1996 United States Senate election in North Carolina

none March 2026 September 2023 1996 United States Senate election in North Carolina North Carolina presidential no 1990 United States Senate election in North Carolina 1990 2002 United States Senate election in North Carolina 2002 November 5, 1996 150x150px JesseHelmsCropped.png Jesse Helms Republican Party (United States) 1,345,833 52.64% Harvey Gantt (Taps 1965).png Harvey Gantt Democratic Party (United States) 1,173,875 45.92% 1996 United States Senate election in North Carolina results map by county.svg 325px County results Helms: #ffb2b2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #d72f30 70–80%Gantt: #a5b0ff 40–50% #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% U.S. Senator Jesse Helms Republican Party (United States) Jesse Helms Republican Party (United States) The North Carolina United States Senate election of 1996 was held on November 5, 1996 as part of the nationwide elections to the Senate, and coincided with the 1996 presidential election. The general election was a rematch of the 1990 election between Republican incumbent Jesse Helms and Democratic nominee Harvey Gantt, the former Mayor of Charlotte. Helms won re-election to a fifth and final term by a slightly wider margin than in 1990. Helms would ultimately tie with Furnifold Simmons as North Carolina's longest-serving U.S senator, with a record of 30 years. Democratic primary In the Democratic primary, Gantt defeated Charles Sanders, who was CEO of pharmaceutical company Glaxo.JAY EUBANK CHARGE!: CHARLES SANDERS TURNS HIS ENERGY TO POLITICS https://greensboro.com/charge-charles-sanders-turns-his-energy-to-politics/article_050cb66e-dddb-54d2-917e-4460e8455700.html 2022-02-13 Greensboro News and Record enGantt Beats Sanders in N.C. Senate Primary, Setting Up Helms Rematch https://apnews.com/article/5a9f9097dc447c318307abb25eb786aa 2022-02-13 AP NEWS en As a candidate, Gantt supported a balanced federal budget, a $10,000 tax deduction for the middle-class, while also pledging to defend Medicare and education funding.AllPolitics - North Carolina Senate Race - Nov. 5, 1996 https://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/news/9611/05/senate/nc/ 2022-02-13 www.cnn.com 1996 North Carolina U.S. Senate Democratic primary electionNorth Carolina DataNet #46 http://southnow.org/southnow-publications/nc-datanet/DataNet%20April08.pdf April 2008 University of North Carolina June 12, 2009 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20080725034758/http://southnow.org/southnow-publications/nc-datanet/DataNet%20April08.pdf July 25, 2008 mdy-all Democratic Party (United States) Harvey Gantt 308,337 52.40% +14.88% Democratic Party (United States) Charles Sanders 245,297 41.68% N/A Democratic Party (United States) Ralph McKinney 34,829 5.92% N/A 588,463 Republican primary Jesse Helms won the Republican Party's nomination unopposed. General election During the campaign, Helms refused to debate Gantt or appear in public with him, instead choosing to focus his campaign's energy on television advertisements. Helms' campaign ads accused Gantt of being too socially liberal on issues such as gay rights and the death penalty. A major issue in the campaign were proposals for tobacco regulation: Helms accused Gantt of supporting President Bill Clinton's efforts to regulate tobacco use, while Gantt broke with his party to criticize Clinton on the subject. In return, Gantt accused Helms of being out-of-touch on "kitchen table issues" affecting working-class families, and stated that Helms "appeals to the bigotry and the prejudice that may be within all of us", though stopped short of calling Helms a racist.Grove Lloyd 1996-05-24 THE BALLOT OF HARVEY GANTT en-US Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1996/05/24/the-ballot-of-harvey-gantt/86fc5150-ceaa-4ee8-b2ec-ebfc5e019041/ 2022-02-13 0190-8286 Results Following this election, every senator from the Class II senate seat only served one term until Thom Tillis won re-election in 2020. 1996 North Carolina U.S. Senate election Republican Party (United States) Jesse Helms (Incumbent) 1,345,833 52.64% +0.08% Democratic Party (United States) Harvey Gantt 1,173,875 45.92% -1.49% Libertarian Party (United States) Ray Ubinger 25,396 0.99% N/A Natural Law Party (United States) Victor Pardo 11,209 0.44% N/A 2,556,456 Republican Party (United States) See also 1996 United States Senate elections References 1996 North Carolina Category:1996 North Carolina elections Category:Jesse Helms