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 County results Wyden: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% Smith: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Oregon | ||
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The1996 United States Senate special election in Oregon was held on January 30, 1996, to fill the seat vacated by RepublicanBob Packwood, who had resigned from the Senate due to sexual misconduct allegations. Governor at the timeJohn Kitzhaber was not permitted by state law to appoint anyone to temporarily fill in for the rest of Packwood's term and called for a special election on January 30, 1996.
In the primaries held on December 5, 1995, DemocraticU.S. RepresentativeRon Wyden and Republican Oregon State SenatePresidentGordon H. Smith were nominated. Wyden then defeated Smith in the general election.[1] Smith won theregularly-scheduled election to Oregon’s other Senate seat later that year and served alongside Wyden until 2009. Wyden's victory made him the first Democratic senator from Oregon since 1969, whenWayne Morse left office after narrowly losing re-election to Packwood.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Ron Wyden | 212,532 | 49.46% | |
| Democratic | Peter DeFazio | 187,411 | 43.61% | |
| Democratic | Anna Nevenic | 11,201 | 2.61% | |
| Democratic | Michael Donnelly | 8,340 | 1.94% | |
| Democratic | Write-in Candidates | 7,959 | 1.85% | |
| Democratic | J.J.T. Van Dooremolen | 2,279 | 0.53% | |
| Plurality | 25,121 | 5.85% | ||
| Total votes | 429,722 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Gordon H. Smith | 246,060 | 63.63 | |
| Republican | Norma Paulus | 98,158 | 25.38 | |
| Republican | Jack Roberts | 29,687 | 7.68 | |
| Republican | John Thomas | 3,272 | 0.85 | |
| Republican | Brian Boquist | 3,228 | 0.84 | |
| Republican | Tony G. Zangaro | 1,638 | 0.42 | |
| Republican | Sam Berry | 1,426 | 0.37 | |
| Republican | Jeffrey Brady | 1,160 | 0.3 | |
| Republican | Valentine Christian | 943 | 0.24 | |
| Republican | Robert J. Fenton | 632 | 0.16 | |
| Republican | Lex Loeb | 508 | 0.13 | |
| Majority | 147,902 | 38.25% | ||
| Total votes | 386,712 | 100 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Ron Wyden | 571,739 | 47.78% | |
| Republican | Gordon H. Smith | 553,519 | 46.26% | |
| American Independent | Karen Shilling | 25,597 | 2.14% | |
| Libertarian | Gene Nanni | 15,698 | 1.31% | |
| Independent | Write-In Candidates | 14,958 | 1.25% | |
| Socialist | Vickie Valdez | 7,872 | 0.66% | |
| Pacific Green | Lou Gold | 7,225 | 0.60% | |
| Plurality | 18,220 | 1.52% | ||
| Total votes | 1,196,608 | 100.0% | ||
| Democraticgain fromRepublican | ||||
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