1996 United States Senate election in Massachusetts

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1996 United States Senate election in Massachusetts

← 1990 November 5, 1996 2002 →

Nominee John Kerry Bill Weld Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,334,135 1,143,120 Percentage 52.2% 44.7%

Municipal Results

U.S. senator before election John Kerry Democratic Elected U.S. Senator John Kerry Democratic

Elections in Massachusetts
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The 1996 United States Senate election in Massachusetts took place on November 5, 1996. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator John Kerry won re-election to a third term over Republican Bill Weld, the Governor of Massachusetts.

General election[]

Candidates[]

• Susan C. Gallagher (Conservative)
• John Kerry, incumbent U.S. Senator since 1985 (Democratic)
• Robert C. Stowe (Natural Law)
• Bill Weld, Governor of Massachusetts (Republican)

Campaign[]

On November 29, 1995, incumbent Governor Bill Weld announced his candidacy for the Senate seat occupied by U.S. Senator John Kerry with a formal announcement on March 27, 1996. Kerry's previous two general election opponents in 1984 and 1990 had no prior experience in elected office.

At the federal level, Democrats controlled both of the state's U.S. Senate seats and eight of its ten U.S. House seats. No Republican had won a Senate election since Ed Brooke in 1972. In 1994, incumbent Democrat Ted Kennedy won re-election against businessman Mitt Romney with 58% of the vote—a comfortable margin, but his lowest percentage of the vote since his first Senate election campaign in 1962. However, Weld, a fiscal conservative and social liberal, was a very popular governor; he had won reelection in 1994 with over 70% of the vote in spite of the state's Democratic lean. Therefore, the general election was expected to be highly competitive. This was one of many competitive U.S. Senate elections in 1996.

The first debate between Weld and Kerry was held in Faneuil Hall on April 8, with a second debate held on June 3. A third debate was held at the Emerson Majestic Theater on July 2. The Weld and Kerry campaigns agreed to eight debates and a spending cap of $6.9 million negotiated at Senator Kerry's Beacon Hill home on August 7; Senator Kerry later mortgaged his house to raise funds in October. On the same day the spending cap was agreed upon, Governor Weld jumped into the Charles River. He later spoke at the 1996 Republican National Convention on August 14 before debating Senator Kerry again on August 19. Senator Kerry spoke at the 1996 Democratic National Convention and debated Governor Weld again on September 16.

Results[]

Results by county
Kerry:

  50–60%

  60–70%

Weld:

  40–50%

  50–60%

1996 U.S. Senate election in Massachusetts^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John Kerry (incumbent)	1,334,345	52.74%	1.77
	Republican	Bill Weld	1,142,837	45.17%	4.22
	Conservative	Susan C. Gallagher	70,013	2.77%	N/A
	Natural Law	Robert C. Stowe	7,176	0.28%	N/A
	Write-in		1,515	0.06%	0.01
Total votes			2,555,886	100.00%

See also[]

• 1996 United States presidential election
• 1996 United States Senate elections

References[]

External links[]

• Kerry-Weld debates of 1996
• "The Good Fight" by James Carney
• Kranish, Michael, Brian C. Mooney, and Nina J. Easton. John F. Kerry: The Complete Biography by the Boston Globe Reporters Who Know Him Best, PublicAffairs, 2004. ISBN 1-58648-273-4.