2020 United States Senate Elections (Byrd Timeline)

‹ 2018  2022 ›
2020 Senate election
Nominee		Dick Durbin	Mitch McConnell
Party		Democratic	Republican
Home state		Illinois	Kentucky
States carried		51 + 1 I (13 wins)	48 (21 wins)
Majority Leader before election Dick Durbin Democratic Elected Majority Leader Dick Durbin Democratic

The 2020 United States Senate elections were held on November 3, 2020, with the 34 class 2 seats of the Senate contested in regular elections. The Democrats held onto their majority but faced several significant losses. The election this year saw more incumbents defeated in the Democratic Party, who faced progressive challengers. The Republican Party took seats in Democratic states like Michigan that were once thought to be safe for Democrats, while holding off competitive challenges in Virginia and Kentucky.

Alabama

‹ 2014  2026 ›
Alabama election
Nominee		Jeff Sessions	Doug Jones
Party		Republican	Democratic
Popular vote		1,392,076	920,478
Percentage		60.1%	39.7%
U.S. Senator before election Jeff Sessions Republican Elected U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions Republican

Incumbent Republican Jeff Sessions faced only token opposition in his bid for re-election.

Sessions sought re-election for a fifth term in office. He did not have any primary challengers.

Democrats put forth former U.S. District Attorney Doug Jones as their nominee. Jones won the primary challenge against pastor Will Boyd and Vietnam War veteran Brian McGee.

Alabama is a safely Republican state, and Sessions won re-election with over 20% of the vote.

Alaska

Same as IRL.

Arkansas

Same as IRL.

Colorado

‹ 2014  2026 ›
Colorado election
Nominee		Mark Udall	Peggy Littleton
Party		Democratic	Republican
Popular vote		1,731,114	1,429,492
Percentage		55%	45%
U.S. Senator before election Mark Udall Democrat Elected U.S. Senator Mark Udall Democrat

Two-term Democrat Mark Udall was elected in 2009 after serving in the House of Representative for ten years. Udall had only narrowly won re-election in 2014, and many perceived Colorado as a potential opening for Republicans to win.

Udall faced a somewhat close primary challenge from activist Diana Bray, only winning 65% of the primary vote. The Republican primary saw El Paso County Commissioner Peggy Littleton as the party's nominee. Littleton was seen as a vibrant newcomer who could challenge the Udall family dynasty, using her law enforcement background to appeal to suburban women voters.

Udall and Littleton faced a competitive general election campaign, but Udall won re-election 55%-45%. Udall improved upon his performance in 2014.

Delaware

‹ 2014  2026 ›
Delaware election
Nominee		Jessica Scarane	Lauren Witzke
Party		Democratic	Republican
Popular vote		258, 043	219, 814
Percentage		54%	46%
U.S. Senator before election Chris Coons Democrat Elected U.S. Senator Jessica Scarane Democrat

One-term Democrat Chris Coons was elected in 2014. Coons had succeeded outgoing senator Joe Biden, and was expected to receive only token opposition from the Republican opponent. Both primaries ended up drawing national attention for two women defeating the party establishment picks.

Coons, a moderate Democrat, faced a highly competitive primary from technology executive Jessica Scarane. Delaware is a safely Democratic state, and thus whoever would win the primary would likely win the general election. Scarane's campaign was one of the top priority for the progressive faction of the Democratic Party in terms of primaries, and the top priority for the Senate. Scarane received national support from the likes of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Senator Paula Jean Swearengin, and the Working Families Party. In an upset victory, Scarane defeated Coons in the primary.

Conservative activist Lauren Witzke defeated attorney James Martino.

In the general election, Scarane defeated Witzke 54%-46%. This is the first time that both nominees for one of Delaware's Senate seats were women. Either would've been the first female senator from Delaware.

Georgia

‹ 2014  2026 ›
Georgia election
			File:800px-Doug Collins, Official portrait, 113th Congress.jpg
Nominee		Raphael Warnock	Doug Collins
Party		Democratic	Republican
Popular vote		2,289,113	2,195,841
Percentage		51%	49%
U.S. Senator before election Raphael Warnock Democrat Elected U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock Democrat

Four-term Senator Johnny Isakson announced on September 13, 2019 that he would resign from his position on December 31, 2019. Georgia governor Stacey Abrams appointed Democrat Raphael Warnock to the seat, who then filed to run in the regular general election.

The Republicans nominated Congressman Doug Collins, who received only token opposition from minor candidates.

In the November election, Warnock narrowly defeated Collins with just under 100,000 votes for a full term.

Idaho

Same as IRL.

Illinois

Same as IRL.

Iowa

Same as IRL.

Kansas

‹ 2014  2026 ›
Kansas election
Nominee		Mike Pompeo	Barbara Bollier
Party		Republican	Democrat
Popular vote		727,962	571,530
Percentage		53.2%	41.8%
U.S. Senator before election Mike Pompeo Republican Elected U.S. Senator Mike Pompeo Republican

One-term Republican Mike Pompeo was elected in 2014, and ran for a second term.

Pompeo faced no resistance in the Republican primary.

Barbara Bollier, a state senator and former Republican, defeated former congressional candidate Robert Tillman for the Democratic nomination. Pompeo won re-election by a more than expected 11.4 point margin.

Kentucky

‹ 2014  2026 ›
Kentucky election
Nominee		Rand Paul	Charles Booker
Party		Republican	Democrat
Popular vote		1,127,264	922,307
Percentage		55%	45%
U.S. Senator before election Rand Paul Republican Elected U.S. Senator Rand Paul Republican

One-term Republican Rand Paul defeated state legislator Charles Booker by a closer than expected margin, winning a second term in office.

Louisiana

Same as IRL.

Maine

Same as IRL.

Massachusetts

Same as IRL.

Michigan

‹ 2014  2026 ›
Michigan election
Nominee		Justin Amash	Gary Peters
Party		Republican	Democrat
Popular vote		2,734,568	2,642,233
Percentage		49.90%	48.22%
U.S. Senator before election Gary Peters Democrat Elected U.S. Senator Justin Amash Republican

Five-term Republican Congressman Justin Amash defeated the one-term incumbent, Democrat Gary Peters.

After the surprise victory of John James against longtime Democratic incumbent Debbie Stabenow in 2018, Peters' seat was viewed as one of the more vulnerable races for Democrats.

Gary Peters faced no opposition for the Democratic nomination, and Amash only faced token opposition from perennial candidate Bob Carr.

Amash had made a name for himself during the 2016 election when he had refused to endorse Republican nominee Mike Pence, endearing himself to many of Michigan's moderate voters. The national Republican Party made Amash's campaign a huge investment, with the presidential nominee Paul Ryan doing several virtual rallies with Amash. Despite this, Peters maintained a narrow lead in the polls.

Despite the polls, Amash narrowly defeated Peters by just under 100,000 votes. Amash's victory is the first time a Republican has been elected in Michigan since 1994, and the first time both of Michigan's Senate seats have been held by Republicans since 1952.

Minnesota

‹ 2014  2026 ›
Minnesota election
Nominee		Tina Smith	Jason Lewis	Kevin O'Connor
Party		Democrat	Republican	Green
Popular vote		1,566,522	1,398,145	190,154
Percentage		48.74%	43.50%	5.91%
U.S. Senator before election Al Franken Democrat Elected U.S. Senator Tina Smith Democrat

Lieutenant Governor Tina Smith defeated Congressman Jason Lewis for her first full term. Incumbent Senator Al Franken had received public scrutiny in 2018 for sexual misconduct allegations. Although Franken had passed a Senate Ethics hearing without any charges, Franken announced he would not be running for a third term.

Lieutenant Governor Tina Smith announced her intention to succeed Franken, and faced only token opposition in the primary. Jason Lewis, a one-term Congressman, won the Republican primary against state senator Karin Housley by a comfortable margin.

Some Republican pundits and strategists believed Minnesota to be one of the few states Republicans should've aimed to flip due to its increasingly Republican-favorable demographics and unexpectedly close result in the 2016 presidential election, although Democratic nominee Tina Smith still led every poll. Smith won the election by a margin of 5.2, making this the closest Senate election in Minnesota since 2008, likely because two pro-marijuana legalization parties (Legal Marijuana Now Party and Grassroots Party) unexpectedly took a combined 7.69% of the vote.

Mississippi

‹ 2014  2026 ›
Mississippi election
Nominee		Cindy Hyde-Smith	Mike Espy
Party		Republican	Democrat
Popular vote		709,539	578,806
Percentage		54.10%	44.13%
U.S. Senator before election Rand Paul Republican Elected U.S. Senator Rand Paul Republican

Incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith won her second term in office, defeating Democrat and former Congressman Mike Espy by 10 percentage points.

Libertarian candidate Jimmy Edwards also made the general election ballot.

Montana

‹ 2014  2026 ›
Montana election
Nominee		Denny Rehberg	Steve Bullock
Party		Republican	Democrat
Popular vote		333,174	272,463
Percentage		55.01%	44.99%
U.S. Senator before election Denny Rehberg Republican Elected U.S. Senator Denny Rehberg Republican

Republican Denny Rehberg won a sixth term in office, defeating the Democratic nominee, Montana Governor Steve Bullock.

Rehberg was opposed (before his nomination) in the Republican primary by hardware store manager Daniel Larson and former Democratic speaker of the Montana House of Representatives John Driscoll, who changed parties in 2020.

Bullock won the Democratic nomination, defeating nuclear engineer and U.S. Navy veteran John Mues. Once Bullock filed his candidacy, the race became seen as highly competitive.

Bullock is a popular governor and a moderate, led in many polls in the spring and summer of 2020, and raised more money than Rehberg. Closer to election day, Bullock slightly trailed in polls, but the election was still seen as relatively competitive. Rehberg defeated Bullock by a larger-than-expected 10-point margin.

Nebraska

Same as IRL.

New Colombia

‹ 2014  2026 ›
New Columbia election
Nominee		David Grosso	Eleanor Ory
Party		Democrat	Green
Popular vote		251,991	31,151
Percentage		81.2%
U.S. Senator before election Mike Brown Democrat Elected U.S. Senator David Grosso Democrat

District of Columbia Councilman David Grosso defeated the Green Party nominee, researcher Eleanor Ory.

Incumbent senator Mike Brown, previously an independent until his 2008 Senate campaign, had become increasingly unpopular for his moderate positions. Grosso ran to the left of Brown, narrowly defeating the long-time D.C. insider in the Democratic primary.

New Hampshire

Same as IRL.

New Jersey

Same as IRL.

New Mexico

‹ 2014  2026 ›
Colorado election
Nominee		Maggie Toulouse Oliver	Mark Roncetti
Party		Democratic	Republican
Popular vote		474,483	418,483
Percentage		51.73%	45.62%
U.S. Senator before election Tom Udall Democrat Elected U.S. Senator Maggie Toulouse Oliver Democrat

Two-term Democrat Tom Udall was the only incumbent Democratic U.S. senator retiring in 2020. Democratic Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver defeated Republican Mark Ronchetti by 6 percentage points.

Oliver faced competition in the Democratic primary from Congressman Ben Ray Luján. Oliver prevailed over Luján, winning 64% of the vote to his 25%.

Ronchetti, the former KRQE chief meteorologist, defeated former U.S. Interior Department official Gavin Clarkson and executive director for the New Mexico Alliance for Life Elisa Martinez in the primary.

Libertarian Bob Walsh also appeared on the general election ballot.

North Carolina

‹ 2014  2026 ›
North Carolina election
Nominee		Erica Smith	Thom Tillis
Party		Democratic	Republican
Popular vote		2,665,598	2,569,965
Percentage		48.69%%	46.94%
U.S. Senator before election Thom Tillis Republican Elected U.S. Senator Erica Smith Democrat

One-term Republican incumbent Thom Tillis lost the election to state senator Erica Smith.

In the Democratic primary, Erica Smith defeated former state senator and the party establishment's pick Cal Cunningham. Tillis faced no primary challenger, despite his more moderate record making him unpopular to conservative voters.

Oklahoma

‹ 2014  2026 ›
Oklahoma election
Nominee		George Bynum	Abby Broyles
Party		Republican	Democrat
Popular vote		979,140	509,763
Percentage		62.91%'	32.75%
U.S. Senator before election Jim Inhofe Republican Elected U.S. Senator George Bynum Republican

Republican mayor George Bynum easily won the election, defeating Democrat Abby Broyles by more than 30 percentage points.

The incumbent Republican, Jim Inhofe, announced in November 2019 that he intended to retire at the end of his fourth term. The vacancy created a vacuum between two candidates; Mayor of Tulsa and eventual winner George Bynum, and Scott Pruit, former administrator of the EPA under George W. Bush. Bynum had the support of the local Oklahoma Republican Party and more conservative voters, while Pruitt was backed by the national party. Bynum narrowly defeated Pruitt in the primary 53%-47%.

Broyles, an attorney, defeated perennial candidate Sheila Bilyeu and 2018 5th congressional district candidate Elysabeth Britt for the Democratic nomination.

Libertarian candidate Robert Murphy and two Independents also appeared on the general election ballot.

Oklahoma is one of the most solidly Republican states and Bynum won in a landslide.

Oregon

Same as IRL.

Rhode Island

Same as IRL.

South Carolina

Same as IRL, unfortunately.

South Dakota

Same as IRL.

Tennessee

‹ 2014  2026 ›
Tennessee election
Nominee		Manny Sethi	Marquita Bradshaw
Party		Republican	Democrat
Popular vote		1,840,926	1,040,691
Percentage		62.20%	35.16%
U.S. Senator before election Lamar Alexander Republican Elected U.S. Senator Manny Sethi Republican

Three-term Republican Lamar Alexander was reelected in 2014. He announced in December 2018 that he would not seek a fourth term.

Manny Sethi, an orthopedic surgeon, defeated 13 others in the Republican primary, including former Tennessee Commissioner of Eocnomic and Community Development Bill Haggerty.

Environmental activist Marquita Bradshaw of Memphis defeated James Mackler, an Iraq War veteran and Nashville attorney, in the Democratic primary, a major upset.

Sethi easily defeated Bradshaw.

Texas

Same as IRL.

Virginia

‹ 2014  2026 ›
Virginia election
Nominee		Ed Gillespie	Tom Periello
Party		Republican	Democrat
Popular vote		2,466,500	1,934,199
Percentage		55.90%	43.91%
U.S. Senator before election Ed Gillespie Republican Elected U.S. Senator Ed Gillespie Republican

Republican Ed Gillespie won a second term in office, defeating Democrat Tom Perriello.

Gillespie ran unopposed in the Republican primary.

Perriello, a progressive member of Congress who had run for governor in 2017, won the Democratic primary. After the stunning victory of Krystal Ball in 2018, the Democratic Party had hoped that a similarly progressive candidate could win against Gillespie.

Polling initially had Gillespie and Perriello close, with Gillespie barely ahead. Gillespie raised more money than Perriello, and the latter's lack of name recognition hurt his campaign. Polling eventually gave Gillespie a comfortable lead, which is how much he won by in the general election.

West Virginia

‹ 2014  2026 ›
West Virginia election
Nominee		Richard Ojeda	Patrick Morrisey
Party		Democrat	Republican
Popular vote		547,454	210,309
Percentage		70.28%	27.00%
U.S. Senator before election Charlotte Pritt Democrat Elected U.S. Senator Richard Ojeda Democrat

Democratic Congressman Richard Ojeda defeated former Congressman Patrick Morrisey in a landslide, winning by 43 points.

Two-term incumbent Democrat Charlotte Pritt announced her intention to retire at the end of her term. Ojeda, a popular Congressman who had made national attention for his participation in the 2018 teachers' strikes, won the primary uncontested.

The Republican primary consisted of former Congressman Patrick Morrisey and state delegate Michael Folk, with Morrisey easily winning the primary.

West Virginia was briefly a battleground state during the first half of the 2000's, voting for George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004. This seat had been the grounds for the best Republican performance in a Senate race in decades when Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito barely lost to Pritt. In 2018, Republican Congressman Evan Jenkins barely lost to Paula Jean Swearengin, only losing by five points. With Pritt no longer running, Republicans felt they had a strong chance to retake the seat.

Polling consistently showed Ojeda ahead of Morrisey, and Ojeda won by a greater than expected margin.

Wyoming

Same as IRL.