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  Collins: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Brennan: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Tie: 40–50% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Maine |
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The 1996 United States Senate election in Maine was held November 5, 1996. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator William Cohen decided to retire instead of seeking a fourth term. To replace him, U.S. Representative Joseph E. Brennan won the Democratic primary while political consultant Susan Collins won the Republican primary. A competitive general election ensued, but Collins ultimately won out over Brennan, keeping the seat in the Republican column. With Collins' election to the Senate in 1996, Maine became the third state after California and Kansas to have two sitting female senators, and the first to have two elected female Republican senators.
Contents
- Democratic primary
- Candidates
- Results
- Republican primary
- Candidates 2
- Results 2
- General election
- Results 3
- See also
- References
Brennan and Collins both ran in the 1994 gubernatorial election, and each won their respective party's nomination, but lost the general election to independent Angus King, who would be elected in Maine's other Senate seat in 2012 and become a Senator in 2013, serving alongside Collins.
This would be the last U.S. Senate election in Maine that would see a Democrat carry any Maine county until 2020, when Collins would lose Cumberland and Knox counties to Sara Gideon; Collins would be re-elected in 16 county landslides in 2002, 2008, and 2014, while Maine's other seat would see similar landslides for Republican Olympia Snowe in 2000 and 2006 and for Independent Angus King in 2012, 2018, and 2024.
