1996 United States Senate special election in Oregon

none the simultaneous Class II general election to the next Senate term held in parallel later in the year 1996 United States Senate election in Oregon March 2026 September 2023 1996 United States Senate special election in Oregon Oregon presidential no 1992 United States Senate election in Oregon 1992 1998 United States Senate election in Oregon 1998 January 30, 1996 150x150px Ron Wyden official portrait.jpg Ron Wyden Democratic Party (United States) 571,739 47.78% Gordon Smith.jpg Gordon Smith Republican Party (United States) 553,519 46.26% 1996 United States Senate special election in Oregon results map by county.svg 260px County resultsWyden: #a5b0ff 40–50% #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% Smith: #ffb2b2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #d72f30 70–80% U.S. Senator Vacant Ron Wyden Democratic Party (United States) The 1996 United States Senate special election in Oregon was held on January 30, 1996, to fill the seat vacated by Republican Bob Packwood, who had resigned from the Senate due to sexual misconduct allegations. Governor at the time John Kitzhaber was not permitted by state law to appoint anyone to temporarily fill in for the rest of Packwood's term and called for a special election on January 30, 1996. In the primaries held on December 5, 1995, Democratic U.S. Representative Ron Wyden and Republican Oregon State Senate President Gordon H. Smith were nominated. Wyden then defeated Smith in the general election.http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=3468 Our Campaigns - OR US Senate - Special Election Race - Jan 30, 1996 Smith won the regularly-scheduled election to Oregon’s other Senate seat later that year and served alongside Wyden until 2009. Wyden's victory made him the first Democratic senator from Oregon since 1969, when Wayne Morse left office after narrowly losing re-election to Packwood. Democratic primary Candidates Peter DeFazio, U.S. representativehttps://digital.osl.state.or.us/islandora/object/osl%3A81929/datastream/OBJ/view Archived copy 2018-11-20 2018-11-21 https://web.archive.org/web/20181121022209/https://digital.osl.state.or.us/islandora/object/osl%3A81929/datastream/OBJ/view dead Michael Donnelly, businessman and president of Wild Oregon Water Anna Nevenic, nurse and perennial candidate J.J.T. Van Dooremolen Ron Wyden, U.S. representative Results thumb|Results by county Wyden #bdd3ff 30–40% #a5b0ff 40–50% #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% DeFazio #7ddddd 40–50% #51c2c2 50–60% #2aacac 60–70% #009696 70–80% #008080 80–90% Democratic primary resultshttp://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=38958 Our Campaigns - OR US Senate - Special D Primary Race - Dec 05, 1995 Democratic Party (United States) Ron Wyden 212,532 49.46% Democratic Party (United States) Peter DeFazio 187,411 43.61% Democratic Party (United States) Anna Nevenic 11,201 2.61% Democratic Party (United States) Michael Donnelly 8,340 1.94% Democratic Party (United States) Write-in Candidates 7,959 1.85% Democratic Party (United States) J.J.T. Van Dooremolen 2,279 0.53% 25,121 5.85% 429,722 100.00% Republican primary Candidates Sam Berry, attorney Brian Boquist, businessman and rancher Jeffrey Brady, dentist Valentine Christian, candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1992 Robert J. Fenton Lex Loeb Norma Paulus, Oregon Superintendent of Public Instruction, former Oregon Secretary of State, and nominee for governor of Oregon in 1986 Jack Roberts, commissioner of the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries Gordon H. Smith, president of the Oregon State Senate John Thomas, policeman Tony G. Zangaro Results thumb|Results by county Smith #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #d72f30 70–80% #c21b18 80–90% Republican primary resultshttp://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=38959 Our Campaigns - OR US Senate - Special R Primary Race - Dec 05, 1995 Republican Party (United States) Gordon H. Smith 246,060 63.63 Republican Party (United States) Norma Paulus 98,158 25.38 Republican Party (United States) Jack Roberts 29,687 7.68 Republican Party (United States) John Thomas 3,272 0.85 Republican Party (United States) Brian Boquist 3,228 0.84 Republican Party (United States) Tony G. Zangaro 1,638 0.42 Republican Party (United States) Sam Berry 1,426 0.37 Republican Party (United States) Jeffrey Brady 1,160 0.3 Republican Party (United States) Valentine Christian 943 0.24 Republican Party (United States) Robert J. Fenton 632 0.16 Republican Party (United States) Lex Loeb 508 0.13 147,902 38.25% 386,712 100 General election Results General election resultshttp://records.sos.state.or.us/ORSOSWebDrawer/Recordpdf/6873546 Content Manager WebDrawer - 1996 Special Election Official Results Democratic Party (United States) Ron Wyden 571,739 47.78% Republican Party (United States) Gordon H. Smith 553,519 46.26% American Independent Party Karen Shilling 25,597 2.14% Libertarian Party (United States) Gene Nanni 15,698 1.31% Independent (United States) Write-In Candidates 14,958 1.25% Socialist Party USA Vickie Valdez 7,872 0.66% Pacific Green Party Lou Gold 7,225 0.60% 18,220 1.52% 1,196,608 100.0% Democratic Party (United States) Republican Party (United States) See also 1996 United States Senate elections References 30em 1996 special Oregon special Oregon 1996 Senate special United States Senate 1996 Oregon Category:January 1996 in the United States