1996 United States Senate election in Alabama

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1996 United States Senate election in Alabama
Flag of Alabama.svg
  1990 November 5, 1996 2002  
  Jeff Sessions as a U.S. Senator in 1997.png No image.png
Nominee Jeff Sessions Roger Bedford
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote786,436681,651
Percentage52.45%45.46%

1996 United States Senate election in Alabama results map by county.svg
County results
Sessions:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%
Bedford:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%

U.S. senator before election

Howell Heflin
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Jeff Sessions
Republican

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.

Contents

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 Alabama.

Background

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, Heflin remained the last member of the Democratic Party to win a Senate seat in Republican-turning Alabama (his colleague, Richard Shelby, elected twice as a Democrat, switched his party affiliation to Republican in 1994).

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Democratic primary first round results by county
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Bedford
30-40%
40-50%
50-60%
60-70%
70-80%
80-90%
Browder
40-50%
50-60%
60-70%
70-80%
Davis
40-50%
60-70% 1996 United States Senate Democratic primary election in Alabama results map by county.svg
Democratic primary first round results by county
  Bedford
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  •   80–90%
  Browder
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  Davis
  •   40–50%
  •   60–70%
June 4 Democratic primary results
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Roger Bedford 141,360 44.77%
Democratic Glen Browder 91,203 28.89%
Democratic Natalie Davis71,58822.67%
Democratic Marilyn Q. Bromberg11,5733.67%
Total votes315,724 100.00%
Democratic primary runoff results by county
Bedford
50-60%
60-70%
70-80%
80-90%
Browder
50-60%
60-70%
70-80%
80-90% 1996 United States Senate Democratic primary runoff election in Alabama results map by county.svg
Democratic primary runoff results by county
  Bedford
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  •   80–90%
  Browder
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  •   80–90%
June 25 Democratic runoff results
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Roger Bedford 141,747 61.59%
Democratic Glen Browder 88,41538.41%
Total votes230,162 100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Republican primary first round results by county
Sessions
20-30%
30-40%
40-50%
50-60%
60-70%
70-80%
80-90%
McDonald
20-30%
30-40%
40-50%
50-60% 1996 United States Senate Republican primary election in Alabama results map by county.svg
Republican primary first round results by county
  Sessions
  •   20–30%
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  •   80–90%
  McDonald
  •   20–30%
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
June 4 Republican primary results
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Jeff Sessions 82,373 37.81%
Republican Sid McDonald 47,320 21.72%
Republican Charles Woods 24,40911.20%
Republican Frank McRight21,96410.08%
Republican Walter D. Clark18,7458.60%
Republican Jimmy Blake15,3857.06%
Republican Albert Lipscomb7,6723.52%
Total votes217,868 100.00%
Republican primary runoff results by county
Sessions
50-60%
60-70%
70-80%
80-90%
>90%
McDonald
50-60%
60-70%
70-80% 1996 United States Senate Republican primary runoff election in Alabama results map by county.svg
Republican primary runoff results by county
  Sessions
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  •   80–90%
  •   >90%
  McDonald
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
June 25 Republican runoff results
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Jeff Sessions 81,681 59.26%
Republican Sid McDonald56,15640.74%
Total votes137,837 100.00%

General election

Candidates

Results

General election results
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Jeff Sessions 786,436 52.45%
Democratic Roger Bedford 681,65145.46%
Libertarian Mark Thornton 21,5501.44%
Natural Law Charles Hebner9,1230.61%
Write-in 6330.04%
Total votes1,499,393 100.00%
Republican gain from Democratic

See also

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References

  1. "1968 Presidential General Election Results - Alabama". Uselectionatlas.org. November 5, 1968. Retrieved August 7, 2009.
  2. "Natalie Davis". Birmingham-Southern College. Archived from the original on November 16, 2011. Retrieved November 27, 2011.