United States Senate election in Tennessee, 1996

United States Senate election in Tennessee, 1996

November 5, 1996

Nominee Fred Thompson Houston Gordon Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,091,554 654,937 Percentage 61.37% 36.82%

Senator before election Fred Thompson Republican Elected Senator Fred Thompson Republican

The 1996 Tennessee United States Senate election was held on November 5, 1996 to select the U.S. Senator from the state of Tennessee. Republican Senator Fred Thompson ran for re-election to a full six-year term. Thompson defeated the Democratic challenger, Covington lawyer Houston Gordon in the general election.

Candidates

Democratic Party

• Houston Gordon, attorney

Republican Party

• Fred Thompson, incumbent U.S. Senator

Election results

United States Senate election in Tennessee, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Fred Thompson (inc.)	1,091,554	61.37%	+0.93%
	Democratic	Houston Gordon	654,937	36.82%	-1.79%
	Independent	John Jay Hooker	14,401	0.81%
	Independent	Bruce Gold	5,865	0.33%
	Independent	Robert O. Watson	5,569	0.31%
	Independent	Greg Samples	4,104	0.23%
	Independent	Philip L. Kienlen	2,173	0.12%
	Write-ins		61	0.00%
Majority			436,617	24.55%	+2.71%
Turnout			1,778,664
	Republican hold