2013 United States Senate elections

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2013 United States Senate elections
Flag of the United States.svg
  2012 June 25, 2013 – October 16, 2013 2014  

2 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate
51 seats needed for a majority
 Majority partyMinority party
  Harry Reid official portrait 2009 (3x4b).jpg Mitch McConnell official portrait 112th Congress.jpg
Leader Harry Reid Mitch McConnell
Party Democratic Republican
Leader's seat Nevada Kentucky
Seats before5246
Seats after5345
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 1Decrease2.svg 1
Popular vote1,383,7301,118,764
Percentage54.7%44.2%
Seats up11
Races won20

 Third party
 
Party Independent
Seats before2
Seats after2
Seat changeSteady2.svg
Popular vote14,233
Percentage0.5%
Seats up0
Races won0

2013 United States senate election results.svg
Results of the elections:
     Democratic gain
     Democratic hold
     No election

Majority Leader before election

Harry Reid
Democratic

Majority Leader after election

Harry Reid
Democratic

There were two special elections to the United States Senate in 2013; ordered by election date:

Contents

Race summary

State
(linked to summaries below)
IncumbentResultsCandidates
SenatorPartyElectoral
history
Massachusetts
(Class 2)
Mo Cowan Democratic2013 (Appointed)Interim appointee retired.
New senator elected June 25, 2013.
Democratic hold.
New Jersey
(Class 2)
Jeffrey Chiesa Republican2013 (Appointed)Interim appointee retired.
New senator elected October 16, 2013.
Democratic gain.

Massachusetts (special)

2013 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts
Flag of Massachusetts.svg
  2008 June 25, 2013 2014  
  Ed Markey, Official Portrait, 112th Congress 2 (cropped).jpg Gabriel e gomez (cropped).jpg
Nominee Ed Markey Gabriel E. Gomez
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote645,429525,307
Percentage54.7%44.5%

2013 United States Senate election in Massachusetts results map by county.svg
2013 United States Senate Special Election in Massachusetts by Municipality.svg
Markey:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%
Gomez:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

U.S. senator before election

Mo Cowan
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Ed Markey
Democratic

A special election was held June 25, 2013 to fill the Class 2 seat for the remainder of the term ending January 3, 2015.

The vacancy that prompted the special election was created by the resignation of Senator John Kerry, in order to become U.S. Secretary of State. [1] On January 30, 2013, Governor Deval Patrick chose his former Chief of Staff Mo Cowan to serve as interim U.S. Senator. Cowan declined to participate in the election. A party primary election was held April 30 to determinate the nominees of each party for the general election. The Massachusetts Democrats nominated congressman Ed Markey, while the Massachusetts Republicans nominated Gabriel E. Gomez, a businessman and former Navy SEAL.

The special primary elections took place on April 30. Democratic Congressman Ed Markey and Republican businessman Gabriel E. Gomez won their respective primaries.

Massachusetts Democratic special primary [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Ed Markey 311,219 57.0
Democratic Stephen Lynch230,33543.0
Massachusetts Republican special primary [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Gabriel Gomez 96,276 51.0
Republican Michael J. Sullivan67,91836.0
Republican Daniel Winslow24,63013.0
Massachusetts special election [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Edward Markey 642,988 54.71% Decrease2.svg11.11
Republican Gabriel Gomez525,08044.53%Increase2.svg13.54
Twelve Visions PartyRichard Heos4,5180.39%n/a
Write-ins and Blank4,4950.38%n/a
Majority 120,12210.18%
Turnout 1,179,781
Democratic hold Swing Decrease2.svg 11.1

New Jersey (special)

2013 United States Senate special election in New Jersey
Flag of New Jersey.svg
  2008 October 16, 2013 2014  
  Cory Booker, official portrait, 114th Congress.jpg Steve Lonegan by Gage Skidmore.jpg
Nominee Cory Booker Steve Lonegan
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote740,742593,684
Percentage54.9%44.0%

2013 United States Senate special election in New Jersey results map by county.svg
2013 NJ Senate special election by municipality.svg
Booker:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     90–100%
Lonegan:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%
Tie:     40–50%

U.S. senator before election

Jeffrey Chiesa
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Cory Booker
Democratic

A special election was held October 16, 2013 to fill the Class 2 seat for the remainder of the term ending January 3, 2015. The vacancy resulted from the death of five-term Democrat Frank Lautenberg on June 3, 2013. [4] In the interim, the seat was held by Republican Senator Jeffrey Chiesa, who was appointed on June 6, 2013 by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to serve until the elected winner was sworn in. [5] At the time of his appointment, Chiesa, then New Jersey's Attorney General, announced that he would not be a candidate in the special election. [6]

Following Lautenberg's death, there was a great deal of speculation and controversy over when a special election would or could be scheduled, but the following day, June 4, 2013, Christie announced that the primary would take place on August 13, 2013, and the special election on October 16, 2013. [7] Christie was criticized for scheduling a separate election for Senate when a gubernatorial election was already taking place in November. In the primary elections, the Republicans nominated former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan and the Democrats nominated Newark Mayor Cory Booker. [8] Booker led in every opinion poll and the race was called for him at approximately 9:45 pm EDT on October 16, 2013. Booker resigned as Mayor of Newark and was sworn in on October 31, 2013 to become the junior U.S. senator from New Jersey.

The special primary elections took place on August 13. Former Republican Mayor of Bogota Steve Lonegan and Democratic Mayor of Newark Cory Booker won their respective primaries. [8] They faced off against six Independent/Third Party candidates in the October 16, 2013 general election.

New Jersey special Republican primary election [9]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Steve Lonegan 103,280 80.09%
Republican Alieta Eck25,66919.91%
Total votes128,958 100.00%
New Jersey special Democratic primary election [9]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Cory Booker 216,936 59.17%
Democratic Frank Pallone72,58419.80%
Democratic Rush D. Holt Jr.61,46316.76%
Democratic Sheila Oliver15,6564.27%
Total votes366,639 100.00%
New Jersey special election [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Cory Booker 740,742 54.92% −1.11%
Republican Steve Lonegan593,68444.02%+2.07%
Independent Edward C. Stackhouse, Jr.5,1380.38%N/A
Independent Robert Depasquale3,1370.23%N/A
Independent Stuart David Meissner2,0510.15%N/A
Independent Pablo Olivera1,5300.11%N/A
Independent Antonio Nico Sabas1,3360.10%N/A
Independent Eugene M. LaVergne1,0410.08%N/A
Total votes'1,348,659''100.0%'N/A
Democratic gain from Republican

References

  1. "Senate votes to confirm Kerry as secretary of state". Reuters. January 29, 2013. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  2. 1 2 "2013 Massachusetts Senate Special Election Primaries". April 30, 2013.
  3. Massachusetts Election Statistics, 2014 (Report). Commonwealth of Massachusetts Elections Division. 2014. Archived from the original on December 31, 2017. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
  4. Blake, Aaron (June 3, 2013). "Sen. Frank Lautenberg dead at 89". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on June 5, 2013. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
  5. Blake, Aaron (June 6, 2013). "Christie to appoint Jeff Chiesa to Senate". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
  6. Zernike, Kate; Santora, Marc (June 6, 2013). "Christie Picks New Jersey's Attorney General to Be Interim Senator". The New York Times . Retrieved June 6, 2013.
  7. "Writ of Election" (PDF). June 4, 2013.
  8. 1 2 "New Jersey Senate Election: Cory Booker Wins Democratic Primary". August 13, 2013.
  9. 1 2 "2013 New Jersey Senate Special Election Primaries". August 13, 2013.
  10. "Official List Candidates for US Senate - For SPECIAL GENERAL ELECTION FOR US SENATE 10/16/2013 Election" (PDF). New Jersey Secretary of State. October 28, 2013. Retrieved November 7, 2013.