United States Senate elections, 1986

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Republican holds Republican pickups Democratic holds Democratic pickups

The U.S. Senate election, 1986 was an election for the United States Senate in the middle of Ronald Reagan's second presidential term. In a midterm election, the opposition Democrats held the traditional advantage. Also, Republicans had to defend an unusually large number of freshman incumbents elected on Reagan's coattails in 1980. However, 1986 was unusual in that it was the first time since 1918 where the chamber had changed hands in a second term midterm.

In the election, the Democrats gained a net eight seats, and recaptured control of the Senate from the Republicans with a 55-45 majority. Robert Dole (R-KS) and Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) exchanged positions as majority and minority leader.

The only Republican gain was one open seat in Missouri. On the other hand, the Democrats gained open seats in Maryland and Nevada and defeated seven incumbent Republican senators, six of them first-term senators elected in 1980. The incumbents were: Jeremiah Denton (R-AL), Paula Hawkins (R-FL), Mack Mattingly (R-GA), James Broyhill (R-NC), Mark Andrews (R-ND), James Abdnor (R-SD), and Slade Gorton (R-WA). Broyhill was the only defeated Republican not elected in 1980. However, he was appointed to the seat left vacant by the death of John P. East, a Republican elected in 1980.

Notable new Senators in 1986 include John McCain (R-AZ), elected to the seat left by Barry Goldwater's retirement, future Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD), who retook George McGovern's old seat from Abdnor, and future Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV).

In 1987, Edward Zorinsky (D-NE) died and was replaced by David K. Karnes (R-NE). This is not included in the party balance totals.

[edit] Senate contests in 1986

A bolded state name indicates an article about that state's election.

State	Incumbent	Party	Status	Opposing Candidates
Alabama	Jeremiah Denton	Republican	Defeated, 49.1%	Richard Shelby (Democratic) 50.9%
Alaska	Frank Murkowski	Republican	Re-elected, 54.0%	Glenn Olds (Democratic) 44.1% Chuck House (Libertarian) 1.7%
Arizona	Barry Goldwater	Republican	Retired, Republican victory	John McCain (Republican) 60.6% Richard Kimball (Democratic) 39.4%
Arkansas	Dale Bumpers	Democratic	Re-elected, 62.9%	Asa Hutchinson (Republican) 37.1%
California	Alan Cranston	Democratic	Re-elected, 49.3%	Ed Zschau (Republican) 47.8% Breck McKinley (Libertarian) 1.5% Edward B. "Ed" Vallen (American Ind.) 0.9% Andrew R. "Paul" Kangas (Peace & Freedom) 0.5%
Colorado	Gary Hart	Democratic	Retired, Democratic victory	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, 64.8%	Roger W. Eddy (Republican) 34.8% Edward McCallum (Independent) 0.4%
Florida	Paula Hawkins	Republican	Defeated, 45%	Bob Graham (Democratic) 55%
Georgia	Mack Mattingly	Republican	Defeated, 49.1%	Wyche Fowler (Democratic) 50.9%
Hawaii	Daniel Inouye	Democratic	Re-elected, 73.6%	Frank Hutchinson (Republican) 26.4%
Idaho	Steve Symms	Republican	Re-elected, 51.4%	John V. Evans (Democratic) 48.6%
Illinois	Alan J. Dixon	Democratic	Re-elected, 65.4%	Judy Koehler (Republican) 34.1%
Indiana	Dan Quayle	Republican	Re-elected, 61.1%	Jill L. Long (Democratic) 38.9%
Iowa	Chuck Grassley	Republican	Re-elected, 66.0%	John P. Roehrick (Democratic) 34.0%
Kansas	Bob Dole	Republican	Re-elected, 70.1%	Guy MacDonald (Democratic) 29.9%
Kentucky	Wendell H. Ford	Democratic	Re-elected, 74.3%	Jackson M. Andrews (Republican) 25.7%
Louisiana	Russell B. Long	Democratic	Retired, Democratic victory	John Breaux (Democratic) 52.8% Henson Moore (Republican) 47.2%
Maryland	Charles Mathias, Jr.	Republican	Retired, Democratic victory	Barbara Mikulski (Democratic) 60.8% Linda Chavez (Republican) 39.2%
Missouri	Thomas Eagleton	Democratic	Retired, Republican victory	Kit Bond (Republican) 52.6% Harriett Woods (Democratic) 47.4%
Nevada	Paul Laxalt	Republican	Retired, Democratic victory	Harry Reid (Democratic) 50.0% James David Santini (Republican) 44.5% Kent Cromwell (Libertarian) 1.9%
New Hampshire	Warren Rudman	Republican	Re-elected, 62.9%	Endicott Peabody (Democratic) 32.4% Gruce Valley (Independent) 4.7%
New York	Al D'Amato	Republican	Re-elected, 57.7%	Mark J. Green (Democratic) 40.9%
North Carolina	Jim Broyhill¹	Republican	Defeated, 48.1%	Terry Sanford (Democratic) 51.9%
North Dakota	Mark Andrews	Republican	Defeated, 49.0%	Kent Conrad (Democratic) 49.8%
Ohio	John Glenn	Democratic	Re-elected, 62.4%	Thomas N. Kindress (Republican) 37.6%
Oklahoma	Don Nickles	Republican	Re-elected, 54.5%	James Robert Jones (Democratic) 45.5%
Oregon	Bob Packwood	Republican	Re-elected, 63.5%	Rick Bauman (Democratic) 36.5%
Pennsylvania	Arlen Specter	Republican	Re-elected, 56.9%	Robert W. Edgar (Democratic) 43.1%
South Carolina	Ernest Hollings	Democratic	Re-elected, 63.9%	Henry D. McMaster (Republican) 36.1%
South Dakota	James Abdnor	Republican	Defeated, 48.3%	Tom Daschle (Democratic) 51.7%
Utah	Jake Garn	Republican	Re-elected, 72.3%	Craig Oliver (Democratic) 26.6% Hugh A. Butler (Libertarian) 0.7% Mary Zins (Independent) 0.4%
Vermont	Patrick Leahy	Democratic	Re-elected, 63.7%	Richard A. Snelling (Republican) 34.7%
Washington	Slade Gorton	Republican	Defeated, 48.7%	Brock Adams (Democratic) 50.6% Jill Fein (Socialist Workers) 0.7%
Wisconsin	Bob Kasten	Republican	Re-elected, 51.8%	Ed Garvey (Democratic) 48.2%