2010 United States Senate election in Alabama
November 2, 2010
 
Nominee Richard Shelby William G. Barnes
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 968,181 515,619
Percentage 65.18% 34.71%
County results
Shelby:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Barnes:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
U.S. senator before election

Richard Shelby
Republican

 Elected U.S. Senator

Richard Shelby
Republican

The 2010 United States Senate election in Alabama took place on November 2, 2010, alongside other elections to the United States Senate in other states, as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican Senator Richard Shelby won re-election to a fifth term.

Background

In 1986, Shelby won the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat held by Republican Jeremiah Denton, the first Republican elected to the Senate from Alabama since Reconstruction. He won a very close race as the Democrats regained control of the Senate. He was easily re-elected in 1992 even as Bill Clinton lost Alabama's electoral votes.

On November 9, 1994, Shelby switched his party affiliation to Republican, one day after the Republicans won control of both houses in the midterm elections, giving the Republicans a 53-47 majority in the Senate. He won his first full term as a Republican in 1998 by a large margin, and faced no significant opposition in 2004.

Shelby was popular in Alabama. A September 2009 poll showed he had a 58% approval rating, with 35% disapproving.[1]

Republican primary

Candidates

Polling

Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size		 Margin
of error		 Richard
Shelby		 Clint
Moser		 Other Undecided
Research 2000 May 10–12, 2010 600 ± 4.0% 63% 14% — 23%

Results

Republican primary results[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Richard Shelby (incumbent) 405,042 84.34%
Republican Clint Moser 75,190 15.66%
Total votes 480,232 100.00%

Democratic primary

Candidates

  • William G. Barnes, attorney
  • Simone De Moore, teacher and soul singer[4]

Polling

Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size		 Margin
of error		 William
Barnes		 Simone De
Moore		 Other Undecided
Research 2000 May 10–12, 2010 600 ± 4.0% 39% 11% 3% 47%

Results

County results
Democratic primary results[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic William G. Barnes 160,737 60.77%
Democratic Simone De Moore 103,784 39.23%
Total votes 264,521 100.00%

General election

Candidates

  • William G. Barnes (D), attorney
  • Richard Shelby (R), incumbent U.S. Senator since 1987

Campaign

Shelby, who switched from Democrat to Republican in the mid 1990s, was a popular senator in Alabama for three decades, first elected in 1986. He has over $17 million in the bank, one of the highest of any candidate in the country. Recently, he became even more popular in his opposition to the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, as the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee.

In May, Shelby told reporters "I don't even know who my opponent is."[5]

Predictions

Source Ranking As of
Cook Political Report[6] Solid R October 26, 2010
Rothenberg[7] Safe R October 22, 2010
RealClearPolitics[8] Safe R October 26, 2010
Sabato's Crystal Ball[9] Safe R October 21, 2010
CQ Politics[10] Safe R October 26, 2010

Polling

Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size		 Margin
of error		 Richard
Shelby (R)		 William G.
Barnes (D)		 Other Undecided
Rasmussen Reports (report) March 29, 2010 500 ± 4.5% 59% 32% 3% 6%
Research 2000 (report) May 17–19, 2010 600 ± 4.0% 57% 33% 3% 7%
Rasmussen Reports (report) May 25, 2010 500 ± 4.5% 58% 31% 3% 8%
Rasmussen Reports (report) June 3, 2010 500 ± 4.5% 58% 31% 3% 7%
Rasmussen Reports (report) July 22, 2010 500 ± 4.5% 59% 29% 6% 6%
Rasmussen Reports (report) August 19, 2010 500 ± 4.5% 60% 28% 2% 10%
Rasmussen Reports (report) September 21, 2010 500 ± 4.5% 58% 30% 4% 8%
Hypothetical polling
Richard Shelby vs. generic Democrat
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size		 Margin of
error		 Richard
Shelby (R)		 Generic
Democrat		 Undecided
Public Policy Polling March 27–29, 2010 1,270 ±2.8% 55% 37% 8%

Fundraising

Candidate (party) Receipts Disbursements Cash on hand Debt
Richard Shelby (R) $5,103,288 $1,456,041 $17,028,219 $0
William Barnes (D) $0 $0 $0 $0
Source: Federal Election Commission[11]

Results

2010 United States Senate election in Alabama[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Richard Shelby (incumbent) 968,181 65.18% -2.37%
Democratic William G. Barnes 515,619 34.71% +2.36%
Write-in 1,699 0.11% +0.01%
Total votes 1,485,499 100.00%
Republican hold

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

References

  1. ↑ "SurveyUSA News Poll #15743". Surveyusa.com. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
  2. ↑ alabama2010.com. "Alabama GOP". Alabama2010.com. Retrieved June 14, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. 1 2 "Alabama US Senate Primary Results". Politico. June 1, 2010. Retrieved June 1, 2010.
  4. ↑ "Candidates". Aladems.org. Archived from the original on May 27, 2010. Retrieved June 14, 2010.
  5. ↑ "Smooth sailing for Alabama's Shelby - MarketWatch 's Election Blog - MarketWatch". Blogs.marketwatch.com. May 28, 2010. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved June 14, 2010.
  6. ↑ "Senate". Cook Political Report. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
  7. ↑ "Senate Ratings". Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
  8. ↑ "Battle for the Senate". RealClearPolitics. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
  9. ↑ "2010 Senate Ratings". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
  10. ↑ "Race Ratings Chart: Senate". CQ Politics. Archived from the original on October 28, 2010. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
  11. ↑ "2010 House and Senate Campaign Finance for Alabama". fec.gov. Retrieved August 12, 2010.
  12. ↑ "2010 General Election Results" (PDF). Alabama Secretary of State.
Official candidate websites
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