1996 United States Senate election in Alabama

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 just the second Republican U.S. Senator elected to represent Alabama since Reconstruction (Richard Shelby became a Republican in 1994 after the Republican Revolution, but he was elected as a Democrat in 1986 and 1992).

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 52.5% 45.5%
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

Elections in Alabama
Federal government
U.S. President
U.S. Senate
U.S. House
Government of Alabama
State-wide
Gubernatorial
Alabama House of Representatives
  • 1990
  • 1994
  • 1998
  • 2002
  • 2006
  • 2010
  • 2014
  • 2018
  • 2022
Alabama Senate
  • 1990
  • 1994
  • 1998
  • 2002
  • 2006
  • 2010
  • 2014
  • 2018
  • 2022
Ballot measures
2006
Amendment 774
Birmingham
Mayor
Montgomery
Mayor
Government

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%. 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 to Republican in 1994 and still remains in the Senate).

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results
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%
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
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%
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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