34 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate 51 seats needed for a majority
Majority party
Minority party
Leader
Trent Lott
Tom Daschle
Party
Republican
Democratic
Leader since
June 12, 1996
January 3, 1995
Leader's seat
Mississippi
South Dakota
Seats before
53
47
Seats won
55
45
Seat change
2
2
Popular vote
24,785,416[1]
23,951,995[1]
Percentage
49.5%
47.8%
Seats up
19
15
Races won
21
13
Results of the elections (excluding Oregon's Senate special election): Democratic gain Democratic hold Republican gain Republican hold No electionRectangular inset (Kansas): both seats up for election
Majority Leader before election
Trent Lott
Republican
Elected Majority Leader
Trent Lott
Republican
The 1996 United States Senate elections were held on November 5, with the 33 seats of Class 2 contested in regular elections. Special elections were also held to fill vacancies. They coincided with the presidential election of the same year, in which Democrat Bill Clinton was re-elected president.
Republicans held a 54–46 majority going into 1996, however, a January special election in Oregon resulted in Democrats reducing the majority to 53–47. Despite the re-election of Clinton and Gore, and despite Democrats picking up a net two seats in the elections to the United States House of Representatives held the same day, the Republicans had a net gain of two seats in the Senate, following major Republican gains two years previously in the 1994 elections. As such, Clinton became the only president to be re-elected without ever having any Senate coattails since the ratification of the 17th Amendment.
The Republicans won open seats previously held by Democrats in Alabama, Arkansas, and Nebraska. The only Democratic pickup occurred in South Dakota, where Democrat Tim Johnson narrowly defeated incumbent Republican Larry Pressler. The cycle featured an unusually high number of retirements, with thirteen in total.
^ abCite error: The named reference Clerk new format was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
and 30 Related for: 1996 United States Senate elections information
The 1996UnitedStatesSenateelections were held on November 5, with the 33 seats of Class 2 contested in regular elections. Special elections were also...
The 1996UnitedStates presidential election was the 53rd quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 5, 1996. Incumbent Democratic President...
The 1996UnitedStatesSenateelection in Arkansas was held on November 5, 1996. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator David Pryor decided to retire. Republican...
The 1996UnitedStatesSenateelection in Minnesota was held on November 5, 1996. Incumbent Democrat Paul Wellstone won reelection to a second term defeating...
The 1996 South Carolina UnitedStatesSenateelection was held on November 5, 1996 to select the U.S. Senator from the state of South Carolina. Popular...
The 2012 UnitedStatesSenateelections were held on November 6, 2012, with 33 of the 100 seats in the Senate, all Class 1 seats, being contested in regular...
The 1996UnitedStatesSenateelection in Virginia was held on November 5, 1996. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator John Warner won re-election to a fourth...
The 1996UnitedStatesSenateelection in Texas was held on November 5, 1996. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Phil Gramm won re-election to a third term...
The 1996UnitedStatesSenateelection in Michigan was held on November 5, 1996. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Carl Levin won re-election to a fourth...
The 1996UnitedStatesSenateelection in Alabama was held on November 5, 1996. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Howell Heflin decided to retire. Republican...
The 1996UnitedStateselections were held on November 5. Democratic President Bill Clinton won re-election, while the Republicans maintained their majorities...
The 1996UnitedStatesSenateelection in Nebraska was held on November 5, 1996. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator J. James Exon decided to retire instead...
The 1996UnitedStatesSenateelection in Oregon was held on November 5, 1996. Incumbent Republican UnitedStates Senator Mark Hatfield decided to retire...
The 2026 UnitedStatesSenateelections are scheduled to be held on November 3, 2026, with 33 of the 100 seats in the Senate being contested in regular...
Carolina UnitedStatesSenateelection of 1996 was held on November 5, 1996 as part of the nationwide elections to the Senate, and coincided with the 1996 presidential...
The 1996 Tennessee UnitedStatesSenateelection was held on November 5, 1996, to elect the U.S. Senator from the state of Tennessee. Republican Senator...
The 1996UnitedStatesSenateelection in Idaho took place on November 4, 1996. Incumbent Larry Craig won re-election of his second term against Democrat...
Global Information
