![]() | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
Sessions: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Bedford: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% | |||||||||||||||||
|
Elections in Alabama |
---|
![]() |
![]() |
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 swearing-in or the inauguration of Jeff Sessions marked the first time since 1871 that Republicans simultaneously held both Senate seats. This was the first time ever that a Republican won a full term to this Senate seat.
In the 1968 presidential election, Alabama supported native son and American Independent Party candidate George Wallace over both Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey. Wallace was the official Democratic candidate in Alabama, while Humphrey was listed as the "National Democratic". [1] In 1976, Democratic candidate Jimmy Carter from Georgia carried the state, the region, and the nation, but Democratic control of the region slipped after that.
Since 1980, conservative Alabama voters have increasingly voted for Republican candidates at the Federal level, especially in Presidential elections. By contrast, Democratic candidates have been elected to many state-level offices and, until 2010, comprised a longstanding majority in the Alabama Legislature.
Three-term incumbent Howell Heflin decided not to seek re-election. A 75-year-old moderate-to-conservative Democrat, Heflin was re-elected in 1990 with over 60% of the vote. Until 2017, Richard Shelby’s 1992 victory was the last time Democrats won a U.S. Senate seat in Alabama; Shelby later became a Republican in 1994.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Roger Bedford | 141,360 | 44.77% | |
Democratic | Glen Browder | 91,203 | 28.89% | |
Democratic | Natalie Davis | 71,588 | 22.67% | |
Democratic | Marilyn Q. Bromberg | 11,573 | 3.67% | |
Total votes | 315,724 | 100.00% |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Roger Bedford | 141,747 | 61.59% | |
Democratic | Glen Browder | 88,415 | 38.41% | |
Total votes | 230,162 | 100.00% |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Jeff Sessions | 82,373 | 37.81% | |
Republican | Sid McDonald | 47,320 | 21.72% | |
Republican | Charles Woods | 24,409 | 11.20% | |
Republican | Frank McRight | 21,964 | 10.08% | |
Republican | Walter D. Clark | 18,745 | 8.60% | |
Republican | Jimmy Blake | 15,385 | 7.06% | |
Republican | Albert Lipscomb | 7,672 | 3.52% | |
Total votes | 217,868 | 100.00% |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Jeff Sessions | 81,681 | 59.26% | |
Republican | Sid McDonald | 56,156 | 40.74% | |
Total votes | 137,837 | 100.00% |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Jeff Sessions | 786,436 | 52.45% | |
Democratic | Roger Bedford | 681,651 | 45.46% | |
Libertarian | Mark Thornton | 21,550 | 1.44% | |
Natural Law | Charles Hebner | 9,123 | 0.61% | |
Write-in | 633 | 0.04% | ||
Total votes | 1,499,393 | 100.00% | ||
Republican gain from Democratic |
Howell Thomas Heflin was an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Alabama in the United States Senate from 1979 to 1997.
The 1996 United States Senate elections were held on November 5, 1996, 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 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.
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 1968 United States Senate elections were elections for the United States Senate. Held on November 5, the 34 seats of Class 3 were contested in regular elections. They coincided with the presidential election of the same year. The Republicans picked up five net seats in the Senate. This saw Republicans win a Senate seat in Florida for the first time since Reconstruction.
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 Alabama Republican Party is the state affiliate of the Republican Party in Alabama. It is the dominant political party in Alabama. The state party is governed by the Alabama Republican Executive Committee. The committee usually meets twice a year. As of the February 23, 2019 meeting in Birmingham, the committee is composed of 463 members. Most of the committee's members are elected in district elections across Alabama. The district members are elected in the Republican Primary once every four years, with the most recent election for the committee having been on June 5, 2018. The new committee takes office following the general election in November 2018. In addition, all 67 county GOP chairmen have automatic seats as voting members. The state chairman can appoint 10 members. Each county committee can appoint bonus members based on a formula that theoretically could add 312 seats, although that formula currently calls for only about 50 seats.
The 2008 United States Senate election in Alabama was held on November 4, 2008, to elect one of Alabama's members to the United States Senate. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions won re-election to a third term.
The 2002 United States Senate election in Alabama was held on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions won re-election to a second term. Sessions became the first Republican to be elected to two full terms to the Senate from the state. As of 2022, this is the most recent Senate election in Alabama in which Colbert and Lawrence counties voted for the Democratic candidate.
Julian L. McPhillips, Jr. is a U.S. lawyer and was a candidate for Attorney General of Alabama in 1978. In 2002, McPhillips lost out in the Democratic nomination to challenge first-term Republican incumbent Jeff Sessions for a U.S. Senate seat in Alabama.
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 as a Democrat in the U.S. Senate from Alabama.
The 1968 United States elections were held on November 5, and elected members of the 91st United States Congress. The election took place during the Vietnam War, in the same year as the Tet Offensive, the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, and the protests of 1968. The Republican Party won control of the presidency, and picked up seats in the House and Senate, although the Democratic Party retained control of Congress.
Elections in Alabama are authorized under the Alabama State Constitution, which establishes elections for the state level officers, cabinet, and legislature, and the election of county-level officers, including members of school boards.
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 1968 United States presidential election in Alabama was held on November 5, 1968. In Alabama, voters voted for electors individually instead of as a slate, as in the other 49 states.
The 2016 United States Senate election in Alabama was held on November 8, 2016, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Alabama, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
The 2020 United States Senate election in Alabama was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Alabama, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections.
The 1984 United States Senate election in Alabama was held on November 6, 1984.
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.
The 2017 United States Senate special election in Alabama took place on December 12, 2017, in order for the winner to serve the remainder of the U.S. Senate term ending on January 3, 2021. A vacancy arose from Senator Jeff Sessions's February 8, 2017, resignation from the Senate. Sessions resigned his post to serve as the 84th U.S. attorney general. On February 9, 2017, Governor Robert J. Bentley appointed Luther Strange, the attorney general of Alabama, to fill the vacancy until a special election could take place. The special election was scheduled for December 12, 2017.