2020 United States Senate elections

← 2018 November 3, 2020 January 5, 2021 (Georgia runoffs) 2022 →
← 2014 2026 →
35 of the 100 seats in theUnited States Senate 51[a] seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Chuck Schumer Mitch McConnell Party Democratic Republican Leader since January 3, 2017 January 3, 2007 Leader's seat New York Kentucky Seats before 45 53 Seats after 48 +VP[b][c] 50[c] Seat change 3 3 Popular vote 38,011,916[d] 39,834,647[d] Percentage 47.0% 49.3% Seats up 12 23 Races won 15 20   Third party   Party Independent Seats before 2[e] Seats after 2 Seat change Popular vote 255,768[f] Percentage 0.3% Seats up 0 Races won 0
Results of the elections:      Democratic gain     Republican gain      Democratic hold     Republican hold      No election Rectangular inset (Georgia): both seats up for election
Majority Leader before election Mitch McConnell Republican ElectedMajority Leader Chuck Schumer[g] Democratic

The2020 United States Senate elections were held on November 3, 2020,^[1] with the 33class 2 seats of theSenate contested in regular elections.^[2] Of these, 21 were held byRepublicans, and 12 byDemocrats. The winners were elected to 6-year terms from January 3, 2021, to January 3, 2027.^[3] Two special elections for seats held by Republicans were also held in conjunction with the general elections: one inArizona, to fill the vacancy created byJohn McCain's death in 2018; and one inGeorgia, followingJohnny Isakson's resignation in 2019.^[4][5][6][7] These elections ran concurrently with the2020 United States presidential election in which incumbent presidentDonald Trump lost to Democratic nomineeJoe Biden.

In the2014 United States Senate elections, the last regularly scheduled elections for Class 2 Senate seats, the Republicans won nine seats from the Democrats and gained a majority,^[8] which they continued to hold after the2016 and2018 elections.^[9][10] Before the elections, Republicans held 53 seats, Democrats held 45 seats, and independents caucusing with the Democrats held two seats, neither of which were up for re-election.^[11] Including the special elections in Arizona and Georgia, Republicans defended 23 seats, and the Democrats defended 12.^[12]

In this election, the Democratic Party made a net gain of three Senate seats and the vice presidency, giving them a majority for the first time since 2014, albeit by a narrow 50–50 margin.^[a][13] Democrats unseated four Republicans inArizona,Colorado, and both elections in Georgia – while Republicans flipped a seat inAlabama; however, Democrats under-performed expectations overall; despite record-breaking turnout and fund-raising efforts, they failed to flip several seats that were considered competitive, and lost many races by much larger margins than expected.^[6][14] Except inMaine, the winning party in every Senate election was the winning party in the state's presidential election.^[15]

Due to election laws in Georgia that require candidates to win at least 50% of the vote in the general election, the state'sregularly scheduled andspecial Senate elections were decided in run-off elections on January 5, 2021.^[16] After the November general election, Republicans held 50 seats, while Democrats held 48 and the vice presidency, so sweeping both races was crucial for Democrats to attain a majority. They succeeded in doing so,^[7] and the partisan balance in the Senate became tied for the third time in history, after the results in the 1880 elections and the 2000 elections.^[17][18] Vice President Kamala Harris's tie-breaking vote gave Democrats control of the chamber by the smallest margin possible after the new administration took office.^[19]

This marked the first time since1980 that either chamber of Congress flipped partisan control in a presidential election year, and the first time Democrats did so since1948.^[20] This was the fourth presidential election cycle in a row, after 2008, 2012 and 2016, where Democrats made gains.

Parties						Total
			Democratic	Independent	Republican
Last elections (2018)			45	2	53	100
Before these elections			45	2	53	100
Not up			33	2	30	65
	Class 1 (2018→2024)		21	2	10	33
	Class 3 (2016→2022)		12	—	20	32
Up			12	—	23	35
	Class 2 (2014→2020)		12	—	21	33
	Special: Class 3		—	—	2	2
	Regular elections
	Incumbent retired		1	—	3	4
		Held by same party	1	—	3	4
		Replaced by other party	—	—	—	0
		Result	1	—	3	4
	Incumbent ran		11	—	18	29
		Won re-election	10	—	16	26
		Lost re-election	1 Democrat replaced by 1 Republican 2 Republicans replaced by 2 Democrats			3
Special elections
	Appointee ran		—	—	2	2
		Appointee elected	—	—	0	0
		Result	2 Republicans replaced by 2 Democrats			2
Result			48[c]	2[e]	50[c]	100

National results^[21]

Parties		Votes	%	Seats
				Total before	Up	Won	Total after	+/-
	Republican	39,834,647	49.29	53	23	20	50	3
	Democratic	38,011,916	47.03	45	12	15	48	3
	Libertarian	1,454,128	1.80	0	0	0	0
	Green	258,348	0.32	0	0	0	0
	Constitution	110,851	0.14	0	0	0	0
	Independent	255,768	0.32	2	0	0	2
	Other parties	794,479	0.98	0	0	0	0
	Write-in	100,946	0.12	0	0	0	0
Total		80,821,083	100.00	100	35	35	100

Republicans defended 23 seats, while Democrats defended 12.^[12] Each block represents one of the 100 Senate seats. "D#" is a Democratic senator, "I#" is an independent senator, and "R#" is a Republican senator. They are arranged so that the parties are separated, and a majority is clear by crossing the middle.

Each block indicates an incumbent senator's actions going into the election. Both Independents caucus with the Democrats.

After the January 5, 2021 runoff elections in Georgia.

Several sites and individuals published predictions of competitive seats. These predictions looked at factors such as the strength of theincumbent (if the incumbent was running for re-election) and the other candidates, and the state's partisan lean (reflected in part by the state'sCook Partisan Voting Index rating). The predictions assigned ratings to each seat, indicating the predicted advantage that a party had in winning that seat. Most election predictors used:

• "tossup": no advantage
• "tilt" (used by some predictors): advantage that is not quite as strong as "lean"
• "lean": slight advantage
• "likely": significant, but surmountable, advantage
• "safe" or "solid": near-certain chance of victory

One Democrat and three Republicans retired instead of seeking re-election.

One Democrat and four Republicans sought re-election but lost in the general election, including two interim appointees who also sought elections to finish the terms.

One Democrat resigned shortly after the start of the 117th Congress and was replaced by a Democratic appointee.

In each special election, the winner's term begins immediately after their election is certified by their state's government.

Elections are sorted by date then state.

In each general election, the winner is elected for the term beginning January 3, 2021.

12 races had a margin of victory under 10%:

Alabama election

← 2017 (special) 2026 →

Nominee Tommy Tuberville Doug Jones Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,392,076 920,478 Percentage 60.1% 39.7%

Tuberville:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80-90% Jones:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%

U.S. senator before election Doug Jones Democratic Elected U.S. senator Tommy Tuberville Republican

Incumbent DemocratDoug Jones was elected in a special electionin 2017, narrowly defeating Republican nomineeRoy Moore.^[90][91] He ran for a full term in 2020, losing to RepublicanTommy Tuberville in a landslide.

Tuberville is a former football head coach forAuburn University. He defeated former senator andattorney generalJeff Sessions in a July 14 run-off to secure the Republican nomination, after securing President Donald Trump's endorsement. Sessions occupied the seat until 2017 when he resigned to become attorney general in the Trump administration.

Alabama is one of the country's most Republican states, and Jones's win was in part due to sexual assault allegations against nomineeRoy Moore during the special election; most analysts expected the seat to flip back to GOP control. Tuberville defeated Jones by more than 20 percentage points.^[92]

Alaska election

← 2014 2026 →

Nominee Dan Sullivan Al Gross[ae] Party Republican Independent Popular vote 191,112 146,068 Percentage 53.90% 41.19%

State house district results Borough and census area results Borough and census area results Sullivan:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Gross:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70-80%

U.S. senator before election Dan Sullivan Republican Elected U.S. senator Dan Sullivan Republican

One-term RepublicanDan Sullivan was elected in 2014, defeating incumbent DemocratMark Begich. He defeated independent challengerAl Gross to win a second term in office.^[95]

Potential Democratic candidates included Begich, who was the Democratic nominee forgovernor of Alaska in2018, andAnchorage mayorEthan Berkowitz, who was the Democratic nominee forgovernor of Alaska in2010. One Democrat,Edgar Blatchford, filed to run by the June 1 filing deadline.^[96]

Gross, an orthopedic surgeon and fisherman, declared his candidacy on July 2, 2019, as an independent.^[97] He participated in a joint primary for theAlaska Democratic Party,Alaska Libertarian Party andAlaskan Independence Party, winning the nomination as an independent supported by the Democratic Party.

Despite predictions of a close race, Sullivan defeated Gross by 12.7 percentage points.^[98]

Arizona special election

← 2016 2022 →

Nominee Mark Kelly Martha McSally Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,716,467 1,637,661 Percentage 51.16% 48.81%

County results Kelly:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% McSally:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

U.S. senator before election Martha McSally Republican Elected U.S. senator Mark Kelly Democratic

Six-term RepublicanJohn McCain was re-elected in 2016, but died in office on August 25, 2018, after a battle with brain cancer.^[101] Republican governorDoug Ducey appointed former senatorJon Kyl to fill the seat temporarily.^[102] After Kyl resigned at the end of the year, Ducey appointed outgoing U.S. RepresentativeMartha McSally to replace him after she lost the election to the other Arizona senate seat.^[103] McSally ran in the 2020 special election to fill the remaining two years of the term,^[104] losing to DemocratMark Kelly, a former astronaut.

Once a solidly Republican state, Arizona trended morepurple in the late 2010s. Incumbent RepublicanMartha McSally was appointed to McCain's seat two months after losing the2018 Arizona U.S. Senate election to DemocratKyrsten Sinema. Her Democratic opponent, astronautMark Kelly, raised significantly more money and generally led her by 5 to 15 points in the polling. McSally also suffered from low approval ratings due to her strong allegiance to Trump, who was unpopular in Arizona despite having won the state by 3.5 points in 2016.^[105]

Arkansas election

← 2014 2026 →

Nominee Tom Cotton Ricky Dale Harrington Jr. Party Republican Libertarian Popular vote 793,871 399,390 Percentage 66.5% 33.5%

County results Cotton:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Harrington:     50–60%

U.S. senator before election Tom Cotton Republican Elected U.S. senator Tom Cotton Republican

One-term RepublicanTom Cotton was elected in 2014, after serving two years in theUnited States House of Representatives, defeating incumbent Democratic senatorMark Pryor by a comfortable margin. Cotton was re-elected to a second term by a 33-point margin, defeatingLibertarian Ricky Dale Harrington Jr.^{[108][109][110]}

Joshua Mahony, a non-profit executive and 2018 Democratic nominee for Congress inArkansas's 3rd congressional district, filed to run for the Democratic nomination,^[111] but dropped out just after the filing deadline.^[112] No other Democrats filed within the filing deadline. Progressive activist Dan Whitfield ran as an independent, but suspended his campaign on October 1, 2020, after failing to qualify for the ballot.^[113]

Colorado election

← 2014 2026 →

Nominee John Hickenlooper Cory Gardner Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,731,114 1,429,492 Percentage 53.5% 44.2%

County results Hickenlooper:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Gardner:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%

U.S. senator before election Cory Gardner Republican Elected U.S. senator John Hickenlooper Democratic

One-term RepublicanCory Gardner was elected in 2014 after serving four years in theUnited States House of Representatives, narrowly defeating one-term DemocratMark Udall. Gardner sought a second term but lost to Democrat John Hickenlooper by 9.3 percentage points.^[115]

Hickenlooper is a popular formergovernor of Colorado, and led Gardner by as much as 20 percentage points in polls, with most pundits considering him a heavy favorite. Gardner was Colorado's only Republican statewide officeholder, and the once purple state has trended increasingly Democratic since his narrow win in2014. Gardner also had low approval ratings due to his strong allegiance to Trump, who lost Colorado in 2016 toHillary Clinton by 4.9%, and in 2020 toJoe Biden by 13.5%.^[116][117] Hickenlooper also raised significantly more money than Gardner.^[118]

Delaware election

← 2014 2026 →

Nominee Chris Coons Lauren Witzke Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 291,804 186,054 Percentage 59.4% 37.9%

County results Coons:     50–60%     60–70% Witzke:     50–60%

U.S. senator before election Chris Coons Democratic Elected U.S. senator Chris Coons Democratic

One-term DemocratChris Coons was re-elected in 2014; he first took office after winning a2010 special election, which occurred after long-time senatorJoe Biden resigned to becomevice president of the United States (Biden also won the2020 presidential election and became president). He faced an unsuccessful primary challenge from technology executive Jessica Scarane. Conservative activistLauren Witzke and attorney Jim DeMartino ran for the Republican nomination.

The Delaware primary was held on September 15, 2020.^[122]

Due to Republican senatorJohnny Isakson's resignation from office for health reasons in 2019, both of Georgia's Senate seats were up for election in November 2020.^[125] The state had tilted Republican in Senate races since the mid-1990s, but increased support for Democrats in populous suburbs has made office elections more competitive; a close governor's race, multiple close U.S. House races, and many other close local office races resulted in Democratic gains in2018 elections. Both the regular and special election were considered highly competitive toss-ups.^[126] Both of these elections received national attention, as if Republicans won at least one of these seats, they would maintain a Senate majority, but if the Democrats won both, the Senate would be split 50/50 with Vice PresidentKamala Harris breaking the tie.

2020–21 United States Senate election in Georgia

← 2014 November 3, 2020 (first round) January 5, 2021 (runoff) 2026 →
Turnout	65.4% (first round) 61.5% (runoff)
Candidate Jon Ossoff David Perdue Party Democratic Republican First round 2,374,519 47.95% 2,462,617 49.73% Runoff 2,269,923 50.61% 2,214,979 49.39%
First round county results Runoff county results County results Ossoff:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Perdue:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%
U.S. senator before election David Perdue Republican Elected U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff Democratic

One-term RepublicanDavid Perdue was elected in 2014, and sought a second term.^[127]

Jon Ossoff, a formercongressional candidate,documentary film producer, and investigative journalist, defeated formerColumbusmayorTeresa Tomlinson and2018 lieutenant governor nomineeSarah Riggs Amico in the Democratic primary to secure nomination.^[128][129] He faced incumbent RepublicanDavid Perdue in the November 3 election.

In the November election, no candidate received 50% or more of the total vote; per Georgia law, the election advanced to arun-off between the top two finishers, Ossoff and Perdue, on January 5, 2021. Ossoff was projected the winner on January 6,^[130] and Perdue conceded on January 8.^[131]

2020–21 United States Senate special election in Georgia

← 2016 November 3, 2020 (first round) January 5, 2021 (runoff) 2022 →
Turnout	65.3% (first round) 59.7% (runoff)
Candidate Raphael Warnock Kelly Loeffler Party Democratic Republican First round 1,617,035 32.90% 1,273,214 25.91% Runoff 2,289,113 51.04% 2,195,841 48.96%   Candidate Doug Collins Deborah Jackson Party Republican Democratic First round 980,454 19.95% 324,118 6.59% Runoff Eliminated Eliminated
First round county results Runoff county results Warnock:     20–30%     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Loeffler:     20–30%     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Collins:     20–30%     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%
U.S. senator before election Kelly Loeffler Republican Elected U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock Democratic

Three-term senatorJohnny Isakson announced on August 28, 2019, that he would resign from the Senate on December 31, 2019, citing health concerns.^[135] Georgia governorBrian Kempappointed RepublicanKelly Loeffler to replace Isakson until a special election could be held; Loeffler took office on January 6, 2020, and competed in the November 2020 election to retain her seat.^[136]

Other Republicans who ran for the seat included Wayne Johnson, former chief operating officer of theOffice of Federal Student Aid,^[137] and four-term U.S. representativeDoug Collins.^[138]

A "jungle primary" was held November 3, 2020, but no candidate won more than 50% of the vote, so arun-off election between the top two finishers, Loeffler and Democratic challengerRaphael Warnock, was held on January 5, 2021.^[139] Warnock defeated Loeffler, who initially refused to concede and vowed to challenge the outcome,^[140] but conceded on January 7, after thestorming of the U.S. Capitol.^[141]

Idaho election

← 2014 2026 →

Nominee Jim Risch Paulette Jordan Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 537,446 285,864 Percentage 62.6% 33.3%

County results Risch:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Jordan:     50–60%     60–70%

U.S. senator before election Jim Risch Republican Elected U.S. senator Jim Risch Republican

Two-term republicanJim Risch successfully ran for a third term in 2020, defeating DemocratPaulette Jordan in a landslide. Jordan is a former gubernatorial nominee and formerCoeur d'Alene Tribal Councilwoman.

Illinois election

← 2014 2026 →

Nominee Dick Durbin Mark Curran Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 3,278,930 2,319,870 Percentage 54.9% 38.9%

County results Durbin:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Curran:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%

U.S. senator before election Dick Durbin Democratic Elected U.S. senator Dick Durbin Democratic

Four-term democrat andSenate minority whipDick Durbin, easily won a fifth term in office, defeating RepublicanMark Curran by a 16-point margin.^[146]

Curran served assheriff ofLake County from 2006 to 2018 and won the Republican primary with 41.55% of the vote.^[147]

Antiwar activist Marilyn Jordan Lawlor^[148] andstate representativeAnne Stava-Murray^[149] briefly challenged Durbin in the Democratic primary, but both ended up withdrawing.^[150][151]

2019 Chicago mayoral candidateWillie Wilson, a businessman andperennial candidate, ran as a member of the "Willie Wilson Party," with the backing of a handful of Chicago aldermen and the Chicago Police Union.