2010 United States Senate election in Alabama

none March 2026 September 2023 2010 United States Senate election in Alabama Alabama presidential Yes 2004 United States Senate election in Alabama 2004 2016 United States Senate election in Alabama 2016 November 2, 2010 File:Richard Shelby, official portrait, 112th Congress (cropped 2).jpg 150x150px Richard Shelby Republican Party (United States) 968,181 65.18% File:William G. Barnes (cropped).jpg William G. Barnes Democratic Party (United States) 515,619 34.71% 2010 United States Senate election in Alabama results map by county.svg 250px County resultsShelby: #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #d72f30 70–80% #c21b18 80–90%Barnes: #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% #3933e5 80–90% U.S. Senator Richard Shelby Republican Party (United States) Richard Shelby Republican Party (United States) The 2010 United States Senate election in Alabama took place on November 2, 2010, alongside other elections to the United States Senate in other states, as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican Senator Richard Shelby won re-election to a fifth term. Background In 1986, Shelby won the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat held by Republican Jeremiah Denton, the first Republican elected to the Senate from Alabama since Reconstruction. He won a very close race as the Democrats regained control of the Senate. He was easily re-elected in 1992 even as Bill Clinton lost Alabama's electoral votes. On November 9, 1994, Shelby switched his party affiliation to Republican, one day after the Republicans won control of both houses in the midterm elections, giving the Republicans a 53–47 majority in the Senate. He won his first full term as a Republican in 1998 by a large margin, and faced no significant opposition in 2004. Shelby was popular in Alabama. A September 2009 poll showed he had a 58% approval rating, with 35% disapproving.http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=be14ad40-d8e9-4c99-8100-57f0f59fa64b News Poll #15743 SurveyUSA August 31, 2009 August 29, 2010 Republican primary Candidates Clint Moser, Tea Party activisthttp://www.alabama2010.com/inner.asp?z=87 Alabama GOP Alabama2010.com June 14, 2010August 2019 InternetArchiveBot yes Richard Shelby, incumbent U.S. Senator Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error RichardShelby ClintMoser Other UndecidedResearch 2000Research 2000 May 10–12, 2010 600 ± 4.0% 63% 14% — 23% Results Republican primary results Richard Shelby (incumbent) Republican Party (United States) 405,042 84.34% Clint Moser Republican Party (United States) 75,190 15.66% 480,232 100.00% Democratic primary Candidates William G. Barnes, attorney Simone De Moore, teacher and soul singerhttp://www.aladems.org/custom/candidates_list.php Candidates Alabama Democratic Party Directory June 14, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100527224745/http://www.aladems.org/custom/candidates_list.php May 27, 2010 dead Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error WilliamBarnes Simone DeMoore Other UndecidedResearch 2000 May 10–12, 2010 600 ± 4.0% 39% 11% 3% 47% Results thumb|250px|Results by county #7996e2 Barnes #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% #3933e5 80–90% #5bc75b De Moore #5bc75b 50–60% Democratic primary resultshttps://www.politico.com/2010/maps/#/Senate/2010/AL Alabama US Senate Primary Results June 1, 2010 Politico June 1, 2010 August 23, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100823031212/http://www.politico.com/2010/maps/#/Senate/2010/AL dead William G. Barnes Democratic Party (United States) 160,737 60.77% Simone De Moore Democratic Party (United States) 103,784 39.23% 264,521 100.00% General election Candidates William G. Barnes (D), attorney Richard Shelby (R), incumbent U.S. Senator since 1987 Campaign Shelby, who switched from Democrat to Republican in 1994, was a popular senator in Alabama for three decades, first elected in 1986. He has over $17 million in the bank, one of the highest of any candidate in the country. Recently, he became even more popular in his opposition to the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, as the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee. In May, Shelby told reporters "I don't even know who my opponent is."http://blogs.marketwatch.com/election/2010/05/28/smooth-sailing-for-alabamas-shelby Smooth sailing for Alabama's Shelby MarketWatch Election Blog Ronald Orol May 28, 2010 June 14, 2010 July 14, 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110714041127/http://blogs.marketwatch.com/election/2010/05/28/smooth-sailing-for-alabamas-shelby/ dead Predictions Source Ranking As of Cook Political Reporthttp://cookpolitical.com/senate Senate Cook Political Report October 26, 2010 September 19, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100919160658/http://www.cookpolitical.com/senate dead Solid R October 26, 2010 Rothenberghttp://rothenbergpoliticalreport.com/ratings/senate Senate Ratings Rothenberg Political Report October 26, 2010 Safe R October 22, 2010 RealClearPoliticshttp://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2010/senate/2010_elections_senate_map.html Battle for the Senate RealClearPolitics October 26, 2010 Safe R October 26, 2010 Sabato's Crystal Ballhttp://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/articles/category/2010-senate 2010 Senate Ratings Sabato's Crystal Ball October 26, 2010 October 28, 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20101028092918/http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/articles/category/2010-senate/ dead Safe R October 21, 2010 CQ Politicshttp://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=ratings-senate Race Ratings Chart: Senate CQ Politics October 26, 2010 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20101028234525/http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=ratings-senate October 28, 2010 Safe R October 26, 2010 Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error RichardShelby (R) William G.Barnes (D) Other Undecided Rasmussen Reports (report) March 29, 2010 500 ± 4.5% 59% 32% 3% 6% Research 2000 ( report) May 17–19, 2010 600 ± 4.0% 57% 33% 3% 7% Rasmussen Reports (report) May 25, 2010 500 ± 4.5% 58% 31% 3% 8% Rasmussen Reports (report) June 3, 2010 500 ± 4.5% 58% 31% 3% 7% Rasmussen Reports (report) July 22, 2010 500 ± 4.5% 59% 29% 6% 6% Rasmussen Reports (report) August 19, 2010 500 ± 4.5% 60% 28% 2% 10% Rasmussen Reports (report) September 21, 2010 500 ± 4.5% 58% 30% 4% 8% background:#cff Hypothetical polling border:solid 1px silver; padding:8px; background:var(--background-color-base); color:var(--color-base); Richard Shelby vs. generic Democrat Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin oferror RichardShelby (R) GenericDemocrat UndecidedPublic Policy PollingPublic Policy Polling March 27–29, 2010 1,270 ±2.8% 55% 37% 8% Fundraising Candidate (party) Receipts Disbursements Cash on hand Debt Richard Shelby (R) $5,103,288 $1,456,041 $17,028,219 $0 William Barnes (D) $0 $0 $0 $0 Source: Federal Election Commissionhttp://www.fec.gov:80/DisclosureSearch/HSRefreshCandList.do?category=stateS_all&stateName=AL&election_yr=2010 2010 House and Senate Campaign Finance for Alabama fec.gov August 12, 2010 August 2019 InternetArchiveBot yes Results 2010 United States Senate election in Alabama2010 General Election Results https://www.sos.alabama.gov/sites/default/files/voter-pdfs/2010/2010GeneralResults-AllStateAndFederalOfficesAndAmendments-CompleteWithWrite-inAppendix.pdf?_ga=2.207178074.896688133.1615867717-801767886.1615867717 Alabama Secretary of State Republican Party (United States) Richard Shelby (incumbent) 968,181 65.18% -2.37% Democratic Party (United States) William G. Barnes 515,619 34.71% +2.36% 1,699 0.11% +0.01% 1,485,499 100.00% Republican Party (United States) Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Russell (largest city: Phenix City) Montgomery (largest city: Montgomery) References External links Alabama Secretary of State - Elections U.S. Congress candidates for Alabama https://web.archive.org/web/20100930120917/http://www.votesmart.org/election_congress_state.php?state_id=AL September 30, 2010 at Project Vote Smart Alabama U.S. Senate from OurCampaigns.com Campaign contributions from Open Secrets Alabama Polls graph of multiple polls from Pollster.com Election 2010: Alabama Senate from Rasmussen Reports https://archive.today/20130120001241/http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=senate-2010-AL 2010 Alabama Senate Race el from CQ Politics Race profile from The New York Times Official candidate websites Richard Shelby for U.S Senate https://web.archive.org/web/20041030220653/http://shelbyforsenate.com/ October 30, 2004 William G. Barnes for U.S. Senate United States Senate Alabama 2010