1986 United States Senate elections

United States Senate elections, 1986

November 4, 1986
34 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate 51 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Robert Byrd Bob Dole Party Democratic Republican Leader's seat West Virginia Kansas Last election 47 seats 53 seats Seats won 55 45 Seat change 8 8 Popular vote 24,347,369 23,126,219 Percentage 50.1% 47.6% Swing 0.3% 1.7% Seats up 12 22
Republican hold   Republican gain   Democratic hold   Democratic gain
Majority Leader before election Bob Dole Republican Elected Majority Leader Robert Byrd Democratic

The U.S. Senate election, 1986 was an election for the United States Senate in the middle of Ronald Reagan's second presidential term. The Republicans had to defend an unusually large number of freshman Senate incumbents who had been elected on President Ronald Reagan's coattails in 1980. Democrats won a net of eight seats, defeating seven freshman incumbents and regaining control of the Senate for the first time since 1980. The party not controlling the presidency gained seats, as usually occurs in mid-term elections.

Results summary

Shading indicates party with largest share of that line.

Parties		style="background-color:Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color" |	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color" |	style="background-color:Template:Other Party (United States)/meta/color" |	style="background-color:Template:Independent Party (United States)/meta/color" |	style="background-color:Template:Libertarian Party (United States)/meta/color" |	style="background-color:Template:Other Party (United States)/meta/color" |	Total
		Democratic	Republican	Conservative	Independent	Libertarian	Other
Last election: 1984		47	53	0	0	0	0	100
Before this election		47	53	0	0	0	0	100
Not Up		35	31	0	0	0	0	66
Up		12	22	0	0	0	0	34
Incumbent retired	Replaced by other party	2	1	—	—	—	—	3
	Held by same party	1	2	—	—	—	—	3
Incumbent ran	Won re-election	9	12	—	—	—	—	21
	Lost re-election	0	7	—	—	—	—	7
	Lost renomination, but held by same party	0	0	—	—	—	—	0
Summary	Total Won	11	13	—	—	—	—	24
	Total Lost	1	9	—	—	—	—	9
	Total Picked-up	9	1	—	—	—	—	10
	Change	8	8
	Elected	20	14	0	0	0	0	34
Popular vote	Votes	24,347,369	23,126,219	212,101	155,032	104,338	665,946	48,611,005
	Share	50.1%	47.6%	0.4%	0.3%	0.2%	1.4%	100%
Result		55	45	0	0	0	0	100

Change in Senate composition

Senate composition before the elections

D1	D2	D3	D4	D5	D6	D7	D8	D9	D10
D20	D19	D18	D17	D16	D15	D14	D13	D12	D11
D21	D22	D23	D24	D25	D26	D27	D28	D29	D30
D40	D39	D38	D37	D36	D35	D34	D33	D32	D31
D41	D42	D43	D44	D45	D46	D47	R53	R52	R51
Majority→
R41	R42	R43	R44	R45	R46	R47	R48	R49	R50
R40	R39	R38	R37	R36	R35	R34	R33	R32	R31
R21	R22	R23	R24	R25	R26	R27	R28	R29	R30
R20	R19	R18	R17	R16	R15	R14	R13	R12	R11
R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10

Senate composition as a result of the elections

D1	D2	D3	D4	D5	D6	D7	D8	D9	D10
D20	D19	D18	D17	D16	D15	D14	D13	D12	D11
D21	D22	D23	D24	D25	D26	D27	D28	D29	D30
D40√	D39√	D38√	D37√	D36√	D35	D34	D33	D32	D31
D41√	D42√	D43√	D44√	D45O	D46O	D47+	D48+	D49+	D50+
Majority→									D51+
R45√	R46√	R47√	R48O	R49+	D55+	D54+	D53+	D52+
R40√	R39√	R38√	R37√	R36√	R35√	R34√	R33√	R32√	R31
R21	R22	R23	R24	R25	R26	R27	R28	R29	R30
R20	R19	R18	R17	R16	R15	R14	R13	R12	R11
R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10

Key:	D# Democratic R# Republican		√ Incumbent re-elected or appointee elected to finish term O Party hold: New senator elected from same party + Party gain: New senator elected from different party

Democratic gains

In this Senate election, the Democrats gained a net of eight seats, and recaptured control of the Senate from the Republicans with a 55 - 45 majority. Robert Dole (R-Kansas) and Robert C. Byrd (D-West Virginia) exchanged positions as the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader.

This was the last election — up through the present — in which the Democrats in this Class of Senators (1/3 of the Senate) amassed a gain in seats (not including special elections held in off-years in some states to fill the seats that had been vacated by Senators due to death, resignation, or otherwise).

Republican gain

The only win by the Republican Party was for one "open seat" in Missouri. On the other hand, the Democratic Party won the "open seats" in Maryland and Nevada, and the Democrats also defeated seven incumbent Republican Senators, six of them who were first-term senators who had been elected in 1980.

Incumbents who lost re-election

• Jeremiah Denton (R-Alabama)
• Paula Hawkins (R-Florida)
• Mack Mattingly (R-Georgia)
• James T. Broyhill (R-North Carolina). Broyhill was the only Republican who was defeated who had not been elected for the first time in 1980. However, Broyhill had been appointed to the seat that had been left vacant by the suicide of John P. East, a Republican who had been elected in 1980.
• Mark Andrews (R-North Dakota)
• James Abdnor (R-South Dakota)
• Slade Gorton (R-Washington).

Subsequent action

During 1987, Edward Zorinsky (D-Nebraska) died and was replaced by David K. Karnes (R-Nebraska). This result has not been included in these summaries and totals.

Complete list of races

State	Incumbent senator	Incumbent party	Result	Candidates
Alabama	Jeremiah Denton	Republican	Lost re-election Democratic gain	Richard Shelby (Democratic) 50.9% Jeremiah Denton (Republican) 49.1%
Alaska	Frank Murkowski	Republican	Re-elected	Frank Murkowski (Republican) 54.0% Glenn Olds (Democratic) 44.1% Chuck House (Libertarian) 1.7%
Arizona	Barry Goldwater	Republican	Retired Republican hold	John McCain (Republican) 60.6% Richard Kimball (Democratic) 39.4%
Arkansas	Dale Bumpers	Democratic	Re-elected	Dale Bumpers (Democratic) 62.9% Asa Hutchinson (Republican) 37.1%
California	Alan Cranston	Democratic	Re-elected	Alan Cranston (Democratic) 49.3% Ed Zschau (Republican) 47.8% Breck McKinley (Libertarian) 1.5% Edward B. Vallen (American Ind.) 0.9% Andrew R. Kangas (Peace & Freedom) 0.5%
Colorado	Gary Hart	Democratic	Retired Democratic hold	Tim Wirth (Democratic) 49.9% Ken Kramer (Republican) 48.4% Michael Bush (Independent) 1.0% Michael Chamberlain (Socialist Workers) 0.4% Henry Olshaw (Unaffiliated American) 0.2% Calvin Dodge (Prohibition) 0.1%
Connecticut	Chris Dodd	Democratic	Re-elected	Chris Dodd (Democratic) 64.8% Roger W. Eddy (Republican) 34.8% Edward McCallum (Independent) 0.4%
Florida	Paula Hawkins	Republican	Lost re-election Democratic gain	Bob Graham (Democratic) 55% Paula Hawkins (Republican) 45%
Georgia	Mack Mattingly	Republican	Lost re-election Democratic gain	Wyche Fowler (Democratic) 50.9% Mack Mattingly (Republican) 49.1%
Hawaii	Daniel Inouye	Democratic	Re-elected	Daniel Inouye (Democratic) 73.6% Frank Hutchinson (Republican) 26.4%
Idaho	Steve Symms	Republican	Re-elected	Steve Symms (Republican) 51.4% John V. Evans (Democratic) 48.6%
Illinois	Alan J. Dixon	Democratic	Re-elected	Alan J. Dixon (Democratic) 65.4% Judy Koehler (Republican) 34.1%
Indiana	Dan Quayle	Republican	Re-elected	Dan Quayle (Republican) 61.1% Jill L. Long (Democratic) 38.9%
Iowa	Chuck Grassley	Republican	Re-elected	Chuck Grassley (Republican) 66.0% John P. Roehrick (Democratic) 34.0%
Kansas	Bob Dole	Republican	Re-elected	Bob Dole (Republican) 70.1% Guy MacDonald (Democratic) 29.9%
Kentucky	Wendell H. Ford	Democratic	Re-elected	Wendell H. Ford (Democratic) 74.3% Jackson M. Andrews (Republican) 25.7%
Louisiana	Russell B. Long	Democratic	Retired Democratic hold	John Breaux (Democratic) 52.8% Henson Moore (Republican) 47.2%
Maryland	Charles Mathias, Jr.	Republican	Retired Democratic gain	Barbara Mikulski (Democratic) 60.8% Linda Chavez (Republican) 39.2%
Missouri	Thomas Eagleton	Democratic	Retired Republican gain	Kit Bond (Republican) 52.6% Harriett Woods (Democratic) 47.4%
Nevada	Paul Laxalt	Republican	Retired Democratic gain	Harry Reid (Democratic) 50.0% James David Santini (Republican) 44.5% Kent Cromwell (Libertarian) 1.9%
New Hampshire	Warren Rudman	Republican	Re-elected	Warren Rudman (Republican) 62.9% Endicott Peabody (Democratic) 32.4% Gruce Valley (Independent) 4.7%
New York	Al D'Amato	Republican	Re-elected	Al D'Amato (Republican) 57.7% Mark J. Green (Democratic) 40.9% John S. Dyson (Liberal) 1.4% Fred Newman (New Alliance) 0.3% Michael Shur (Socialist Workers) 0.2%
North Carolina (Special)	Jim Broyhill	Republican	Interim appointee lost election to finish term Democratic gain	Terry Sanford (Democratic) 50.9% Jim Broyhill (Republican) 49.1%
North Carolina (General)			Interim appointee lost election to the next term Democratic gain	Terry Sanford (Democratic) 51.8% Jim Broyhill (Republican) 48.2%
North Dakota	Mark Andrews	Republican	Lost re-election Democratic gain	Kent Conrad (Democratic) 49.8% Mark Andrews (Republican) 49.0%
Ohio	John Glenn	Democratic	Re-elected	John Glenn (Democratic) 62.4% Tom Kindness (Republican) 37.6%
Oklahoma	Don Nickles	Republican	Re-elected	Don Nickles (Republican) 54.5% James Robert Jones (Democratic) 45.5%
Oregon	Bob Packwood	Republican	Re-elected	Bob Packwood (Republican) 63.5% Rick Bauman (Democratic) 36.5%
Pennsylvania	Arlen Specter	Republican	Re-elected	Arlen Specter (Republican) 56.9% Robert W. Edgar (Democratic) 43.1%
South Carolina	Ernest Hollings	Democratic	Re-elected	Ernest Hollings (Democratic) 63.9% Henry D. McMaster (Republican) 36.1%
South Dakota	James Abdnor	Republican	Lost re-election Democratic gain	Tom Daschle (Democratic) 51.6% James Abdnor (Republican) 48.4%
Utah	Jake Garn	Republican	Re-elected	Jake Garn (Republican) 72.3% Craig Oliver (Democratic) 26.6% Hugh A. Butler (Libertarian) 0.7% Mary Zins (Independent) 0.4%
Vermont	Patrick Leahy	Democratic	Re-elected	Patrick Leahy (Democratic) 63.7% Richard A. Snelling (Republican) 34.7%
Washington	Slade Gorton	Republican	Lost re-election Democratic gain	Brock Adams (Democratic) 50.6% Slade Gorton (Republican) 48.7% Jill Fein (Socialist Workers) 0.7%
Wisconsin	Bob Kasten	Republican	Re-elected	Bob Kasten (Republican) 51.8% Ed Garvey (Democratic) 48.2%

See also

• United States House elections, 1986
• United States gubernatorial elections, 1986