1976 United States Senate elections

1976 United States Senate elections

← 1974 November 2, 1976 1978 →

33 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate
51 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Mike Mansfield
(retired)
Hugh Scott
(retired)
Party Democratic Republican
Leader since January 3, 1961 September 24, 1969
Leader's seat Montana Pennsylvania
Seats before 61 37
Seats after 61 38
Seat change Steady Increase 1
Popular vote 31,790,526[1][a] 24,562,431[1][a]
Percentage 53.7% 41.5%
Seats up 21 10
Races won 21 11

  Third party Fourth party
 
Party Independent Conservative
Seats before 1 1
Seats after 1[b] 0
Seat change Steady Decrease 1
Popular vote 890,778[1] 311,494[1]
Seats up 1 1
Races won 1 0

1976 United States Senate election in Arizona1976 United States Senate election in California1976 United States Senate election in Connecticut1976 United States Senate election in Delaware1976 United States Senate election in Florida1976 United States Senate election in Hawaii1976 United States Senate election in Indiana1976 United States Senate election in Maine1976 United States Senate election in Maryland1976 United States Senate election in Massachusetts1976 United States Senate election in Michigan1976 United States Senate election in Minnesota1976 United States Senate election in Mississippi1976 United States Senate election in Missouri1976 United States Senate election in Montana1976 United States Senate election in Nebraska1976 United States Senate election in Nevada1976 United States Senate election in New Jersey1976 United States Senate election in New Mexico1976 United States Senate election in New York1976 United States Senate election in North Dakota1976 United States Senate election in Ohio1976 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania1976 United States Senate election in Rhode Island1976 United States Senate election in Tennessee1976 United States Senate election in Texas1976 United States Senate election in Utah1976 United States Senate election in Vermont1976 United States Senate election in Virginia1976 United States Senate election in Washington1976 United States Senate election in West Virginia1976 United States Senate election in Wisconsin1976 United States Senate election in Wyoming
Results of the elections:
     Democratic gain      Republican gain
     Democratic hold      Republican hold
     Independent hold
     No election

Majority Leader before election

Mike Mansfield
Democratic

Elected Majority Leader

Robert Byrd
Democratic

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. As of 2024 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 summer of 2009).

  1. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference Clerk was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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