1996 United States Senate election in Colorado

The 1996 United States Senate election in Colorado was held on November 5, 1996. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Hank Brown decided to retire instead of seeking a second term. Republican Wayne Allard won the open seat.

1996 United States Senate election in Colorado

← 1990 November 5, 1996 2002 →

Nominee Wayne Allard Tom Strickland Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 750,315 667,600 Percentage 51.41% 45.74%

County results Allard:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Strickland:      50–60%      60–70%

U.S. senator before election Hank Brown Republican Elected U.S. Senator Wayne Allard Republican

Republican primary

Candidates

• Wayne Allard, U.S. representative from Fort Collins
• Gale Norton, Attorney General of Colorado

Results

Republican primary results^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Wayne Allard	115,064	56.83%
	Republican	Gale Norton	87,394	43.17%
Total votes			202,458	100.00%

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Gene Nichol, dean of the University of Colorado Law School
• Tom Strickland, attorney

Results

Democratic primary results^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Tom Strickland	87,294	66.13%
	Democratic	Gene Nichol	44,709	33.87%
Total votes			132,003	100.00%

General election

Candidates

• Wayne Allard, U.S. representative from Fort Collins (Republican)
• Randy MacKenzie (Natural Law)
• Tom Strickland, attorney (Democratic)

Results

General election^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Wayne Allard	750,315	51.41%	−4.27%
	Democratic	Tom Strickland	667,600	45.74%	+4.08%
	Natural Law	Randy MacKenzie	41,620	2.85%
	Write-ins		66	<0.01%
Majority			82,715	5.67%	−8.35%
Turnout			1,459,601
	Republican hold		Swing

See also

• 1996 United States Senate elections