1986 United States Senate election in Alabama

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1986 United States Senate election in Alabama
Flag of Alabama.svg
  1980 November 4, 1986 1992  
  Richard Shelby 97th Congress 1981.jpg JeremiahDentonSenate (cropped).jpg
Nominee Richard Shelby Jeremiah Denton
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote609,360602,537
Percentage50.28%49.72%

1986 United States Senate election in Alabama results map by county.svg
County results
Shelby:      50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%
Denton:      50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

U.S. senator before election

Jeremiah Denton
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Richard Shelby
Democratic

The 1986 United States Senate election in Alabama took place on November 4, 1986 alongside other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican Senator Jeremiah Denton lost re-election to Democrat Richard Shelby by 6,823 votes.

Contents

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Incumbent Senator Jeremiah Denton, a retired Rear Admiral and decorated Vietnam War veteran who six years earlier became the first Republican elected to the Senate from Alabama since Reconstruction, won the primary with little opposition.

Republican primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Jeremiah Denton (incumbent) 29,805 88.55%
Republican Richard Vickers3,85411.45%
Total votes33,659 100.00%

Democratic primary

Shelby, a moderate-to-conservative Democrat narrowly avoided a runoff and won nomination in the Democratic Party primary. [2]

Candidates

Results

Democratic primary results by county
.mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{}
Shelby
40-50%
50-60%
60-70%
70-80%
Allen
40-50%
50-60%
60-70%
McLaughlin
40-50% 1986 United States Senate Democratic primary election in Alabama results map by county.svg
Democratic primary results by county
  Shelby
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  Allen
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  McLaughlin
  •   40–50%
Democratic primary results
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Richard Shelby 420,155 51.33%
Democratic Jim Allen, Jr.284,20634.72%
Democratic Ted McLaughlin70,7848.65%
Democratic Margaret Stewart26,7233.27%
Democratic Steve Arnold16,7222.04%
Total votes818,590 100.00%

General election

Shelby won a very narrow victory of less than one percent over Denton. [3]

Candidates

Results

1986 United States Senate election in Alabama
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Richard Shelby 609,360 50.28%
Republican Jeremiah Denton (incumbent)602,53749.72%
Total votes1,211,897 100.00%
Democratic gain from Republican

See also

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References