Nov. 8, 2016 U.S. Senate Races

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At Stake: 34 Seats
Before Nov. 8: 54R, 44D and 2I.

AL  -  AK  -  AZ  -  AR  -  CA  -  CO  -  CT  -  FL  -  GA  -  HI -  ID  -  IL  -  IN  -  IA  -  KS  -  KY  -  MD  -  MO  -  NV  -  NH  -  NY  -  NC  -  ND  -  OH  -  OK  -  OR  -  PA  -  SC  -  SD  -  UT  -  VT  -  WA  -  WI  -  LA (Dec. 10 runoff)
 

 Democrats Republicans Third Party/Independent
Alabama R.Crumpton (D)
did not respond




Alaska







Arizona




Arkansas




California no Republican candidate







Colorado




Connecticut




Florida




Georgia




Hawaii B.Schatz (D)
did not respond




Idaho




Illinois

D+
 




Indiana




Iowa




Kansas




Kentucky




Maryland




Missouri




Nevada




New
Hampshire

D+




New York





North Carolina




North Dakota




Ohio




Oklahoma M.Workman (D)
no lit. produced




Oregon




Pennsylvania




South Carolina




South Dakota




Utah




Vermont




Washington




Wisconsin




Louisiana
(Dec. 10 runoff)

After Nov. 8/Dec. 10: 52R, 46D and 2I.
  Margin of Victory in Percentage Points
25.01 +
 20.01-25.0
 15.01-20.0
 10.01-15.0
 5.01-10.0
 0-5.0
 0-5.0
 5.01-10.0
 10.01-15.0
 15.01-20.0
 20.01-25.0
 25.01 +
MD 25.22
VT 28.23
CT 28.57
NY 43.46
HI 51.36
 OR 23.25
 IL 15.08*
WA 18.02
CO 5.66
 NH 0.14*
NV 2.43
 PA 1.43
MO 2.79
WI 3.36
 NC 5.69
FL 7.67
IN 9.70
 AZ 12.96
GA 13.76
KY 14.55
 AK 15.20

 OH 20.97
LA 21.30
AR 23.60
SC 23.86
IA 24.43
 AL 28.09
KS 29.94
ID 38.40
UT 41.09
OK 43.16
SD 43.66
ND 61.51
     Not shown: CA (two Democrats)
     *Seat changed parties. 


2016 SENATE RACE OVERVIEW [more]

At the top of their list for 2016—after winning the White House—Democrats sought to reclaim the majority in the U.S. Senate.  They anticipated Hillary Clinton would be elected and wanted a majority in the Senate to help her implement her policies (+).  Republicans were defending 24 seats, but Democrats' hopes of re-taking the Senate were dashed as Republicans held them to a gain of just two seats.  Many seats targeted by Democrats ended up in the Republican column; in Pennsylvania P.Toomey defeated K.McGinty, in Missouri R.Blunt defeated J.Kander, and in Wisconsin R.Johnson defeated R.Feingold.  North Carolina was closer than expected but R.Burr defeated D.Ross.  In Florida M.Rubio fended off a challenge from P.Murphy.  Other seats eyed by Democrats were settled by wider margins.  In Arizona A.Kirkpatrick lost by 12 percentage points, and in Indiana E.Bayh lost by almost 10 percentage points.  In Ohio T.Strickland fell well short, losing by more than 20 percentage points.

Balance before Nov. 8:  54 Republicans, 44 Democrats and 2 Independents.

34 seats at stake:  10 held by Democrats, 24 by Republicans.

5 retirements:  3 Democrats, 2 Republicans.
D: Barbara Boxer (CA), Barbara Mikulski (MD), Harry Reid (NV).  R: Dan Coats (IN), David Vitter (LA). 
 
 0 incumbents were defeated in primaries.

2 incumbents defeated in the general election:  2 Republicans.
R: Mark Kirk (IL), Kelly Ayotte (NH).

None of the open seats flipped.

7 new Senators elected:  5 Democrats, 2 Republicans.
D: Kamala Harris (CA), Tammy Duckworth (IL), Chris Van Hollen (MD), Catherine Cortez Masto (NV), Maggie Hassan.  R: Todd Young (IN), John Kennedy (LA).
 
Races won:  Democrats 12, Republicans 22.

Balance after Dec. 10 LA runoff:  52 Republicans, 46 Democrats and 2 Independents.




HIGHLIGHTS
 
  • The most expensive U.S. Senate race in American history unfolded in Pennsylvania where according to the Center for Responsive Politics a total of $188.2 million was spent ($52.8 million by the campaigns and $135.4 million in outside spending).  The next most expensive races were New Hampshire $141.5 million ($38.1 million/$103.3 million); Nevada $128.1 million ($30.9 million/$97.2 million); Florida $110.5 million ($59.9 million/$50.6 million); and North Carolina $97.4 million ($24.2 million/$73.2 million). >
  • The closest Senate race of the cycle was in New Hampshire, where Gov. Maggie Hassan (D) defeated incumbent Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R) by 1,017 votes (354,649 to 353,632) or 0.14% percentage points.  The next closest results were in Pennsylvania (Sen. Toomey by 1.42 percentage points), Nevada (Cortez Masto by 2.43 percentage points), Missouri (Sen. Blunt by 2.79 percentage points) and Wisconsin (Sen. Johnson by 3.36 percentage points.
  • There were also many non-competitive races.  In six states the margin of victory was 40 or more percentage points: HI (51.38%) and NY (43.46%) for the Democrats and North Dakota (61.51%), South Dakota (43.66%), Oklahoma (43.16%) and Utah (41.09%) for the Republicans.
  • Of the 68 major party nominees, 15 were women (22.1%): 11 of 35 Democrats or 31.4% (1 incumbent and 10 challengers) and 4 of 33 Republicans or 12.1% (2 incumbents and 2 challengers).  Six women won: incumbents Patty Murray (D-WA) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), as well as Kamala Harris (D-CA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH).  One incumbent women Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) lost.
  • The strongest showings by third party or independent candidates were in Alaska, where Joe Miller, running as a Libertarian, attracted 29.2% of the vote and independent candidate Margaret Stock garnered 13.2%. 



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