33 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate 51 seats needed for a majority
Majority party
Minority party
Leader
Mike Mansfield (retired)
Hugh Scott (retired)
Party
Democratic
Republican
Leader since
January 3, 1961
September 24, 1969
Leader's seat
Montana
Pennsylvania
Seats before
61
37
Seats after
61
38
Seat change
1
Popular vote
31,790,526[1][a]
24,562,431[1][a]
Percentage
53.7%
41.5%
Seats up
21
10
Races won
21
11
Third party
Fourth party
Party
Independent
Conservative
Seats before
1
1
Seats after
1[b]
0
Seat change
1
Popular vote
890,778[1]
311,494[1]
Seats up
1
1
Races won
1
0
Results of the elections: Democratic gain Republican gain Democratic hold Republican hold Independent hold No election
Majority Leader before election
Mike Mansfield
Democratic
Elected Majority Leader
Robert Byrd
Democratic
The 1976 United States Senate elections was an election for the United States Senate. Held on November 2, the 33 seats of Class 1 were contested in regular elections. They coincided with Democrat Jimmy Carter's presidential election and the United States Bicentennial celebration. Although almost half of the seats decided in this election changed parties, Carter's narrow victory did not provide coattails for the Democratic Party. Each party flipped seven Senate seats, although, one of the seats flipped by Democrats was previously held by a Conservative.
This was the first election in which the Libertarian Party competed, running candidates in 9 of the 33 contested seats. As of 2024[update] this is the first and so far only time both party leaders retired from the Senate in the same election cycle since the creation of the positions. This is the last time Democrats or any party won a 60% supermajority via direct elections (although Democrats briefly held one in the summer of 2009).
^ abcdCite error: The named reference Clerk was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
and 30 Related for: 1976 United States Senate elections information
The 1976UnitedStatesSenateelections was an election for the UnitedStatesSenate. Held on November 2, the 33 seats of Class 1 were contested in regular...
The 1976UnitedStateselections were held on November 2, and elected the members of the 95th UnitedStates Congress. The Democratic Party won the presidential...
The 1976UnitedStatesSenateelection in Texas was held on November 2, 1976. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen won re-election to a second...
The 1976UnitedStatesSenateelection in Wisconsin was held on November 2, 1976. Incumbent Democrat William Proxmire defeated Republican nominee Stanley...
shareholder activist 1976UnitedStatesSenateelections "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 2, 1976" (PDF). Clerk of the...
The 1976UnitedStatesSenateelection in Ohio took place on November 2, 1976. Incumbent Republican senator Robert Taft, Jr. ran for re-election to second...
The 1976UnitedStatesSenateelection in Florida was held on November 2, 1976. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Lawton Chiles won re-election to a second...
The 1976UnitedStatesSenateelection in Connecticut took place on November 2, 1976. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Lowell Weicker won re-election to...
The 1976UnitedStatesSenateelection in Utah took place on November 2, 1976. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Frank Moss ran for re-election to a fourth...
The 1976UnitedStatesSenateelection in Mississippi was held on November 2, 1976. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator John C. Stennis won re-election to...
The 1976UnitedStatesSenateelection in Michigan took place on November 2, 1976. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Philip Hart decided to retire instead...
The 1976UnitedStatesSenateelection in Delaware took place on November 2, 1976. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Bill Roth won reelection to a second...
The 1976UnitedStatesSenateelection in Nevada was held on November 2, 1976. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Howard Cannon won re-election to a fourth...
The 1976UnitedStatesSenateelection in Hawaii took place on November 2, 1976. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Hiram Fong did not seek re-election to...
Wicomico 1976UnitedStatesSenateelections1976UnitedStateselections "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 2, 1976" (PDF)...
Privette, perennial candidate from Spokane 1976UnitedStatesSenateelections "Elections Search Results - September 1976 Primary". Washington Secretary of State...
American Party. 1976 UnitedStatesSenateelections "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 2, 1976" (PDF). Clerk of the...
Global Information
