The Senate Race: 47 Seats, 9 Parties, and Zero Successful Petitions

15 people challenged their senate races in court. Not a single one succeeded.

The 2017 senate race was a mirror of Kenya's broader political landscape: two dominant parties, a handful of regional players, and one independent candidate who proved that party affiliation is not always required. But what made the senate race distinctive was the aftermath. Of all the election petitions filed, not one overturned a senate result.

The Party Breakdown: 9 Parties, 47 Seats

The 47 senate seats were distributed across nine parties and one independent candidate:

• Jubilee Party: 24 seats (51.1%)
• Orange Democratic Movement (ODM): 13 seats (27.7%)
• Amani National Congress (ANC): 2 seats (4.3%)
• Kenya African National Union (KANU): 2 seats (4.3%)
• Wiper Democratic Movement: 2 seats (4.3%)
• Chama Cha Uzalendo (CCU): 1 seat (2.1%)
• FORD-Kenya: 1 seat (2.1%)
• Independent: 1 seat (2.1%)
• Party for Development and Reform (PDR): 1 seat (2.1%)

The pattern was familiar. Jubilee dominated the Mt. Kenya region, Rift Valley, and parts of North Eastern and Eastern Kenya. ODM held its traditional base in Nyanza, Western Kenya, and the Coast. The smaller parties carved out niches in their home territories: ANC in parts of Western Kenya, KANU in its Rift Valley pockets, and Wiper in Ukambani.

Jubilee vs ODM: The Two-Party Senate

Together, Jubilee and ODM controlled 37 of 47 senate seats — 78.7% of the upper house. This concentration of power in two parties had profound implications for legislative politics. The senate, which represents county interests, was essentially a two-party chamber with a few crossbench senators from smaller parties.

Compare the senate to the governor's race: Jubilee won 25 governor seats (53.2%) and 24 senate seats (51.1%). ODM won 13 in both races. The consistency is striking and reflects the degree to which national party affiliation drove results across different positions in the same county.

The Detailed County Results

Looking at the detailed senate results, the competition varied dramatically by county. In Mombasa, the senate race featured nine candidates. ODM's Asha Hussein Mohamed won with 186,144 votes, far ahead of Jubilee's Amina Abdalla with 87,384 votes. The margin was comfortable, leaving little room for a credible petition.

In other counties, the races were tighter. The detailed results show that some senate seats were won by margins of just a few thousand votes — close enough to tempt losers into filing petitions, but not close enough to succeed in court.

The Petition Graveyard

Here is the fact that defines the 2017 senate race: 15 election petitions were filed against senate results. Every single one was dismissed.

This is remarkable. In other races — particularly at the governor and MP level — petitions led to nullified elections and repeat polls. But the senate proved to be petition-proof. The reasons varied: some petitions were filed outside the statutory timelines, others failed to meet the evidentiary threshold required by the High Court and the Court of Appeal, and some were simply weak on the merits.

The zero success rate for senate petitions contrasts sharply with other races. The presidential election itself was famously nullified by the Supreme Court. Several governor elections were successfully challenged. But at the senate level, every declared winner kept their seat.

The Independent Senator

One independent candidate won a senate seat in 2017. In a political environment where party machinery provides funding, campaign logistics, and ballot access, winning without a party ticket is an achievement. This independent senator joined a small but historically significant group of Kenyans who have won major races without party support.

What the Smaller Parties Contributed

The seven non-major parties that won senate seats collectively held just 10 seats — less than either Jubilee or ODM alone. But their presence mattered for coalition arithmetic. In a senate where legislation requires negotiation and compromise, these smaller party senators held outsized influence as potential swing votes.

• ANC (2 seats): Musalia Mudavadi's party held ground in Western Kenya
• KANU (2 seats): The former ruling party maintained a footprint in the Rift Valley
• Wiper (2 seats): Kalonzo Musyoka's party anchored in the Ukambani region
• CCU, FORD-K, PDR (1 seat each): Regional parties with niche strongholds

Comparing Senate and Governor Results

One of the most interesting patterns in 2017 was the alignment between senate and governor results within the same county. In most counties, the same party won both the governor and senate seats. This suggests that voters largely voted along party lines across positions, rather than splitting their tickets between parties.

The few counties where the governor and senator came from different parties are worth studying — they reveal where local dynamics overrode national party loyalty. For the full governor analysis, see our companion post on the 2017 governor's race.

Tracking the Senate in Real Time

For political parties and campaigns, understanding senate dynamics at the county level is critical. The senate race is won county by county, and margins can be thin. Votrack's parallel vote tallying system allows campaigns to track senate results at the polling station level as votes come in, identifying trends before the official declaration.

Want to see how senate races unfold at the granular level? Request a demo to explore the full county-by-county dataset.