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| Turnout | 62.77% [1] 6.15pp | ||||||||||||||||
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 County results Thompson: 50–60% 60—70% 70–80% Gordon: 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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The1996 Tennessee United States Senate election was held on November 5, 1996, to elect theU.S. Senator from the state ofTennessee.Republican SenatorFred Thompson ran for re-election to a full six-year term. Thompson defeated theDemocratic challenger,Covington lawyer Houston Gordon in the general election.[2] This is the last time that Tennessee voted for a Senate candidate and apresidential candidate of different political parties.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Fred Thompson (Incumbent) | 1,091,554 | 61.37% | +0.93% | |
| Democratic | Houston Gordon | 654,937 | 36.82% | −1.79% | |
| Independent | John Jay Hooker | 14,401 | 0.81% | ||
| Independent | Bruce Gold | 5,865 | 0.33% | ||
| Independent | Robert O. Watson | 5,569 | 0.31% | ||
| Independent | Greg Samples | 4,104 | 0.23% | ||
| Independent | Philip L. Kienlen | 2,173 | 0.12% | ||
| Write-ins | 61 | 0.00% | |||
| Majority | 436,617 | 24.55% | +2.71% | ||
| Turnout | 1,778,664 | ||||
| Republicanhold | |||||
