The 1976 United States Senate elections was an election for the United States Senate. Held on November 2, the 33 seats of Class 1 were contested in regular elections. They coincided with Democrat Jimmy Carter's presidential election and the United States Bicentennial celebration. Although almost half of the seats decided in this election changed parties, Carter's narrow victory did not provide coattails for the Democratic Party. Each party flipped seven Senate seats, although, one of the seats flipped by Democrats was previously held by a Conservative.

This was the first election in which the Libertarian Party competed, running candidates in 9 of the 33 contested seats. this is the first and so far only time both party leaders retired from the Senate in the same election cycle since the creation of the positions. This is the last time Democrats or any party won a 60% supermajority via direct elections (although Democrats briefly held one in the autumn and winter of 2009).

Results summary + ↓ 61 1 38 Democratic I Republican

Parties Total Democratic Republican Independent Other Last elections (1974)Before these elections 61 37 1 1 100 Not up 40 27 0 0 67 Up 21 10 1 1 33 Incumbent retired 5 3 0 0 8 2 1 — — 3 3 Republicans replaced by 3 Democrats 2 Democrats replaced by 2 Republicans — — 5 Result 6 2 — — 8 Incumbent ran 16 7 1 1 25 11 4 1 0 16 3 Republicans replaced by 3 Democrats 1 Conservative replaced by 1 Democrat 5 Democrats replaced by 5 Republicans 9 0 0 0 0 0 Result 15 9 1 0 25 Total elected 21 11 1 0 33 Net gain/loss 1 1 1 Nationwide vote 31,790,526 24,562,431 1,173,414 1,647,636 59,174,007 Share 53.72% 41.51% 1.98% 2.78% 100% Result 61 38 1 0 100

Source:

Gains, losses, and holds Retirements Four Republicans and four Democrats retired instead of seeking re-election.

StateSenatorReplaced by Arizona Hawaii Michigan Missouri Montana Nebraska Pennsylvania Rhode Island

Defeats Three Republicans, five Democrats, and one Conservative sought re-election but lost in the general election.

StateSenatorReplaced by California Indiana Maryland New Mexico New York Ohio Tennessee Utah Wyoming

Post-election changes Five Democrats either resigned or died between at the end of 93rd Congress and during the 94th Congress. All were initially replaced by Democratic appointees.

StateSenatorReplaced by Alabama(Class 3) Arkansas(Class 2) Minnesota(Class 1) Minnesota(Class 2) Montana(Class 2)

Change in composition Before the elections D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D Majority → D D D D D D D D D D D I C R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R

Elections results

D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D Majority → D D D D D D D D D D D I R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R Key C D Democratic R Republican I Independent

Race summaries

Elections leading to the next Congress In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 1977; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 1 seats.

State Incumbent Result Candidates Senator Party Electoral history Arizona Republican 19641970 Incumbent retired.Democratic gain. California Democratic 19701971 Incumbent lost re-election.Republican gain.Incumbent resigned January 1, 1977 to give successor preferential seniority.Winner appointed January 2, 1977. Connecticut Republican 1970 Incumbent re-elected. Delaware Republican 19701971 Incumbent re-elected. Florida Democratic 1970 Incumbent re-elected. Hawaii Republican 1959 19641970 Incumbent retired.Democratic gain. Indiana Democratic 195819641970 Incumbent lost re-election.Republican gain. Maine Democratic 195819641970 Incumbent re-elected. Maryland Republican 1970 Incumbent lost re-election.Democratic gain. Massachusetts Democratic 1962 19641970 Incumbent re-elected. Michigan Democratic 195819641970 Incumbent retired.Democratic hold.Incumbent died December 26, 1976.Winner appointed December 30, 1976. Minnesota DFL 1948195419601964 1970 Incumbent re-elected. Mississippi Democratic 1947 1952195819641970 Incumbent re-elected. Missouri Democratic 1952195819641970 Incumbent retired.Republican gain.Incumbent resigned December 27, 1976 to give successor preferential seniority.Winner appointed the same day. Montana Democratic 1952195819641970 Incumbent retired.Democratic hold. Nebraska Republican 1954 195819641970 Incumbent retired.Democratic gain.Incumbent resigned December 27, 1976 to give successor preferential seniority.Winner appointed December 28, 1976 to finish the term. Nevada Democratic 195819641970 Incumbent re-elected. New Jersey Democratic 195819641970 Incumbent re-elected. New Mexico Democratic 1964 19641970 Incumbent lost re-election.Republican gain. New York Conservative 1970 Incumbent ran as a Republican and lost re-election.Democratic gain. North Dakota Democratic-NPL 1960 19641970 Incumbent re-elected. Ohio Republican 1970 Incumbent lost re-election.Democratic gain.Incumbent resigned December 28, 1976 to give successor preferential seniority.Winner appointed December 29, 1976. Pennsylvania Republican 195819641970 Incumbent retired.Republican hold. Rhode Island Democratic 1950 1952195819641970 Incumbent retired.Republican gainIncumbent resigned December 28, 1976 to give successor preferential seniority.Winner appointed December 29, 1976. Tennessee Republican 1970 Incumbent lost re-election.Democratic gain. Texas Democratic 1970 Incumbent re-elected. Utah Democratic 195819641970 Incumbent lost re-election.Republican gain. Vermont Republican 1971 1972 Incumbent re-elected. Virginia Independent 1965 1966 1970 Incumbent re-elected. Washington Democratic 1952195819641970 Incumbent re-elected. West Virginia Democratic 195819641970 Incumbent re-elected. Wisconsin Democratic 1957 195819641970 Incumbent re-elected. Wyoming Democratic 195819641970 Incumbent lost re-election.Republican gain.

Closest races 9 races had a margin of victory under 10%:

State Party of winner Margin Ohio Democratic (flip) 2.99% California Republican (flip) 3.2% Vermont Republican 4.6% Tennessee Democratic (flip) 5.45% Michigan Democratic 5.6% Pennsylvania Republican 5.6% Nebraska Democratic (flip) 5.82% Utah Republican (flip) 8.9% New York Democratic (flip) 9.2%

Nevada was the tipping point state with a margin of 31.6%.

Arizona

Incumbent Republican Paul Fannin retired instead of seeking a third term. Democratic attorney and businessman Dennis DeConcini won the open seat over Sam Steiger, U.S. Congressman of Arizona's 3rd congressional district.

California

Incumbent Democrat John Tunney ran for re-election to a second term, but was defeated by Republican Sam Hayakawa, President emeritus of San Francisco State University.

Connecticut

Incumbent Republican Lowell Weicker won re-election to a second term over Gloria Schaffer, Connecticut Secretary of State

Delaware

Incumbent Republican William Roth won reelection to a second term over Thomas Maloney, Mayor of Wilmington

Florida

Incumbent Democrat Lawton Chiles won re-election to a second term over John Grady, Mayor of Belle Glade

Hawaii

Incumbent Republican Hiram Fong retired instead of seeking re-election to a fourth term. Democrat Spark Matsunaga won the open seat over Republican William Quinn, Former Governor of Hawaii.

Indiana

Incumbent Democrat Vance Hartke ran for re-election to a fourth term, but was defeated by Republican challenger Richard Lugar, Mayor of Indianapolis.

Maine

Incumbent Democrat Edmund Muskie won re-election to a fourth term over Republican Robert A. G. Monks, shareholder activist.

Maryland

Incumbent Republican J. Glenn Beall Jr. ran for re-election to a second term, but was defeated by Democratic challenger Paul Sarbanes, member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Massachusetts

Incumbent Democrat Ted Kennedy won re-election to his fourth (his third full) term over Republican businessman, Michael Robertson.

Michigan

Incumbent Democrat Philip Hart retired instead of seeking a fourth term. Democrat Donald Riegle, member of the U.S. House of Representatives, won the open seat over fellow congressman Republican Marvin Esch.

Minnesota

Incumbent Democrat Hubert Humphrey won re-election to a fifth term over Republican Gerald Brekke, college professor

Mississippi

Incumbent Democrat John C. Stennis won re-election to his sixth term.

Missouri

Incumbent Democrat Stuart Symington retired, instead of seeking a fifth term. Republican John Danforth, Attorney General of Missouri, won the open seat, defeating Democrat Warren Hearnes, former Governor of Missouri. (Jerry Litton had won the Democratic nomination earlier, but was killed in a plane crash, and Hearnes was chosen by the party committee.)

Montana

Rather than seek a fifth term, Democratic incumbent Mike Mansfield opted to retire, creating an open seat. United States Congressman John Melcher, who had represented Montana's 2nd congressional district from 1969 to 1977, won the Democratic nomination and defeated Stanley C. Burger, the Republican nominee and former executive officer of the Montana Farm Bureau Federation, by a wide margin in the general election.

Nebraska

Incumbent Republican Roman Hruska retired instead of seeking another term. Democrat Edward Zorinsky, Mayor of Omaha, won the open seat over Republican John Y. McCollister, U.S. Congressman of Nebraska's 2nd congressional district.

Nevada

Incumbent Democrat Howard Cannon won re-election to a fourth term over Republican David Towell, U.S. Representative from Nevada's At-large congressional district.

In the Senate, Cannon was known as a moderate in the Democratic Party. He served as chairman of several committees, including the rules committee and the inaugural arrangements committee. Cannon was nearly defeated for re-election in 1964 by Republican Lieutenant Governor Paul Laxalt in one of the closest election in history. However, he became more popular over the next few years and won re-election in 1970 with nearly 58% of the vote. In 1976, he faced U.S. Representative David Towell, who served just one term in the U.S. House of Representatives before running for the U.S. Senate. Cannon won re-election with 63% of the vote, one of his best election performances of his career. He won every county in the state, except for Eureka County, which Towell won with just 51% of the vote.

New Jersey

Harrison A. Williams, the incumbent originally elected in 1958, elected to run for a fourth term. He defeated anti-abortion activist Stephen J. Foley handily in the Democratic primary with 85% of the vote. David A. Norcross won the Republican primary with the endorsement of the New Jersey Republican Party with 68% of the vote.

In the general election, Williams soundly won re-election to a fourth term over Norcross. He won 60% of the vote, winning every county in the state. This would be Williams' last election to the U.S. Senate, as he would resign in 1981 following his involvement in the Abscam scandal.

New Mexico

Incumbent Democrat Joseph Montoya ran for re-election to a third term, but was defeated by Republican former Astronaut Harrison Schmitt.

New York

Incumbent Conservative James Buckley ran for re-election to a second term as a Republican, but was defeated by Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

North Dakota

Incumbent North Dakota Democratic NPL Party Democrat Quentin Burdick, sought and received re-election to his fourth term to the United States Senate, defeating Republican candidate Robert Stroup. Only Burdick filed as a Dem-NPLer, and the endorsed Republican candidate was Robert Stroup, as state senator from Hazen, North Dakota. Burdick and Stroup won the primary elections for their respective parties. One independent candidate, Clarence Haggard, also filed before the deadline under the American Party.