1996 United States Senate election in Massachusetts

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← 1990

November 5, 1996

2002 →


Nominee	John Kerry	Bill Weld
Party	Democratic	Republican
Popular vote	1,334,135	1,143,120
Percentage	52.21%	45.41%

County results

Municipality resultsKerry: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%
Weld: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%

U.S. senator before election

John Kerry
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

John Kerry
Democratic

Elections in
Massachusetts

General

Federal government

U.S. President
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U.S. Senate
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State government

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Boston

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Massachusetts portal

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.

Debates

1996 United States Senate election in Massachusetts debates
No.	Date	Host	Moderator	Link	Democratic	Republican
Key: P Participant A Absent N Not invited I Invited W Withdrawn
					John Kerry	Bill Weld
1	Apr. 8, 1996	The Boston Globe WBZ-TV		C-SPAN	P	P
2	Jun. 3, 1996	WHDH-TV	John Marler	C-SPAN	P	P
3	Jul. 2, 1996	Emerson College WBZ-TV	Liz Walker	C-SPAN	P	P
4	Aug. 19, 1996	The Boston Globe Boston Herald WCVB-TV		C-SPAN	P	P
5	Sep. 16, 1996	The Boston Globe Boston Herald WCVB-TV	Charles Ogletree	C-SPAN	P	P
6	Oct. 15, 1996	WHDH-TV	Christopher Lydon	C-SPAN	P	P
7	Oct. 23, 1996	WGBY-TV	Jim Madigan	C-SPAN	P	P
8	Oct. 28, 1996	WCVB-TV	Ken Bode	C-SPAN	P	P

Results

1996 U.S. Senate election in Massachusetts
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John Kerry (incumbent)	1,334,345	52.21%	1.77
	Republican	Bill Weld	1,142,837	44.41%	4.22
	Conservative	Susan C. Gallagher	70,013	2.74%	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%

References

C-SPAN
C-SPAN
C-SPAN
C-SPAN
C-SPAN
C-SPAN
C-SPAN
C-SPAN
"PD43+ >> 1996 U.S. Senate General Election". Massachusetts Elections Division. Retrieved July 23, 2018.

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.

v t e Federal elections in Massachusetts
U.S. President	1788 1792 1796 1800 1804 1808 1812 1816 1820 1824 1828 1832 1836 1840 1844 1848 1852 1856 1860 1864 1868 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
U.S. Senate Class 1	1803 1808 1839 1851 1857 1863 1869 1887 1893 1899 1905 1911 1916 1922 s/1926 1928 1934 1940 1946 1952 1958 s/1962 1964 1970 1976 1982 1988 1994 2000 2006 s/2010 2012 2018 2024
U.S. Senate Class 2	s/1855 1859 1865 1871 s/1873 1877 1883 1889 1895 1901 1907 1913 1918 1924 1930 1936 1942 s/1944 1948 1954 1960 1966 1972 1978 1984 1990 1996 2002 2008 s/2013 2014 2020
U.S. House	1788–89 1790–92 1792-93 1794–95 1796–97 1798–99 1800–01 1802–03 1804 1806 1808 1810–11 1812–13 1814–15 1816–17 1818–19 1820–21 1822–23 1824–25 1826–27 1828 1830–1970 1972 1974–2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024
U.S. House Special Elections	1796–1797 s/1st s/10th s/11th 1800–1801 s/3rd s/4th s/10th s/4th s/12th s/14th 1804 s/12th 1807 s/12th 1808 s/2nd 1810–1811 s/10th s/11th s/4th 1812 s/17th 1814–1815 s/4th s/12th s/3rd 1816–1817 s/11th s/1st 1818 s/20th 1820 s/1st s/8th s/13th 1823 s/10th 1824 s/10th 1827 s/1st 1834–1991 listed here 2001 s/9th 2007 s/5th 2013 s/5th
"s/" = Special election See also: Political party strength in Massachusetts For statewide elections, see Template:State elections in Massachusetts footer.

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