1996 United States Senate election in Louisiana

none March 2026 September 2023 1996 United States Senate election in Louisiana Louisiana 1912 presidential no 1990 United States Senate election in Louisiana 1990 September 21, 1996 (first round)November 5, 1996 (runoff) 2002 United States Senate election in Louisiana 2002 First round Runoff File:Landrieu-lg (cropped).jpg 150x150px Mary Landrieu Democratic Party (United States) 264,26821.51% 852,94550.17% File:Contested Louisiana election 60145u (cropped).jpg Woody Jenkins Republican Party (United States) 322,24426.23% 847,15749.83% 3x4.svg Richard Ieyoub Democratic Party (United States) 250,68220.4% Eliminated File:David Duke.jpg David Duke Republican Party (United States) 141,48911.52% Eliminated File:JimmyHayes.jpg Jimmy Hayes Republican Party (United States) 71,6995.84% Eliminated 280px First round parish results 280px Runoff parish results 2 Landrieu: #DFEEFF 20–30% #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80%Jenkins: #FFE0EA 20–30% #FFC8CD 30–40% #FFB2B2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70%Ieyoub: #D0F9F9 20–30% #ACF2F2 30–40%Duke: #FFEFDF 10—20% #FFDAC1 20–30%Hayes: #f6d5ff 20–30% U.S. Senator J. Bennett Johnston Democratic Party (United States) Mary Landrieu Democratic Party (United States) The 1996 Louisiana United States Senate election was held on November 5, 1996, to select a new U.S. senator from the state of Louisiana to replace the retiring John Bennett Johnston, Jr. of Shreveport. After the jungle primary election, state treasurer Mary Landrieu entered into a runoff election with State Representative Woody Jenkins of Baton Rouge, a former Democrat who had turned Republican two years earlier. Landrieu prevailed by 5,788 votes out of 1.7 million cast, a margin of 0.34 percentage points, making this the closest race of the 1996 Senate election cycle and one of the closest elections in Louisiana history. Landrieu was the first woman elected to the United States Senate from Louisiana since Rose Long in 1936, and the first woman ever elected to a full term representing the state. In the concurrent presidential election, Democrat Bill Clinton carried Louisiana over Republican Bob Dole by a considerable margin of 927,837 votes to 712,586. Jungle primary The multi-candidate field for the primary included Democratic state Attorney General Richard Ieyoub and David Duke, the former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, running again as a Republican. Among the minor candidates were Peggy Wilson, an at-large member of the New Orleans City Council, and Troyce Guice, who had sought the same seat 30 years earlier when it was held by the veteran Senator Allen J. Ellender. Louisiana United States Senate jungle primary election, September 21, 1996https://transition.fec.gov/pubrec/fe1996/senate.htm#LOUISIANA 1996 U.S. Senate Results: Louisiana Federal Election Commission May 3, 2020 Republican Party (United States) Woody Jenkins 322,244 26.23% Democratic Party (United States) Mary Landrieu 264,268 21.51% Democratic Party (United States) Richard Ieyoub 250,682 20.41% Republican Party (United States) David Duke 141,489 11.52% Republican Party (United States) Jimmy Hayes 71,699 5.84% Republican Party (United States) Bill Linder 58,243 4.74% Republican Party (United States) Chuck McMains 45,164 3.68% Republican Party (United States) Peggy Wilson 31,877 2.59% Democratic Party (United States) Troyce Guice 15,277 1.24% Independent (United States) Nicholas J. Accardo 10,035 0.82% Independent (United States) Arthur D. "Jim" Nichols 7,894 0.64% Democratic Party (United States) Sadie Roberts-Joseph 4,660 0.38% Independent (United States) Tom Kirk 1,987 0.16% Independent (United States) Darryl Paul Ward 1,770 0.14% Independent (United States) Sam Houston Melton, Jr. 1,270 0.1% 1,228,559 100% Runoff election Louisiana United States Senate election, 1996 Democratic Party (United States) Mary Landrieu 852,945 50.17% Republican Party (United States) Woody Jenkins 847,157 49.83% 5,788 0.34% 1,700,102 100% |- | Democratic Party (United States) | colspan=5 |Democratic hold |- Allegations of election fraud Landrieu carried the Democratic stronghold of New Orleans by about 100,000 votes; in the days after the runoff election, Jenkins's campaign manager Tony Perkins alleged voting irregularities there.Shuler Marsha Landrieu victory certified; Jenkins continues to hint at challenge on N.O. vote http://www.theadvocate.com/jenkins/1109sen.htm The Advocate Baton Rouge November 9, 1996 https://web.archive.org/web/19970706185411/http://www.theadvocate.com/jenkins/1109sen.htm July 6, 1997 May 3, 2020 Jenkins refused to concede and claimed to have received many complaints about election fraud in New Orleans for incidents such as vote hauling and participation by unregistered voters. In April 1997, Jenkins appeared before the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate and petitioned for Landrieu's unseating pending a new election.https://web.archive.org/web/19970706185315/http://www.theadvocate.com/jenkins/0411mary.htm July 6, 1997 Jenkins gets support McKinney Joan http://www.theadvocate.com/jenkins/0411mary.htm The Advocate Baton Rouge April 11, 1997 May 3, 2020http://www.theadvocate.com/jenkins/0409wood.htm Panel advised to limit probe of La. election McKinney Joan The Advocate Baton Rouge April 9, 1997 May 3, 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/19970706185325/http://www.theadvocate.com/jenkins/0409wood.htm July 6, 1997 In a party-line 8–7 vote, the Senate Rules Committee agreed to investigate the charges.Shuler Marsha http://www.theadvocate.com/jenkins/0418wood.htm Panel votes for full probe The Advocate Baton Rouge April 18, 1997 https://web.archive.org/web/19970706185220/http://www.theadvocate.com/jenkins/0418wood.htm July 6, 1997 May 3, 2020 Only a month into the probe, however, it emerged that Thomas "Papa Bear" Miller, a detective hired by Jenkins to investigate claims of fraud, had coached witnesses to claim they had participated in election fraud. Three witnesses claimed Miller had paid them to claim that they had either cast multiple votes for Landrieu or drove vans of illegal voters across town. The others told such bizarre tales that FBI agents dismissed their claims out of hand. It also emerged that Miller had several felony convictions on his record, including a guilty plea to attempted murder. The Democrats walked out of the probe in protest, but the probe continued.James Carney Jay Carney No Saints in New Orleans http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,986643,00.html Time July 7, 1997 150 1 https://web.archive.org/web/19990209072510/http://cgi.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/1997/dom/970707/nation.no_saints_in_.html February 9, 1999 dead May 3, 2020 The investigation dragged on for over ten months, angering the Democrats and exacerbating partisan friction in the day-to-day sessions of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee to which Landrieu was assigned as a freshman member of the 105th Congress. Finally, in October 1997, the Rules Committee concluded that while there were major electoral irregularities, none of them were serious enough to burden Louisiana with a new election at that stage. It recommended that the results stand. The Landrieu-Jenkins contest was not the only U.S. Senate election in 20th century Louisiana in which the results were hotly disputed. In 1918, future Senator John H. Overton claimed the renomination and hence reelection of Senator Joseph E. Ransdell was tainted by fraud. In 1932, Senator Edwin S. Broussard claimed that his primary defeat by Overton was fraudulent. In both cases, the Senate seated the certified winners, Ransdell and Overton, respectively. See also 1996 United States Senate elections Notes References External links November 5, 1996 runoff results from Louisiana Secretary of State Archive of stories from November 9, 1996, to June 28, 1997, about election dispute from The Advocate of Baton Rouge Category:1996 Louisiana elections Louisiana 1996 Category:David Duke