 116 6,783 D+11.0
O'Brien 2,070 31.0% 4,541 67.9% 76 6,687 R+37.0
Harrison 2,828 43.4% 3,567 54.8% 120 6,515 R+11.3
Crawford 2,990 46.2% 3,400 52.6% 76 6,466 R+6.3
Butler 2,998 46.5% 3,370 52.3% 79 6,447 R+5.8
Cherokee 2,850 44.7% 3,427 53.8% 93 6,370 R+9.1
Madison 3,159 49.9% 3,095 48.9% 81 6,335 D+1.0
Chickasaw 3,461 54.8% 2,778 43.9% 82 6,321 D+10.8
Allamakee 2,595 44.8% 3,082 53.2% 111 5,788 R+8.4
Wright 2,691 46.6% 3,022 52.4% 57 5,770 R+5.7
Mills 2,083 36.2% 3,544 61.6% 122 5,749 R+25.4
Shelby 2,168 37.8% 3,509 61.1% 65 5,742 R+23.4
Grundy 2,379 42.6% 3,167 56.7% 41 5,587 R+14.1
Union 2,680 48.4% 2,788 50.4% 66 5,534 R+2.0
Winnebago 2,712 49.6% 2,675 48.9% 78 5,465 D+0.7
Appanoose 2,727 51.0% 2,535 47.4% 84 5,346 D+3.6
Hancock 2,301 43.4% 2,921 55.1% 76 5,298 R+11.7
Montgomery 1,673 32.5% 3,382 65.8% 85 5,140 R+33.2
Guthrie 2,518 49.2% 2,559 50.0% 39 5,116 R+0.8
Lyon 1,370 26.9% 3,669 72.0% 58 5,097 R+45.1
Mitchell 2,505 49.7% 2,472 49.0% 63 5,040 D+0.7
Keokuk 2,570 51.7% 2,321 46.7% 78 4,969 D+5.0
Sac 2,064 41.6% 2,846 57.4% 48 4,958 R+15.8
Humboldt 2,275 45.9% 2,613 52.7% 68 4,956 R+6.8
Calhoun 2,154 44.7% 2,605 54.1% 57 4,816 R+9.4
Greene 2,463 51.3% 2,294 47.8% 47 4,804 D+3.5
Franklin 2,274 48.2% 2,367 50.2% 74 4,715 R+2.0
Palo Alto 2,293 50.9% 2,156 47.8% 59 4,508 D+3.0
Howard 2,192 49.8% 2,142 48.7% 67 4,401 D+1.1
Emmet 2,248 51.3% 2,069 47.2% 68 4,385 D+4.1
Louisa 2,102 48.5% 2,131 49.1% 104 4,337 R+0.7
Monona 1,987 47.0% 2,183 51.7% 55 4,225 R+4.6
Pocahontas 1,943 46.3% 2,188 52.1% 65 4,196 R+5.8
Worth 2,170 54.7% 1,724 43.5% 73 3,967 D+11.2
Adair 1,749 44.3% 2,165 54.8% 34 3,948 R+10.5
Clarke 1,972 50.5% 1,896 48.5% 40 3,908 D+1.9
Lucas 1,948 49.9% 1,919 49.2% 37 3,904 D+0.7
Davis 2,017 53.8% 1,669 44.5% 63 3,749 D+9.3
Decatur 1,775 48.9% 1,813 50.0% 41 3,629 R+1.0
Ida 1,448 40.2% 2,095 58.2% 58 3,601 R+18.0
Fremont 1,247 34.7% 2,291 63.8% 54 3,592 R+29.1
Monroe 1,894 53.8% 1,589 45.1% 39 3,522 D+8.7
Audubon 1,637 48.9% 1,678 50.1% 35 3,350 R+1.2
Van Buren 1,557 47.8% 1,662 51.0% 41 3,260 R+3.2
Wayne 1,467 47.3% 1,613 52.0% 24 3,104 R+4.7
Taylor 1,199 39.0% 1,863 60.5% 15 3,077 R+21.6
Osceola 958 31.8% 2,021 67.1% 32 3,011 R+35.3
Ringgold 1,320 48.2% 1,397 51.0% 22 2,739 R+2.8
Adams 1,028 45.1% 1,229 54.0% 20 2,277 R+8.8

Margin: the Democrat's share of all votes minus the Republican's. Sources and how the results were checked.

Iowa Senate elections we hold

YearWinnerMargin
2022 Chuck Grassley (R) R+12.2
2020 Joni Ernst (R) R+6.6
2016 Chuck Grassley (R) R+24.4
2014 Joni Ernst (R) R+8.3
2010 Chuck Grassley (R) R+31.0
2008 Tom Harkin (D) D+25.4
2004 Charles E. Grassley (R) R+42.3
2002 Tom Harkin (D) D+10.4
1998 Charles E. Grassley (R) R+37.9
1996 Tom Harkin (D) D+5.1
1992 Chuck Grassley (R) R+42.4
1990 Tom Harkin (D) D+9.1
1986 Charles E. Grassley (R) R+32.5
1984 Tom Harkin (D) D+11.8
1980 Charles E. Grassley (R) R+7.9
1978 Roger W. Jepsen (R) R+3.2
1974 John C. Culver (D) D+4.8
1972 Dick Clark (D) D+11.0
1968 Harold E. Hughes (D) D+0.6
1966 Jack Miller (R) R+23.1
1962 Bourke Hickenlooper (R) R+6.8
1960 Jack Miller (R) R+3.8
1956 Bourke Hickenlooper (R) R+7.8
1954 Thomas E. Martin (R) R+4.7
1950 Bourke Hickenlooper (R) R+10.1
1948 Guy M. Gillette (D) D+16.2
1944 Bourke Hickenlooper (R) R+2.9
1942 George A. Wilson (R) R+16.3
1938 Guy M. Gillette (D) D+0.3
1936 Clyde L. Herring (D) D+3.4
1932 Richard L. Murphy (D) D+13.9
1930 Lester Dickinson (R) R+13.3
1926 Smith W. Brookhart (R) R+13.2
1924 Smith W. Brookhart (R) R+0.1
1920 Albert B. Cummins (R) R+24.0
1918 William S. Kenyon (R) R+30.8
1914 Albert B. Cummins (R) R+9.0