Incumbent Republican Senator Richard Shelby won re-election to a sixth term in office.

Despite an overwhelming victory statewide, this marked Shelby's first and only race as either a Republican or Democrat in which he failed to carry Jefferson County, home of Birmingham, the state's largest city.

Following the divisive Republican primary in Mississippi ahead of the 2014 election in which Senator Thad Cochran was almost defeated, it had been speculated that Shelby could also face a Tea Party primary challenger, due to his lengthy tenure and support for federal largesse.

However, that did not happen, in part due to his large campaign war chest, which stood at $19.4 million as of September 2015.

[1] If Shelby had decided to retire, numerous high-profile Alabama Republicans were speculated to run, including U.S.