The 1996 United States Senate election in Minnesota was held on November 5, 1996. Incumbent Democrat Paul Wellstone won reelection to a second term defeating former Republican Senator Rudy Boschwitz in a rematch.[1]
 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
  Wellstone: 30–40% 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Boschwitz: 30–40% 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% Other: >90% Tie: 20–30% 30–40% 40–50% 50% No votes | |||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
Primary elections
editThe primary election was held on September 10, 1996.
DFL
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (DFL) | Paul Wellstone (incumbent) | 194,699 | 86.41% | |
| Democratic (DFL) | Richard Franson | 16,465 | 7.31% | |
| Democratic (DFL) | Ed Hansen | 9,990 | 4.43% | |
| Democratic (DFL) | Oloveuse S. Savior | 4,180 | 1.86% | |
| Turnout | 225,334 | |||
Republican
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Rudy Boschwitz | 158,678 | 80.59% | |
| Republican | Stephen Young | 16,324 | 8.29% | |
| Republican | Bert McKasy | 12,711 | 6.46% | |
| Republican | Monti Moreno | 6,536 | 3.32% | |
| Republican | John J. Zeleniak | 2,655 | 1.35% | |
| Turnout | 196,904 | |||
General election
editMajor candidates
edit- Dean Barkley (Reform), attorney and Independence Party nominee for the U.S. Senate in 1994
- Rudy Boschwitz (Republican), former U.S. Senator
- Paul Wellstone (Democratic), incumbent U.S. Senator
Campaign
editWellstone had unseated the two-term senator Boschwitz in the 1990 election. Boschwitz filed for a rematch.[3] He released ads calling Wellstone "embarrassingly liberal" and "Senator Welfare",[4] and accused Wellstone of supporting flag burning, a move some believe backfired.[5] As in 1990, Wellstone had a massive grassroots campaign that inspired college students, poor people and minorities to get involved in politics for the first time. Boschwitz significantly outspent Wellstone on campaign advertising and the race was closely contested, but Wellstone defeated Boschwitz by a nine-point margin in a three-way race. Dean Barkley received 7% of the vote[6] and was appointed by Governor Jesse Ventura to serve the last 60 days of Wellstone's term after Wellstone died in a plane crash 11 days before the 2002 election.
Results
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (DFL) | Paul Wellstone (incumbent) | 1,098,430 | 50.32% | |
| Republican | Rudy Boschwitz | 901,194 | 41.28% | |
| Reform | Dean Barkley | 152,328 | 6.98% | |
| Grassroots | Tim Davis | 14,139 | 0.65% | |
| Libertarian | Roy Ezra Carlton | 5,428 | 0.25% | |
| Resource Party | Howard Hanson | 4,381 | 0.20% | |
| Natural Law | Steve Johnson | 4,321 | 0.20% | |
| Socialist Workers | Thomas A. Fiske | 1,554 | 0.07% | |
| Write-in | 1,130 | 0.05% | ||
| Total votes | 2,182,905 | 100.00% | ||
| Democratic (DFL) hold | ||||
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Our Campaigns - MN US Senate Race - Nov 05, 1996".
- ^ a b "Primary Election Results". OurCampaigns.
- ^ "Star Tribune Archives".
- ^ Welch, William M. (September 11, 1996). "A classic, clear choice in Minnesota Liberal Wellstone vs. conservative Boschwitz". USA TODAY. Archived from the original on November 5, 2012.
- ^ "Pioneer Press: Search Results". September 25, 1996.
- ^ Banisky, Sandy (October 14, 1996). "Incumbent is liberal and proud; Campaign: In Hubert H. Humphrey's home state, a former Republican senator, Rudy Boschwitz, is using his incumbent opponent's views against him.; CAMPAIGN 1996". The Sun. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012.