Also, split-ticket voting was much more common back then compared to now.
Even in 2016, Jason Kander almost defeated an incumbent Republican senator as Hillary Clinton got crushed in Missouri.
Even in my state, an incumbent Republican senator lost reelection as Bob Dole carried South Dakota in the 1996 presidential race.
True.
The first example is much more impressive and mind-boggling in all honesty, since 2016 was a much more polarized time and the split between the Senate and presidential race was huge, whereas 1996 was less polarized and Bill Clinton came close in South Dakota that year.
Kinda surprising given that Senate Republicans generally did pretty well that year...outperforming both Dole and the House GOP.
