1996 United States Senate election in New Hampshire

The 1996 United States Senate election in New Hampshire was held on November 4, 1996. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Bob Smith won re-election to a second term. Smith had established himself as the most conservative Senator from the Northeast, and Bill Clinton's coattails nearly caused his defeat. That was to the point that on the night of the election many American media networks incorrectly projected that Swett had won.[1]

1996 United States Senate election in New Hampshire

November 5, 1996

Nominee Bob Smith Richard Swett Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 242,304 227,397 Percentage 49.2% 46.1%

County Results Smith:      40-50%      50-60% Swett:      40–50%      50–60%

U.S. senator before election Bob Smith Republican Elected U.S. Senator Bob Smith Republican

Major candidates

Democratic

• Richard Swett, former U.S. Representative

Republican

• Bob Smith, incumbent U.S. Senator

Results

General election results[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bob Smith	242,304	49.2%
	Democratic	Richard Swett	227,397	46.1%
	Libertarian	Ken Blevens	22,265	4.5%
	Republican hold

See also

• 1996 United States Senate elections

References

1. Crabtree, Susan (December 2, 1996). "1996 Ad". Insight on the News. Retrieved April 29, 2012. An incorrect exit poll by Voter News Service, or VNS, resulted in an early and ultimately incorrect projection of victory in New Hampshire for Democratic Senate candidate Dick Swett over Republican incumbent Sen. Robert C. Smith. "Every election night, you know, its cardiac-arrest time in some state, in some race - sometimes in several races," CBS' Dan Rather explained at 9:40 p.m. EST. "This race is as hot and tight as a too-small bathing suit on a too-long car ride back from the beach." But the network "oops" came too late for a number of newspapers that featured Swett's exit-poll victory in their early editions.
2. http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=177