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 County results Municipality resultsSmith: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% Swett: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 80–90% >90% | |||||||||||||||||
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The1996 United States Senate election in New Hampshire was held on November 5, 1996. Incumbent Republican U.S. SenatorBob Smith won re-election to a second term. Smith had established himself as the most conservative senator from the Northeast, andBill Clinton's coattails nearly caused his defeat. That was to the point that on the night of the election many American media networks incorrectly projected thatDick Swett had won.[1]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Bob Smith (incumbent) | 85,223 | 100.00% | |
| Total votes | 85,223 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Dick Swett | 32,443 | 52.47% | |
| Democratic | John Rauh | 29,393 | 47.53% | |
| Total votes | 61,836 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Libertarian | Ken Blevens | 663 | 100.00% | |
| Total votes | 663 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Bob Smith (incumbent) | 242,304 | 49.25% |  15.88 | |
| Democratic | Dick Swett | 227,397 | 46.22% |  14.89 | |
| Libertarian | Ken Blevens | 22,265 | 4.53% | 1.19 | |
| Total votes | 491,966 | 100.00% | |||
| Republicanhold | Swing | ||||
An incorrect exit poll byVoter News Service, or VNS, resulted in an early and ultimately incorrect projection of victory in New Hampshire for Democratic Senate candidate Richard Swett over Republican incumbent Sen. Robert C. Smith. "Every election night, you know, its cardiac-arrest time in some state, in some race - sometimes in several races,"CBS'Dan Rather explained at 9:40 p.m. EST. "This race is as hot and tight as a too-small bathing suit on a too-long car ride back from the beach." But the network "oops" came too late for a number of newspapers that featured Swett's exit-poll victory in their early editions.
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