2020 United States Senate elections

2020 United States Senate elections

← 2018 November 3, 2020
January 5, 2021 (Georgia runoffs)
2022 →

35 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate
51[a] seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Chuck Schumer Mitch McConnell
Party Democratic Republican
Leader since January 3, 2017 January 3, 2007
Leader's seat New York Kentucky
Seats before 45 53
Seats after 48 + VP [b][c] 50[c]
Seat change Increase 3 Decrease 3
Popular vote 38,011,916 [d] 39,834,647[d]
Percentage 47.0% 49.3%
Seats up 12 23
Races won 15 20

  Third party
 
Party Independent
Seats before 2[e]
Seats after 2
Seat change Steady
Popular vote 255,768[f]
Percentage 0.3%
Seats up 0
Races won 0

2020–21 United States Senate special election in Georgia2020 United States Senate special election in Arizona2020 United States Senate election in Alabama2020 United States Senate election in Alaska2020 United States Senate election in Arkansas2020 United States Senate election in Colorado2020 United States Senate election in Delaware2020–21 United States Senate election in Georgia2020 United States Senate election in Idaho2020 United States Senate election in Illinois2020 United States Senate election in Iowa2020 United States Senate election in Kansas2020 United States Senate election in Kentucky2020 United States Senate election in Louisiana2020 United States Senate election in Maine2020 United States Senate election in Massachusetts2020 United States Senate election in Michigan2020 United States Senate election in Minnesota2020 United States Senate election in Mississippi2020 United States Senate election in Montana2020 United States Senate election in Nebraska2020 United States Senate election in New Hampshire2020 United States Senate election in New Jersey2020 United States Senate election in New Mexico2020 United States Senate election in North Carolina2020 United States Senate election in Oklahoma2020 United States Senate election in Oregon2020 United States Senate election in Rhode Island2020 United States Senate election in South Carolina2020 United States Senate election in South Dakota2020 United States Senate election in Tennessee2020 United States Senate election in Texas2020 United States Senate election in Virginia2020 United States Senate election in West Virginia2020 United States Senate election in Wyoming
Results of the elections:
     Democratic gain      Republican gain
     Democratic hold      Republican hold
     No election
Rectangular inset (Georgia): both seats up for election

Majority Leader before election

Mitch McConnell
Republican

Elected Majority Leader

Chuck Schumer[g]
Democratic

The 2020 United States Senate elections were held on November 3, 2020,[1] with the 33 class 2 seats of the Senate contested in regular elections.[2] Of these, 21 were held by Republicans, and 12 by Democrats. The winners were elected to 6-year terms from January 3, 2021, to January 3, 2027.[3] 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.[4][5][6][7] These elections ran concurrently with the 2020 United States presidential election in which incumbent 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 9 seats from the Democrats and gained a majority,[8] which they continued to hold after the 2016 and 2018 elections.[9][10] Before the elections, Republicans held 53 seats, Democrats held 45 seats, and Independents caucusing with the Democrats held 2 seats, which weren't up for re-election.[11] Including the special elections in Arizona and Georgia, Republicans defended 23 seats and the Democrats 12.[12]

In this election, the Democratic Party made a net gain of 3 Senate seats and the vice presidency, giving them a majority for the first time since 2014, albeit by a narrow 50–50 margin.[a][13] Democrats unseated 4 Republicans – in Arizona, in Colorado, and in 2 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.[6][14] Except in Maine, the winning party in every Senate election was the winning party in the state's presidential election.[15]

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 run-off elections on January 5, 2021.[16] 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,[7] and the partisan balance in the Senate became tied for the third time in history, after the results in the 1880 elections and the 2000 elections.[17][18] 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.[19]

This marked the first time since 1980 that either chamber of Congress flipped partisan control in a presidential election year, and the first time Democrats did so since 1948.[20]


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  6. ^ a b Foran, Clare (November 6, 2020). "Mark Kelly defeats Arizona GOP Sen. Martha McSally in key pickup for Democrats". CNN. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  7. ^ a b Martin, Jonathan; Fausset, Richard; Epstein, Reid J. (January 6, 2021). "Georgia Highlights: Democrats Capture the Senate as Ossoff Defeats Perdue". The New York Times. Retrieved January 10, 2021. Last updated January 8, 2021{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference 3LNTO was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference CHgH7 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Foran, Clare (November 7, 2018). "Republicans keep control of Senate in 2018 mid-terms, CNN projects". CNN. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference hTe6z was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference rollingstone-battle was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Stevens 2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Raju, Manu; Rogers, Alex (November 4, 2020). "Frustrated Democrats eye two more years in minority after falling short in key Senate races". CNN. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  15. ^ Rakich, Nathaniel (December 2, 2020). "There Wasn't That Much Split-Ticket Voting In 2020". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  16. ^ Grisales, Claudia (November 7, 2020). "Senate Control Likely Decided By Fate Of 2 Georgia Run-Off Races". NPR. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  17. ^ Jacobson, Louis (January 7, 2021). "How will the Senate work under a 50-50 split?". PolitiFact. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  18. ^ Schaeffer, Katherine (December 1, 2020). "Slim majorities have become more common in the U.S. Senate and House". Pew Research Center. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  19. ^ Snell, Kelsey; Walsh, Deirdre. "Democrats Take Control Of Senate With Twin Georgia Victories". NPR. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  20. ^ Blake, Aaron (January 6, 2021). "Trump set to be first president since 1932 to lose re-election, the House, and the Senate". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 6, 2021.

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