United States Senate election in Colorado, 1996

United States Senate election in Colorado, 1996

November 5, 1996

Nominee Wayne Allard Tom Strickland Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 750,325 677,600 Percentage 51.4% 45.7%

County results

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

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.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Tom Strickland, lawyer and former U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado
• Gene Nichol, Dean of the University of Colorado Law School

Results

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

Republican primary

Candidates

• Wayne Allard, U.S. Congressman from Colorado's 4th congressional district
• Gale Norton, Attorney General of Colorado

Results

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

General election

Candidates

• Wayne Allard (R), U.S. Congressman from Colorado's 4th congressional district
• Randy MacKenzie (NL)
• Tom Strickland (D), lawyer and former U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado

Results

General election results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Wayne Allard	750,325	51.41%	-4.27%
	Democratic	Tom Strickland	677,600	45.74%	+4.08%
	Natural Law	Randy MacKenzie	41,620	2.85%
	Write-ins		66	0.00%
Majority			82,715	5.67%	-8.35%
Turnout			1,459,601
	Republican hold		Swing