United States Senate elections, 1976

November 2, 1976

33 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate 51 seats needed for a majority

	Majority party	Minority party

Leader	Robert Byrd	Howard Baker
Party	Democratic	Republican
Leader's seat	West Virginia	Tennessee
Last election	61 seats	37 seats
Seats before	61	37
Seats won	61	38
Seat change		1
Popular vote	31,790,526	24,562,431
Percentage	53.7%	41.5%
Swing	1.5%	1.9%

	Third party	Fourth party

Party	Independent	Conservative (N.Y.)
Last election	1 seat	1 seat
Seats before	1	1
Seats won	1	0
Seat change		1

Democratic gain

Democratic hold

Independent hold

Republican gain

Republican hold

Majority Leader before election

Mike Mansfield
Democratic

Elected Majority Leader

Robert Byrd
Democratic

The United States Senate election, 1976 was an election for the United States Senate that coincided with Democratic Jimmy Carter's election to the presidency and the United States Bicentennial celebration. Although almost half of the seats being decided in this election changed parties, Carter's narrow victory did not provide coattails for the Democrats, and the balance of the chamber remained the same. This was the first election in which the Libertarian Party competed, running candidates in 9 of the 33 contested seats.

1 Results summary
2 Change in Senate composition
3 Retirements
4 Incumbents who lost
- 4.1 Democratic gains
- 4.2 Republican gains
5 Complete list of races
6 See also

Results summary

Parties		Total Seats			Popular Vote
Parties		1974	1976	+/-	Vote	%
	Democratic Party	60	61	1	31,790,526	53.72%
	Republican Party	37	38	1	24,562,431	41.51%
	Independent	1	1		1,173,414	1.98%
	American Party	0	0		204,556	0.35%
	Socialist Worker's Party	0	0		125,528	0.21%
	American Independent Party	0	0		110,921	0.19%
	Libertarian Party	0	0		78,588	0.13%
	Others	1	0	1	1,128,043	1.91%
Total		100	100		59,174,007	100.0%
Source: Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk

Change in Senate composition

Before the elections

D₄₁	D₄₂	D₄₃	D₄₄	D₄₅	D₄₆	D₄₇	D₄₈	D₄₉	D₅₀
D₁	D₂	D₃	D₄	D₅	D₆	D₇	D₈	D₉	D₁₀
D₂₀	D₁₉	D₁₈	D₁₇	D₁₆	D₁₅	D₁₄	D₁₃	D₁₂	D₁₁
D₂₁	D₂₂	D₂₃	D₂₄	D₂₅	D₂₆	D₂₇	D₂₈	D₂₉	D₃₀
D₄₀	D₃₉	D₃₈	D₃₇	D₃₆	D₃₅	D₃₄	D₃₃	D₃₂	D₃₁
Majority →									D₅₁
D₆₀	D₅₉	D₅₈	D₅₇	D₅₆	D₅₅	D₅₄	D₅₃	D₅₂	D₅₁
D₆₁	I₁	C₁	R₃₇	R₃₆	R₃₅	R₃₄	R₃₃	R₃₂	R₃₁
R₂₁	R₂₂	R₂₃	R₂₄	R₂₅	R₂₆	R₂₇	R₂₈	R₂₉	R₃₀
R₂₀	R₁₉	R₁₈	R₁₇	R₁₆	R₁₅	R₁₄	R₁₃	R₁₂	R₁₁
R₁	R₂	R₃	R₄	R₅	R₆	R₇	R₈	R₉	R₁₀

At the end of the last Congress (2 months later)

D₁	D₂	D₃	D₄	D₅	D₆	D₇	D₈	D₉	D₁₀
D₂₀	D₁₉	D₁₈	D₁₇	D₁₆	D₁₅	D₁₄	D₁₃	D₁₂	D₁₁
D₂₁	D₂₂	D₂₃	D₂₄	D₂₅	D₂₆	D₂₇	D₂₈	D₂₉	D₃₀
D₄₀	D₃₉	D₃₈	D₃₇	D₃₆	D₃₅	D₃₄	D₃₃	D₃₂	D₃₁
D₄₁	D₄₂	D₄₃	D₄₄	D₄₅	D₄₆	D₄₇	D₄₈	D₄₉	D₅₀
Majority →									D₅₁
D₆₀O	D₅₉	D₅₈	D₅₇	D₅₆	D₅₅	D₅₄	D₅₃	D₅₂	D₅₁
D₆₁+	I₁	V₁	C₁	R₃₆+	R₃₅+	R₃₄+	R₃₃	R₃₂	R₃₁
R₂₁	R₂₂	R₂₃	R₂₄	R₂₅	R₂₆	R₂₇	R₂₈	R₂₉	R₃₀
R₂₀	R₁₉	R₁₈	R₁₇	R₁₆	R₁₅	R₁₄	R₁₃	R₁₂	R₁₁
R₁	R₂	R₃	R₄	R₅	R₆	R₇	R₈	R₉	R₁₀

D₄₀O: Minnesota seat: The incumbent, who was not up for election, resigned to become U.S. Vice President. A successor was appointed to finish the term.
D₆₀O: Michigan seat: The incumbent had retired and then died. His elected successor was appointed to finish the term.
D₆₁+: Nebraska seat: The incumbent had retired and then resigned to give his elected successor preferential seniority through appointment to finish the term.
R₃₄+: California seat: The incumbent had lost re-election and then resigned to give his elected successor preferential seniority through appointment to finish the term.
R₃₅+: Missouri seat: The incumbent had retired and then resigned to give his elected successor preferential seniority through appointment to finish the term.
R₃₆+: California seat: The incumbent had retired and then resigned to give his elected successor preferential seniority through appointment to finish the term.
V₁+: Ohio seat: The incumbent had retired, then resigned to resume the practice of law, and the seat remained vacant to the end of the term.

As a result of the elections

D₄₁√	D₄₂√	D₄₃√	D₄₄√	D₄₅√	D₄₆√	D₄₇√	D₄₈√	D₄₉√	D₅₀√
D₁	D₂	D₃	D₄	D₅	D₆	D₇	D₈	D₉	D₁₀
D₂₀	D₁₉	D₁₈	D₁₇	D₁₆	D₁₅	D₁₄	D₁₃	D₁₂	D₁₁
D₂₁	D₂₂	D₂₃	D₂₄	D₂₅	D₂₆	D₂₇	D₂₈	D₂₉	D₃₀
D₄₀	D₃₉	D₃₈	D₃₇	D₃₆	D₃₅	D₃₄	D₃₃	D₃₂	D₃₁
Majority →									D₅₁√
D₆₀+	D₅₉+	D₅₈+	D₅₇+	D₅₆+	D₅₅+	D₅₄O	D₅₃O	D₅₂√	D₅₁√
D₆₁+	I₁√	R₃₁O	R₃₂+	R₃₃+	R₃₄+	R₃₅+	R₃₆+	R₃₇+	R₃₈+
R₂₁	R₂₂	R₂₃	R₂₄	R₂₅	R₂₆	R₂₇	R₂₈√	R₂₉√	R₃₀√
R₂₀	R₁₉	R₁₈	R₁₇	R₁₆	R₁₅	R₁₄	R₁₃	R₁₂	R₁₁
R₁	R₂	R₃	R₄	R₅	R₆	R₇	R₈	R₉	R₁₀

Key:

C_#	Conservative, caucusing with the Republicans
D_#	Democratic
I_#	Independent, caucusing with the Democrats
R_#	Republican
V_#	=Vacant

√	Incumbent re-elected or appointee elected to finish term
O	Party hold: New senator elected from same party
+	Party gain: New senator elected from different party

Retirements

The leaders of both parties retired. Democrats had a net gain of one seat from retirements.

Democratic holds

Michigan: Philip Hart (D) was replaced by Donald W. Riegle, Jr. (D).
- Hart then died December 27, 1976 and Riegle was appointed to finish the term.
Montana: Majority leader Mike Mansfield (D) was replaced by John Melcher (D).

Democratic gains

Arizona: Paul Fannin (R) was replaced by Dennis DeConcini (D).
Hawaii: Hiram Fong (R) was replaced by Spark Matsunaga (D).
Nebraska: Roman Hruska (R) was replaced by Edward Zorinsky (D).
- Hruska then resigned December 27, 1976 and Zorinsky was appointed in his place.

Republican hold

Pennsylvania: Hugh Scott (R) was replaced by John Heinz (R).

Republican gains

Missouri: Stuart Symington (D) was replaced by John Danforth (R).
- Symington then resigned December 27, 1976 and Danforth was appointed to finish the term.
Rhode Island: John O. Pastore (D) was replaced by John Chafee (R).
- Pastore then resigned December 28, 1976 and Chafee was appointed to finish the term.

Incumbents who lost

Republicans had a net gain of one seat from re-election gains.

Democratic gains

Maryland: John Glenn Beall, Jr. (R) lost re-election to Paul Sarbanes (D).
New York: James L. Buckley (C) lost re-election as a Republican to Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D).
Ohio: Robert Taft, Jr. (R) lost re-election to former Senator Howard Metzenbaum (D).
- Taft then resigned December 28, 1976. The seat remained vacant for the rest of the term.
Tennessee: Bill Brock (R) lost re-election to Jim Sasser (D).

Republican gains

California: John V. Tunney (D) lost re-election to S. I. Hayakawa (R).
- Tunney then resigned January 1, 1977 and Hayakawa was appointed to finish the term.
Indiana: Vance Hartke (D) lost re-election to Richard Lugar (R).
New Mexico: Joseph Montoya (D) lost re-election to Harrison Schmitt (R).
Utah: Frank Moss (D) lost re-election to Orrin Hatch (R).
Wyoming: Gale W. McGee (D) lost re-election to Malcolm Wallop (R).

Complete list of races

A bolded state name links to an article about that state's election.

State	Incumbent	Party	Result	Candidates
Arizona	Paul Fannin	Republican	Retired Democratic gain	Dennis DeConcini (Democratic) 54.0% Sam Steiger (Republican) 43.3% Allan Norwitz (Libertarian) 1.0%
California	John V. Tunney	Democratic	Lost re-election Republican gain	S. I. Hayakawa (Republican) 50.2% John V. Tunney (Democratic) 46.9%
Connecticut	Lowell P. Weicker, Jr.	Republican	Re-elected	Lowell P. Weicker, Jr. (Republican) 57.7% Gloria Schaffer (Democratic) 41.2%
Delaware	William V. Roth, Jr.	Republican	Re-elected	William V. Roth, Jr. (Republican) 55.8% Thomas C. Maloney (Democratic) 43.6%
Florida	Lawton Chiles	Democratic	Re-elected	Lawton Chiles (Democratic) 63.0% John Grady (Republican) 37.0%
Hawaii	Hiram Fong	Republican	Retired Democratic gain	Spark Matsunaga (Democratic) 53.7% William F. Quinn (Republican) 40.6%
Indiana	Vance Hartke	Democratic	Lost re-election Republican gain	Richard Lugar (Republican) 58.8% Vance Hartke (Democratic) 40.5%
Maine	Edmund Muskie	Democratic	Re-elected	Edmund Muskie (Democratic) 60.2% Robert A. G. Monks (Republican) 39.8%
Maryland	John Glenn Beall, Jr.	Republican	Lost re-election Democratic gain	John Glenn Beall, Jr. (Republican) 38.8% Paul Sarbanes (Democratic) 56.5%
Massachusetts	Ted Kennedy	Democratic	Re-elected	Ted Kennedy (Democratic) 69.3% Michael S. Robertson (Republican) 29.0% Carol Henderson Evans (Socialist Workers) 1.1% H. Graham Lowry (U.S. Labor) 0.6%
Michigan	Philip Hart	Democratic	Retired Democratic hold	Donald W. Riegle, Jr. (Democratic) 52.5% Marvin L. Esch (Republican) 46.8%
Minnesota	Hubert Humphrey	Democratic	Re-elected	Hubert Humphrey (Democratic) 67.5% Gerald W. Brekke (Republican) 25.0% Paul Helm (Independent) 6.6%
Mississippi	John C. Stennis	Democratic	Re-elected	John C. Stennis (Democratic) Unopposed
Missouri	Stuart Symington	Democratic	Retired Republican gain	John Danforth (Republican) 56.9% Warren E. Hearnes (Democratic) 42.5% Lawrence Petty (Independent) 0.6%
Montana	Mike Mansfield	Democratic	Retired Democratic hold	John Melcher (Democratic) 64.2% Stanley C. Burger (Republican) 35.8%
Nebraska	Roman Hruska	Republican	Retired Democratic gain	Edward Zorinsky (Democratic) 52.4% John Y. McCollister (Republican) 47.5%
Nevada	Howard Cannon	Democratic	Re-elected	Howard Cannon (Democratic) 63.0% David Towell (Republican) 31.4%
New Jersey	Harrison A. Williams	Democratic	Re-elected	Harrison A. Williams (Democratic) 60.7% David A. Norcross (Republican) 38.0%
New Mexico	Joseph Montoya	Democratic	Lost re-election Republican gain	Harrison Schmitt (Republican) 56.8% Joseph Montoya (Democratic) 42.7%
New York	James L. Buckley	Conservative	Lost re-election as a Republican Democratic gain	Daniel Patrick Moynihan (Democratic) 54.2% James L. Buckley (Republican) 44.9%
North Dakota	Quentin N. Burdick	Democratic	Re-elected	Quentin N. Burdick (Democratic) 62.1% Robert Stroup (Republican) 36.6%
Ohio	Robert Taft, Jr.	Republican	Lost re-election Democratic gain	Howard Metzenbaum (Democratic) 49.5% Robert Taft, Jr. (Republican) 46.5%
Pennsylvania	Hugh Scott	Republican	Retired Republican hold	H. John Heinz III (Republican) 52.4% William J. Green, III (Democratic) 46.8%
Rhode Island	John O. Pastore	Democratic	Retired Republican gain	John Chafee (Republican) 57.7% Richard P. Lorber (Democratic) 42.0%
Tennessee	Bill Brock	Republican	Lost re-election Democratic gain	Jim Sasser (Democratic) 52.5% Bill Brock (Republican) 47.0%
Texas	Lloyd Bentsen	Democratic	Re-elected	Lloyd Bentsen (Democratic) 56.8% Alan Steelman (Republican) 42.2%
Utah	Frank Moss	Democratic	Lost re-election Republican gain	Orrin Hatch (Republican) 53.7% Frank Moss (Democratic) 44.8%
Vermont	Robert Stafford	Republican	Re-elected	Robert Stafford (Republican) 50.0% Thomas P. Salmon (Democratic) 45.3%
Virginia	Harry F. Byrd, Jr.	Independent	Re-elected	Harry F. Byrd, Jr. (Independent) 57.2% Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr. (Democratic) 38.3%
Washington	Henry M. Jackson	Democratic	Re-elected	Henry M. Jackson (Democratic) 71.8% George M. Brown (Republican) 24.2%
West Virginia	Robert Byrd	Democratic	Re-elected	Robert Byrd (Democratic) 99.9%
Wisconsin	William Proxmire	Democratic	Re-elected	William Proxmire (Democratic) 72.2% Stanley York (Republican) 27.0%
Wyoming	Gale W. McGee	Democratic	Lost re-election Republican gain	Malcolm Wallop (Republican) 54.7% Gale W. McGee (Democratic) 45.4%

United States Senate elections

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United States elections, 1976

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United States Senate elections, 1976