United States Senate election in Alabama, 1996
Encyclopedia
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 to represent Alabama
since Reconstruction.
, 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". 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 comprise 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
, who was re-elected in 1990 with over 60% remained to date the last member of the Democratic Party who won 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 Senate).
June 25 Runoff
Runoff (held the same day as the Democratic run-off):
Howell Heflin
Howell Thomas Heflin was a United States Senator from Tuscumbia, Alabama, and a member of the Democratic Party.-Biography:...
decided to retire. Republican Jeff Sessions
Jeff Sessions
Jefferson Beauregard "Jeff" Sessions III is the junior United States Senator from Alabama. First elected in 1996, Sessions is a member of the Republican Party...
won the open seat, becoming just the second Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
U.S. Senator to represent Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
since Reconstruction.
Background
In the 1968 presidential electionUnited States presidential election, 1968
The United States presidential election of 1968 was the 46th quadrennial United States presidential election. Coming four years after Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson won in a historic landslide, it saw Johnson forced out of the race and Republican Richard Nixon elected...
, Alabama supported native son and American Independent Party
American Independent Party
The American Independent Party is a right-wing political party of the United States that was established in 1967 by Bill and Eileen Shearer. In 1968, the American Independent Party nominated George C. Wallace as its presidential candidate and retired Air Force General Curtis E. LeMay as the vice...
candidate George Wallace
George Wallace
George Corley Wallace, Jr. was the 45th Governor of Alabama, serving four terms: 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T. Carter and Stephan Lesher, he ran for U.S...
over both Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
and Hubert Humphrey
Hubert Humphrey
Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr. , served under President Lyndon B. Johnson as the 38th Vice President of the United States. Humphrey twice served as a United States Senator from Minnesota, and served as Democratic Majority Whip. He was a founder of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and...
. Wallace was the official Democratic candidate in Alabama, while Humphrey was listed as the "National Democratic". In 1976
United States presidential election, 1976
The United States presidential election of 1976 followed the resignation of President Richard Nixon in the wake of the Watergate scandal. It pitted incumbent President Gerald Ford, the Republican candidate, against the relatively unknown former governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter, the Democratic...
, Democratic candidate Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
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 comprise a longstanding majority in the Alabama Legislature
Alabama Legislature
The Alabama Legislature is the legislative branch of the state government of Alabama. It is a bicameral body composed of the Alabama House of Representatives, with 105 members, and the Alabama Senate, with 35 members...
.
Three-term incumbent
Incumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
Howell Heflin
Howell Heflin
Howell Thomas Heflin was a United States Senator from Tuscumbia, Alabama, and a member of the Democratic Party.-Biography:...
decided not to seek re-election. A 75-year old moderate-to-conservative Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, who was re-elected in 1990 with over 60% remained to date the last member of the Democratic Party who won a Senate seat in Republican-turning Alabama (his colleague, Richard Shelby
Richard Shelby
Richard Craig Shelby is the senior U.S. Senator from Alabama. First elected to the Senate in 1986, he is the ranking member of the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and was its chairman from 2003 to 2007....
, elected twice as a Democrat, switched to Republican in 1994 and still remains in Senate).
Candidates
- Roger Bedford-State SenatorAlabama SenateThe Alabama State Senate is the upper house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alabama. The body is composed of 35 members representing an equal amount of districts across the state, with each district containing at least 127,140 citizens...
- Glen BrowderGlen BrowderJohn Glen Browder is a former member of the United States House of Representatives from Alabama's 3rd congressional district. Browder was born in Sumter, South Carolina and graduated from Edmunds High School in 1961. He attended Presbyterian College, receiving a B.A. in history in 1965. He went on...
- U.S. Congressman - Marilyn Q. Bromberg
- Dr. Natalie Davis, Ph.D., professor of political science at Birmingham-Southern CollegeBirmingham-Southern CollegeBirmingham–Southern College is a 4-year, private liberal arts college located three miles northwest of downtown Birmingham. Founded in 1856, it is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Approximately 1400 students from 30 states and 23 foreign countries attend the college...
Results
June 4 Original primary- Bedford - 141,360 (44.77%)
- Browder - 91,203 (28.89%)
- Davis - 71,588 (22.67%)
- Bromberg - 11,573 (3.67%)
June 25 Runoff
- Bedford - 141,747 (61.59%)
- Browder - 88,415 (38.41%)
Candidates
- Jimmy Blake
- Walter D. Clark
- Albert Lipscomb-State Senator
- Sid McDonald-State Senator
- Frank McRight-Democratic nominee for U.S. House 1st district
- Jeff SessionsJeff SessionsJefferson Beauregard "Jeff" Sessions III is the junior United States Senator from Alabama. First elected in 1996, Sessions is a member of the Republican Party...
-Alabama Attorney GeneralAttorney GeneralIn most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person... - Charles WoodsCharles WoodsCharles Woods was an Alabama businessman and broadcaster, and aspiring politician. Woods was raised in an orphanage. He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force before joining the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II...
Results
Original primary- Sessions - 82,373 (37.81%)
- McDonald - 47,320 (21.72%)
- Woods - 24,409 (11.20%)
- McRight - 21,964 (10.08%)
- Clark - 18,745 (8.60%)
- Blake - 15,385 (7.06%)
- Lipscomb - 7,672 (3.52%)
Runoff (held the same day as the Democratic run-off):
- Sessions - 81,681 (59.26%)
- McDonald - 56,156 (40.74%)
Candidates
- Roger Bedford (D), State Senator
- Charles Hebner (NL), activist
- Mark ThorntonMark ThorntonMark Thornton is an American economist of the Austrian School. Thornton has been described by the Advocates for Self-Government as "one of America's experts on the economics of illegal drugs." Thornton has written extensively on that topic, as well as on the economics of the American Civil War,...
(L), economist - Jeff SessionsJeff SessionsJefferson Beauregard "Jeff" Sessions III is the junior United States Senator from Alabama. First elected in 1996, Sessions is a member of the Republican Party...
(R), State Attorney General
Results
- Sessions - 786,436 (52.45%)
- Bedford - 681,651 (45.46%)
- Thornton - 21,550 (1.44%)
- Hebner - 9,123 (0.61%)
- Others - 633 (0.04%)