United States Senate election in Alabama, 2016

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2016 U.S. Senate Election in Alabama

General Election Date November 8, 2016

Primary Date March 1, 2016

November 8 Election Winner: Richard Shelby

Incumbent prior to election: Richard Shelby

Race Ratings Cook Political Report: Solid R Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe R Rothenberg & Gonzales: Safe R

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2016 U.S. House Elections

Voters in Alabama elected one member to the U.S. Senate in the election on November 4, 2016.

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated Alabama's U.S. Senate race as safely Republican. Incumbent Richard Shelby (R) defeated Democratic challenger Ron Crumpton in the 2016 general election. Shelby defeated John Martin, Shadrack McGill, Jonathan McConnell and Marcus Bowman in the Republican primary on March 1, 2016. Crumpton defeated Charles Nana in the primary race for the Democratic nomination on the same date.

Candidate Filing Deadline	Primary Election	General Election
November 6, 2015	March 1, 2016	November 8, 2016

Primary: A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Alabama uses an open primary system, in which registered voters do not have to be members of a party to vote in that party's primary.

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

Incumbent: The election filled the Class 3 Senate seat held by Richard Shelby (R). He was first elected in 1986.

Election results

General election

U.S. Senate, Alabama General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Richard Shelby Incumbent	64%	1,335,104
	Democratic	Ron Crumpton	35.9%	748,709
	N/A	Write-in	0.2%	3,631
Total Votes				2,087,444
Source: Alabama Secretary of State

Primary election

U.S. Senate, Alabama Republican Primary, 2016

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Richard Shelby Incumbent	64.9%	505,586
Jonathan McConnell	27.6%	214,770
John Martin	3%	23,558
Marcus Bowman	2.5%	19,707
Shadrack McGill	2%	15,230
Total Votes		778,851
Source: Alabama Secretary of State

U.S. Senate, Alabama Democratic Primary, 2016

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Ron Crumpton	56.1%	153,897
Charles Nana	43.9%	120,526
Total Votes		274,423
Source: Alabama Secretary of State

Candidates

General election candidates:

Richard Shelby - Incumbenta
Ron Crumpton

Primary candidates:

Democratic

Ron Crumptona
Charles Nana

Republican

Richard Shelbya - Incumbent
John Martin
Shadrack McGill
Jonathan McConnell
Marcus Bowman

Media

Richard Shelby

Shelby bought $6 million in ad time for his first campaign ad during the Cotton Bowl.

Shelby for Senate - "Sixty Seven"

Shelby for Senate - "Defense"

Shelby for Senate - "Arlington"

"Shorts" - Shelby for Senate ad attacking primary opponent Jonathan McConnell

Jonathan McConnnell

McConnell released the following radio ad in December 2015.

McConnell 2016 - Sneak Peek: Jonathan McConnell for U S Senate first Radio ad

Election history

2014

See also: United States Senate elections in Alabama, 2014

On November 4, 2014, Jeff Sessions won re-election to the United States Senate. He ran completely unopposed in both the primary and general elections.

U.S. Senate, Alabama General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Jeff Sessions Incumbent	97.3%	795,606
	N/A	Write-in	2.7%	22,484
Total Votes				818,090
Source: Alabama Secretary of State

2010

On November 2, 2010, Richard Shelby won re-election to the United States Senate. He defeated William Barnes (D) in the general election.

U.S. Senate, Alabama General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Richard Shelby incumbent	65.2%	968,181
	Democratic	William Barnes	34.7%	515,619
	N/A	Write-in	0.1%	1,699
Total Votes				1,485,499

Important dates and deadlines

See also: Alabama elections, 2016

The calendar below lists important dates for political candidates in Alabama in 2016.

Dates and requirements for candidates in 2016
Deadline	Event type	Event description
November 6, 2015	Ballot access	Filing deadline for party candidates
February 2, 2016	Campaign finance	Deadline to file the January monthly report
February 8, 2016	Campaign finance	Deadline to file weekly report for the primary election
February 16, 2016	Campaign finance	Deadline to file weekly report for the primary election
February 22, 2016	Campaign finance	Deadline to file weekly report for the primary election
February 22, 2016	Campaign finance	Daily report due
February 23, 2016	Campaign finance	Daily report due
February 24, 2016	Campaign finance	Daily report due
February 25, 2016	Campaign finance	Daily report due
February 26, 2016	Campaign finance	Daily report due
February 27, 2016	Campaign finance	Daily report due
February 28, 2016	Campaign finance	Daily report due
February 29, 2016	Campaign finance	Deadline to file weekly report for the primary election
February 29, 2016	Campaign finance	Daily report due
March 1, 2016	Election date	Primary election
March 1, 2016	Ballot access	Filing deadline for independent candidates
March 1, 2016	Ballot access	Petition deadline for new political parties
March 2, 2016	Campaign finance	Deadline to file the February monthly report; only for candidates not participating in the primary election
March 21, 2016	Campaign finance	Deadline to file weekly report for the primary runoff election
March 28, 2016	Campaign finance	Deadline to file weekly report for the primary runoff election
April 4, 2016	Campaign finance	Deadline to file the March monthly report; only for candidates not participating in primary runoff election
April 4, 2016	Campaign finance	Deadline to file weekly report for the primary runoff election
April 4, 2016	Campaign finance	Daily report due
April 5, 2016	Campaign finance	Daily report due
April 6, 2016	Campaign finance	Daily report due
April 7, 2016	Campaign finance	Daily report due
April 8, 2016	Campaign finance	Daily report due
April 9, 2016	Campaign finance	Daily report due
April 10, 2016	Campaign finance	Daily report due
April 11, 2016	Campaign finance	Deadline to file weekly report for the primary runoff election
April 11, 2016	Campaign finance	Daily report due
April 12, 2016	Election date	Primary runoff election
May 3, 2016	Campaign finance	Deadline to file the April monthly report
June 2, 2016	Campaign finance	Deadline to file the May monthly report
July 5, 2016	Campaign finance	Deadline to file the June monthly report
August 2, 2016	Campaign finance	Deadline to file the July monthly report
September 2, 2016	Campaign finance	Deadline to file the August monthly report
October 4, 2016	Campaign finance	Deadline to file the September monthly report
October 17, 2016	Campaign finance	Deadline to file weekly report for the general election
October 24, 2016	Campaign finance	Deadline to file weekly report for the general election
October 31, 2016	Campaign finance	Deadline to file weekly report for the general election
October 31, 2016	Campaign finance	Daily report due
November 1, 2016	Campaign finance	Daily report due
November 2, 2016	Campaign finance	Daily report due
November 3, 2016	Campaign finance	Daily report due
November 4, 2016	Campaign finance	Daily report due
November 5, 2016	Campaign finance	Daily report due
November 6, 2016	Campaign finance	Daily report due
November 7, 2016	Campaign finance	Daily report due
November 7, 2016	Campaign finance	Deadline to file weekly report for the general election
November 8, 2016	Election date	General election
January 31, 2017	Campaign finance	Annual report due
Sources: Alabama Secretary of State, "FCPA Filing Calendar - 2016 Election Cycle," accessed June 30, 2015 Alabama Secretary of State, "Independent Candidate Ballot Access," accessed July 9, 2015 Alabama Secretary of State, "Minor Party/Third Party Ballot Access," accessed July 9, 2015

See also

• United States House of Representatives elections in Alabama, 2016
• United States Senate elections, 2016
• Richard Shelby

Footnotes

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Alabama's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Katie Britt (R)

Tommy Tuberville (R)

Representatives

District 1

Barry Moore (R)

District 2

Shomari Figures (D)

District 3

Mike Rogers (R)

District 4

Robert Aderholt (R)

District 5

Dale Strong (R)

District 6

Gary Palmer (R)

District 7

Terri Sewell (D)

Republican Party (7)

Democratic Party (2)