1996 United States Senate election in Arkansas

The 1996 United States Senate election in Arkansas was held on November 5, 1996. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator David Pryor decided to retire. Republican Tim Hutchinson won the open seat, becoming the first Republican to win a U.S. Senate seat in Arkansas since Reconstruction. As of 2022, this is the last time Republicans flipped a senate seat in a presidential year despite losing the state in the presidential election.

1996 United States Senate election in Arkansas

November 5, 1996
 
Nominee Tim Hutchinson Winston Bryant
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 445,942 400,241
Percentage 52.7% 47.3%

County results

Hutchinson:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%

Bryant:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

U.S. senator before election

David Pryor
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Tim Hutchinson
Republican

Democratic Primary

Candidates

Arkansas Attorney General Winston Bryant and Arkansas State Senator Lu Hardin finished in the top two in the primary, and Bryant narrowly defeated Hardin in the runoff.

Results (Primary)

Democratic primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Winston Bryant 129,328 39.99%
Democratic Lu Hardin 71,889 22.23%
Democratic Bill Bristow 58,093 17.96%
Democratic Sandy McMath 42,303 13.08%
Democratic Kevin Smith 21,774 6.74%

Runoff

Democratic Runoff[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Winston Bryant 87,564 52.44%
Democratic Lu Hardin 79,411 47.56%

Republican Primary

Candidates

Hutchinson ran unopposed in the state primary.

Results

Hutchinson narrowly won election to the U.S. Senate, receiving just over 5% more of the vote than his opponent Bryant. This was despite incumbent U.S. President Bill Clinton being re-elected by a 17-point margin in his home state of Arkansas, though the state had begun to trend more Republican at the time.

1996 United States Senate election in Arkansas[4][5]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Tim Hutchinson 445,942 52.7%
Democratic Winston Bryant 400,241 47.3%
Total votes 846,183 100.0%
Republican gain from Democratic

See also

References

  1. "AR US Senate - D Primary 1996". OurCampaigns. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  2. Lancaster, Bob (17 May 1996). "Who are these guys?". Arkansas Times. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  3. "AR US Senate - D Runoff 1996". Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  4. "Our Campaigns - AR US Senate Race - Nov 05, 1996". www.ourcampaigns.com.
  5. "Our Campaigns - AR US Senate Race - Nov 05, 2002". www.ourcampaigns.com.
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