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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 1,334,345 1,142,837 Percentage 52.21% 44.41%

County results Municipality results Kerry:     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

The1996 United States Senate election in Massachusetts took place on November 5, 1996. Incumbent Democratic U.S. SenatorJohn Kerry won re-election to a third term over RepublicanBill Weld, the governor of Massachusetts.

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

On November 29, 1995, incumbent GovernorBill Weld announced his candidacy for the Senate seat occupied by U.S. SenatorJohn Kerry with a formal announcement on March 27, 1996. Kerry's previous two general election opponents in1984 and1990 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 sinceEd Brooke in1972. In1994, incumbent DemocratTed Kennedy won re-election against businessmanMitt Romney with 58% of the vote—a comfortable margin, but his lowest percentage of the vote since his firstSenate election campaign in 1962. However, Weld, a fiscal conservative and social liberal, was a very popular governor; he had won reelection in1994 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 competitiveU.S. Senate elections in 1996.

The first debate between Weld and Kerry was held inFaneuil 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 theCharles River. He later spoke at the1996 Republican National Convention on August 14 before debating Senator Kerry again on August 19. Senator Kerry spoke at the1996 Democratic National Convention and debated Governor Weld again on September 16.

1996 U.S. Senate election in Massachusetts^[9]

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%

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

• 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 GlobeReporters Who Know Him Best, PublicAffairs, 2004.ISBN 1-58648-273-4.

• 1996 United States Senate elections
• John Kerry
• Bill Weld
• United States Senate elections in Massachusetts
• 1996 Massachusetts elections

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