Massachusetts U.S. Senate election, 1996

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Category: Massachusetts

The Contenders

The Significance

Kerry had been elected to Massachusetts' "non-Kennedy" seat in 1984, and was re-elected in 1990. Each time, voters chose Kerry by a significant margin, but being a distant and unemotional man, Kerry commanded respect rather than love. He was unwilling to play the role of the legendary Massachusetts Politician, a tactic that served him fine until the governor of the state, the popular William Weld, challenged Kerry for re-election.

Weld was as amiable as Kerry was aloof, and he overtook him in the polls. Kerry challenged Weld to a series of eight debates, in which he managed to tie Weld to some of the controversial and disliked (in Massachusetts) figures in the national Republican Party, like Newt Gingrich. Forced to defend himself on his economic conservatism, Weld lost his lead and Kerry won a third term.