2010 United States Senate elections

Alaska election
← 2004 2016 →
	Borough and census area results; Murkowski: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%; Miller: 30–40% 40–50% 50–60%; McAdams: 30–40% 40–50%
U.S. senator before election; Lisa Murkowski; Republican	Elected U.S. Senator ; Lisa Murkowski; Republican

Alabama election
← 2004 2016 →
	County results; Shelby: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%; Barnes: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%
U.S. senator before election; Richard Shelby; Republican	Elected U.S. Senator ; Richard Shelby; Republican

2010 United States Senate elections
37 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate; 51 seats needed for a majority
	Results of the elections: (excl. Massachusetts); Democratic hold; Republican hold Republican gain; No electionRectangular inset (N.Y.): both seats up for election
Majority Leader before election; Harry Reid; Democratic	Elected Majority Leader ; Harry Reid; Democratic

The 2010 United States Senate elections were held on November 2, 2010, from among the United States Senate's 100 seats. A special election was held on January 19, 2010, for a mid-term vacancy in Massachusetts. Thirty-four of the November elections were for six-year terms to the Senate's Class 3, while other three were special elections to finish incomplete terms. Those 37 November elections featured 19 incumbent Democrats (seven of whom retired or were defeated in the primary) and 18 incumbent Republicans (eight of whom retired or were defeated in the primary).

After the 2008 elections, the Senate was composed of 58 Democrats, 40 Republicans, and 2 independents who caucused with the Democrats. However, in a January 2010 special election, Republicans picked up a seat in Massachusetts thereby reducing Democrats' majority to 57 seats.

Republicans won four seats held by retiring Democrats and also defeated two incumbent Democrats, for a Republican net gain of six seats. This was the first time since 1994 that Republicans successfully defended all of their own seats. This was also the fourth consecutive election of Class 3 senators where Democrats failed to gain seats. Despite the Republican gains, the Democrats retained a majority of the Senate with 51 seats plus the two independents who caucused with them, compared to the 47 Republican seats. As of 2023^[update], this was the last time Republicans won U.S. Senate seats in Illinois and New Hampshire.

Results summary[edit]

↓
51	2	47

Democratic

Independent

Republican

Shading indicates party with largest share of that line. Does not include the January 2010 special election in Massachusetts.

Parties		Democratic	Republican	Independent	Libertarian	Green	Constitution	Others	Total
Parties									Total
Last elections (2008) Before the November elections		57	41	2^[c]	—	—	—	—	100
Not Up	Total	38	23	2^[c]	—	—	—	—	63
	Class 1 (2006→2012)	19	10	2^[c]	—	—	—	—	31
	Class 2 (2008→2014)	19	13	—	—	—	—	—	32
Up	Total	19	18	—	—	—	—	—	37
	Class 1	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	2
	Class 2	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	1
	Class 3	16	18	—	—	—	—	—	34

Incumbent retired	Total before	6^[d]	6	—	—	—	—	—	12
	Held by same party	3	6	—	—	—	—	—	9
	Replaced by other party	3 Democrats replaced by 3 Republicans		—	—	—	—	—	3
	Result after	3	9	—	—	—	—	—	12
Incumbent ran	Total before	13^[e]^[f]	12^[g]	—	—	—	—	—	25
	Won election	10^[e]	10	—	—	—	—	—	20
	Lost re-election	2 Democrats replaced by 2 Republicans		—	—	—	—	—	2
	Lost renomination but won re-election	—	1	—	—	—	—	—	1
	Lost renomination but party held	—	1	—	—	—	—	—	1
	Lost renomination and party lost	1 Democrat replaced by 1 Republican		—	—	—	—	—	1
	Result after	10^[e]	15	—	—	—	—	—	25
Total elected		13^[e]	24	—	—	—	—	—	37
Net gain/loss		6	6	—	—	—	—	—	6

Nationwide vote	Votes	32,405,787	34,616,463	155,846^[h]	776,327	552,006	178,860	3,100,833^[h]	71,786,122
Nationwide vote	Share	45.14%	48.22%	0.22%	1.08%	0.77%	0.25%	4.32%	100%

Result		51	47	2^[c]	—	—	—	—	100
End of this Congress		56	42	2^[c]	—	—	—	—	100

Source: Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives^[1]

Change in composition[edit]

After the January special election[edit]

D₁	D₂	D₃	D₄	D₅	D₆	D₇	D₈	D₉	D₁₀
D₂₀	D₁₉	D₁₈	D₁₇	D₁₆	D₁₅	D₁₄	D₁₃	D₁₂	D₁₁
D₂₁	D₂₂	D₂₃	D₂₄	D₂₅	D₂₆	D₂₇	D₂₈	D₂₉	D₃₀
D₄₀	D₃₉	D₃₈	D₃₇	D₃₆	D₃₅	D₃₄	D₃₃	D₃₂	D₃₁
D₄₁	D₄₂	D₄₃	D₄₄	D₄₅	D₄₆	D₄₇	D₄₈	D₄₉	D₅₀
Majority →									D₅₁
R₄₁ Mass. (sp) Gain	I₂	I₁	D₅₇	D₅₆	D₅₅	D₅₄	D₅₃	D₅₂	D₅₁
R₄₀	R₃₉	R₃₈	R₃₇	R₃₆	R₃₅	R₃₄	R₃₃	R₃₂	R₃₁
R₂₁	R₂₂	R₂₃	R₂₄	R₂₅	R₂₆	R₂₇	R₂₈	R₂₉	R₃₀
R₂₀	R₁₉	R₁₈	R₁₇	R₁₆	R₁₅	R₁₄	R₁₃	R₁₂	R₁₁
R₁	R₂	R₃	R₄	R₅	R₆	R₇	R₈	R₉	R₁₀

Before the November elections[edit]

D₁	D₂	D₃	D₄	D₅	D₆	D₇	D₈	D₉	D₁₀
D₂₀	D₁₉	D₁₈	D₁₇	D₁₆	D₁₅	D₁₄	D₁₃	D₁₂	D₁₁
D₂₁	D₂₂	D₂₃	D₂₄	D₂₅	D₂₆	D₂₇	D₂₈	D₂₉	D₃₀
D₄₀ Calif. Ran	D₃₉ Ark. Ran	D₃₈	D₃₇	D₃₆	D₃₅	D₃₄	D₃₃	D₃₂	D₃₁
D₄₁ Colo. Ran	D₄₂ Conn. Retired	D₄₃ Del. (sp) Retired	D₄₄ Hawaii Ran	D₄₅ Ill. (reg) Ill. (sp) Retired	D₄₆ Ind. Retired	D₄₇ Md. Ran	D₄₈ Nev. Ran	D₄₉ N.Y. (reg) Ran	D₅₀ N.Y. (sp) Ran
Majority →									D₅₁ N.D. Retired
R₄₁ Utah Ran	I₂	I₁	D₅₇ Wis. Ran	D₅₆ W.Va. (sp) Retired	D₅₅ Wash. Ran	D₅₄ Vt. Ran	D₅₃ Pa. Ran	D₅₂ Ore. Ran	D₅₁ N.D. Retired
R₄₀ S.D. Ran	R₃₉ S.C. Ran	R₃₈ Okla. Ran	R₃₇ Ohio Retired	R₃₆ N.C. Ran	R₃₅ N.H. Retired	R₃₄ Mo. Retired	R₃₃ La. Ran	R₃₂ Ky. Retired	R₃₁ Kan. Retired
R₂₁	R₂₂	R₂₃	R₂₄ Ala. Ran	R₂₅ Alaska Ran	R₂₆ Ariz. Ran	R₂₇ Fla. Retired	R₂₈ Ga. Ran	R₂₉ Idaho Ran	R₃₀ Iowa Ran
R₂₀	R₁₉	R₁₈	R₁₇	R₁₆	R₁₅	R₁₄	R₁₃	R₁₂	R₁₁
R₁	R₂	R₃	R₄	R₅	R₆	R₇	R₈	R₉	R₁₀

Result of the November elections[edit]

D₁	D₂	D₃	D₄	D₅	D₆	D₇	D₈	D₉	D₁₀
D₂₀	D₁₉	D₁₈	D₁₇	D₁₆	D₁₅	D₁₄	D₁₃	D₁₂	D₁₁
D₂₁	D₂₂	D₂₃	D₂₄	D₂₅	D₂₆	D₂₇	D₂₈	D₂₉	D₃₀
D₄₀ Colo. Elected^[i]	D₃₉ Calif. Re-elected	D₃₈	D₃₇	D₃₆	D₃₅	D₃₄	D₃₃	D₃₂	D₃₁
D₄₁ Conn. Hold	D₄₂ Del. (sp) Hold	D₄₃ Hawaii Re-elected	D₄₄ Md. Re-elected	D₄₅ Nev. Re-elected	D₄₆ N.Y. (reg) Re-elected	D₄₇ N.Y. (sp) Elected^[i]	D₄₈ Ore. Re-elected	D₄₉ Vt. Re-elected	D₅₀ Wash. Re-elected
Majority →									D₅₁ W.Va. (sp) Hold
R₄₁ Utah Hold	R₄₂ Ark. Gain	R₄₃ Ill. (reg) Ill. (sp) Gain^[j]	R₄₄ Ind. Gain	R₄₅ N.D. Gain	R₄₆ Pa. Gain	R₄₇ Wis. Gain	I₂	I₁	D₅₁ W.Va. (sp) Hold
R₄₀ S.D. Re-elected	R₃₉ S.C. Re-elected	R₃₈ Okla. Re-elected	R₃₇ Ohio Hold	R₃₆ N.C. Re-elected	R₃₅ N.H. Hold	R₃₄ Mo. Hold	R₃₃ La. Re-elected	R₃₂ Ky. Hold	R₃₁ Kan. Hold
R₂₁	R₂₂	R₂₃	R₂₄ Ala. Re-elected	R₂₅ Alaska Re-elected	R₂₆ Ariz. Re-elected	R₂₇ Fla. Hold	R₂₈ Ga. Re-elected	R₂₉ Idaho Re-elected	R₃₀ Iowa Re-elected
R₂₀	R₁₉	R₁₈	R₁₇	R₁₆	R₁₅	R₁₄	R₁₃	R₁₂	R₁₁
R₁	R₂	R₃	R₄	R₅	R₆	R₇	R₈	R₉	R₁₀

Key:

D_#	Democratic
I_#	Independent
R_#	Republican

Final pre-election predictions[edit]

Several sites and individuals publish predictions of competitive seats. These predictions look at factors such as the strength of the incumbent (if the incumbent is running for reelection) and the other candidates, and the state's partisan lean (reflected in part by the state's Cook Partisan Voting Index rating). The predictions assign ratings to each seat, indicating the predicted advantage that a party has in winning that seat.

Most election predictors used:

"tossup": no advantage
"tilt" (used by some predictors): advantage that is not quite as strong as "lean"
"lean": slight advantage
"likely" or "favored": significant, but surmountable, advantage
"safe" or "solid": near-certain chance of victory

Where a site gives a percentage probability as its primary indicator of expected outcome, the chart below classifies a race as follows:

Tossup: 50-55%
Tilt: 56-60%
Lean: 61-75%
Likely: 76-93%
Safe: 94-100%

Constituency		Incumbent	2010 election ratings
State	Senator	Last election^[k]	Cook^[2]	Rothenberg^[3]	RCP^[4]	Sabato^[5]	CQ Politics^[6]	Result
Alabama	Richard Shelby	67.5% R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Shelby 65.2% R
Alaska	Lisa Murkowski	48.6% R	Likely R	Safe R	Likely R	Likely R	Likely R	Murkowski 39.5% R^[l]
Arizona	John McCain	76.7% R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	McCain 59.2% R
Arkansas	Blanche Lincoln	55.9% D	Lean R (flip)	Likely R (flip)	Safe R (flip)	Safe R (flip)	Lean R (flip)	Boozman 57.9% R (flip)
California	Barbara Boxer	57.7% D	Tossup	Tilt D	Tossup	Lean D	Lean D	Boxer 52.2% D
Colorado	Michael Bennet	Appointed (2009)^[m]	Tossup	Tossup	Tossup	Lean R (flip)	Tossup	Bennet 48.1% D
Connecticut	Chris Dodd (retiring)	66.4% D	Lean D	Likely D	Lean D	Lean D	Lean D	Blumenthal 55.2% D
Delaware (special)	Ted Kaufman (retired)	Appointed (2009)^[n]	Likely D	Likely D	Likely D	Likely D	Likely D	Coons 56.6% D
Florida	George LeMieux (retired)	Appointed (2009)^[o]	Safe R	Safe R	Likely R	Safe R	Likely R	Rubio 48.9% R
Georgia	Johnny Isakson	57.9% R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Isakson 58.3% R
Hawaii	Daniel Inouye	75.5% D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Inouye 74.8% D
Idaho	Mike Crapo	99.2% R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Crapo 71.2% R
Illinois	Roland Burris (retiring)	Appointed (2009)^[p]	Tossup	Tilt R (flip)	Tossup	Lean R (flip)	Tossup	Kirk 48.0% R (flip)
Indiana	Evan Bayh (retiring)	61.7% D	Safe R (flip)	Lean R (flip)	Likely R (flip)	Likely R (flip)	Safe R (flip)	Coats 54.6% R (flip)
Iowa	Chuck Grassley	70.2% R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Grassley 64.4% R
Kansas	Sam Brownback (retiring)	69.9% R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Moran 70.1% R
Kentucky	Jim Bunning (retiring)	50.7% R	Lean R	Lean R	Lean R	Lean R	Lean R	Paul 55.7% R
Louisiana	David Vitter	51.0% R	Lean R	Likely R	Likely R	Likely R	Likely R	Vitter 56.6% R
Massachusetts (special)	Paul G. Kirk (retiring)	Appointed (2009)^[q]	Tossup	Lean R (flip)	Tossup	Tossup	Tossup	Brown 51.6% R (flip)
Maryland	Barbara Mikulski	64.8% D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Mikulski 62.2% D
Missouri	Kit Bond (retiring)	56.1% R	Lean R	Lean R	Likely R	Likely R	Lean R	Blunt 54.2% R
Nevada	Harry Reid	61.0% D	Tossup	Tossup	Tossup	Lean R (flip)	Tossup	Reid 50.3% D
New Hampshire	Judd Gregg (retiring)	66.2% R	Lean R	Safe R	Lean R	Likely R	Lean R	Ayotte 60.1% R
New York (regular)	Chuck Schumer	71.2% D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Schumer 66.3% D
New York (special)	Kirsten Gillibrand	Appointed (2009)^[r]	Safe D	Safe D	Likely D	Safe D	Safe D	Gillibrand 63.0% D
North Carolina	Richard Burr	51.6% R	Likely R	Likely R	Likely R	Likely R	Likely R	Burr 54.8% R
North Dakota	Byron Dorgan (retiring)	68.3% D	Safe R (flip)	Safe R (flip)	Safe R (flip)	Safe R (flip)	Safe R (flip)	Hoeven 76.1% R (flip)
Ohio	George Voinovich (retiring)	63.9% R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Likely R	Safe R	Portman 56.8% R
Oklahoma	Tom Coburn	52.8% R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Coburn 70.6% R
Oregon	Ron Wyden	63.4% D	Safe D	Safe D	Likely D	Safe D	Safe D	Wyden 57.2% D
Pennsylvania	Arlen Specter (lost renomination)	52.6% R^[s]	Tossup	Tilt R (flip)	Lean R (flip)	Tossup	Tossup	Toomey 51.0% R (flip)
South Carolina	Jim DeMint	53.7% R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	DeMint 61.5% R
South Dakota	John Thune	60.6% R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Thune 100.0% R
Utah	Bob Bennett (lost renomination)	68.6% R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Lee 61.6% R
Vermont	Patrick Leahy	70.6% D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Leahy 64.4% D
Washington	Patty Murray	55.0% D	Tossup	Tossup	Tossup	Lean D	Tossup	Murray 52.1%
West Virginia (special)	Carte Goodwin (retiring)	Appointed (2010)^[t]	Tossup	Tilt D	Tossup	Lean D	Tossup	Manchin 53.5%
Wisconsin	Russ Feingold	55.3% D	Lean R (flip)	Lean R (flip)	Lean R (flip)	Lean R (flip)	Lean R (flip)	Johnson 51.6% R (flip)

Gains and losses[edit]

Retirements[edit]

Three Democrats and six Republicans retired rather than seek re-election. Three Democrats retired rather than seek election to finish the unexpired term and one Democrat retired rather than seek election to finish the unexpired term and election to a full term.

State	Senator	Replaced by
Connecticut	Chris Dodd	Richard Blumenthal
Delaware (special)	Ted Kaufman	Chris Coons
Florida	George LeMieux	Marco Rubio
Illinois	Roland Burris	Mark Kirk
Indiana	Evan Bayh	Dan Coats
Kansas	Sam Brownback	Jerry Moran
Kentucky	Jim Bunning	Rand Paul
Massachusetts (special)	Paul G. Kirk	Scott Brown
Missouri	Kit Bond	Roy Blunt
New Hampshire	Judd Gregg	Kelly Ayotte
North Dakota	Byron Dorgan	John Hoeven
Ohio	George Voinovich	Rob Portman
West Virginia (special)	Carte Goodwin	Joe Manchin

Defeats[edit]

Three Democrats and one Republican sought re-election but lost in either the primary or general election.

State	Senator	Replaced by
Arkansas	Blanche Lincoln	John Boozman
Pennsylvania	Arlen Specter	Pat Toomey
Utah	Bob Bennett	Mike Lee
Wisconsin	Russ Feingold	Ron Johnson

Post-election changes[edit]

One Republican resigned on May 3, 2011, and was replaced by an appointee.

State	Senator	Replaced by
Nevada (Class 1)	John Ensign	Dean Heller

Race summary[edit]

Special elections during the 111th Congress[edit]

In these special elections, the winner was seated in the fall of 2010 (excluding Massachusetts), once they qualified and their elections were certified. Sorted by election date, then state, then class.

State (linked to summaries below)	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State (linked to summaries below)	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Massachusetts (Class 1)	Paul G. Kirk	Democratic	2009 (Appointed)	Interim appointee retired. New senator elected January 19, 2010. Republican gain. Winner seated February 4, 2010.	▌Y Scott Brown (Republican) 51.9% ▌Martha Coakley (Democratic) 47.1% ▌Joseph L. Kennedy (Libertarian) 1.0%
Delaware (Class 2)	Ted Kaufman	Democratic	2009 (Appointed)	Interim appointee retired. New senator elected November 2, 2010. Democratic hold. Winner seated November 15, 2010.	▌Y Chris Coons (Democratic) 56.6% ▌Christine O'Donnell (Republican) 40.0% ▌Glenn Miller (Independent) 2.7% ▌James Rash (Libertarian) 0.7%
Illinois (Class 3)	Roland Burris	Democratic	2009 (Appointed)	Interim appointee retired. New senator elected November 2, 2010. Winner also elected to next term, see below. Republican gain. Winner seated November 29, 2010.	▌Y Mark Kirk (Republican) 48.2% ▌Alexi Giannoulias (Democratic) 46.3% ▌LeAlan Jones (Green) 3.2% ▌Mike Labino (Libertarian) 2.4%
New York (Class 1)	Kirsten Gillibrand	Democratic	2009 (Appointed)	Interim appointee elected November 2, 2010.	▌Y Kirsten Gillibrand (Democratic) 59.6% ▌Joe DioGuardi (Republican) 33.3% ▌Cecile A. Lawrence (Green) 0.8% ▌John Clifton (Libertarian) 0.4% ▌Joseph Huff (Rent Is Too Damn High) 0.4%
West Virginia (Class 1)	Carte Goodwin	Democratic	2010 (Appointed)	Interim appointee retired. New senator elected November 2, 2010. Democratic hold. Winner seated November 15, 2010.	▌Y Joe Manchin (Democratic) 53.5% ▌John Raese (Republican) 43.4% ▌Jesse Johnson (Mountain) 1.9% ▌Jeff Becker (Constitution) 1.2%

Elections leading to the next Congress[edit]

Source: "Election 2010". The New York Times. Retrieved December 12, 2017.

In these regular elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 2011; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 3 seats.

State (linked to summaries below)	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
State (linked to summaries below)	Senator	Party	Electoral history	Results	Candidates
Alabama	Richard Shelby	Republican	1986^[u] 1992 1998 2004	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Richard Shelby (Republican) 65.3% ▌William G. Barnes (Democratic) 34.7%
Alaska	Lisa Murkowski	Republican	2002 (Appointed) 2004	Incumbent lost renomination, but was re-elected as a write-in candidate.	▌Y Lisa Murkowski (Republican write-in) 39.5% ▌Joe Miller (Republican) 35.5% ▌Scott McAdams (Democratic) 23.5%
Arizona	John McCain	Republican	1986 1992 1998 2004	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y John McCain (Republican) 59.2% ▌Rodney Glassman (Democratic) 34.7% ▌David Nolan (Libertarian) 4.7% ▌Jerry Joslyn (Green) 1.4%
Arkansas	Blanche Lincoln	Democratic	1998 2004	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Republican gain.	▌Y John Boozman (Republican) 58.0% ▌Blanche Lincoln (Democratic) 36.9% ▌Trevor Drown (Independent) 3.3% ▌John Gray (Green) 1.9%
California	Barbara Boxer	Democratic	1992 1998 2004	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Barbara Boxer (Democratic) 52.1% ▌Carly Fiorina (Republican) 42.5% ▌Gail Lightfoot (Libertarian) 1.8% ▌Marsha Feinland (Peace and Freedom) 1.3% ▌Edward Noonan (American Independent) 1.3% ▌Duane Roberts (Green) 1.2%
Colorado	Michael Bennet	Democratic	2009 (Appointed)	Interim appointee elected.	▌Y Michael Bennet (Democratic) 48.1% ▌Ken Buck (Republican) 46.3% ▌Bob Kinsey (Green) 2.2% ▌Maclyn Stringer (Libertarian) 1.3%
Connecticut	Chris Dodd	Democratic	1980 1986 1992 1998 2004	Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Democratic hold.	▌Y Richard Blumenthal (Democratic) 55.1% ▌Linda McMahon (Republican) 43.3% ▌Warren Mosler (Independent) 1.0% ▌John Mertens (CfL) 0.6%
Florida	George LeMieux	Republican	2009 (Appointed)	Interim appointee retired. New senator elected. Republican hold.	▌Y Marco Rubio (Republican) 48.9% ▌Charlie Crist (Independent) 29.7% ▌Kendrick Meek (Democratic) 20.1% ▌Alexander Snitker (Libertarian) 0.5%
Georgia	Johnny Isakson	Republican	2004	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Johnny Isakson (Republican) 58.1% ▌Mike Thurmond (Democratic) 39.2% ▌Chuck Donovan (Libertarian) 2.7%
Hawaii	Daniel Inouye	Democratic	1962 1968 1974 1980 1986 1992 1998 2004	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Daniel Inouye (Democratic) 74.8% ▌Campbell Cavasso (Republican) 21.6% ▌James Brewer (Green) 2.1% ▌Jeff Mallan (Libertarian) 0.8%
Idaho	Mike Crapo	Republican	1998 2004	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Mike Crapo (Republican) 71.1% ▌Tom Sullivan (Democratic) 25.0% ▌Randy Bergquist (Constitution) 3.9%
Illinois	Roland Burris	Democratic	2009 (Appointed)	Interim appointee retired. New senator elected. Winner also elected to finish term ending January 3, 2011, see above. Republican gain. Winner seated November 29, 2010.	▌Y Mark Kirk (Republican) 48.2% ▌Alexi Giannoulias (Democratic) 46.3% ▌LeAlan Jones (Green) 3.2% ▌Mike Labino (Libertarian) 2.4%
Indiana	Evan Bayh	Democratic	1998 2004	Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Republican gain.	▌Y Dan Coats (Republican) 54.6% ▌Brad Ellsworth (Democratic) 40.0% ▌Rebecca Sink-Burris (Libertarian) 5.4%
Iowa	Chuck Grassley	Republican	1980 1986 1992 1998 2004	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Chuck Grassley (Republican) 64.5% ▌Roxanne Conlin (Democratic) 33.2% ▌John Heiderscheit (Libertarian) 2.3%
Kansas	Sam Brownback	Republican	1996 (special) 1998 2004	Incumbent retired to run for Governor of Kansas. New senator elected. Republican hold.	▌Y Jerry Moran (Republican) 70.3% ▌Lisa Johnston (Democratic) 26.2% ▌Michael Dann (Libertarian) 2.1% ▌Joe Bellis (Reform) 1.4%
Kentucky	Jim Bunning	Republican	1998 2004	Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Republican hold.	▌Y Rand Paul (Republican) 55.8% ▌Jack Conway (Democratic) 44.2%
Louisiana	David Vitter	Republican	2004	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y David Vitter (Republican) 56.6% ▌Charlie Melançon (Democratic) 37.7% ▌Randall Hayes (Libertarian) 1.1% ▌Michael Brown (Independent) 0.8%
Maryland	Barbara Mikulski	Democratic	1986 1992 1998 2004	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Barbara Mikulski (Democratic) 61.8% ▌Eric Wargotz (Republican) 36.3% ▌Kenniss Henry (Green) 1.1% ▌Richard Shawver (Constitution) 0.8%
Missouri	Kit Bond	Republican	1986 1992 1998 2004	Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Republican hold.	▌Y Roy Blunt (Republican) 54.3% ▌Robin Carnahan (Democratic) 40.6% ▌Jonathan Dine (Libertarian) 3.0% ▌Jerry Beck (Constitution) 2.1%
Nevada	Harry Reid	Democratic	1986 1992 1998 2004	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Harry Reid (Democratic) 50.2% ▌Sharron Angle (Republican) 44.6% None of These Candidates 2.2% ▌Scott Ashjian (Tea) 0.8%
New Hampshire	Judd Gregg	Republican	1992 1998 2004	Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Republican hold.	▌Y Kelly Ayotte (Republican) 60.2% ▌Paul Hodes (Democratic) 36.7% ▌Chris Booth (Independent) 2.0% ▌Ken Blevens (Libertarian) 1.0%
New York	Chuck Schumer	Democratic	1998 2004	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Chuck Schumer (Democratic) 66.3% ▌Jay Townsend (Republican) 32.2% ▌Colia Clark (Green) 1.0% ▌Randy Credico (Libertarian) 0.6%
North Carolina	Richard Burr	Republican	2004	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Richard Burr (Republican) 55.0% ▌Elaine Marshall (Democratic) 42.9% ▌ Mike Beitler (Libertarian) 2.1%
North Dakota	Byron Dorgan	Democratic-NPL	1992 1998 2004	Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Republican gain.	▌Y John Hoeven (Republican) 76.2% ▌Tracy Potter (Democratic–NPL) 22.2% ▌Keith Hanson (Libertarian) 1.6%
Ohio	George Voinovich	Republican	1998 2004	Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Republican hold.	▌Y Rob Portman (Republican) 57.3% ▌Lee Fisher (Democratic) 39.0% ▌Eric Deaton (Constitution) 1.7% ▌Michael Pryce (Independent) 1.3%
Oklahoma	Tom Coburn	Republican	2004	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Tom Coburn (Republican) 70.5% ▌Jim Rogers (Democratic) 26.1% ▌Stephen Wallace (Independent) 2.5% ▌Ronald Dwyer (Independent) 0.9%
Oregon	Ron Wyden	Democratic	1996 (special) 1998 2004	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Ron Wyden (Democratic) 57.2% ▌Jim Huffman (Republican) 39.4% ▌Bruce Cronk (Working Families) 1.3% ▌Marc Delphine (Libertarian) 1.1% ▌Rick Staggenborg (Progressive) 1.0%
Pennsylvania	Arlen Specter	Democratic	1980^[v] 1986 1992 1998 2004	Incumbent lost renomination. New senator elected. Republican gain.	▌Y Pat Toomey (Republican) 51.01% ▌Joe Sestak (Democratic) 48.99%
South Carolina	Jim DeMint	Republican	2004	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Jim DeMint (Republican) 62.4% ▌Alvin Greene (Democratic) 28.2% ▌Tom Clements (Green) 9.4%
South Dakota	John Thune	Republican	2004	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y John Thune (Republican) Unopposed
Utah	Bob Bennett	Republican	1992 1998 2004	Incumbent lost renomination. New senator elected. Republican hold.	▌Y Mike Lee (Republican) 61.6% ▌Sam Granato (Democratic) 32.8% ▌Scott Bradley (Constitution) 5.7%
Vermont	Patrick Leahy	Democratic	1974 1980 1986 1992 1998 2004	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Patrick Leahy (Democratic) 64.4% ▌Len Britton (Republican) 30.9% ▌Daniel Freilich (Independent) 1.5% ▌Cris Ericson (Independent) 1.1% ▌Stephen Cain (Independent) 1.0%
Washington	Patty Murray	Democratic	1992 1998 2004	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Patty Murray (Democratic) 52.1% ▌Dino Rossi (Republican) 47.4%
Wisconsin	Russ Feingold	Democratic	1992 1998 2004	Incumbent lost re-election. New senator elected. Republican gain.	▌Y Ron Johnson (Republican) 51.9% ▌Russ Feingold (Democratic) 47.0% ▌Rob Taylor (Constitution) 1.1%

Closest races[edit]

Seven November races, as well as the Massachusetts special election in January, had margins less than 10%:

District	Winner	Margin
Illinois	Republican (flip)	1.6%
Colorado^[7]	Democratic	1.7%
Pennsylvania	Republican (flip)	2.0%
Alaska	Republican	4.0%^[w]
Washington	Democratic	4.7%
Massachusetts	Republican (flip)	4.8%
Wisconsin	Republican (flip)	4.8%
Nevada	Democratic	5.7%

California was the tipping point state, where Barbara Boxer (D) defeated Carly Fiorina (R) by a margin of 10.0%.

Alabama[edit]

Incumbent Republican Richard Shelby won re-election to a fifth term. On November 9, 1994, Shelby switched his party affiliation from Democratic 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.

Republican primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Richard Shelby (Incumbent)	405,042	84.4%
	Republican	Clint Moser	75,190	15.6%
Total votes			479,189	100.0%

Shelby had over $17 million in the bank, one of the highest of any candidate in the country. He had 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."^[8]

2010 United States Senate election in Alabama^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Richard Shelby (Incumbent)	968,181	65.3%
	Democratic	William G. Barnes	515,619	34.7%
Total votes			1,482,910	100.0%
Turnout				N/A
	Republican hold

Alaska[edit]

The November general election in Alaska was preceded by primary elections which were held August 24, 2010. Scott McAdams, the Mayor of Sitka, became the Democratic nominee and Joe Miller, an attorney and former federal magistrate, became the Republican nominee after defeating incumbent Senator Lisa Murkowski^[10] in the Republican primary.^[11]

Murkowski garnered more than 100,000 write-in votes in the general election, many^{[clarification needed]} of which were challenged by Miller for various errors including minor misspellings. The appeal was denied^[12] Even if all the challenged votes were thrown out, Murkowski would have still had a lead of over 2,100 votes.^[13]

Alaska Democratic primary election^[14]^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Scott McAdams	18,035	49.99%
	Democratic	Jacob Seth Kern	6,913	19.16%
	Libertarian	David Haase	5,793	16.06%
	Democratic	Frank Vondersaar	5,339	14.80%
Total votes			36,080	100.00%
Turnout				32%

Republican primary election^[14]^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Joe Miller	55,878	50.91%
	Republican	Lisa Murkowski (Incumbent)	53,872	49.09%
Total votes			109,750	100.00%
Turnout				32%

Alaska general election^[16]^[17]^[18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Write-In	Lisa Murkowski (Incumbent)	101,091	39.49%
	Republican	Joe Miller	90,839	35.49%
	Democratic	Scott McAdams	60,045	23.46%
	Libertarian	David Haase	1,459	0.57%
	Independent	Timothy Carter	927	0.36%
	Independent	Ted Gianoutsos	458	0.18%
	Write-In	Other write-in votes	1,143	0.44%
Invalid or blank votes			2,784	1.08%
Total votes			258,746	100.00%
Turnout				52.3%

Arizona[edit]

Arizona election

← 2004

2016 →


Nominee	John McCain	Rodney Glassman
Party	Republican	Democratic
Popular vote	1,005,615	592,011
Percentage	58.7%	34.5%

McCain: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%
Glassman: 50–60%

U.S. senator before election

John McCain
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

John McCain
Republican

Incumbent Republican John McCain, who returned to the Senate after losing the presidency to Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election, ran for re-election to a fifth term and won.^[19]

Democratic primary election^[20]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Rodney Glassman	86,881	34.7%
	Democratic	Cathy Eden	66,421	26.5%
	Democratic	John Dougherty	60,262	24.1%
	Democratic	Randy Parraz	36,637	14.6%
Total votes			250,201	100.0%

Republican primary election^[20]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John McCain (Incumbent)	284,374	56.2%
	Republican	J.D. Hayworth	162,502	32.1%
	Republican	Jim Deakin	59,447	11.7%
Total votes			506,323	100.0%

After spending over $20 million during the primaries, McCain still had more than $1million cash on hand after the primary election. Glassman criticized McCain on women's issues.^[21] In August 2010, Glassman released a TV advertisement called "Arizona First."^[22]

2010 United States Senate election in Arizona^[23]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	John McCain (Incumbent)	1,005,615	59.07%	-17.67%
	Democratic	Rodney Glassman	592,011	34.78%	+14.16%
	Libertarian	David Nolan	80,097	4.71%	+2.06%
	Green	Jerry Joslyn	24,603	1.45%	N/A
Majority			413,604	24.30%
Total votes			1,702,326	100.00%
	Republican hold		Swing

Arkansas[edit]

Arkansas election

← 2004

2016 →


Nominee	John Boozman	Blanche Lincoln
Party	Republican	Democratic
Popular vote	451,617	288,156
Percentage	57.90%	36.95%

Boozman: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%
Lincoln: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%

U.S. senator before election

Blanche Lincoln
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

John Boozman
Republican

Incumbent Democrat Blanche Lincoln ran for re-election to a third term, but lost to Republican nominee John Boozman. Boozman became the first Republican in 138 years to win the seat. Arkansas had previously only elected one Republican senator since the Reconstruction, who was defeated after his first term in 2002 by Mark Pryor.

Democratic primary election^[24]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Blanche Lincoln (Incumbent)	146,579	44.5%
	Democratic	Bill Halter	140,081	42.5%
	Democratic	D.C. Morrison	42,695	13.0%
Total votes			329,355	100.0%

Democratic primary election runoff^[25]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Blanche Lincoln (Incumbent)	134,758	52.0%
	Democratic	Bill Halter	124,405	48.0%
Total votes			259,163	100.0%

The Republican primary was held May 18, 2010, with early voting from May 3–17.

Republican primary election^[26]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Boozman	75,010	52.7%
	Republican	Jim Holt	24,826	17.5%
	Republican	Gilbert Baker	16,540	11.6%
	Republican	Conrad Reynolds	7,128	5.0%
	Republican	Curtis Coleman	6,928	4.9%
	Republican	Kim Hendren	5,551	3.9%
	Republican	Randy Alexander	4,389	3.1%
	Republican	Fred Ramey	1,888	1.3%
Total votes			142,260	100.0%

2010 United States Senate election in Arkansas^[27]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	John Boozman	451,617	57.90%	+13.83%
	Democratic	Blanche Lincoln (Incumbent)	288,156	36.95%	-18.95%
	Libertarian	Trevor Drown	25,234	3.24%	+3.24%
	Green	John Gray	14,430	1.85%	+1.85%
Majority			163,461	20.95%
Total votes			779,437	100.00%
Turnout
	Republican gain from Democratic		Swing

California[edit]

California election

← 2004

2016 →


Nominee	Barbara Boxer	Carly Fiorina
Party	Democratic	Republican
Popular vote	5,218,441	4,217,366
Percentage	52.2%	42.2%

County results
Boxer: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%
Fiorina: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%

U.S. senator before election

Barbara Boxer
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Barbara Boxer
Democratic

Incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer won re-election to a fourth term.

In 2009, Boxer was criticized for correcting a general who called her "ma'am". Brigadier General Michael Walsh was testifying on the Louisiana coastal restoration process in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and answered Boxer's query with "ma'am" when Boxer interrupted him. "Do me a favor," Boxer said. "can you say 'senator' instead of 'ma'am?'" "Yes, ma'am," Walsh interjected. "It's just a thing, I worked so hard to get that title, so I'd appreciate it. Thank you," she said. The Army's guide to protocol instructs service members to call members of the U.S. Senate "sir", "ma'am" or "senator".^[28]^[29] Fiorina used this incident prominently in campaign ads, as did David Zucker, who directed a humorous commercial for RightChange.com titled 'Call Me Senator.' In February 2010, Carly Fiorina put out a campaign ad attacking Republican rival Tom Campbell featuring a "demon sheep", creating international, mostly negative, publicity.^[30]

California Democratic Senate primary, 2010
Candidate	Votes	%
Barbara Boxer (Incumbent)	1,957,920	81.0%
Brian Quintana	338,442	13.9%
Mickey Kaus	123,573	5.1%
Total votes	2,419,935	100.0%

California Republican Senate primary, 2010
Candidate	Votes	%
Carly Fiorina	1,315,429	56.4%
Tom Campbell	504,289	21.7%
Chuck DeVore	452,577	19.3%
Al Ramirez	42,149	1.8%
Tim Kalemkarian	19,598	0.8%
Total votes	2,334,042	100.0%

California general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Barbara Boxer (Incumbent)	5,218,441	52.2%
	Republican	Carly Fiorina	4,217,366	42.2%
	Libertarian	Gail Lightfoot	175,242	1.8%
	Peace and Freedom	Marsha Feinland	135,093	1.4%
	Green	Duane Roberts	128,510	1.2%
	American Independent	Edward Noonan	125,441	1.2%
	Write-ins		67	<0.1%
Total votes			10,000,160	100.0%

Colorado[edit]

Colorado election

← 2004

2016 →


Nominee	Michael Bennet	Ken Buck
Party	Democratic	Republican
Popular vote	851,590	822,731
Percentage	48.1%	46.4%

County results
Bennet: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%
Buck: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%

U.S. senator before election

Michael Bennet
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Michael Bennet
Democratic

In December 2008, President-elect Barack Obama selected incumbent U.S. Senator Ken Salazar to become U.S. Secretary of the Interior.^[31] After Salazar resigned from his seat,^[32] Democratic Governor Bill Ritter appointed Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet to fill the seat, who won re-election to his first full term.^[33]^[34]

Colorado Democratic primary election^[35]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Michael Bennet (Incumbent)	183,225	54.2%
	Democratic	Andrew Romanoff	154,961	45.8%
Total votes			338,186	100.00%

Colorado Republican primary election^[35]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ken Buck	209,638	51.6%
	Republican	Jane Norton	196,954	48.4%
Total votes			406,592	100.0%

This was one of the most expensive elections in the 2010 cycle, with more than $50 million spent total, including over $35 million in outside spending.^[36] Conservative third party groups hammered Bennet for voting 92% of the time with the Democratic leadership, including voting for healthcare reform and the stimulus package.^[37] Liberal third party groups called Buck extremist. Bennet focused on attacking Buck's views on abortion, which he believed should be banned including those of cases of rape and incest. He was also attacked for wanting to eliminate the 17th Amendment^[38] and refusing to prosecute an alleged rapist as Weld County district attorney. Planned Parenthood mounted a mail campaign, targeting women voters with the warning that "Colorado women can't trust Ken Buck." Bennet won the women vote by 17 points according to exit polls. After the election, Buck conceded to the Denver Post that the main reason why he lost is because of social issues.^[39]

2010 United States Senate election in Colorado^[7]^[40]^[41]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Michael Bennet (Incumbent)	851,590	48.1%
	Republican	Ken Buck	822,731	46.4%
	Green	Bob Kinsey	38,768	2.2%
	Libertarian	Maclyn Stringer	22,589	1.3%
	Independent	Jason Napolitano	19,415	1.1%
	Independent	Charley Miller	11,330	0.6%
	Independent	J. Moromisato	5,767	0.3%
Total votes			1,772,190	100.0%
Turnout			{{{votes}}}	N/A

Connecticut[edit]

Connecticut election

← 2004

2016 →

Turnout

45.9% (voting eligible)


Nominee	Richard Blumenthal	Linda McMahon
Party	Democratic	Republican
Popular vote	636,040	498,341
Percentage	55.2%	43.2%

Blumenthal: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%
McMahon: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%

U.S. senator before election

Chris Dodd
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Richard Blumenthal
Democratic

Incumbent Democrat Christopher Dodd suffered from dropping approval ratings in the past few years due to major controversies, leading him to announce in January 2010 that he would retire, instead of seeking a sixth term.^[42] As Dodd was a Democrat, Richard Blumenthal, incumbent State Attorney General, announced on the same day that he would run for Dodd's seat.^[43] The Connecticut Democratic Party nominated Blumenthal on May 21. Businesswoman Linda McMahon won the state party's nominating convention and the August 10 Republican primary to become the Republican candidate.^[44]

Republican primary election^[45]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Linda McMahon	60,479	49.44%
	Republican	Rob Simmons	34,011	27.80%
	Republican	Peter Schiff	27,831	22.75%
Total votes			122,321	100.00%

2010 United States Senate election in Connecticut^[46]^[47]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Richard Blumenthal	636,040	55.16%	-11.20%
	Republican	Linda E. McMahon	498,341	43.22%	+11.08%
	Independent	Warren B. Mosler	11,275	0.98%	N/A
	Independent	Dr. John Mertens	6,735	0.58%	N/A
	Write-In	Write-in candidates (8)	724	0.06%	N/A
Majority			137,755	11.95%
Total votes			1,153,115	100.00%
	Democratic hold

Note: Blumenthal also appeared on the line of the Connecticut Working Families Party and received 30,836 votes on it. His Working Families and Democratic votes have been aggregated together on this table.

Delaware (special)[edit]

Delaware special election

← 2008

2014 →


Nominee	Chris Coons	Christine O'Donnell
Party	Democratic	Republican
Popular vote	174,012	123,053
Percentage	56.6%	40.0%

County results

Coons: 60–70%

O'Donnell: 50–60%

U.S. senator before election

Ted Kaufman
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Chris Coons
Democratic

This was a special election to fill Delaware's Class 2 Senate seat, then held by Ted Kaufman, an appointee. The seat had been previously held by long-time Senator Joe Biden, who vacated it when he became Vice President of the United States in 2009.

Delaware Republican primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Christine O'Donnell	30,561	53.1%
	Republican	Michael N. Castle	27,021	46.9%
Total votes			57,582	100.0%

2010 United States Senate special election in Delaware^[48]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Chris Coons	174,012	56.61%	-8.07%
	Republican	Christine O'Donnell	123,053	40.03%	+4.72%
	Independent	Glenn Miller	8,201	2.67%
	Libertarian	James Rash	2,101	0.69%
Majority			50,959	16.58%	-12.79%
Total votes			307,367	100.00%
	Democratic hold		Swing

Florida[edit]

Florida election

← 2004

2016 →


Nominee	Marco Rubio	Charlie Crist	Kendrick Meek
Party	Republican	Independent	Democratic
Popular vote	2,645,743	1,607,549	1,092,936
Percentage	48.9%	29.7%	20.2%

Rubio:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Crist:      30–40%      40–50%
Meek:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%

U.S. senator before election

George LeMieux
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Marco Rubio
Republican

Incumbent Republican Senator Mel Martínez, who was elected in a very close race against Democrat Betty Castor with 49% of the vote in 2004, announced on December 2, 2008, that he would not run for re-election to a second term,^[49] then announcing on August 7, 2009, that he would resign prior to the end of his term.^[50] The Governor of Florida, Republican Charlie Crist, was required to appoint a successor and he chose his former Chief of Staff, George LeMieux. LeMieux, a placeholder who did not run in the election, replaced Martínez in the Senate on September 10, 2009.

Crist publicly announced he was running for the seat in mid-2009. When he declared his candidacy, he received many Republican endorsements, including the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Martínez, and 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain. However, his support of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 hurt his popularity among conservatives, and Tea Party candidate Marco Rubio, the former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, surged in the polls. In April 2010, Crist announced he would drop out of the Republican primary and run as an Independent. The National Republican Senatorial Committee withdrew its endorsement of Crist and demanded a refund of its campaign funds that it provided for the Crist campaign.^[51]^[52]^[53] Rubio went on to win the Republican primary against only token opposition.

Polling initially showed Crist neck and neck with Rubio, but by the end of August Rubio opened up a solid and consistent lead. He was supported by Republican and some Independent voters whereas Democratic and other Independents were split between Crist and Meek. Rubio went on to win the election with 49% of the vote to Crist's 30% and Meek's 20%.

Republican primary election^[54]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Marco Rubio	1,059,513	84.6%
	Republican	William Kogut	111,584	8.9%
	Republican	William Escoffery	81,873	6.5%
Total votes			1,252,970	100.0%

Democratic primary election^[55]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kendrick Meek	522,942	57.4%
	Democratic	Jeff Greene	283,370	31.1%
	Democratic	Glenn Burkett	59,575	6.5%
	Democratic	Maurice Ferré	44,506	4.9%
Total votes			910,393	100.0%

2010 United States Senate election in Florida^[56]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Marco Antonio Rubio	2,645,743	48.89%	-0.54%
	Independent	Charles Joseph Crist Jr.	1,607,549	29.71%	+29.71%
	Democratic	Kendrick Brett Meek	1,092,936	20.20%	-28.12%
	Libertarian	Alexander Snitker	24,850	0.46%	N/A
	Independent	Sue Askeland	15,340	0.28%	N/A
	Independent	Rick Tyler	7,394	0.14%	N/A
	Constitution	Bernie DeCastro	4,792	0.09%	N/A
	Independent	Lewis Jerome Armstrong	4,443	0.08%	N/A
	Independent	Bobbie Bean	4,301	0.08%	N/A
	Independent	Bruce Riggs	3,647	0.07%	N/A
	Write-ins		108	0.00%
Majority			1,038,194	19.19%	+18.08%
Turnout			5,411,106	48.25%^[57]	-22.67%
Total votes			5,411,106	100.00%
	Republican hold		Swing

Georgia[edit]

Georgia election

← 2004

2016 →


Nominee	Johnny Isakson	Mike Thurmond
Party	Republican	Democratic
Popular vote	1,489,904	996,516
Percentage	58.3%	39.0%

Isakson: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%
Thurmond: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%

U.S. senator before election

Johnny Isakson
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Johnny Isakson
Republican

Incumbent Republican Johnny Isakson won re-election to a second term.^[58]

Democratic primary election^[59]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Michael Thurmond	297,226	84.3%
	Democratic	RJ Hadley	55,159	15.7%
Total votes			352,385	100.0%

Republican primary election^[60]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Johnny Isakson	558,298	100.00%
Total votes			558,298	100.00%

2010 United States Senate election in Georgia^[61]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Johnny Isakson (Incumbent)	1,489,904	58.31%	+0.43%
	Democratic	Michael Thurmond	996,516	39.00%	-0.98%
	Libertarian	Chuck Donovan	68,750	2.69%	+0.55%
	Independent	Steve Davis (write-in)	52	0.00%	N/A
	Independent	Raymond Beckworth (write-in)	24	0.00%	N/A
	Independent	Brian Russell Brown (write-in)	12	0.00%	N/A
Majority			493,388	19.31%
Total votes			2,555,258	100.00%
	Republican hold		Swing

Hawaii[edit]

Hawaii election

← 2004

2014 (special) →


Nominee	Daniel Inouye	Cam Cavasso
Party	Democratic	Republican
Popular vote	277,228	79,939
Percentage	74.8%	21.6%

County results
Inouye: 70–80%

U.S. senator before election

Daniel Inouye
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Daniel Inouye
Democratic

Incumbent Democrat and President pro tempore Daniel Inouye won re-election to his ninth term.

Hawaii last elected a Republican Senator in 1970, and its current delegation to the United States Congress currently consists entirely of Democrats. Democrats have also won Hawaii's electoral votes in every presidential election since Ronald Reagan's landslide election in 1984. The exceptions at the time were then-Governor Linda Lingle (who was serving her second and final term) and then-U.S. Representative Charles Djou, both of whom were Republicans.

Democratic primary election^[62]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Daniel Inouye (Incumbent)	188,400	88.3%
	Democratic	Andy Woerner	25,016	11.7%
Total votes			213,416	100.0%

Republican primary election^[62]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Campbell Cavasso	21,865	66.7%
	Republican	John Roco	7,190	21.9%
	Republican	Eddie Pirkowski	3,744	11.4%
Total votes			32,790	100.0%

2010 United States Senate election in Hawaii^[63]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Daniel Inouye (Incumbent)	277,228	74.81%	-0.70%
	Republican	Cam Cavasso	79,939	21.57%	+0.58%
	Green	Jim Brewer	7,762	2.09%	N/A
	Libertarian	Lloyd Jeffrey Mallen	2,957	0.80%	-0.47%
	Independent	Jeff Jarrett	2,697	0.73%	N/A
Majority			197,289	53.24%
Total votes			370,583	100.00%
	Democratic hold		Swing

Idaho[edit]

Idaho election

← 2004

2016 →


Nominee	Mike Crapo	Tom Sullivan
Party	Republican	Democratic
Popular vote	319,953	112,057
Percentage	71.2%	24.9%

County results
Crapo: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%

U.S. senator before election

Mike Crapo
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Mike Crapo
Republican

Incumbent Republican Mike Crapo won re-election to a third term.

Idaho Republican primary election^[64]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Crapo (Incumbent)	127,332	79.3%
	Republican	Claude "Skip" Davis	33,150	20.7%
Total votes			160,482	100.0%

Idaho Democratic primary election^[64]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Tom Sullivan	18,340	74.7%
	Democratic	William Bryk	6,227	25.3%
Total votes			24,567	100.0%

Sullivan, a heavy underdog, criticized Crapo for being in Washington for too long saying "Senator Crapo has been in Congress for 18 years. The country is struggling, and I think it's time to make a change." Crapo emphasized his conservative record in Washington.^[65]

2010 United States Senate election in Idaho
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Michael Crapo (Incumbent)	319,953	71.19%	-27.99%
	Democratic	Tom Sullivan	112,057	24.93%	N/A
	Constitution	Randy Bergquist	17,429	3.88%	N/A
Majority			207,896	46.26%
Total votes			449,439	100.00%
	Republican hold		Swing

Illinois[edit]

Illinois election

← 2004

2016 →


Nominee	Mark Kirk	Alexi Giannoulias
Party	Republican	Democratic
Special election	1,677,729 47.3%	1,641,486 46.3%
Regular election	1,778,698 48.0%	1,719,478 46.4%

Kirk: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%
Giannoulias: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%

U.S. senator before election

Roland Burris
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Mark Kirk
Republican

Incumbent Democrat Roland Burris did not run in 2010.^[66] He suffered from poor approval ratings^[67] and was investigated by the Sangamon County, Illinois State's Attorney for perjury.^[68] Although no criminal charges were filed against him, he faced an investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee.^[69]

There were two ballot items for the same seat: a regular election, to fill the Class 3 seat beginning with the 112th United States Congress beginning on January 3, 2011, and a special election, to fill that seat for the final weeks of the 111th Congress, replacing the temporary appointment of Roland Burris to the vacancy created by Barack Obama's election to the presidency.^[70]

A federal court ruled that the candidates appearing on the ballot for the replacement election would be the ones of the regular election,^[70]^[71] and that the special election would appear after the regular election on the ballot.^[71]

As of 2023^[update], this was the last Senate election in Illinois won by a Republican.

Democratic primary election (February 2, 2010)^[72]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Alexi Giannoulias	351,120	38.9%
	Democratic	David Hoffman	303,719	33.7%
	Democratic	Cheryle Jackson	178,941	19.8%
	Democratic	Robert Marshall	51,606	5.7%
	Democratic	Jacob Meister	16,232	1.8%
Total votes			901,618	100.0%

Illinois Republican primary election (February 2, 2010)^[73]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mark Kirk	420,373	56.6%
	Republican	Patrick Hughes	142,928	19.3%
	Republican	Donald Lowery	66,357	8.9%
	Republican	Kathleen Thomas	54,038	7.3%
	Republican	Andy Martin	37,480	5.0%
	Republican	John Arrington	21,090	2.8%
	Republican	Patricia Beard	2	.0003%
Total votes			742,268	100.0%

Illinois special election^[74]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mark Kirk	1,677,729	47.3%
	Democratic	Alexi Giannoulias	1,641,486	46.3%
	Green	LeAlan Jones	129,571	3.7%
	Libertarian	Michael Labno	95,762	2.7%
	Write-in	Lowell Martin Seida	4	0.0001%
Total votes			3,545,984	100.00%

Illinois regular election^[75]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Mark Kirk	1,778,698	48.0%	+21.0%
	Democratic	Alexi Giannoulias	1,719,478	46.4%	-25.6%
	Green	LeAlan Jones	117,914	3.2%	N/A
	Libertarian	Michael Labno	87,247	2.4%	+1.1%
	Write-in	Lowell Martin Seida	4	0.0001%	N/A
	Write-ins		1,136	<0.1%	N/A
Majority			59,220	1.6%	-51.4%
Turnout			3,704,473		-27.9%
	Republican gain from Democratic		Swing

Indiana[edit]

Indiana election

← 2004

2016 →


Nominee	Dan Coats	Brad Ellsworth
Party	Republican	Democratic
Popular vote	952,116	697,775
Percentage	54.6%	40.0%


Nominee	Rebecca Sink-Burris
Party	Libertarian
Popular vote	94,330
Percentage	5.4%

County results
Coats: 40–50% 50–60%. 60–70% 70–80%
Ellsworth: 40–50% 50–60%

U.S. senator before election

Evan Bayh
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Dan Coats^[76]
Republican

Incumbent Democrat Evan Bayh decided in February 2010 to retire instead of seeking a third term shortly after former U.S. Senator Dan Coats announced his candidacy for Bayh's contested seat.^[77] No Democratic candidate submitted enough signatures by the deadline to run, leading Democratic officials to choose U.S. Congressman Brad Ellsworth to be the nominee. Coats won the election.

Indiana Republican primary election^[78]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Coats	217,225	39.5%
	Republican	Marlin Stutzman	160,981	29.2%
	Republican	John Hostettler	124,494	22.6%
	Republican	Don Bates, Jr.	24,664	4.5%
	Republican	Richard Behney	23,005	4.2%
Total votes			550,369	100.0%

After Coats's win in the Republican primary, Ellsworth began to heavily criticize Coats for his ties to lobbyists. He called for more disclosure of the meetings lawmakers have with lobbyists, banning congressional staff from lobbying for six years after their congressional jobs, requiring Congress members to put all their investments in blind trusts, more disclosure of Senate candidates' personal financial information, and changes to the U.S. Senate filibuster rules. He proposed lowering number of votes required to break a filibuster to 55 from the current 60.^[79] In response to Ellsworth's charges, Coats published his lobbying record in an 815-page document.

Coats emphasized the individual issues rather than ethics reforms advocated by his opponent. He focused on Ellsworth's record of voting in support of the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, cap-and-trade legislation, and health care bill. Coats opinion of the healthcare law was that "the only responsible solution ... is to repeal the Obama-Pelosi-Ellsworth health spending bill and quickly replace it with cost-effective, incremental pieces that will decrease costs, increase coverage and not break the bank."

Indiana election^[80]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Dan Coats	952,116	54.60%	+17.37%
	Democratic	Brad Ellsworth	697,775	40.01%	-21.64%
	Libertarian	Rebecca Sink-Burris	94,330	5.39%	+4.27%
Majority			254,341	14.58%
Total votes			1,743,921	100.00%
	Republican gain from Democratic		Swing

Iowa[edit]

Iowa election

← 2004

2016 →


Nominee	Chuck Grassley	Roxanne Conlin
Party	Republican	Democratic
Popular vote	718,215	371,686
Percentage	64.4%	33.3%

County results
Grassley: 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% 80-90% >90%
Conlin: 50–60%

U.S. senator before election

Chuck Grassley
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Chuck Grassley
Republican

Incumbent Republican Chuck Grassley won re-election to a sixth term.

Republican primary election^[81]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Chuck Grassley (inc.)	197,194	98.0%
	Republican	Write-ins	3,926	2.0%
Total votes			201,120	100.0%

Democratic primary election^[81]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Roxanne Conlin	52,715	77.5%
	Democratic	Bob Krause	8,728	12.9%
	Democratic	Tom Fiegen	6,357	9.4%
	Democratic	Write-ins	177	0.2%
Total votes			67,977	100.0%

Incumbent Chuck Grassley started the campaign moderately popular, but his approval ratings dropped somewhat during the campaign.^[82] However, the seat continued to be considered to be "Safe Republican" by many sources, with CQ Politics noting that Grassley is "one of Iowa's most durable politicians."

Conlin described herself as a "prairie progressive." She supported the recent landmark case of Varnum v. Brien, which legalized gay marriage in the state. She also supported repeal of "don't ask, don't tell."^[83]

Before the election, former political advisor John Maxwell claimed that Grassley would have his toughest race since his first U.S. Senate election in 1980, where he defeated incumbent John Culver with 53% of the vote. Grassley won all of his four re-election bids with nearly 70% of the vote against unknown opponents.^[84] Grassley won the election with 64.51% of the vote.

2010 United States Senate election in Iowa^[85]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Chuck Grassley (Incumbent)	718,215	64.35%	-5.83%
	Democratic	Roxanne Conlin	371,686	33.30%	+5.43%
	Libertarian	John Heiderscheit	25,290	2.27%
	Write-ins		872	0.08%
Majority			346,529	31.05%	-11.26%
Turnout			1,116,063
	Republican hold		Swing

Kansas[edit]

Kansas election

← 2004

2016 →


Nominee	Jerry Moran	Lisa Johnston
Party	Republican	Democratic
Popular vote	578,768	215,270
Percentage	70.3%	26.2%

County results
Moran: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90%
Johnston: 40–50% 50–60%

U.S. senator before election

Sam Brownback
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Jerry Moran
Republican

Incumbent Republican Sam Brownback retired to run for Governor of Kansas, instead of seeking a third term. Republican nominee Jerry Moran won the open seat. Kansas is one of the most Republican states in the nation;^{[citation needed]} no Democrat has been elected to either Senate seat since 1932.

Democratic primary election^[86]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Lisa Johnston	25,421	31.2%
	Democratic	Charles Schollenberger	19,228	23.6%
	Democratic	David Haley	15,584	19.2%
	Democratic	Patrick Wiesner	13,359	16.4%
	Democratic	Robert Conroy	7,779	9.6%
Total votes			81,371	100.00%

The retirement of Brownback, a popular U.S. Senator, led to a heavily competitive primary election. Tiahrt, who was on the Committee of Appropriations, had been accused of excessive earmarking while he was in Congress. From 2006 to 2008, Tiahrt had requested and supported a total of 63 solo earmarks, costing $53.9 million. In the same period, Moran had requested and supported a total of 29 earmarks, with a pricetag of $13.4 million.^[87]^[88]

Republican primary election^[86]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jerry Moran	161,407	49.8%
	Republican	Todd Tiahrt	144,372	44.6%
	Republican	Tom Little	10,104	3.1%
	Republican	Bob Londerholm	8,168	2.5%
Total votes			324,051	100.00%

After the primaries, Moran chose not to release any more negative advertisements. Democrat Lisa Johnston ran a low-profile, quiet race. On election day, she won only two counties: Wyandotte County and Douglas County, while Moran won statewide by a landslide.^[89]

2010 United States Senate election in Kansas
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Jerry Moran	578,768	70.34%	+1.18%
	Democratic	Lisa Johnston	215,270	26.16%	-1.33%
	Libertarian	Michael Dann	17,437	2.12%	+0.18%
	Reform	Joe Bellis	11,356	1.38%	-0.04%
Majority			363,498	44.18%
Total votes			822,831	100.00%
	Republican hold		Swing

Kentucky[edit]

Kentucky election

← 2004

2016 →


Nominee	Rand Paul	Jack Conway
Party	Republican	Democratic
Popular vote	755,411	599,843
Percentage	55.7%	44.2%

County results
Paul:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Conway:      50–60%      60–70%
Tie:      50%

U.S. senator before election

Jim Bunning
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Rand Paul
Republican

Incumbent Republican Jim Bunning retired instead of seeking a third term. Republican nominee Rand Paul won the open seat.^[90]

On May 18, 2010, Paul won the Republican nomination.^[90] After conceding the election to Paul, Grayson said, "It's time to put all differences aside, unite behind Dr. Paul, he needs our help and I for one stand ready to serve".^[91]

Republican primary election^[92]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Rand Paul	206,986	58.8%
	Republican	Trey Grayson	124,864	35.4%
	Republican	Bill Johnson	7,861	2.2%
	Republican	John Stephenson	6,885	2.0%
	Republican	Gurley L. Martin	2,850	0.8%
	Republican	Jon J. Scribner	2,829	0.8%
Total votes			352,275	100.0%

Democratic primary election^[92]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jack Conway	229,433	44.0%
	Democratic	Daniel Mongiardo	225,260	43.2%
	Democratic	Darlene Fitzgerald Price	28,531	5.5%
	Democratic	James Buckmaster	20,561	3.9%
	Democratic	Maurice Sweeney	17,874	3.4%
Total votes			521,659	100.0%

Grayson attacked Paul for his "strange ideas," such as his opposition of the PATRIOT Act, and what Grayson alleged to be his support of closing down Guantanamo Bay and saying that Iran was not a threat. He also attacked Paul for being a Duke University fan.^[relevant?] He sent out another TV ad and web video that stirred controversy by making the case that Paul believes that foreign policy decisions made prior to September 11, 2001, are partially to blame for the attacks.^[93] Paul immediately responded by launching a statewide television ad in which he expresses his "outrage at terrorists who killed 3,000 innocents" before accusing Grayson of a "lie" and a "shameful" tactic.^[94] Grayson accused the Fox News Channel of favoring Paul over him.

Conway began the race trailing Paul, but as he attacked his opponent's positions on social-welfare and criminal-justice policies, the polls began to tighten. The campaign attracted $8.5 million in contributions from outside groups, of which $6 million was spent to help Rand Paul and $2.5 million to help Conway. This money influx was in addition to the money spent by the candidates themselves: $6 million by Paul and $4.7 million by Conway.^[95]^[96]

Kentucky election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Rand Paul	755,411	55.69%	+5.03%
	Democratic	Jack Conway	599,617	44.26%	-5.12%
Majority			155,599	11.48%
Total votes			1,354,833	100.00%
	Republican hold		Swing

Louisiana[edit]

Louisiana election

← 2004

2016 →


Nominee	David Vitter	Charlie Melancon
Party	Republican	Democratic
Popular vote	715,304	476,423
Percentage	56.6%	37.7%

Parish results

Vitter: 40-50% 50-60% 60–70% 70-80%

Melançon: 40–50% 50–60% 70–80%

U.S. senator before election

David Vitter
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

David Vitter
Republican

Incumbent Republican David Vitter won re-election to a second term. Some speculated that Vitter's re-election might have become complicated, by the prostitution scandal revealed in 2007, but he continued to lead in aggregate polling against potential opponents.^[97]

Louisiana Democratic primary election^[98]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Charlie Melançon	77,702	70.6%
	Democratic	Neeson Chauvin	19,507	17.7%
	Democratic	Cary Deaton	12,842	11.7%
Total votes			110,051	100.0%

Louisiana Republican primary election^[98]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	David Vitter (Incumbent)	85,179	87.6%
	Republican	Chet Traylor	6,838	7.0%
	Republican	Nick Accardo	5,221	5.4%
Total votes			97,238	100.0%

Melançon heavily criticized Vitter for prostitution sex scandal.^[99]^[100] Vitter released television advertising criticizing Melancon for his support for Obama's stimulus package and his support for amnesty for

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2010 United States Senate elections

Results summary[edit]

Change in composition[edit]

After the January special election[edit]

Before the November elections[edit]

Result of the November elections[edit]

Final pre-election predictions[edit]

Gains and losses[edit]

Retirements[edit]

Defeats[edit]

Post-election changes[edit]

Race summary[edit]

Special elections during the 111th Congress[edit]

Elections leading to the next Congress[edit]

Closest races[edit]

Alabama[edit]

Alaska[edit]

Arizona[edit]

Arkansas[edit]

California[edit]

Colorado[edit]

Connecticut[edit]

Delaware (special)[edit]

Florida[edit]

Georgia[edit]

Hawaii[edit]

Idaho[edit]

Illinois[edit]

Indiana[edit]

Iowa[edit]

Kansas[edit]

Kentucky[edit]

Louisiana[edit]

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