United States Senate special election in Oregon, 1996

United States Senate special election in Oregon, 1996

1992 ← January 30, 1996 → 1998

Nominee Ron Wyden Gordon Smith Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 571,739 553,519 Percentage 47.8% 46.3%

County results

U.S. Senator before election Robert Packwood Republican Elected U.S. Senator Ron Wyden Democratic

The 1996 United States Senate special election in Oregon was held on January 30, 1996 to fill the seat vacated by Republican Bob Packwood, who resigned from the Senate due to sexual misconduct allegations. Democrat Ron Wyden won the open seat. Smith would win election to the Senate later that year and serve alongside Wyden until 2009.

Major candidates

Democratic

• Ron Wyden, U.S. Congressman

Republican

• Gordon Smith, State Senator

Results

General election results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Ron Wyden	571,739	47.78
	Republican	Gordon H. Smith	553,519	46.26
	American Independent	Karen Shilling	25,597	2.14
	Libertarian	Gene Nanni	15,698	1.31
	Write-In	Write-In Candidates	14,958	1.25
	Socialist	Vickie Valdez	7,872	0.66
	Pacific Green	Lou Gold	7,225	0.60
Majority			18,220	1.52
Turnout			1,196,608
	Democratic gain from Republican		Swing