1976 United States Senate elections

1976 United States Senate elections

← 1974 November 2, 1976 1978 →
33 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate 51 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Mike Mansfield (retired) Hugh Scott (retired) Party Democratic Republican Leader since January 3, 1961 September 24, 1969 Leader's seat Montana Pennsylvania Seats before 61 37 Seats after 61 38 Seat change 1 Popular vote 31,790,526[1][a] 24,562,431[1][a] Percentage 53.7% 41.5% Seats up 21 10 Races won 21 11   Third party Fourth party   Party Independent Conservative Seats before 1 1 Seats after 1[b] 0 Seat change 1 Popular vote 890,778[1] 311,494[1] Seats up 1 1 Races won 1 0
Results of the elections:      Democratic gain      Republican gain      Democratic hold      Republican hold      Independent hold      No election
Majority Leader before election Mike Mansfield Democratic Elected Majority Leader Robert Byrd Democratic

The 1976 United States Senate elections was an election for the United States Senate. Held on November 2, the 33 seats of Class 1 were contested in regular elections. They coincided with Democrat Jimmy Carter's presidential election and the United States Bicentennial celebration. Although almost half of the seats decided in this election changed parties, Carter's narrow victory did not provide coattails for the Democratic Party. Each party flipped seven Senate seats, although, one of the seats flipped by Democrats was previously held by a Conservative.

This was the first election in which the Libertarian Party competed, running candidates in 9 of the 33 contested seats. As of 2024^[update] this is the first and so far only time both party leaders retired from the Senate in the same election cycle since the creation of the positions. This is the last time Democrats or any party won a 60% supermajority via direct elections (although Democrats briefly held one in the summer of 2009).

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