2010 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, General election, Campaign, Ideological opposites
Sestak and Toomey proved to be ideological opposites who disagreed on practically every issue, including abortion, health care, energy, social security and the recent stimulus bill and financial bailouts. Sestak favored the bailouts of the United States financial system, automobile industry and mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, claiming they saved many jobs and homes. Toomey condemned them as a waste of taxpayer money that rewarded irresponsible behavior. Sestak praised the financial regulatory reform bill before Congress as "a victory for the American people over Wall Street" that would protect the economy from shadow banking and toxic assets.


2010 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, General election, Campaign, Ideological opposites
Toomey said it did nothing to prevent taxpayer bailouts of failing corporations. Toomey also argued against a proposed cap and trade bill, which he said would encourage firms to move manufacturing jobs overseas and force Pennsylvania businesses to close. Sestak claimed the bill would help businesses by lowering energy costs in the long-run, claiming, "Pat Toomey is in the pocket of big oil, and big oil doesn't want alternative energy."


2010 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, General election, Campaign, Ideological opposites
Following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Sestak criticized Toomey for his support of offshore drilling in Lake Erie, claiming the proposal risked placing 90 percent of the country's surface water in danger. Toomey said he simply supported allowing states to retain the right to make decisions about drilling, and claimed Sestak was too willing to cede control to the federal government. Both Sestak and Toomey sought to portray themselves as the ideal candidates for small-business issues.


2010 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, General election, Campaign, Ideological opposites
Toomey campaigned on lower taxes and less regulation, and released a 30-second television advertisement emphasizing his experience as owner of a small chain of bars and restaurants in the 1990s. Sestak countered that image, however, citing past court depositions that indicated Toomey was not very involved in the businesses and delegated most responsibilities to his brother Steven. Sestak said he would help small businesses through tax cuts and federal loan guarantees.


2010 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, General election, Campaign, Ideological opposites
Heading into July, polls still indicated that the two candidates were roughly even. Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said this was better news for Toomey than Sestak because it meant Toomey had "limited the damage" from the national positive publicity Sestak received after defeating Arlen Specter. From April 1 to June 30, Toomey raised $3.1 million compared to Sestak's $1.95 million. This left Toomey with $4.56 million in total funds, more than twice Sestak's total amount of about $2 million.


2010 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, General election, Campaign, Ideological opposites
Toomey was considered to have a financial advantage in part because he did not have as challenging a primary as Sestak, and thus was able to save most of his money. Additionally, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spent $1.4 million of the allotted sum in support of Specter during the primary, which left them with only $200,000 for the general election race.


2010 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, General election, Campaign, Ideological opposites
In July, Toomey began airing five new television commercials, including one about him taking on the Democratic establishment and four focusing on different votes Sestak made in Congress. The latter four commercials each focused on a different issue: the stimulus plan, health-care reform, cap and trade, and tax increases. The ads characterized Sestak's positions as extreme, and each ended with a narrator saying, "That's liberal. That's Joe Sestak." Although they directly attacked Sestak, Toomey said they did not break the candidates' pledge for a clean campaign because they focused on his policies, not his character.


2010 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, General election, Campaign, Ideological opposites
By running the commercials four months before the general election campaign, Toomey hoped to get an early lead in building name recognition for himself. Also in July, the United States Chamber of Commerce began running television advertisements criticizing Sestak's support of "a government takeover of health care" and "billions in job-killing energy taxes", claiming he voted with Nancy Pelosi "100 percent of the time". Sestak called the ads inaccurate, citing specific instances when he voted against Pelosi; Two Pennsylvania television stations removed the ads, but Toomey defended them, claiming they were not misleading and accusing Sestak of being "hyper-sensitive".


2010 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, General election, Campaign, Later months
Around July, both Sestak and Toomey started blaming each other for the federal budget deficits that had become a national spotlight amid the troubled economy. Toomey portrayed Sestak as lacking "fiscal discipline" and supporting budget earmarks for pet projects, while Sestak said Toomey supported President George W. Bush's deficit spending and damaged the economy by helping deregulate Wall Street. On July 15, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Sestak received at least $119,650 in campaign contributions from employees of companies that received federal earmarks he had steered to the state since 2008.


2010 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, General election, Campaign, Later months
Although a common practice among political candidates, Sestak had advocated banning earmarks in favor of a competitive grant program, and vowed on his website to return any contributions from organizations or individuals who "has made a request for an appropriations project". In response to the story, Toomey called on Sestak to return those contributions, which he did not respond to. However, Sestak said he routinely returned money from employees of such companies, but sometimes had difficulty tracking donations from low-level employees. Toomey vowed never to seek earmarks if elected, while Sestak said although he favors ending the practice, he would continue advocating for them as long as earmarks continued to exist.


2010 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, General election, Campaign, Later months
While Sestak presented economists who agreed with his positions, the conservative non-profit Citizens Against Government Waste gave him a zero rating on spending issues based on a review of 120 of his votes in Congress. Toomey challenged Sestak to sign a "No Pork? pledge offered by the organization. In turn, Sestak criticized Toomey for accepting campaign contributions from Club for Growth, a group that Toomey used to spearhead and which received criticism from such prominent Republicans as Senator Orrin Hatch, Senator John McCain and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.


2010 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, General election, Campaign, Later months
On August 2, moderate Republican Senator Susan Collins, who was once condemned by Toomey's Club for Growth for her support of the stimulus package, headlined a $1,000-a-plate luncheon for Toomey's campaign at Philadelphia's Union League. The Philadelphia Inquirer said Collins' support indicated Toomey was finding success in seeking moderate support for his candidacy.


2010 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, General election, Campaign, Later months
The newspaper noted other apparent efforts to draw in centrists, including Toomey's support for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who many conservatives opposed, and the fact that throughout the campaign Toomey had rarely brought up social issues like gay rights and abortion, for which he held conservative views. Sestak's campaign claimed those gestures only sought to conceal an extremely conservative voting record.


2010 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, General election, Campaign, Later months
The first debate was held on October 20 at WPVI-TV studios in Philadelphia and the second held on October 22 at WPXI studios in Pittsburgh. Both candidates criticized the each other's ideology and referred to the other as extreme. Toomey heavily criticized Sestak for his support of Obama's stimulus, cap and trade, and healthcare reform. Sestak not only supported these measures but said they did not go far enough, referred to Toomey as "Pennsylvania's most right-wing congressman", and criticized him for working at Wall Street and supporting the elimination of corporate taxes.


2010 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, General election, Campaign, Later months
Toomey was endorsed by former longtime Democratic Mayor of Harrisburg Stephen Reed, former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani, United States Chamber of Commerce, NRA, U.S. Senator Scott Brown and former Governor Sarah Palin. Newspaper endorsements include the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, The Intelligencer, The Tribune-Democrat and the Bucks County Courier Times.


2010 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, General election, Campaign, Later months
Sestak was endorsed by independent NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Republican U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel. Sestak received newspaper endorsements from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Erie Times-News, The Citizens' Voice, The Patriot-News, the Observer-Reporter, and The Huffington Post.


2010 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, General election, Campaign, Later months
Republican Pat Toomey defeated his Democratic opponent Joe Sestak on election day. The Associated Press called the race for Toomey shortly after midnight. The Washington Post credited his victory to voter discontent with the Obama administration and unemployment rates. Sestak conceded defeat addressing a crowd at a suburban Philadelphia hotel in his congressional district, stating "it is now Alex time" referring to his 9 year old daughter.


2010 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, General election, Campaign, Later months
Toomey gave his victory speech at a get together in Allentown, stating that the election was a "simple, clear message to the establishment" with some conciliatory notes that he would cooperate with the White House and the other senator Democrat Robert P. Casey Jr. Toomey won the race by a margin of 80,229 votes and 2 percentage points. It was the race with the third-closest winning margin in the 2010 Senate elections, behind only Illinois and Colorado.


2010 United States Senate election in South Carolina
The 2010 United States Senate election in South Carolina was held on November 2, 2010. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Jim DeMint won re-election to a second term. However, DeMint did not serve out the full term, as he resigned in 2013 to become president of the Heritage Foundation. Alvin Greene, the Democratic nominee, was the first major-party African-American U.S. Senate candidate in South Carolina since Reconstruction.


2010 United States Senate election in South Carolina, General election, Campaign
Controversies surrounded the Democratic nominee, Alvin Greene. Greene's primary election win and his margin of victory surprised pundits. As of the primary, he had held no public campaign events, raised no money, and did not have a campaign website. A review of the primary election showed that of the state's 46 counties, half had a significant gap between the absentee and primary day ballots. For example, in Lancaster County, Vic Rawl won the absentees with 84 percent, while Greene won primary day by a double-digit margin. Rawl's campaign manager also claimed, "In only two of 88 precincts, do the number of votes Greene got plus the number we got equal the total cast."


2010 United States Senate election in South Carolina, General election, Campaign
U.S. Congressman James Clyburn recommended Greene drop out of the race or else he would face a federal investigation into his candidacy – even as he faced a felony obscenity charge in Richland County from November 2009. Clyburn said, "There were some real shenanigans going on in the South Carolina primary. I don't know if he was a Republican plant; he was someone's plant." Political blog FiveThirtyEight's Tom Schaller suggested three possibilities: a legitimate vote, the vote was rigged, or the vote-counting software was corrupted. Schaller ruled out the possibility of Republican infiltration, similar to Rush Limbaugh's "Operation Chaos" in 2008.


2010 United States Senate election in South Carolina, General election, Campaign
Green Party challenger Tom Clements won the endorsement of the Greater Columbia Central Labor Council of the South Carolina AFL-CIO, a coalition of labor unions. Although the national media and Rasmussen Reports typically did not include Clements in their coverage of the race, the Clements campaign received regional media coverage. The September 7 Columbia City Paper featured Clements on its cover. The paper noted that the Clements campaign was "starting to get some considerable media coverage, both locally and nationally".


2010 United States Senate election in South Carolina, General election, Campaign
A Winthrop University poll conducted between October 5 and 10, 741 likely South Carolina voters found Clements running second with 12.2% of the vote against 11.2% for Democrat Alvin Greene and 58.3% for incumbent Jim DeMint. An October 13 article in the Columbia Free Times noted that prominent Democrats were privately donating money to the Clements campaign. According to the FEC, as of September 30, Clements for Senate had raised $34,334. Jim DeMint had raised in excess of $3 million. Alvin Greene reported no fundraising activities.


2010 United States Senate election in South Carolina, General election, Campaign
Write-in candidates also joined the race, including the Reverend Mazie Ferguson, Mauldin High School teacher Greg Snoad, Michael C Neumann, who cited a disparity between the direction the government was headed and the will of the people, and chef Nathalie Dupree, who insisted that DeMint was spending too much time campaigning in other states, while Greene was failing to challenge DeMint. Mazie Ferguson was endorsed by House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn in late August. Clyburn said he would not vote for his party's nominee due to Alvin Greene's felony indictment.


2010 United States Senate election in South Carolina, General election, Campaign
Jim DeMint largely campaigned outside South Carolina for Republican Senate candidates identified with the Tea Party. Diverse media outlets frequently referred to DeMint as a party "kingmaker" for supporting successful primary challengers to mainstream Republican candidates.


2010 United States Senate election in South Carolina, General election, Campaign
At an October 3 appearance before a rally at Spartanburg North Baptist Church, DeMint reminded the audience of his 2004 comments that gay men and sexually active single women should be prohibited from teaching in public schools. The Spartanburg Herald-Journal reported:


2010 United States Senate election in South Carolina, General election, Campaign
DeMint said if someone is openly homosexual, they shouldn't be teaching in the classroom and he holds the same position on an unmarried woman who's sleeping with her boyfriend — she shouldn't be in the classroom. "(When I said those things,) no one came to my defense," he said. "But everyone would come to me and whisper that I shouldn't back down. They don't want government purging their rights and their freedom to religion."


2010 United States Senate election in South Carolina, General election, Campaign
The remarks attracted national media attention, largely critical. DeMint defended the statements, saying that local school boards should decide the issue. Challenger Tom Clements condemned DeMint's stance in a subsequent interview with the Herald-Journal:


2010 United States Senate election in South Carolina, General election, Campaign
"He's trying to push his version of religion onto the entire country. And I believe in separation of church and state. And I do believe that gay people should have equal rights," Clements said. "That's his belief, but I don't think he can force that on society as a whole or the public school system."


2010 United States Senate election in South Dakota
The 2010 United States Senate election in South Dakota was held on November 2, 2010 along other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator John Thune won re-election to a second term unopposed.


2010 United States Senate election in South Dakota, Background
Thune was narrowly elected to his first term over Democratic Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle with 51% of the vote in 2004. In spite of his lack of seniority, Thune rose to the position of chairman of the Republican Policy Committee in the United States Senate.


2010 United States Senate election in South Dakota, Background
No members of the South Dakota Democratic Party (or any other party) filed to challenge Thune. Scott Heidepriem, the South Dakota Senate Minority Leader and a Democratic candidate for Governor of South Dakota, said, "We just concluded that John Thune is an extremely popular senator who is going to win another term in the Senate." There were approximately 90,000 undervotes compared to the concurrent gubernatorial election.


2010 United States Senate election in Utah
The 2010 United States Senate election in Utah took place on November 2, 2010 along with other midterm elections throughout the United States. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Bob Bennett was seeking re-election to a fourth term, but lost renomination at the Republican Party's state convention. Mike Lee proceeded to win the Republican primary against Tim Bridgewater and the general election against Democrat Sam Granato. As of 2021, this is the most recent U.S. Senate election where a political party denied renomination to an incumbent Senator and won.


2010 United States Senate election in Utah, Process
The filing period for candidates began March 12, 2010 and ended March 19, 2010. Candidates who had not filed by that date cannot appear on the ballot in November. Eleven candidates filed with the Office of the Lieutenant Governor.


2010 United States Senate election in Utah, Process
Both the Utah State Democratic Party and the Utah State Republican Party held statewide caucus meetings on March 23, 2010. Caucus meetings are grouped by legislative district and divided by precincts with each precinct electing delegates who attend their respective party's state nominating convention.


2010 United States Senate election in Utah, Process
The Utah State Democratic and Republican Parties held their conventions on May 8, 2010. At the Republican convention, incumbent Senator Bob Bennett finished third in balloting among delegates and was eliminated from the race. Business owner Tim Bridgewater finished first and attorney Mike Lee finished second, but Bridgewater did not receive enough votes (he needed at least 60 percent) to avoid a primary election runoff against Lee. At the Democratic convention, delegates nominated businessman Sam Granato, who received 77.5 percent of the vote.


2010 United States Senate election in Utah, Process
In the Republican primary election, held on June 22, 2010, Lee became the Republican nominee by winning 51 percent of the vote against Bridgewater's 49 percent.


2010 United States Senate election in Utah, Process
The general election was held on November 2, 2010. Lee won the election with 62 percent of the vote to Granato's 33 percent and 6 percent for Constitution Party candidate Scott Bradley.


2010 United States Senate election in Utah, General election, Campaign
Granato emphasized his opposition to nuclear weapon tests in neighboring Nevada. In addition, he criticized Lee for his support of raising the retirement age and for questioning the constitutionality of Social Security.


2010 United States Senate election in Vermont
The 2010 United States Senate election in Vermont took place on November 2, 2010 alongside other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy was re-elected to a seventh term.


2010 United States Senate election in Vermont, General election, Campaign
First elected in 1974, Leahy is the first and only Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate from Vermont. He won his last two re-election campaigns with at least 70% of the vote. He is the second-most-senior member of Congress. In a June 2010 poll, the incumbent was viewed very favorably by 52% of the state. 52% of the state opposed repeal of  the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and 50% opposed Arizona's immigration law. Obama's approval rating in the poll was 62%. Obama carried Vermont with 67% of the vote in 2008.


2010 United States Senate election in Vermont, General election, Campaign
His Republican opponent was Len Britton, a businessman who had never run for public office before. As of August 2010, he had released two TV ads, criticizing Obama's stimulus and the deficits. His campaign manager admitted "Len is an unknown candidate and we are rigorously running on a difficult campaign schedule."


2010 United States Senate election in Washington
The 2010 United States Senate election in Washington was held on November 2, 2010 alongside other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Patty Murray won re-election to a fourth term by a margin of 52.4% - 47.6% over Dino Rossi, who had twice run for governor in 2004 and 2008. As of 2021, this is the last U.S. Senate election in Washington in which the margin of victory was within single digits.


2010 United States Senate election in Washington, General election, Candidates
The top 2 candidates from the blanket primary advanced to the general election.


2010 United States Senate election in Washington, General election, Campaign
Rossi heavily criticized Murray for her support of the 2009 economic stimulus package; however, Rossi's economic promises are nearly identical to those of President Bush who asked for the stimulus. Rossi supports repealing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. He also criticized Murray for her support for earmarks.


2010 United States Senate election in Washington, General election, Campaign
In response, Murray said, "You bet that seniority and leadership has a big thing to do with it, but the other part of it is, I get up every day and I work hard and I believe in this and I am going to continue fighting for the community I represent."


2010 United States Senate election in Washington, General election, Campaign
The National Rifle Association spent $414,100 supporting Rossi and opposing Murray in the 2010 senatorial contest.


2010 United States Senate election in Washington, General election, Debates
Rossi offered six debates, five of which would be in-state and one nationally. Murray agreed to two debates, and only two debates were held.


2010 United States Senate election in Washington, General election, Results
Murray defeated Rossi by about 114,000 votes. King County, the home of Seattle, likely gave Murray a victory.


2010 United States Senate election in Wisconsin
The 2010 United States Senate election in Wisconsin was held on November 2, 2010. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Russ Feingold ran for re-election to a fourth term, but was defeated by Republican challenger Ron Johnson, a businessman and first-time candidate. Johnson was the first Republican to win a Senate election in Wisconsin since 1986. Feingold also became the fifth Senator in a row from Wisconsin's Class 3 Senate seat to be defeated for reelection in the general election, and the seventh in a row overall to lose reelection by a defeat in either the primary or general elections.


2010 United States Senate election in Wisconsin, Republican primary, Campaign
Former Republican Governor of Wisconsin Tommy Thompson had expressed an interest in challenging Feingold, but ruled himself out of the race in April 2010.


2010 United States Senate election in Wisconsin, Republican primary, Campaign
Johnson, a millionaire manufacturer and Tea Party movement favorite running for political office for the first time, was the frontrunner. In response to controversy over his ownership of stock in British Petroleum (BP), Johnson said he would sell it when market conditions were favorable and possibly use the proceeds to help finance his Senate campaign. Johnson was endorsed by: the Club for Growth, a fiscally conservative advocacy organization; former Wisconsin Republican Lt. Governor Margaret Farrow; Republican U.S. Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina; and Wisconsin Republican U.S. Representatives Jim Sensenbrenner, Tom Petri and Paul Ryan.


2010 United States Senate election in Wisconsin, Republican primary, Campaign
Businessman David Westlake was endorsed by the Republican Liberty Caucus. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, as of August 25, 2010, Johnson had invested $4.3 million of his own money into his campaign; this amount represented 71 percent of his campaign funds, while 27 percent of his campaign funds ($1.6 million) came from individual contributions.


2010 United States Senate election in Wisconsin, General election, Campaign
Feingold's first television ad was a positive ad released in March. In July 2010, Feingold's second 2010 television election ad attacked Johnson for alleged support for offshore drilling in the Great Lakes. Johnson quickly countered Feingold with a television ad of his own. Feingold's logo was Moving Forward. In one ad, he emphasized independence and called himself a "penny pincher." Johnson argued that manufacturers and accountants were underrepresented in the U.S. Senate, and there were too many lawyers (57 out of 100 members,  including Feingold). Feingold received the endorsements of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Green Bay Press-Gazette. The Beloit Daily News endorsed Johnson.


2010 United States Senate elections
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 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).


2010 United States Senate elections
After the previous elections (in 2008), the Senate was composed of 58 Democrats, 40 Republicans, and 2 independents who caucused with the Democrats. Despite losing the popular vote, Democrats retained control of the Senate after the election.


2010 United States Senate elections
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, and the third consecutive midterm election held in a president's first term where Republicans picked up 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.


2010 United States Senate elections
As of 2021, this is the last time Republicans won U.S. Senate seats in Illinois and New Hampshire.


2010 United States Senate elections, Gains and losses, Incumbents seeking re-election
Of the seats with retiring Democrats, three seats were kept by Democrats, and three were won by Republicans.


2010 United States Senate elections, Gains and losses, Incumbents seeking re-election
Of the seats with Democratic incumbents running for re-election, eight Democrats were re-elected, one appointee was elected to finish her term, and one appointee was elected to the next full term. Two lost re-election. One lost renomination and his seat was subsequently won by a Republican.


2010 United States Senate elections, Gains and losses, Incumbents seeking re-election
Of the seats with retiring Republicans, all six were replaced by Republicans.


2010 United States Senate elections, Gains and losses, Incumbents seeking re-election
Of the seats with Republicans incumbents running for re-election, eleven Republicans won re-election. One Republican lost renomination, but the seat was re-elected as a write-in.


2010 United States Senate elections, Race summary, Special elections during the 111th Congress
In these special elections, the winner was seated once they qualified and their elections were certified. Sorted by election date, then state, then class.


2010 United States Senate elections, Race summary, Elections leading to the next Congress
In these regular elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 2011; ordered by state.


2010 United States Senate elections, Closest races
Seven November races, as well as the Massachusetts special election in January, had margins less than 10%:


2010 United States Senate elections, Closest races
California was the tipping point state, where Barbara Boxer (D) defeated Carly Fiorina (R) by a margin of 10.0%.


2010 United States Senate elections, Alabama
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.


2010 United States Senate elections, Alabama
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.


2010 United States Senate elections, Alabama
In May, Shelby told reporters "I don't even know who my opponent is."


2010 United States Senate elections, Alaska
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 in the Republican primary.


2010 United States Senate elections, Alaska
Murkowski garnered more than 100,000 write-in votes in the general election, many of which were challenged by Miller for various errors including minor misspellings. The appeal was denied Even if all the challenged votes were thrown out, Murkowski would have still had a lead of over 2,100 votes.


2010 United States Senate elections, Arizona
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.


2010 United States Senate elections, Arizona
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. In August 2010, Glassman released a TV advertisement called "Arizona First."


2010 United States Senate elections, Arkansas
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.


2010 United States Senate elections, Arkansas
The Republican primary was held May 18, 2010, with early voting from May 3–17.


2010 United States Senate elections, California
Incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer won re-election to a fourth term.


2010 United States Senate elections, California
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". 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.


2010 United States Senate elections, Colorado
In December 2008, President-elect Barack Obama selected incumbent U.S. Senator Ken Salazar to become U.S. Secretary of the Interior. After Salazar resigned from his seat, Democratic Governor Bill Ritter appointed Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet to fill the seat, who won re-election to his first full term.


2010 United States Senate elections, Colorado
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. 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. 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.


2010 United States Senate elections, Colorado
He was also attacked for wanting to eliminate the 17th Amendment 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.


2010 United States Senate elections, Connecticut
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. As Dodd was a Democrat, Richard Blumenthal, incumbent State Attorney General, announced on the same day that he would run for Dodd's seat. 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.


2010 United States Senate elections, Connecticut
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.


2010 United States Senate elections, Delaware (special)
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.


2010 United States Senate elections, Florida
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, then announcing on August 7, 2009, that he would resign prior to the end of his term. 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.


2010 United States Senate elections, Florida
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. Rubio went on to win the Republican primary against only token opposition.


2010 United States Senate elections, Florida
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%.


2010 United States Senate elections, Georgia
Incumbent Republican Johnny Isakson won re-election to a second term.


2010 United States Senate elections, Hawaii
Incumbent Democrat and President pro tempore Daniel Inouye won re-election to his ninth term.


2010 United States Senate elections, Hawaii
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 are Republicans.


2010 United States Senate elections, Idaho
Incumbent Republican Mike Crapo won re-election to a third term.


2010 United States Senate elections, Idaho
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.


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


2010 United States Senate elections, Illinois
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.


2010 United States Senate elections, Illinois
A federal court ruled that the candidates appearing on the ballot for the replacement election would be the ones of the regular election, and that the special election would appear after the regular election on the ballot.


2010 United States Senate elections, Illinois
As of 2021, this is the last Senate election in Illinois won by a Republican.


2010 United States Senate elections, Indiana
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. 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.


2010 United States Senate elections, Indiana
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. In response to Ellsworth's charges, Coats published his lobbying record in an 815-page document.


2010 United States Senate elections, Indiana
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."


2010 United States Senate elections, Iowa
Incumbent Republican Chuck Grassley won re-election to a sixth term.


2010 United States Senate elections, Iowa
Incumbent Chuck Grassley started the campaign moderately popular, but his approval ratings dropped somewhat during the campaign. 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."


2010 United States Senate elections, Iowa
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."


2010 United States Senate elections, Iowa
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. Grassley won the election with 64.51% of the vote.


2010 United States Senate elections, Kansas
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; no Democrat has been elected to either Senate seat since 1932.


2010 United States Senate elections, Kansas
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 2006-2008, 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.


2010 United States Senate elections, Kansas
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.


2010 United States Senate elections, Kentucky
Incumbent Republican Jim Bunning retired instead of seeking a third term. Republican nominee Rand Paul won the open seat.


2010 United States Senate elections, Kentucky
On May 18, 2010, Paul won the Republican nomination. 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".


2010 United States Senate elections, Kentucky
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. 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. 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. Grayson accused the Fox News Channel of favoring Paul over him.


2010 United States Senate elections, Kentucky
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.


2010 United States Senate elections, Louisiana
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.


2010 United States Senate elections, Louisiana
Melançon heavily criticized Vitter for prostitution sex scandal. Vitter released television advertising criticizing Melancon for his support for Obama's stimulus package and his support for amnesty for illegal immigrants. Melancon claimed "In August, Melancon challenged Vitter to a series of five live, televised town hall-style debates across the state. In his 2004 campaign for Senate, Vitter committed to five live, televised debates. Since Melancon issued the challenge, Vitter and Melancon have been invited to a total of seven live, televised debates. Vitter only accepted invitations to debates hosted by WWL-TV and WDSU-TV, both in New Orleans."


2010 United States Senate elections, Maryland
Incumbent Democrat Barbara Mikulski won re-election to a fifth term.


2010 United States Senate elections, Maryland
Republican nominee Eric Wargotz, Queen Anne's County, Maryland Commission President and physician, compared Mikulski to a dinosaur by calling her a political "insidersaurus" for being in Washington for over thirty years An ad showed a hammer hitting a brick wall, breaking it down and citing criticisms of Mikulski's record as a U.S. Senator. Mikulski released advertisements emphasizing education and job creation. Despite Wargotz's limited campaign and resources he received the highest percentage of votes against Mikulski as an incumbent U.S. Senator


2010 United States Senate elections, Massachusetts (special)
A special election was held January 19, 2010 to fill the Class 1 seat for the remainder of the term ending January 3, 2013. It was won by Republican Scott Brown.


2010 United States Senate elections, Massachusetts (special)
Incumbent Democrat Ted Kennedy had died August 25, 2009. Governor of Massachusetts appointed Democrat Paul Kirk September 24, 2009 to continue the term pending this special election, in which Kirk was not a candidate.


2010 United States Senate elections, Massachusetts (special)
The election was viewed by conservatives outside of Massachusetts as a referendum against President Barack Obama. But Brown stated that he didn't believe that it was a referendum on Obama. Although Democrats would retain control of both Houses of Congress until January 2011, Brown's victory greatly affected their political plans, most notably for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, though the legislation was signed into law two months later. Brown became the first Republican to win this seat since the Democrats captured it in 1952, and as of 2021, this is the last Senate election in Massachusetts won by a Republican.


2010 United States Senate elections, Missouri
Incumbent Republican Kit Bond retired instead of seeking a fifth term. Republican nominee Roy Blunt won the open seat.


2010 United States Senate elections, Missouri
Democrat Robin Carnahan and national Democrats heavily criticized Blunt for his support of bailouts, calling him "Bailout Blunt." Blunt criticized her for supporting President Obama's stimulus package, the cap-and-trade energy bill, and the health care reform bill.


2010 United States Senate elections, Nevada
Incumbent Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid won re-election to a fifth term.


2010 United States Senate elections, Nevada
Reid was initially considered vulnerable, with the non-partisan Cook Political Report rating the election as a toss-up and the Rothenberg Political Report rating the state as toss-up. A June 9, 2010, Rasmussen Reports post-primary poll showed Angle leading incumbent Senator Harry Reid by a margin of 50% to 39%. However, a July 2010 poll showed Senator Reid leading Angle by 7 points, following nationwide attention to some of Angle's positions, as well as the endorsement of Reid by prominent Republicans. The change of margin, 18% in less than a month, is the largest in Senate elections history.


2010 United States Senate elections, Nevada
On July 28, 2010, Rasmussen Reports moved the race from toss-up to leans Democratic. Later, it moved back to toss-up. Despite Angle leading by three points in the polls the days leading up to the election, Reid defeated her by 5.74%, even in her own county, Washoe County. Reid also secured huge numbers out of the Democratic stronghold of Clark County, which covers the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area.


2010 United States Senate elections, New Hampshire
Incumbent Republican Judd Gregg retired instead of seeking a fourth term. Republican nominee Kelly Ayotte won the open seat by over 23 points, after winning a close party primary. New Hampshire trended Democratic in the 2006 and 2008 elections, with Republican incumbents losing both of the state's House seats and its other Senate seat to Democrats, but polling conducted in late December 2008 showed Gregg defeating both of the state's U.S. Representatives in a hypothetical match-up.


2010 United States Senate elections, New Hampshire
Democrat Paul Hodes called himself a fiscal conservative, which was mocked by Republican Kelly Ayotte in a TV ad. Hodes was criticized for supporting President Obama's Economic Recovery package, a carbon energy tax, and Affordable Care Act. Hodes criticized Ayotte for numerous controversies. One ad was questioned Ayotte's honesty in dealing with the Lakes Region Ponzi scheme which defrauded investors of almost $80 million.


2010 United States Senate elections, New York
There were two elections, due to the resignation of Hillary Clinton in January 2009 to become the U.S. Secretary of State. Both senate races, along with the New York gubernatorial election, one with a vulnerable Democratic incumbent and the other an open race, respectively, was believed to lead major New York Republicans to gravitate towards them rather than challenge the popular Schumer. As it happened, however, New York Republicans had difficulty drawing top-tier candidates to any of the three races.


2010 United States Senate elections, New York, New York (regular)
Incumbent Democrat Chuck Schumer won re-election to a third term.


2010 United States Senate elections, New York, New York (special)
Governor David Paterson had appointed Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand to serve as United States Senator this special election, replacing former Senator Hillary Clinton, who resigned to serve as U.S. Secretary of State in the Barack Obama administration. The winner of the special election would complete the term ending in January 2013. Due to this special election, this was the first time since the ratification of the 17th Amendment in 1913 that all of New York's six statewide offices were up for popular election on the same date.


2010 United States Senate elections, New York, New York (special)
Gillibrand claimed to be an independent thinker and takes a back seat to no one. She also released television advertising touting her experience as from upstate New York. DioGuardi criticized Gillibrand's recent photos in Vogue magazine.


2010 United States Senate elections, North Carolina
Incumbent Republican Richard Burr won re-election to a second term. Burr was the first incumbent to win re-election for this seat since Sam Ervin's last re-election in 1968. Burr's 54.8% also represented the highest vote share a North Carolina Republican received since the state began directly electing its Senators.


2010 United States Senate elections, North Carolina
This Senate seat was unfavorable to incumbents over the past several decades. No person elected to this seat was re-elected since Sam Ervin in 1968. His successor, Democrat Robert Burren Morgan, was defeated for re-election in 1980, along with many other incumbents from his party. His Republican successor, John Porter East, committed suicide in 1986. East's appointed successor, Jim Broyhill, served for just four months, resigning upon his November 1986 election loss to former Democratic Governor Terry Sanford.


2010 United States Senate elections, North Carolina
In 1992, the seat changed hands yet again, as Sanford was defeated by wealthy GOP businessman Lauch Faircloth, who himself lost in his bid for a second term six years later by John Edwards. In 2004, no incumbent was defeated, as Edwards was running for vice president and was not allowed to be on the ballot in both races. However, that year the seat did change parties for the fifth time in a row, with Richard Burr defeating Bill Clinton's onetime Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles.


2010 United States Senate elections, North Carolina
* Note: Since no candidate received 40% of the vote on May 4, state law allowed a runoff (or "second primary") election if requested by the second-place finisher. Cunningham requested such a runoff.


2010 United States Senate elections, North Dakota
Incumbent Democrat Byron Dorgan did not seek re-election. Republican Governor John Hoeven won the open seat. Incumbent Byron Dorgan never had a difficult time getting elected, as he obtained 59%, 63%, and 68% in his three senate election bids, respectively. However, in December 2009, Rasmussen Reports conducted a hypothetical matchup of Governor John Hoeven against the incumbent. Hoeven led by a large margin, 58% to Dorgan's 36%. 61% of the state still had a favorable view of Dorgan, and if pitted against State Senator Duane Sand, the incumbent led 52% to 37%.


2010 United States Senate elections, North Dakota
Hoeven was challenged in the race by North Dakota State Senator Tracy Potter of Bismarck. Potter received the endorsement of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party at its state convention on March 27, 2010. Governor Hoeven and Senator Potter advanced to the November 2, 2010 general election following balloting in North Dakota's primary election, which was held June 8, 2010. Neither candidate faced any significant opposition in the primary election.


2010 United States Senate elections, Ohio
Incumbent Republican George Voinovich retired instead of seeking a third term. Republican former Director of the Office of Management and Budget, United States Trade Representative, and Congressman Rob Portman won the open seat.


2010 United States Senate elections, Ohio
Originally, the election was seen as a toss-up. His experience as a former Bush official was considered to be a big problem for Portman. Both President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden campaigned for Fisher. Television advertisements were very negative. Fisher attacked Portman for helping to ship jobs overseas during his entire political career, backing deals that shipped jobs overseas, and the trade deficit with China, which grew by over $41 billion. Portman claimed in response that most jobs were being lost to other states, not countries. Portman attacked Fisher for supporting Obama's stimulus and cap and trade.


2010 United States Senate elections, Ohio
Winning the election, Portman received the majority of votes in 82 of 88 counties and in 15 of 18 Congressional districts, including the district of liberal U.S. Congressman Dennis Kucinich.


2010 United States Senate elections, Oklahoma
Incumbent first-term Republican Tom Coburn won re-election to a second term. Coburn, a very popular incumbent, promised to limit himself to two terms. Despite his popularity, he did release television advertisements. In 2009, Coburn's approval rating in a PPP poll was 59%, including a 39% approval rating among Democrats. His Democratic opponent is a perennial candidate who did little campaigning.


2010 United States Senate elections, Oregon
Incumbent Democrat Ron Wyden won re-election to a third full term. Wyden, a popular incumbent with a 52% approval rating in a July poll, touted bipartisanship and promised to hold town-hall meetings annually in each of Oregon's 36 counties and to open offices outside of Portland and Salem. A Survey USA poll taken a few days before the election showed that 23% of Republicans supported Wyden.


2010 United States Senate elections, Oregon
Huffman, widely considered as an underdog, financed his own campaign. He defended bonuses for Wall Street executives and questioned global warming.


2010 United States Senate elections, Pennsylvania
Incumbent Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Specter ran for re-election to a sixth term, but he lost in the Democratic primary to Joe Sestak. Republican nominee Pat Toomey then won the seat.


2010 United States Senate elections, South Carolina
Incumbent Republican Jim DeMint won re-election to a second term. Alvin Greene, the Democratic nominee, was the first major-party African-American U.S. Senate candidate in South Carolina since Reconstruction. Alvin Greene's Democratic primary election win and his margin of victory surprised pundits. As of the primary, he had held no public campaign events, raised no money, and did not have a campaign website. A review of the primary election showed that of the state's 46 counties, half had a significant gap between the absentee and primary day ballots. For example, in Lancaster County, Vic Rawl won the absentees with 84 percent, while Greene won primary day by a double-digit margin. Rawl's campaign manager also claimed, "In only two of 88 precincts, do the number of votes Greene got plus the number we got equal the total cast."


2010 United States Senate elections, South Dakota
Incumbent Republican John Thune won re-election to a second term unopposed.


2010 United States Senate elections, South Dakota
Thune was narrowly elected to his first term over Democratic Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle with 51% of the vote in 2004. In spite of his lack of seniority, Thune rose to the position of chairman of the Republican Policy Committee in the United States Senate.


2010 United States Senate elections, South Dakota
No members of the South Dakota Democratic Party (or any other party) filed to challenge Thune. Scott Heidepriem, the South Dakota Senate Minority Leader and a Democratic candidate for Governor of South Dakota, said, "We just concluded that John Thune is an extremely popular senator who is going to win another term in the Senate."


2010 United States Senate elections, Utah
Incumbent Republican Bob Bennett was seeking re-election to a fourth term, but was eliminated in the GOP state convention. Republican Mike Lee, who won the Republican primary, won the open seat.


2010 United States Senate elections, Utah
At the Republican convention, incumbent Senator Bob Bennett finished third in balloting among delegates and was eliminated from the race. Business owner Tim Bridgewater finished first and attorney Mike Lee finished second, but Bridgewater did not receive enough votes to avoid a primary election runoff against Lee. At the Democratic convention, delegates nominated businessman Sam Granato, who received 77.5 percent of the vote.


2010 United States Senate elections, Vermont
Incumbent Democrat Patrick Leahy easily won re-election to a seventh term.


2010 United States Senate elections, Washington
Incumbent Democrat Patty Murray won re-election to a fourth term.


2010 United States Senate elections, Washington
Republican Dino Rossi heavily criticized Murray for her support of the 2009 economic stimulus package; however, Rossi's economic promises are nearly identical to those of President Bush who asked for the stimulus. Rossi supports repealing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. He also criticized Murray for her support for earmarks.


2010 United States Senate elections, Washington
In response, Murray said, "You bet that seniority and leadership has a big thing to do with it, but the other part of it is, I get up every day and I work hard and I believe in this and I am going to continue fighting for the community I represent."


2010 United States Senate elections, West Virginia (special)
Long-time Democratic Senator Robert Byrd died June 28, 2010 and Democratic Governor Joe Manchin appointed Carte Goodwin to temporarily fill the vacancy. Goodwin pledged to not run for election to the seat in exchange for the appointment. Manchin won the open seat and served out the remainder of Byrd's elected term, which ended on January 3, 2013.


2010 United States Senate elections, West Virginia (special)
During the Republican primary campaign, only Raese and Warner released television advertisements.


2010 United States Senate elections, Wisconsin
Incumbent Democrat Russ Feingold ran for re-election to a fourth term, but was defeated by political newcomer, Republican Ron Johnson. Johnson, a millionaire manufacturer and Tea Party movement favorite who was running for his first political office, was the front runner. In response to controversy over his ownership of stock in BP, Johnson said he would sell it when market conditions were favorable and possibly use the proceeds to help finance his Senate campaign. Feingold's first television ad was a positive ad released in March.


2010 United States Senate elections, Wisconsin
In July 2010, Feingold's second 2010 television election ad attacked Johnson for alleged support for offshore drilling in the Great Lakes. Johnson quickly countered Feingold with a television ad of his own. Feingold's logo was Moving Forward. In one ad he emphasized independence and called himself a "Penny Pincher." Johnson argued that his professions, manufacturer and accountant were underrepresented in the U.S. Senate, and there were too many lawyers (57 out of 100 members), including Feingold.


2010 United States Senate elections in Illinois
The 2010 United States Senate elections in Illinois took place on November 2, 2010. There were two ballot items for the same seat: a general 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. Democrat Roland Burris was appointed to fill the vacancy created by Barack Obama's election to the presidency, but he did not seek a full term.


2010 United States Senate elections in Illinois
The elections took place alongside 33 other elections to the United States Senate in other states, as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections in Illinois and other states. The registered party primaries for the full term took place on February 2, 2010, the earliest state primary elections: Republicans nominated U.S. Representative Mark Kirk, Democrats nominated State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, and the Green Party nominated journalist LeAlan Jones. The Constitution Party and Libertarian Party submitted signatures to be on the ballot but were challenged; the result of the ensuing hearings was the Constitution Party's candidate being denied placement on the ballot but the Libertarian Party's candidate Michael Labno given ballot access.


2010 United States Senate elections in Illinois
On August 2, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled that the candidates appearing on the ballot for the replacement election would be the ones of the regular election, and that the special election would appear after the general election on the ballot. Incumbent Senator Roland Burris would not appear on either ballot item. Kirk won with 48% of the vote compared to Giannoulias's 46.4%, or a winning margin of 1.6%, thus making this election and the concurrent one in Colorado the closest races of the 2010 Senate election cycle. As of 2021, this is the last time the Republicans won a U.S. Senate election in Illinois.


2010 United States Senate elections in Illinois, Election information
The primaries and general elections of both the special election and regularly scheduled election coincided with those for House and those for state offices.


2010 United States Senate elections in Illinois, Election information, Background, Vacancy
Barack Obama, the former United States Senator holding this seat, was elected President of the United States on November 4, 2008, and subsequently resigned from the Senate on November 16, 2008. Illinois law provides for the Governor of Illinois to appoint replacements for Senate vacancies.


2010 United States Senate elections in Illinois, Election information, Background, Burris's appointment
On December 9, 2008, the FBI arrested Governor Rod Blagojevich (D) on various corruption charges, most notably allegations that he attempted to sell the appointment to the vacant U.S. Senate seat. On December 31, 2008, Blagojevich nevertheless appointed former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to fill the vacancy. After initially seeking to exclude Burris, Senate Democrats relented, and Burris was seated on January 15, 2009.


2010 United States Senate elections in Illinois, Election information, Turnout
For the state-run primary elections (Democratic, Republican, and Green), turnout was 21.74%, with 1,652,202 votes cast.


2010 United States Senate elections in Illinois, Election information, Turnout
For the general election, the special election saw turnout of 47.24%, with 3,545,984 votes cast and the regularly-scheduled election saw turnout of 49.35% with 3,704,473 votes cast.


2010 United States Senate elections in Illinois, Democratic primary, Campaign
Incumbent Senator Roland Burris did not run for a full term in 2010. Burris suffered from poor approval ratings and was investigated by the Sangamon County, Illinois State's Attorney for perjury. Although no criminal charges were filed against him, Burris faced an investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee.


2010 United States Senate elections in Illinois, Democratic primary, Campaign
Jacob Meister withdrew from campaigning and declared his support for Alexi Giannoulias on January 31, two days before the February 2 election.


2010 United States Senate elections in Illinois, General election, Campaign
A self-described "fiscal conservative and social moderate," Republican nominee Mark Kirk based his campaign on reform and compared the race to Republican Scott Brown's election to the Senate in February 2010. In addition, Kirk immediately criticized his Democratic opponent for his management of Bright Start, an Illinois 529 college savings program and his work at Broadway Bank. Immediately after the primary, the National Republican Senatorial Committee aired a web ad comparing Giannoulias to the fictional character Tony Soprano. Politifact ranked Kirk's references to the mob as "Half True". Republican U.S. Senator Scott Brown campaigned for Kirk in Illinois. Kimberly Vertolli, Kirk's ex-wife, signed on as an advisor to Mark Kirk's campaign, but didn't support his more conservative platform.


2010 United States Senate elections in Illinois, General election, Campaign
On February 4, 2010, Democrat Alexi Giannoulias revealed his campaign strategy, saying "come November, Congressman, your days as a Washington insider are over." On July 19, 2010, Giannoulias announced that he had raised $900,000 in the quarter that ended June 30, compared to $2.3 million raised by Kirk. The Giannoulias campaign also announced that President Obama was scheduled to attend an August 5 fundraiser for his candidate in Chicago.


2010 United States Senate elections in Illinois, General election, Campaign
Kirk and Giannoulias disagreed mostly on fiscal and foreign policy. Kirk voted against Obama's Stimulus package and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. As a Congressman, Kirk originally voted for Cap and trade but during the primary campaign announced that if elected a Senator he would vote against it. Giannoulias strongly supported the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and Obama's stimulus. Kirk opposed the building of the Park 51 Islamic center near Ground Zero of New York City, while Giannoulias stated that "Americans must stand up for freedom of religion even when it's difficult."


2010 United States Senate elections in Illinois, General election, Campaign
Libertarian nominee Micahel Labno was added to the ballot by the Illinois State Board of Elections after gaining ballot access by means of citizen petition. Labno, an electrical project construction manager and recruiter for Private Security Union Local 21 ran on a platform of downsizing or cutting some Federal agencies and reducing taxes and government regulations. He also supported allowing citizens to opt out of Social Security. Labno is pro-life and supports 2nd Amendment rights. In August 2010, Democratic candidate Alexi Giannoulias declared Labno a legitimate challenge from the right for Mark Kirk.


2010 United States Senate elections in Illinois, General election, Campaign
Labno responded on his Facebook fan page, saying "This is very true Alexi, and you should be afraid too." Labno attended the September 18, 2010  in Hoffman Estates, Illinois headlined by conservative media figure Glenn Beck. While greeting attendees Labno noted that Republican candidate Kirk did not attend. On August 27 the Illinois Board of Elections approved the Libertarian Party's petition to include its candidates on the ballot.


2010 United States Senate special election in Delaware
The 2010 United States Senate special election in Delaware took place on November 2, 2010 concurrently with elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. It was a special election to fill Delaware's Class II Senate seat, then held by Ted Kaufman, an appointee. The seat had been previously held by the state's longest-serving senator, Joe Biden, who vacated it when he became Vice President of the United States in 2009.


2010 United States Senate special election in Delaware
The state primary election was September 14, 2010. U.S. Representative and former Governor Mike Castle was seen as the front-runner for the Republican nomination but was upset by Christine O'Donnell in the primary in a contest that had national visibility. O'Donnell lost to the Democratic nominee Chris Coons by a vote of 57% to 40%. Coons immediately took office after the results were certified, and completed the remainder of the term lasting to January 2015. He was subsequently reelected to a first full term in 2014, and to a second full term in 2020.


2010 United States Senate special election in Delaware, Background
In the seat's most recent election in 2008, longtime Democratic incumbent Joe Biden defeated Republican Christine O'Donnell. However, Biden was also elected Vice President of the United States in 2008 and was required to resign from the Senate by Article I, Section 6 of the United States Constitution in order to assume the Vice Presidency. Although Biden was sworn in for a seventh term early in January 2009, he resigned from the Senate on January 15, 2009, and was succeeded by Kaufman the following day.


2010 United States Senate special election in Delaware, Background
Those discussed as possible appointees to replace Joe Biden included Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, a son of Joe Biden; outgoing Lt. Gov. John Carney, Delaware Supreme Court Chief Justice Myron T. Steele, Delaware Secretary of State Harriet Smith Windsor, Delaware Correction Commissioner Carl C. Danberg, former Delaware House of Representatives member Robert L. Byrd, and New Castle County Executive Chris Coons.


2010 United States Senate special election in Delaware, Background
On November 24, 2008, after Biden's election to the vice presidency but before his resignation, outgoing Governor Ruth Ann Minner announced that she would appoint Biden's former chief of staff, a member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors named Ted Kaufman, as Biden's temporary successor. Minner said, "I believe Ted Kaufman meets every test I set for this office. His political views are close to Sen. Biden's, and he has agreed to focus solely on doing the people's work, not seeking re-election." Biden resigned in January 2009; Minner formally appointed Kaufman to the seat shortly thereafter. Sen. Kaufman was succeeded by Chris Coons, who won the special election to fill the remainder of Vice President Biden's Senate term. Coons was sworn in on November 15, 2010, and stepped down as New Castle County Executive.


2010 United States Senate special election in Delaware, Republican primary, Campaign
In April 2009, Castle stated "there's probably a better chance I'll run for the Senate than the House. [ But] I said there's a chance I won't run at all." On October 6, 2009, Castle announced that he would in fact run for the Senate seat. After the 2008 election loss to incumbent Democrat Joe Biden, O'Donnell had indicated she would strongly consider running for the seat again in 2010, asking supporters on her web site to "save your yard sign!!" On February 12, 2009, O'Donnell had announced her candidacy.


2010 United States Senate special election in Delaware, Republican primary, Campaign
She reiterated that she was in the race even after Michael Castle announced his candidacy in October 2009, and formally launched her campaign on March 10, 2010. In her remarks, O'Donnell criticized excessive government spending, said that Castle was the most liberal Republican in the House, and said that the Tea Party movement and grassroots anti-incumbent trends would be in her favor.


2010 United States Senate special election in Delaware, Republican primary, Campaign
When a report from The News Journal in March 2010 detailed O'Donnell's fiscal difficulties, she attributed the problems to misunderstandings and errors, and said, "I think the fact that I have struggled financially is what makes me so sympathetic." Nevertheless, her financial problems became a focal point of establishment Republican attacks against her. A July 2010 Rasmussen Reports poll showed O'Donnell running ahead of Democratic Senate candidate Chris Coons by a margin of 41 to 39 percent in a hypothetical matchup. During this time she picked up the endorsements of the Susan B. Anthony List, the Tea Party Express, which called her a "strong voice for conservative constitutionalist principles", and the Family Research Council.


2010 United States Senate special election in Delaware, Republican primary, Campaign
O'Donnell supporters were heartened by the late August primary victory in Alaska of little-known, Tea Party-backed insurgent Joe Miller over incumbent Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski. The Tea Party Express said it might spend as much as $600,000 backing O'Donnell. The added 'buzz' about her campaign and the possibility that another establishment Republican figure might be defeated by an insurgent brought national attention to the race. The same attention also brought additional scrutiny on her record and financial history, including a contentious interview on WGMD radio. She had claimed that she beat or tied Joe Biden in two of the state's three counties in their 2008 campaign. Later, she admitted this was inaccurate, and that she had lost all three counties.


2010 United States Senate special election in Delaware, Republican primary, Campaign
As September began, the nastiness of the tone of the race had increased, with Delaware Republican Party chair Tom Ross saying, "Is Christine O'Donnell actually this unhinged from reality? Or is she simply a liar, whose total lack of respect for Delaware voters leads her to deliberately and repeatedly deny the clear facts surrounding her many personal and professional failures?" Ross also said, "She's not a viable candidate for any office in the state of Delaware. She could not be elected dog catcher."


2010 United States Senate special election in Delaware, Republican primary, Campaign
The O'Donnell campaign generated some controversy in early September when a political consulting firm hired by O'Donnell released a Web video insinuating that her opponent, Mike Castle, was having a gay affair. O'Donnell quickly distanced herself from the claims, pointing out that the firm in question was no longer working for her campaign, though the manner in which she denied involvement in the rumor led some to suspect that she was intentionally engaging in a whisper campaign by deliberately repeating the rumor while denying it.


2010 United States Senate special election in Delaware, Republican primary, Campaign
O'Donnell later appeared on Mark Levin's radio show, where she blasted Castle's "unmanly tactics" during the campaign, saying, "this is not a bake-off, put your man-pants on." Kristen Murray, O'Donnell's 2008 campaign manager, starred in a Delaware Republican Party-funded robocall in which she accused O'Donnell of misusing campaign funds. Says Murray, "This is her third senate race in five years. As O'Donnell's manager, I found out she was living on campaign donations - using them for rent and personal expenses, while leaving her workers unpaid and piling up thousands in debt. She wasn't concerned about conservative causes. O'Donnell just wanted to make a buck." O'Donnell denied most of what Murray said and stated that she had fired Murray.


2010 United States Senate special election in Delaware, Republican primary, Campaign
With days to go before the primary, O'Donnell was bolstered by an endorsement from former Governor of Alaska and Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin. A few days later, The Weekly Standard broke new details of O'Donnell's 2005 $6.95 million gender discrimination and wrongful termination lawsuit against her former employer, the conservative Intercollegiate Studies Institute.


2010 United States Senate special election in Delaware, Republican primary, Polling
In the year preceding the primary, polls that considered the hypothetical match of Castle against Coons indicated that Castle would defeat Coons by a wide margin. Only one of those nine polls (a Rasmussen poll held two months before the primary) showed O'Donnell defeating Coons, and even then by less than the margin of error.


2010 United States Senate special election in Delaware, General election, Campaign
Incumbent Senator Ted Kaufman of Greenville, who served as Biden's chief of staff and as a member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors before being appointed to this seat, announced from the time of his appointment that he did not intend to be a candidate in the special election. Former Lieutenant Governor John Carney of Wilmington let his name be considered during the appointment process, but then announced his candidacy for the House seat held by Castle.


2010 United States Senate special election in Delaware, General election, Campaign
State Attorney General Beau Biden of Wilmington  was reportedly considered for the appointment to his father's Senate seat, but the Vice President's son was in the process of deploying to the Iraq War with the Delaware National Guard and said he would not accept any appointment. In October 2009, after his deployment concluded, Biden stated that he was considering a run for the Senate seat. Most polls showed Biden and likely Republican opponent Castle neck-and-neck in a potential matchup. On January 25, 2010, Beau Biden confirmed that he would not run for the Senate seat. Shortly after the Attorney General's statement, Chris Coons announced his candidacy.


2010 United States Senate special election in Delaware, General election, Campaign
Following her upset win over Castle, O'Donnell continued to face a split reaction from the leaders in the local, state, and national Republican Party. Castle said he would not support O'Donnell. The National Republican Senatorial Committee similarly released a statement almost immediately following O'Donnell's primary win, stating that they would not spend money to support her or her campaign. However, Texas Senator John Cornyn, chairman of the NRSC, released a statement later stating he did not know where the release from within his organization originated.


2010 United States Senate special election in Delaware, General election, Campaign
He then offered the maximum $42,000 donation to her campaign; Cornyn acknowledged, however, that he was not sure if she could win. Former Governor of Massachusetts and 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney also contributed to O'Donnell's general election funds. However, former White House adviser and Republican strategist Karl Rove said following O'Donnell's victory, "This is not a race we're going to be able to win." His remark triggered a fusillade of criticism from conservative talk radio.


2010 United States Senate special election in Delaware, General election, Campaign
The morning following the primary, Public Policy Polling released a tweet indicating that their polling found that primary voters who voted for Mike Castle supported Coons, the Democratic opponent, over O'Donnell 44 percent to 28 percent in a general election. Also that day, this primary was the lead story on KYW news-radio (1060 AM, Philadelphia).


2010 United States Senate special election in Delaware, General election, Campaign
An October 19, 2010, debate between Coons and O'Donnell at Widener University School of Law featured an exchange about separation of church and state in the United States and whether it is explicitly in the U.S. constitution. O'Donnell said it was not; afterward her campaign manager said, "Christine O'Donnell was not questioning the concept of separation of church and state as subsequently established by the courts. She simply made the point that the phrase appears nowhere in the Constitution." (That phrase was "substantively" read into the First Amendment in the U.S. Supreme Court case Engel v. Vitale in 1962 and does not appear verbatim in the Constitution.)


2010 United States Senate special election in Delaware, Aftermath
After O'Donnell's poor performance, there was considerable discussion within Republican circles regarding whether the party had lost a sure Senate seat by nominating her instead of Castle. Party pragmatists said that this had happened, and pointed to other races in Nevada and Colorado where Tea Party-favored candidates had lost races against Democratic rivals. Party purists dismissed this concern, and said that running candidates who supported fundamentally conservative values was always worthwhile. For her own part, O'Donnell criticized divisions within the state Republican Party following her primary win and said the consequent lack of support had led to her defeat.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts
The 2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts was a special election held on January 19, 2010, in order to fill the Massachusetts Class I United States Senate seat for the remainder of the term ending January 3, 2013. It was won by Republican candidate Scott Brown.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts
The vacancy that prompted the special election was created by the death of Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy on August 25, 2009. Kennedy had served as a U.S. Senator since 1962, having been elected in a special election to fill the vacancy created when his brother John F. Kennedy was elected President of the United States in 1960. The seat was held until the election by an appointee, Senator Paul Kirk, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, who was not a candidate in the election to complete the term. This was the first open seat U.S. senate election in Massachusetts since the 1984 Senate election.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts
A party primary election determining the winners of party nominations was held on December 8, 2009. The Democratic Party nominated Martha Coakley, the Massachusetts Attorney General; The Republican Party nominated Scott Brown, a Massachusetts State Senator. The race drew national attention due to Brown's unexpectedly closing the gap and running even with, or ahead of, Coakley in independent and internal polling in the last few days of the campaign.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts
Polls closed at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. At 9:06 p.m., BNO News projected Brown as the winner of the race. At 9:13 p.m., The Boston Globe reported that Coakley telephoned Brown and conceded her defeat in the election. As a result of the election, the Republicans would control 41 seats in the United States Senate, enough to maintain a filibuster. Although Democrats would retain control of both Houses of Congress until January 2011, Brown's victory would greatly affect their political plans, most notably for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, though the legislation was signed into law two months later.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts
With his victory, Brown became the first Republican to win this seat since the Democrats captured it in 1952, and the first to win either Massachusetts Senate seat since 1972. Indeed, he was the first Massachusetts Republican to be elected to Congress since Peter Blute and Peter Torkildsen won reelection to the House in 1994. As of 2021, this is the last congressional election in Massachusetts won by a Republican.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Background, Timeline
Massachusetts law requires a special election to be held on a Tuesday, no fewer than 145 days, nor more than 160 days from the date of office vacancy, on a date determined by the governor. That range placed the election date between January 17 and February 1, 2010. Massachusetts law specifies that a party primary shall be held the sixth Tuesday before the general election.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Background, Timeline
On August 28, 2009, Secretary of the Commonwealth William F. Galvin presented the dates January 19 and 26, 2010, after meetings with State House Speaker Robert DeLeo, State Senate President Therese Murray, and aides to Governor Deval Patrick. Patrick was legally required to select one of these two dates. A January 19 election would require the primary to be held on December 8, while a January 26 election would have required a December 15 primary. Republican State Representative Karyn Polito suggested on August 28, 2009, that, because the possible election dates overlap the holiday season, the law ought to be rewritten to allow the special election to be held on November 3, 2009, to coincide with other elections in the state.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Background, Timeline
Patrick stated on August 29, 2009, that he wanted to honor a request by Kennedy that any appointee to the seat not run, and that he would address the issue of the election date "after we have finished this period of respectful grief." On August 31, 2009, Patrick scheduled the special election for January 19, 2010, with the primary elections on December 8, 2009. For party primary candidates, completed nomination papers with certified signatures were required to be filed by the close of business, November 3, 2009. Non -party candidates had a December 8, 2009, filing deadline.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Background, Qualifications
A senator must, by the date of inauguration, be at least thirty years old, a U.S. citizen for at least nine years, and a state inhabitant of the state he or she wishes to represent. In Massachusetts, candidates for the U.S. Senate must file nomination papers with certified signatures of 10,000 Massachusetts voters, by deadlines established by the Secretary of the Commonwealth.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Background, Qualifications
A candidate for nomination in a party's special primary election must have been an enrolled member of the party, through filing as a member of that party with the Secretary of the Commonwealth using a certificate of voter registration, for the 90 days preceding the filing deadline, unless the candidate is a newly registered voter. The candidate additionally must not have been enrolled in any other party in the prior year.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Background, Appointment
In 2004, the Massachusetts General Court withdrew the authority of the governor to fill a U.S. Senate vacancy by appointment, to prevent the then-Governor Mitt Romney, a Republican, from appointing a Republican to fill the remainder of Democrat John Kerry's Senate term, if Kerry were to win the 2004 presidential election. The legislation was enacted over Romney's veto. At that time, Senator Ted Kennedy successfully made personal appeals to Massachusetts Democratic legislative leaders to pass the bill, which was stalled prior to his request.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Background, Appointment
Seven days before his death, Kennedy communicated his desire to amend the law so that upon a vacancy, the governor might appoint a Senator to serve until the special election occurred and avoid a five-month vacancy for the office. Kennedy sent a letter to the governor and legislative leaders (received on August 18, 2009, and dated July 2, 2009) requesting that they consider changing the law, and that the Governor obtain the personal pledge of such an appointee not to become a candidate in the following special election. John Kerry, President Barack Obama, and State House Speaker Robert DeLeo all expressed support for an interim appointment.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Background, Appointment
Patrick stated that he wished to honor the request by Kennedy that any appointee pledge not to run in the special election. The legality of such a demand in state law is questioned by Secretary of the Commonwealth William F. Galvin, as the qualifications for office to Congress are specified solely in the Constitution. Robert DeLeo stated that both the Senate and the House of Representatives planned to approve resolutions indicating that they did not want the appointee to run in the special election or become involved with any candidate's campaign.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Background, Appointment
A bill previously pending before the legislature, filed by State Rep. Robert Koczera of New Bedford in January 2009, proposed to permit the governor to appoint a senator; to enjoin the governor from appointing a candidate in a subsequent special election; and to permit the appointment date to occur only after the filing deadline for the special election had passed. Governor Patrick said he would push the General Court to pass the bill, and that he would sign it into law. The General Court held its first hearing on the legislation on September 9.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Background, Appointment
The Massachusetts House of Representatives approved legislation to give Governor Patrick the power to appoint an interim senator on September 17, 2009, by a 95–58 vote. The Massachusetts Senate approved the measure on September 22, 2009, by a vote of 24 to 16, and both houses of the General Court gave final approval to the bill on September 23.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Background, Appointment
On September 24, 2009, Patrick appointed Paul G. Kirk, former Democratic National Committee chairman and aide to Ted Kennedy, to serve until the elected successor took office. Kennedy's two sons, Patrick J. Kennedy and Edward Kennedy, Jr., and his wife, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, had all expressed their preference for Kirk. Kirk was sworn into office on Friday, September 25, 2009. He pledged not to be a candidate in the special election.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Republican primary, Campaign
Brown announced his candidacy on September 12, 2009. He previously announced, on September 6, 2009, that he was exploring becoming a candidate under the "testing the waters" provisions of federal election law, and intended to announce his decision on whether he would become a candidate on September 9 or 10, 2009. On September 9, Brown said that he would not run if George W. Bush's White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card entered the race. On September 11, Card declined to run and offered his support to Brown.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, Other candidates
Independent or third party candidates had until December 8, 2009, to submit nomination papers for signature certification.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, General election campaign
Scott Brown considered himself a fiscal conservative and Washington, D.C. outsider. He said "I have always thought that being in government service is a privilege, not a right. This Senate seat doesn't belong to any one person or political party. It belongs to you, the people, and the people deserve a U.S. senator who will always put your interests first." Brown had called for fiscal restraint and smaller government, claiming that he had never voted for a tax increase. Brown also pledged to be the 41st vote against the current health care reform bill in the Senate.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, General election campaign
Assistant Professor Boris Schor of the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy Studies described Brown as a liberal Republican by national standards, but well suited for his Massachusetts constituency. Brown drew attention for having appeared nude and semi-nude with his hands covering his genitals in a centerfold in Cosmopolitan in 1982.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, General election campaign
Coakley positioned herself as a liberal, supporting several key initiatives of President Obama's, including healthcare reform. She supported reform that accomplished the three goals of expanding coverage, improving healthcare outcomes and reducing costs. She supported increased regulation of the financial sector, "the protection of abortion rights" and ending the war in Afghanistan. Notably, Coakley took positions to increase equal rights for LGBT individuals; she favors ending Don't Ask, Don't Tell, repealing the Defense of Marriage Act and strengthening hate crimes laws. Coakley refused to investigate Thomas M. Menino, Mayor of Boston, and his office for allegedly violating laws in regards to destruction of public e-mail records. Coakley denies all accusations of misconduct.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, General election campaign
She also declined to reprimand the state's District Attorneys in relation to false statements they allegedly made regarding the effects of the state's voter approved Massachusetts Sensible Marijuana Policy Initiative in an attempt to defeat the ballot question, as well as allegations the District Attorneys misused state resources (website) and failed to file as designated ballot committee in a timely manner while receiving contributions as required by law while challenging the initiative.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, General election campaign
The statements by the District Attorneys included allegedly inaccurate and misleading warnings in an effort to defeat the law, such as that if the law passed "any person may carry and use marijuana at any time." When declining to pursue the case Coakley's office responded with "nothing in the proposed law explicitly forbids public use of the drug."


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, General election campaign
This basically ignores the fact that the law still levies a $100 fine and confiscation for adults, as well as additional mandatory community service for minors for the act of possession, and that using the drug requires possessing it, as well as the fact the law as passed allows cities to pass their own ordinances to further fine public consumption if needed.


2010 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, General election campaign
The failure to file as a ballot committee allegedly stemmed from the fact state records showed the district attorneys began raising money as early as July 18, 2008, but did not file a statement of organization or any of the appropriate financial disclosures with the state until September 5, 2008. Coakley was herself a member of The Coalition for Safe Streets, the political action group eventually formed by the District Attorneys to fight the ballot question. She stated that she did not feel it was necessary to recuse herself from any decisions based on any possible conflict of interest grounds.