1996 United States Senate election in Alabama
November 5, 1996
 
Nominee Jeff Sessions Roger Bedford
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 786,436 681,651
Percentage 52.45% 45.46%
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.

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
  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
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%
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
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Roger Bedford 141,747 61.59%
Democratic Glen Browder 88,415 38.41%
Total votes 230,162 100.00%

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%
June 4 Republican primary results
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%
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
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jeff Sessions 81,681 59.26%
Republican Sid McDonald 56,156 40.74%
Total votes 137,837 100.00%

General election

Candidates

Results

General election results
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

See also

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.
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