2026 Senate Elections

The 2020 United States Senate elections were held on November 3, 2020, with the 33 class 2 seats of the Senate contested in regular elections. Of these, 21 were held by Republicans, and 12 by Democrats. The winners were elected to six-year terms from January 3, 2021, to January 3, 2027. Two special elections for seats held by Republicans were also held in conjunction with the general elections: one in Arizona, to fill the vacancy created by John McCain's death in 2018; and one in Georgia, following Johnny Isakson's resignation in 2019. In both races, the appointed incumbent Republicans lost to Democrats. These elections ran concurrently with the 2020 United States presidential election in which incumbent Republican president Donald Trump lost to Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

In the 2014 United States Senate elections, the last regularly scheduled elections for Class 2 Senate seats, the Republicans won nine seats from the Democrats and gained a majority, which they continued to hold after the 2016 and 2018 elections. Before the election, Republicans held 53 seats, Democrats held 45 seats, and independents caucusing with the Democrats held two seats, which were not up for re-election. Including the special elections in Arizona and Georgia, Republicans defended 23 seats and the Democrats 12.

In this election, the Democratic Party made a net gain of three Senate seats and the vice presidency, giving them a majority for the first time since 2014, albeit by a narrow 50-50 margin. Democrats unseated four Republicans – in Arizona, in Colorado, and in two elections in Georgia – while Republicans flipped a seat in Alabama. However, Democrats under-performed expectations overall; despite record-breaking turnout and fund-raising efforts, they failed to flip several seats that were considered competitive, and lost many races by much larger margins than expected. Except in Maine, the winning party in every Senate election was the winning party in the state's presidential election.

Due to election laws in Georgia that require candidates to win at least 50% of the vote in the general election, the state's regularly-scheduled and special Senate elections were decided in a run-off election on January 5, 2021. After the November general election, Republicans held 50 seats, while Democrats held 48 and the vice presidency, so sweeping both races was crucial for Democrats to attain a majority. They succeeded in doing so, and the partisan balance in the Senate became tied for the first time since 2001, and only the second time in six decades. Vice President Kamala Harris's tie-breaking vote gave Democrats control of the chamber by the smallest margin possible after the new administration took office. This marked the first time since 1980 that either chamber of Congress flipped partisan control in a presidential year, and the first time Democrats did so since 1948. The Democrats' concurrent victory in the presidential election and their earlier victory in the United States House of Representatives gave the party unified control of government for the first time since 2008, and made Donald Trump the first President since Herbert Hoover, who served from 1929 to 1933, to lose re-election and cost his party both chambers of Congress in a single term.

Alabama
Incumbent Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville was elected in a landslide win in 2020, defeating incumbent Senator Doug Jones.

Doug Jones ran to win his old seat back and finished second in the jungle primary. In the main election, he narrowly defeated Tommy Tuberville to win his old seat back in a nationwide blue wave

Alaska
Incumbent Republican senator Dan Sullivan ran for re-election to the United States Senate after being elected in 2014 and re-elected in 2020.

His main opponents included 2016 candidate Margaret Stock, 2010 and 2016 candidate Joe Miller and 2020 candidate Al Gross. All four of them easily advanced to the main election from the jungle primary, with Nick Begich III (R) placing 5th. The top placing official Democrat in the Jungle Primary was Mary Peltola, who placed 7th with 13,403 votes or 4.17% of the vote.

Gross and Stock both had support from the Democratic party in the main election, and both pledged to caucus with the Dems if elected. In the general, Stock defeated Sullivan by a margin of 3.16 percentage points to give the Democrats their 67th senate seat and 13th pickup of the cycle. Gross and Miller both stated they had no intention of running again, while Sullivan later ran in the 2028 Republican Presidential primaries, in which he won Alaska.

Arkansas
One-term Republican Tom Cotton, who was elected in 2014, after serving two years in the United States House of Representatives, by defeating incumbent Democratic senator Mark Pryor by a comfortable margin, and then re-elected to a second term by a 33-point margin in 2020 was defeated by former senator Mark Pryor in his quest for a third term in a national blue wave.

Mark Pryor placed second to Tom Cotton in the jungle primary before going on to defeat him by 2.94 points in the general to flip the Arkansas senate seat. After his defeat, Tom Cotton did not rule out running for public office again, although he did not run in the 2028 Republican presidential primaries.

Colorado
One-term Democrat John Hickenlooper was elected in 2020 after serving as Governor of Colorado, handily defeating one-term Republican Cory Gardner. Hickenlooper sought a second term and once again defeated Cory Gardner by 17.24 percentage points in the general election.

Hickenlooper is a popular former governor of Colorado, and led Gardner by as much as 20 percentage points in polls, with most pundits considering him a heavy favorite to retain the seat in the now blue state of Colorado, and with a national blue wave. Gardner did not rule out running for public office again but said it wouldn't be for the Senate.

Delaware
Two-term Democrat Chris Coons was re-elected in 2020; he first took office after winning a 2010 special election, which occurred after long-time senator Joe Biden resigned to become vice president of the United States. Coons won the jungle primary and increased his vote totals in the general election by defeating 2010 Senate candidate and Republican nominee Christine O'Donnell by a margin of almost 31 percentage points.

Georgia
One-term Democrat Jon OSsoff was elected in 2020 and sought a second term.

Doug Collins, a candidate in the 2020 Georgia special election finished second in the Jungle primary and faced Ossoff in the general election. Collins lost the general election by 4.88 percentage points. After his loss, Collins said he would not run for public office after this, and has since joined a lobbying firm in Washington DC.

Idaho
Incumbent three-term republican Jim Risch decided to retire instead of running for a fourth term in the Senate. In the Jungle Primary, Janice McGeachin placed first and Paulette Jordan finished second. In the general, McGeachin, defeated Democrat Paulette Jordan in a landslide. Jordan is a former gubernatorial and Senate nominee and former Coeur d'Alene Tribal Councilwoman.

Illinois
Four-term democrat and Senate minority whip Dick Durbin, easily won a fifth term in office, defeating Republican Mark Curran by a 16-point margin.

Curran served as sheriff of Lake County from 2006 to 2018 and won the Republican primary with 41.55% of the vote.

Antiwar activist Marilyn Jordan Lawlor and state representative Anne Stava-Murray briefly challenged Durbin in the Democratic primary, but both ended up withdrawing.

2019 Chicago mayoral candidate Willie Wilson, a businessman and perennial candidate, ran as a member of the "Willie Wilson Party," with the backing of a handful of Chicago aldermen and the Chicago Police Union.

Iowa
One-term republican Joni Ernst, first elected to the Senate in 2014, won a second term in office, defeating Democrat Theresa Greenfield.

Greenfield won the Democratic nomination, defeating former vice-admiral Michael T. Franken, attorney Kimberly Graham, and businessman Eddie Mauro in the primary.

Ernst's popularity had dropped in polls, and many considered this seat a possible Democratic pick-up, but Ernst was re-elected by a larger-than-expected 6.5 points.

Kansas
Four-term Republican Pat Roberts, was re-elected in 2014 with 53.15% of the vote, and announced on January 4, 2019, that he would not be running for re-election in 2020.

In the Republican primary, United States representative Roger Marshall defeated former Kansas secretary of state Kris Kobach, state Turnpike Authority chairman Dave Lindstrom, state senate president Susan Wagle, and others.

There was considerable speculation about a Senate bid by Mike Pompeo (the United States secretary of state, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and former U.S. representative for Kansas's 4th congressional district), but he did not run.

Barbara Bollier, a state senator and former Republican, defeated former congressional candidate Robert Tillman for the Democratic nomination, but lost to Marshall with a more than expected 11.4 point margin.

Kentucky
Republican Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, defeated Democrat Amy McGrath by 19.6 percentage points, winning a 7th term in office.

Louisiana
Republican Bill Cassidy won a second term in office, defeating Democrat Adrian Perkins and others.

A Louisiana primary (a form of jungle primary) was held on November 3. Had no candidate won a majority of the vote in the primary, a run-off election would have been held, but Cassidy won in the first round.

Maine
Republican Susan Collins won a fifth term in office, defeating Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives Sara Gideon.

Gideon consistently led Collins in polls for almost the entire election cycle. Collins is considered one of the most moderate Republicans in the Senate and had never faced a competitive re-election campaign, even though Maine leans Democratic. But she faced growing unpopularity due to her increasingly conservative voting record, and her votes to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court and to acquit Trump in his impeachment trial. Despite almost all polling and Gideon's formidable funding, Collins was re-elected by a surprising 8.6-point margin.

Educator and activist Lisa Savage also ran as a candidate for the Green party.

Massachusetts
Democrat Ed Markey was re-elected in 2014, having won a 2013 special election to replace long-time incumbent John Kerry, who resigned to become U.S. secretary of state. He easily won a second full term in 2020, defeating Republican Kevin O'Connor by more than 33 percentage points.

Markey fended off a primary challenge from Joe Kennedy III, four-term U.S. representative for Massachusetts's Fourth District and grandson of former U.S. senator and U.S. attorney general Robert F. Kennedy. This marked the first time a member of the Kennedy family lost an election in Massachusetts.

O'Connor defeated Shiva Ayyadurai, a former independent senate candidate, in the Republican primary.

On August 24, 2020, perennial candidate Vermin Supreme launched a write-in campaign for the Libertarian nomination, but received too few votes to qualify for the general election ballot.

Michigan
Democrat Gary Peters narrowly won a second term in office, defeating Republican John James.

James won a Republican Michigan Senate nomination for his second time, having run against incumbent Democrat Debbie Stabenow in 2018 for Michigan's other senate seat. He faced only token opposition for the 2020 Republican nomination, running against perennial candidate Bob Carr.

Minnesota
Incumbent Democrat Tina Smith was appointed to the U.S. Senate to replace Al Franken in 2018 after serving as lieutenant governor, and won a special election later in 2018 to serve the remainder of Franken's term. She defeated Republican Jason Lewis, winning her first full term in office.

Mississippi
Incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith won her first full term in office, defeating Democrat and former U.S. secretary of agriculture Mike Espy by 10 percentage points. This race was an exact rematch of the 2018 Mississippi Senate special election, in which Hyde-Smith defeated Espy for the remaining two years of the seat's term.

Libertarian candidate Jimmy Edwards also made the general election ballot.

Montana
Republican Steve Daines won a second term in office, defeating the Democratic nominee, Montana Governor Steve Bullock.

Daines was opposed (before his nomination) in the Republican primary by hardware store manager Daniel Larson and former Democratic speaker of the Montana House of Representatives John Driscoll, who changed parties in 2020.

Bullock won the Democratic nomination, defeating nuclear engineer and U.S. Navy veteran John Mues.

Libertarian and Green party candidates were set to appear on the general election ballot, but the Libertarians refused to nominate a replacement after their nominee withdrew and the Greens' nominee was disqualified.

Once Bullock filed his candidacy, the race became seen as highly competitive. Bullock, a popular governor and a moderate, led in many polls in the spring and summer of 2020, and raised more money than Daines. Closer to election day, Bullock slightly trailed in polls, but the election was still seen as relatively competitive. Daines defeated Bullock by a larger-than-expected 10-point margin.

Nebraska
Republican Ben Sasse easily won a second term in office, defeating Democrat Chris Janicek by more than 40 percentage points.

Sasse had defeated businessman and former Lancaster County Republican Party chair Matt Innis in the Republican primary with 75.2% of the vote.

Businessman and 2018 U.S. Senate candidate Chris Janicek won the Democratic primary with 30.7% of the vote, defeating six other candidates.

Libertarian candidate Gene Siadek also appeared on the general election ballot.

After the primary election, the Nebraska Democratic party withdrew its support from Janicek when allegations that he sexually harassed a campaign staffer emerged. Janicek refused to leave the race despite the state party endorsing his former primary opponent, which led former Democratic Congressman Brad Ashford to announce a write-in campaign on August 23, 2020. After Janicek vowed to remain in the race anyway, Ashford withdrew on August 27, citing lack of time and resources necessary for a U.S. Senate campaign. The state Democratic Party subsequently threw its support behind long-time Nebraska activist Preston Love, Jr., who declared a write-in candidacy for the seat.

New Hampshire
Two-term Democrat Jeanne Shaheen won a third term in office by nearly 16 percentage points, defeating Republican Corky Messner.

Messner defeated U.S. Army brigadier general Donald C. Bolduc and perennial candidate Andy Martin for the Republican nomination,  winning the nomination on September 8.

Libertarian Justin O'Donnell also appeared on the general election ballot.

New Jersey
Democrat Cory Booker won a second full term in office, having first won his seat in a 2013 special election after serving seven years as the mayor of Newark. He defeated Republican Rick Mehta by a margin of more than 16 percentage points.

Booker had sought his party's nomination for President of the United States in 2020. He suspended his presidential campaign on January 13, 2020, and confirmed his intention to seek a second Senate term.

Attorney Rik Mehta defeated engineer Hirsh Singh, 2018 Independent U.S. Senate candidate Tricia Flanagan, 2018 independent U.S. Senate candidate Natalie Lynn Rivera, and Eugene Anagnos for the Republican nomination.

Green Party candidate Madelyn Hoffman and two independent candidates also appeared on the general election ballot.

New Jersey has not elected a Republican senator since 1972, and all pundits expected Booker to be easily re-elected.

New Mexico
Two-term Democrat Tom Udall was the only incumbent Democratic U.S. senator retiring in 2020. Democratic U.S. representative Ben Ray Luján defeated Republican Mark Ronchetti by 6 percentage points.

Luján won the Democratic nomination without serious opposition.

Ronchetti, the former KRQE chief meteorologist, defeated former U.S. Interior Department official Gavin Clarkson and executive director for the New Mexico Alliance for Life Elisa Martinez in the primary.

Libertarian Bob Walsh also appeared on the general election ballot.

North Carolina
Republican Thom Tillis won a second term in office, defeating Democratic former state senator Cal Cunningham.

Cunningham defeated state senator Erica D. Smith and Mecklenburg County commissioner Trevor Fuller for the Democratic nomination. Tillis defeated three opponents.

The Libertarian Party and the Constitution Party had candidates on the general election ballot.

Despite having grown unpopular among both centrist and conservative Republicans due to his inconsistent support of Trump, and trailing narrowly in polls for almost the entire cycle, Tillis won re-election by nearly 2 points.

Oklahoma
Republican Jim Inhofe easily won a fifth term in office, defeating Democrat Abby Broyles by more than 30 percentage points.

Inhofe defeated J.J. Stitt, a farmer and gun shop owner, and Neil Mavis, a former Libertarian Party candidate, for the Republican nomination.

Broyles, an attorney, defeated perennial candidate Sheila Bilyeu and 2018 5th congressional district candidate Elysabeth Britt for the Democratic nomination.

Libertarian candidate Robert Murphy and two Independents also appeared on the general election ballot.

Oklahoma is one of the most solidly Republican states and Inhofe won in a landslide.

Oregon
Democrat Jeff Merkley won a third term in office, defeating Republican Jo Rae Perkins by more than 17 percentage points. Merkley also received the Oregon Independent Party and the Working Families Party nominations.

Perkins, a 2014 U.S. Senate and 2018 U.S. House candidate, defeated three other candidates in the Republican primary with 49.29% of the vote. She is a supporter of QAnon.

Ibrahim Taher was also on the general election ballot, representing the Pacific Green Party and the Oregon Progressive Party. Gary Dye represented the Libertarian Party.

Rhode Island
Democrat Jack Reed won a fifth term in office, defeating Republican Allen Waters by more than 33 percentage points.

Both Reed and Waters ran unopposed for their respective nominations.

South Carolina
Three-term Republican Lindsey Graham won a fourth term in office, defeating Democrat Jaime Harrison by over ten percentage points in a highly publicized race.

Graham defeated three opponents in the June 9 Republican primary.

After his primary opponents dropped out, former South Carolina Democratic Party chairman Jaime Harrison was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

Bill Bledsoe won the Constitution Party nomination. On October 1, 2020, Bledsoe dropped out of the race and endorsed Graham, but remained on the ballot as required by state law.

Despite the significant Republican lean of the state as a whole, polls indicated that the Senate election was competitive, with summer polling ranging from a tie to a modest advantage for Graham. Graham's popularity had declined as a result of his close embrace of Trump, reversing his outspoken criticism of Trump in the 2016 campaign.

Graham's victory was by a much larger margin than expected, as part of a broader pattern of Republicans overperforming polls in 2020.

South Dakota
Republican Mike Rounds, former governor of South Dakota, won a second term in office, defeating Democrat Dan Ahlers.

Rounds faced a primary challenge from state representative Scyller Borglum.

Ahlers, a South Dakota state representative, ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.

One independent candidate, Clayton Walker, filed but failed to qualify for the ballot.

Tennessee
Three-term Republican Lamar Alexander was re-elected in 2014. He announced in December 2018 that he would not seek a fourth term.

Assisted by an endorsement from Trump, former ambassador to Japan Bill Hagerty won the Republican nomination and the seat.

Hagerty defeated orthopedic surgeon Manny Sethi and 13 others in the Republican primary.

Environmental activist Marquita Bradshaw of Memphis defeated James Mackler, an Iraq War veteran and Nashville attorney, in the Democratic primary, a major upset.

Nine Independent candidates also appeared on the general election ballot.

Hagerty easily defeated Bradshaw.

Texas
Republican John Cornyn won a fourth term in office, defeating Democrat MJ Hegar by a little less than ten percentage points.

Cornyn defeated four other candidates in the Republican primary, with 76.04% of the vote.

Hegar, an Air Force combat veteran and the 2018 Democratic nominee for Texas's 31st congressional district, defeated runner-up state senator Royce West and 11 other candidates in the Democratic primary. Hegar and West advanced to a primary run-off election on July 14 to decide the nomination, and Hegar prevailed.

The Green and Libertarian Parties also appeared on the general election ballot. Candidates from the Human Rights Party and the People over Politics Party and three independents failed to qualify.

Statewide races in Texas have been growing more competitive in recent years, and polling in August/September showed Cornyn with a lead of 4–10 points over Hegar, with a significant fraction of the electorate still undecided. Cornyn's victory was at the higher end of the polling spectrum.

Virginia
Democrat Mark Warner won a third term in office, defeating Republican Daniel Gade.

Warner ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Gade, a professor and U.S. Army veteran, defeated teacher Alissa Baldwin and U.S. Army veteran and intelligence officer Thomas Speciale in the Republican primary.

West Virginia
Republican Shelley Moore Capito was re-elected to a second term in a landslide, defeating Democrat Paula Jean Swearengin by 43 points.

Capito was unsuccessfully challenged in the Republican primary by farmer Larry Butcher and Allen Whitt, president of the West Virginia Family Policy Council.

Swearengin, an environmental activist and unsuccessful candidate for Senate in 2018, won the Democratic primary, defeating former mayor of South Charleston Richie Robb and former state senator Richard Ojeda, who previously ran for Congress and, briefly, president in 2020.

Libertarian candidate David Moran also appeared on the general election ballot.

Wyoming
Four-term Republican Mike Enzi announced in May 2019 that he would retire. Republican nominee Cynthia Lummis defeated Democratic nominee Merav Ben-David by more than 46 percentage points.

Lummis won the Republican nomination in a field of nine candidates.

Ben-David, the chair of the Department of Zoology and Physiology at the University of Wyoming, defeated community activists Yana Ludwig and James Debrine, think-tank executive Nathan Wendt, and perennial candidates Rex Wilde and Kenneth R. Casner for the Democratic nomination.