1996 United States Senate special election in Oregon

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1996 United States Senate special election in Oregon
Flag of Oregon.svg
  1992 January 30, 1996 1998  
  Ron Wyden official portrait.jpg Gordon Smith.jpg
Nominee Ron Wyden Gordon Smith
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote571,739553,519
Percentage47.78%46.26%

1996 United States Senate special election in Oregon results map by county.svg
County results
Wyden:      40–50%     50–60%     60–70%
Smith:      40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

U.S. senator before election

Vacant

Elected U.S. Senator

Ron Wyden
Democratic

The 1996 United States Senate special election in Oregon was held on January 30, 1996, to fill the seat vacated by Republican Bob Packwood, who had resigned from the Senate due to sexual misconduct allegations. Governor at the time John Kitzhaber did not appoint anyone to temporarily fill in for the rest of Packwood's term and called for a special election on January 30, 1996.

Contents

In the primaries held on December 5, 1995, Democratic U.S. Representative Ron Wyden and Republican President of the Oregon State Senate Gordon H. Smith were nominated. Wyden then defeated Smith in the general election. [1] Smith would win the regularly-scheduled election to the Senate later that year and serve alongside Wyden until 2009. Wyden's victory made him the first Democratic senator from Oregon since 1969, after Wayne Morse very narrowly lost re-election to Packwood.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Results by county
Wyden
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30-40%
40-50%
50-60%
60-70%
DeFazio
40-50%
50-60%
60-70%
70-80%
80-90% 1996 United States Senate special Democratic primary election in Oregon results map by county.svg
Results by county
Wyden
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
DeFazio
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  •   80–90%
Democratic primary results [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Ron Wyden 212,532 49.46%
Democratic Peter DeFazio 187,41143.61%
Democratic Anna Nevenic11,2012.61%
Democratic Michael Donnelly8,3401.94%
Democratic Write-in Candidates7,9591.85%
Democratic J.J.T. Van Dooremolen2,2790.53%
Plurality25,1215.85%
Total votes429,722 100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Results by county
Smith
50-60%
60-70%
70-80%
80-90% 1996 United States Senate special election in Oregon, Republican primary.svg
Results by county
Smith
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  •   80–90%
Republican primary results [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Gordon H. Smith 246,060 63.63
Republican Norma Paulus 98,15825.38
Republican Jack Roberts 29,6877.68
Republican John Thomas3,2720.85
Republican Brian Boquist 3,2280.84
Republican Tony G. Zangaro1,6380.42
Republican Sam Berry1,4260.37
Republican Jeffrey Brady1,1600.3
Republican Valentine Christian9430.24
Republican Robert J. Fenton6320.16
Republican Lex Loeb5080.13
Majority147,90238.25%
Total votes386,712 100

General election

Results

General election results [5]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Ron Wyden 571,739 47.78%
Republican Gordon H. Smith 553,51946.26%
American Independent Karen Shilling25,5972.14%
Libertarian Gene Nanni15,6981.31%
Independent Write-In Candidates14,9581.25%
Socialist Vickie Valdez7,8720.66%
Pacific Green Lou Gold7,2250.60%
Plurality18,2201.52%
Total votes1,196,608 100.0%
Democratic gain from Republican

See also

References

  1. "Our Campaigns - OR US Senate - Special Election Race - Jan 30, 1996".
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on November 21, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Our Campaigns - OR US Senate - Special D Primary Race - Dec 05, 1995".
  4. "Our Campaigns - OR US Senate - Special R Primary Race - Dec 05, 1995".
  5. "Content Manager WebDrawer - 1996 Special Election Official Results".