2010 United States Senate election in Alabama

The 2010 United States Senate election in Alabama took place on November 2, 2010, alongside other elections to the United States Senate in other states, as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican Senator Richard Shelby won re-election to a fifth term.

2010 United States Senate election in Alabama

← 2004 November 2, 2010 2016 →

Nominee Richard Shelby William G. Barnes Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 968,181 515,619 Percentage 65.18% 34.71%

County results Shelby:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Barnes:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%

U.S. senator before election Richard Shelby Republican Elected U.S. Senator Richard Shelby Republican

Background

In 1986, Shelby won the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat held by Republican Jeremiah Denton, the first Republican elected to the Senate from Alabama since Reconstruction. He won a very close race as the Democrats regained control of the Senate. He was easily re-elected in 1992 even as Bill Clinton lost Alabama's electoral votes.

On November 9, 1994, Shelby switched his party affiliation to Republican, one day after the Republicans won control of both houses in the midterm elections, giving the Republicans a 53–47 majority in the Senate. He won his first full term as a Republican in 1998 by a large margin, and faced no significant opposition in 2004.

Shelby was popular in Alabama. A September 2009 poll showed he had a 58% approval rating, with 35% disapproving.^[1]

Republican primary

Candidates

• Clint Moser, Tea Party activist^[2]
• Richard Shelby, incumbent U.S. Senator

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Richard Shelby	Clint Moser	Other	Undecided
Research 2000[3]	May 10–12, 2010	600	± 4.0%	63%	14%	—	23%

Results

Republican primary results^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Richard Shelby (incumbent)	405,042	84.34%
	Republican	Clint Moser	75,190	15.66%
Total votes			480,232	100.00%

Democratic primary

Candidates

• William G. Barnes, attorney
• Simone De Moore, teacher and soul singer^[5]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	William Barnes	Simone De Moore	Other	Undecided
Research 2000[3]	May 10–12, 2010	600	± 4.0%	39%	11%	3%	47%

Results

County results

Democratic primary results^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	William G. Barnes	160,737	60.77%
	Democratic	Simone De Moore	103,784	39.23%
Total votes			264,521	100.00%

General election

Candidates

• William G. Barnes (D), attorney
• Richard Shelby (R), incumbent U.S. Senator since 1987

Campaign

Shelby, who switched from Democrat to Republican in the mid-1990s, was a popular senator in Alabama for three decades, first elected in 1986. He has over $17 million in the bank, one of the highest of any candidate in the country. Recently, he became even more popular in his opposition to the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, as the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee.

In May, Shelby told reporters "I don't even know who my opponent is."^[6]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Cook Political Report[7]	Solid R	October 26, 2010
Rothenberg[8]	Safe R	October 22, 2010
RealClearPolitics[9]	Safe R	October 26, 2010
Sabato's Crystal Ball[10]	Safe R	October 21, 2010
CQ Politics[11]	Safe R	October 26, 2010

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Richard Shelby (R)	William G. Barnes (D)	Other	Undecided
Rasmussen Reports (report)	March 29, 2010	500	± 4.5%	59%	32%	3%	6%
Research 2000 (report)	May 17–19, 2010	600	± 4.0%	57%	33%	3%	7%
Rasmussen Reports (report)	May 25, 2010	500	± 4.5%	58%	31%	3%	8%
Rasmussen Reports (report)	June 3, 2010	500	± 4.5%	58%	31%	3%	7%
Rasmussen Reports (report)	July 22, 2010	500	± 4.5%	59%	29%	6%	6%
Rasmussen Reports (report)	August 19, 2010	500	± 4.5%	60%	28%	2%	10%
Rasmussen Reports (report)	September 21, 2010	500	± 4.5%	58%	30%	4%	8%

Hypothetical polling

Richard Shelby vs. generic Democrat

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Richard Shelby (R)	Generic Democrat	Undecided
Public Policy Polling[12]	March 27–29, 2010	1,270	±2.8%	55%	37%	8%

Fundraising

Candidate (party)	Receipts	Disbursements	Cash on hand	Debt
Richard Shelby (R)	$5,103,288	$1,456,041	$17,028,219	$0
William Barnes (D)	$0	$0	$0	$0
Source: Federal Election Commission[13]

Results

2010 United States Senate election in Alabama^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Richard Shelby (incumbent)	968,181	65.18%	−2.37%
	Democratic	William G. Barnes	515,619	34.71%	+2.36%
	Write-in		1,699	0.11%	+0.01%
Total votes			1,485,499	100.00%
	Republican hold

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Russell (largest city: Phenix City)
• Montgomery (largest city: Montgomery)