 | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
  Heflin: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% Cabaniss: 50–60% | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| Elections in Alabama |
|---|
 |
 Government |
The 1990 United States Senate election in Alabama was held on November 6, 1990. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Howell Heflin won re-election to a third term. As of 2024, it is the last time a Democrat was elected to the Class 2 Senate seat in Alabama until 2017, and the last time overall in which a Democrat was elected to and served a full term in the U.S. Senate from Alabama.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Howell Heflin (incumbent) | 717,814 | 60.57% | −2.10% | |
| Republican | Bill Cabaniss | 467,190 | 39.43% | +3.00% | |
| Total votes | 1,184,954 | 100.00% | |||
| Democratic hold | |||||
Joseph Taylor Robinson, also known as Joe T. Robinson, was an American politician from Arkansas. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Arkansas in the United States Senate from 1913 to 1937, serving for four years as Senate Majority Leader and ten as Minority Leader. He previously served as the state's 23rd governor, and was also the Democratic vice presidential nominee in the 1928 presidential election.
James Thomas Heflin, nicknamed "Cotton Tom", was an American politician who served as a United States representative and United States senator from Alabama.
Howell Thomas Heflin was an American lawyer and politician who represented Alabama in the United States Senate from 1979 to 1997.
Southern Democrats are members of the U.S. Democratic Party who reside in the Southern United States.
The 1996 United States Senate elections were held on November 5, with the 33 seats of Class 2 contested in regular elections. Special elections were also held to fill vacancies. They coincided with the presidential election of the same year, in which Democrat Bill Clinton was re-elected president.
The 1990 United States Senate elections were held on Tuesday, November 6, 1990, with the 33 seats of Class 2 contested in regular elections. Special elections were also held to fill vacancies. The Democratic Party increased its majority with a net gain of one seat from the Republican Party. The election cycle took place in the middle of President George H. W. Bush's term, and, as with most other midterm elections, the party not holding the presidency gained seats in Congress. Until 2022, this had been the only election cycle where only one U.S. Senate seat flipped parties.
The 1986 United States Senate elections were elections for the United States Senate. Held on November 4, in the middle of Ronald Reagan's second presidential term, the 34 seats of Class 3 were contested in regular elections. The Republicans had to defend an unusually large number of freshman Senate incumbents who had been elected on President Ronald Reagan's coattails in 1980. Democrats won a net of eight seats, defeating seven freshman incumbents, picking up two Republican-held open seats, and regaining control of the Senate for the first time since January 1981. This remains the most recent midterm election cycle in which the sitting president's party suffered net losses while still flipping a Senate seat.
The 1984 United States Senate elections were held on November 6, with the 33 seats of Class 2 contested in regular elections. They coincided with the landslide re-election of President Ronald Reagan in the presidential election. In spite of the lopsided presidential race, Reagan's Republican Party suffered a net loss of two Senate seats to the Democrats, although it retained control of the Senate with a reduced 53–47 majority. Democrats defeated incumbents in Illinois and Iowa, and won an open seat in Tennessee, while Republicans defeated an incumbent in Kentucky.
The 1978 United States Senate elections were held on November 7, in the middle of Democratic President Jimmy Carter's term. The 33 seats of Class 2 were contested in regular elections. Special elections were also held to fill vacancies.
The 1972 United States Senate elections were held on November 7, with the 33 seats of Class 2 contested in regular elections. They coincided with the landslide re-election of Republican President Richard Nixon. Despite Nixon's landslide victory, Democrats increased their majority by two seats. The Democrats picked up open seats in Kentucky and South Dakota, and defeated four incumbent senators: Gordon Allott of Colorado, J. Caleb Boggs of Delaware, Jack Miller of Iowa, and Margaret Chase Smith of Maine. The Republicans picked up open seats in New Mexico, North Carolina, and Oklahoma, and defeated one incumbent, William B. Spong Jr. of Virginia.
The 1960 United States Senate elections coincided with the election of John F. Kennedy as president on November 8, 1960. The 33 seats of Class 2 were contested in regular elections. A special election was also held on June 28, 1960, for a mid-term vacancy in North Dakota where Democrats flipped a seat to expand their majority to 66–34. As Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson was elected Vice President, Mike Mansfield became the new majority leader.
The 1948 United States Senate elections were held concurrently with the election of Democratic President Harry S. Truman for a full term. The 32 seats of Class 2 were contested in regular elections, and one special election was held to fill a vacancy. Truman campaigned against an "obstructionist" Congress that had blocked many of his initiatives, and additionally, the U.S. economy recovered from the postwar recession of 1946–1947 by election day. Thus, Truman was rewarded with a Democratic gain of nine seats in the Senate, enough to give them control of the chamber. This was the last time until 2020 that Democrats flipped a chamber of Congress in a presidential election cycle.
The 1930 United States Senate elections occurred in the middle of Republican President Herbert Hoover's term. The 32 seats of Class 2 were contested in regular elections, and special elections were held to fill vacancies. With the Great Depression beginning to take hold, Republican incumbents became unpopular, and Democrats picked up a net of eight seats, erasing the Republican gains from the previous election cycle, however, Republicans retained control of the chamber. This was the first of four consecutive Senate elections during the Depression in which Democrats made enormous gains, achieving a cumulative pick-up of 34 seats.
The 1990 United States House of Representatives elections was an election for the United States House of Representatives on November 6, 1990, to elect members to serve in the 102nd United States Congress. They occurred in the middle of President George H. W. Bush's term. As in most midterm elections, the President's Republican Party lost seats to the Democratic Party, slightly increasing the Democratic majority in the chamber. It was a rare instance, however, in which both major parties lost votes to third parties such as the Libertarian Party as well as independent candidates.
The 2008 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008, during the war on terror and the onset of the Great Recession. It was considered a Democratic wave election, with Democratic Senator Barack Obama of Illinois defeating Senator John McCain of Arizona by a wide margin, and the Democrats bolstering their majorities in both chambers of Congress, thereby marking the first time since 1992 in which the Democrats won Congress and the presidency in one election.
The 1996 United States Senate election in Alabama was held on November 5, 1996. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Howell Heflin decided to retire. Republican Jeff Sessions won the open seat, becoming the first of his party to win this seat since Reconstruction in 1868 and only the second Republican ever to be popularly elected to the U.S. Senate from Alabama.
The 2014 United States Senate election in Alabama took place on November 4, 2014, to elect a member of the United States Senate for Alabama.
The 1984 United States Senate election in Alabama was held on November 6, 1984.
The 1924 United States Senate election in Alabama was held on November 4, 1924.
The 1978 United States Senate election in Alabama was held on November 7, 1978. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator John Sparkman decided to retire and Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Howell Heflin was elected to succeed him.
