1996 United States Senate election in Iowa

none March 2026 September 2023 1996 United States Senate election in Iowa Iowa Flag of Iowa (xrmap collection).svg presidential no 1990 United States Senate election in Iowa 1990 2002 United States Senate election in Iowa 2002 November 5, 1996 File:Tom Harkin Portrait Signed Crop.jpg 150x150px Tom Harkin Democratic Party (United States) 634,166 51.81% File:Lightfoot (cropped).jpg Jim Ross Lightfoot Republican Party (United States) 571,807 46.71% 1996 United States Senate election in Iowa results map by county.svg 240px County resultsHarkin: #bdd3ffff 30–40% #a5b0ff 40–50% #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70%Lightfoot: #ffb2b2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #d72f30 70–80% #c21b18 80–90% U.S. Senator Tom Harkin Democratic Party (United States) Tom Harkin Democratic Party (United States) The 1996 United States Senate election in Iowa was held on November 5, 1996. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Tom Harkin sought re-election to a third term in office, and he was challenged by U.S. Congressman Jim Ross Lightfoot from Iowa's 3rd congressional district. Lightfoot had won the Republican primary against two opponents, while Harkin had won his primary uncontested, so both moved on to the general election, where they engaged in a toughly fought campaign. Ultimately, Harkin was successful in his bid and defeated Lightfoot, albeit by the narrowest margin of his career. Democratic primary Candidates Tom Harkin, incumbent United States Senator Results Democratic primary resultsIowa Primary Election - June 4, 1996 https://sos.iowa.gov/elections/pdf/results/90s/1996primcanv.pdf Iowa Secretary of State Tom Harkin (incumbent) Democratic Party (United States) 98,737 99.19% Write-ins Democratic Party (United States) 810 0.81% 99,547 100.00% Republican primary Candidates Jim Ross Lightfoot, United States representative from Shenandoah Maggie Tinsman, state senator Steve Grubbs, state representative Results Republican primary results Jim Ross Lightfoot Republican Party (United States) 101,608 61.48% Maggie Tinsman Republican Party (United States) 40,955 24.78% Steve Grubbs Republican Party (United States) 22,554 13.65% Write-ins Republican Party (United States) 153 0.09% 165,270 100.00% General election Results United States Senate election in Iowa, 1996Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives Clerk of the United States House of Representatives Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 5, 1996 https://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1996election.pdf U.S. Government Printing Office 23 Democratic Party (United States) Tom Harkin (incumbent) 634,166 51.81% -2.66% Republican Party (United States) Jim Ross Lightfoot 571,807 46.71% +1.30% Independent (United States) Sue Atkinson 9,768 0.80% Natural Law Party (United States) Fred Gratzon 4,248 0.35% Independent (United States) Joe Sulentic 1,941 0.16% Socialist Workers Party (United States) Shirley E. Pena 1,844 0.15% 280 0.02% 62,359 5.09% -3.96% 1,224,054 Democratic Party (United States) Republican Party (United States) See also 1996 United States Senate elections References Iowa 1996 Category:1996 Iowa elections