United States Senate election in Alabama, 2010

United States Senate election in Alabama, 2010
Alabama
November 2, 2010
 
Nominee Richard Shelby William G. Barnes
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 967,861 515,049
Percentage 65.3% 34.7%

County results
U.S. Senator before election

Richard Shelby
Republican

 Elected U.S. Senator

Richard Shelby
Republican

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 United States Senator Richard Shelby won re-election to a fifth term.

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 and 2010.

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

Republican primary

Candidates

Polling

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

Results

Republican primary results[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Richard Shelby (Incumbent) 405,042 84.4
Republican Clint Moser 75,190 15.6
Total votes 479,189 100

Democratic primary

Candidates

Polling

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

Results

Democratic primary results[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic William G. Barnes 160,737 60.8
Democratic Simone De Moore 103,784 39.2
Total votes 264,521 100

General election

Candidates

Campaign

Shelby, who switched from Democrat to Republican in the mid 1990s, has been 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 has become 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."[5]

Predictions

Source Ranking As of
Cook Political Report Solid R[6] October 7, 2010
Rothenberg Safe R[7] October 1, 2010
Swing State Project Safe R
RealClearPolitics Safe R[8]
Sabato's Crystal Ball Safe R[9] September 30, 2010
CQ Politics Safe R[10] October 7, 2010

Polling

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

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[11]

Results

[12]
United States Senate election in Alabama, 2010
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Richard Shelby (incumbent) 968,181 65.3
Democratic William G. Barnes 515,619 34.7
Total votes 1,482,910 100
Voter turnout %
Republican hold

References

  1. ↑ "SurveyUSA News Poll #15743". Surveyusa.com. Retrieved 2010-08-29.
  2. ↑ http://www.alabama2010.com. "Alabama GOP". Alabama2010.com. Retrieved 2010-06-14.
  3. 1 2 "Alabama US Senate Primary Results". Politico. June 1, 2010. Retrieved June 1, 2010.
  4. ↑ "Candidates". Aladems.org. Retrieved 2010-06-14.
  5. ↑ "Smooth sailing for Alabama's Shelby - MarketWatch 's Election Blog - MarketWatch". Blogs.marketwatch.com. 2010-05-28. Retrieved 2010-06-14.
  6. ↑ "Senate". Cook Political Report. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
  7. ↑ "Senate Ratings". Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
  8. ↑ "Battle for the Senate". RealClearPolitics. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
  9. ↑ "2010 Senate Ratings". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
  10. ↑ "Race Ratings Chart: Senate". CQ Politics. Archived from the original on October 28, 2010. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
  11. ↑ "2010 House and Senate Campaign Finance for Alabama". fec.gov. Retrieved August 12, 2010.
  12. ↑ http://results.enr.clarityelections.com/AL/21091/42408/en/summary.html

External links

Official candidate websites
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