1996 United States Senate election in New Hampshire

none March 2026 September 2023 1996 United States Senate election in New Hampshire New Hampshire presidential no 1990 United States Senate election in New Hampshire 1990 2002 United States Senate election in New Hampshire 2002 November 5, 1996 150x150px Robert C Smith.jpg Bob Smith Republican Party (United States) 242,304 49.25% Richard Swett.jpg Dick Swett Democratic Party (United States) 227,397 46.22% x245px County results x245px Municipality results Smith: #FFB2B2 40–50% #E27F7F 50–60% #D75D5D 60–70% #D72F30 70–80% #C21B18 80–90%Swett: #a5b0ff 40–50% #7996E2 50–60% #6674DE 60–70% #3933E5 80–90% #0d056c >90% U.S. Senator Bob Smith Republican Party (United States) Bob Smith Republican Party (United States) The 1996 United States Senate election in New Hampshire was held on November 5, 1996. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Bob Smith won re-election to a second term. Smith had established himself as the most conservative senator from the Northeast, and Bill Clinton's coattails nearly caused his defeat. That was to the point that on the night of the election many American media networks incorrectly projected that Dick Swett had won.December 2, 1996 Susan Crabtree Susan Crabtree https://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_n45_v12/ai_18917399/print https://web.archive.org/web/20050330131554/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_n45_v12/ai_18917399/print usurped March 30, 2005 April 29, 2012 1996 Ad Insight on the News 45 12 An incorrect exit poll by Voter News Service, or VNS, resulted in an early and ultimately incorrect projection of victory in New Hampshire for Democratic Senate candidate Richard Swett over Republican incumbent Sen. Robert C. Smith. "Every election night, you know, its cardiac-arrest time in some state, in some race - sometimes in several races," CBS' Dan Rather explained at 9:40 p.m. EST. "This race is as hot and tight as a too-small bathing suit on a too-long car ride back from the beach." But the network "oops" came too late for a number of newspapers that featured Swett's exit-poll victory in their early editions. Republican primary Candidates Bob Smith, incumbent U.S. senator Results 1996 Republican U.S. Senate primaryGardner William M. State of New Hampshire Manual for the General Court, 1997 1997 Department of State Concord, N.H. 294 https://nh.electionstats.com/data/serve_file_pages_for_item/58144/Election/ 15 April 2025 Bob Smith (incumbent) Republican Party (US) 85,223 100.00% 85,223 100.00% Democratic primary Candidates John Rauh, founder of Americans for Campaign Reform, former CEO of Griffon Corporation, and candidate for U.S. Senate in 1990 Dick Swett, former U.S. representative from Bow Results 1996 Democratic U.S. Senate primary Dick Swett Democratic Party (US) 32,443 52.47% John Rauh Democratic Party (US) 29,393 47.53% 61,836 100.00% Libertarian primary Candidates Ken Blevens Results 1996 Libertarian U.S. Senate primary Ken Blevens Libertarian Party (US) 663 100.00% 663 100.00% General election Candidates Ken Blevens (Libertarian) Bob Smith, incumbent U.S. senator (Republican) Dick Swett, former U.S. representative from Bow (Democratic) Results General election resultshttp://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=177 Our Campaigns - NH US Senate Race - Nov 05, 1996 Republican Party (United States) Bob Smith (incumbent) 242,304 49.25% 15.88 Democratic Party (United States) Dick Swett 227,397 46.22% 14.89 Libertarian Party (United States) Ken Blevens 22,265 4.53% 1.19 491,966 100.00% Republican Party (United States) See also 1996 United States Senate elections References New Hampshire 1996 United States Senate