Closest U.S. Senate elections in history

The tightest races for the United States Senate, ranked by the narrowest margin between the top two candidates.

What is the closest U.S. Senate election in history?

New Hampshire in 1974, when Louis Wyman edged John Durkin by just 2 votes out of over 223,000 cast (110,926 to 110,924). The result was so close the Senate itself could not agree on a winner and ordered a new election, which Durkin won outright in 1975. Al Franken’s 312-vote win over Norm Coleman in Minnesota in 2008 is the closest election actually seated on the first count.

The closest U.S. Senate race on record came down to 2 votes: New Hampshire in 1974 was so close that the Senate left the seat vacant and ordered a new election.

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Closest U.S. Senate elections in history
#	Election	Result	Margin
1	1974 New Hampshire	Louis C. Wyman def. John A. Durkin	0.00 pts
2	2008 Minnesota	Al Franken def. Norm Coleman	0.01 pts
3	1964 Nevada	Howard W. Cannon def. Paul Laxalt	0.04 pts
4	1974 North Dakota	Milton R. Young def. William L. Guy	0.07 pts
5	1924 Iowa	Smith W. Brookhart def. Daniel F. Steck	0.08 pts
6	1998 Nevada	Harry Reid def. John E. Ensign	0.09 pts
7	2000 Washington	Maria Cantwell def. Slade Gorton	0.09 pts
8	1944 Missouri	Forrest C. Donnell def. Roy McKittrick	0.12 pts
9	2018 Florida	Rick Scott def. Bill Nelson	0.12 pts
10	2016 New Hampshire	Maggie Hassan def. Kelly Ayotte	0.14 pts
11	2002 South Dakota	Tim Johnson def. John R. Thune	0.15 pts
12	1954 New Jersey	Clifford P. Case def. Charles R. Howell	0.19 pts
13	2024 Pennsylvania	Dave McCormick def. Robert P. Casey Jr.	0.22 pts
14	1962 South Dakota	George McGovern def. Joe Bottum	0.24 pts
15	1970 Indiana	Vance Hartke def. Richard L. Roudebush	0.24 pts
16	1914 Wisconsin	Paul O. Husting def. Francis E. McGovern	0.31 pts
17	1938 Indiana	Frederick Van Nuys def. Raymond E. Willis	0.33 pts
18	1938 Iowa	Guy M. Gilette def. Lester J. Dickinson	0.33 pts
19	1996 Louisiana	Mary L. Landrieu def. Louis Woody Jenkins	0.34 pts
20	2024 Michigan	Elissa Slotkin def. Mike Rogers	0.34 pts
21	1946 Maryland	Herbert R. O'Conor def. David J. Markey	0.36 pts
22	1974 Nevada	Paul Laxalt def. Harry Reid	0.37 pts
23	1978 Virginia	John William Warner def. Andrew P. Miller	0.38 pts
24	1956 Pennsylvania	Joseph S. Clark def. James H. Duff	0.39 pts
25	2006 Virginia	James H. Jim Webb Jr. def. George F. Allen	0.39 pts

Closest U.S. Senate elections in every state

This list is the national top 25, so most states are not on it. Every state has its own, at a far lower vote floor so early races still count.

How this ranking is measured

U.S. Senate general elections ranked by the smallest gap in vote share between the top two finishers (1914–present, the popular-vote era for the Senate). Limited to full statewide popular elections; recounts and runoffs aren’t separated out, and the figure is the certified general-election margin.

Compiled by PolitiFinder · published June 14, 2026 · sources: Data & sources · data last verified October 6, 2026.