1986 United States Senate election in Louisiana

1986 United States Senate election in Louisiana

←  1980 September 27, 1986 (general election) November 4, 1986 (runoff) 1992  →

Nominee John Breaux Henson Moore Samuel B. Nunez Jr. Party Democratic Republican Democratic General election 447,328 37.36% 529,433 44.22% 73,505 6.14% Runoff 723,586 52.82% 646,311 47.18% Eliminated

First round results by parish Runoff results by parish Breaux:     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Moore:     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     80–90% Nunez:     40–50% Jumonville:     50–60%

U.S. senator before election Russell B. Long Democratic Elected U.S. Senator John Breaux Democratic

The 1986 United States Senate election in Louisiana was held on November 4, 1986. Democratic nominee John Breaux defeated Republican nominee Henson Moore with 52.82% of the vote.

Campaign

U.S. Senator Russell B. Long declined to seek another term in the 1986 election. Republican candidate Moore placed first ahead of Democratic candidate Breaux in the primary. ^[1]

President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H.W. Bush campaigned in the state two and four times respectively. ^[2]

Two weeks before the election Judge Dickinson R. Debevoise unsealed an internal memo between Kris Wolfe, the regional director for the Republican National Committee, and Lanny Griffith, the RNC's regional director in the south. The memo was about their usage of Ballot Integrity Groups to "eliminate at least 60-80,000 folks from the rolls" as "this could keep the black vote down considerably". The purge targeted precincts that gave Reagan less than 20% of the vote and removed 34,000 black voters from the rolls in Louisiana. ^{[2] [3]}

Moore denied involvement with the scheme, but one of his campaign staffers was mentioned in the memo. Breaux accused the Republicans of conducting a Watergate coverup and voter registration rolls increased by 38,054 before the election. Breaux defeated Moore in the election. ^[4]

Breaux received 89% of the black vote. ^[5]

Primary election

Primary elections were held on September 27, 1986. ^[6]

Candidates

• Henson Moore, U.S. Representative from Baton Rouge
• John Breaux, U.S. Representative from Crowley
• Samuel B. Nunez Jr., State Senator from Chalmette
• J. E. Jumonville Jr., State Senator from Ventress
• Sherman A. Bernard, Louisiana Insurance Commissioner
• Eli Williams
• Robert H. Briggs
• Frank J. McTopy
• Fred Collins
• John H. Myers
• Ken Lewis
• Vincent Giardina
• Robert M. Ross
• Nels J'Anthony

Results

1986 United States Senate primary election in Louisiana ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Henson Moore	529,433	44.22
	Democratic	John Breaux	447,328	37.36
	Democratic	Samuel B. Nunez Jr.	73,505	6.14
	Democratic	J. E. Jumonville Jr.	53,394	4.46
	Democratic	Sherman A. Bernard	52,479	4.38
	Democratic	Eli Williams	7,286	0.61
	Democratic	Robert H. Briggs	6,953	0.58
	Independent	Frank J. McTopy	6,746	0.56
	Democratic	Fred Collins	5,341	0.45
	Democratic	John H. Myers	4,084	0.34
	Democratic	Ken Lewis	3,415	0.29
	Independent	Vincent Giardina	2,640	0.22
	Republican	Robert M. Ross	2,493	0.21
	Independent	Nels J'Anthony	2,144	0.18
Total votes			1,197,241	100.00

General election

Candidates

• John Breaux, Democratic
• Henson Moore, Republican

Results

1986 United States Senate election in Louisiana ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John Breaux	723,586	52.82%
	Republican	Henson Moore	646,311	47.18%
Majority			77,275
Turnout			1,369,897
	Democratic hold		Swing

See also

• 1986 United States Senate elections

References

1. Moreland, Steed & Baker 1991, p. 74-75.
2. Moreland, Steed & Baker 1991, p. 75.
3. "G.O.P. Memo Tells of Black Vote Cut". The New York Times . October 25, 1986. Archived from the original on July 23, 2023.
4. Moreland, Steed & Baker 1991, p. 75-76.
5. Black & Black 1992, p. 356.
6. "Results for Election Date: 9/27/1986". Voterportal.sos.la.gov. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
7. "Results for Election Date: 11/4/1986". Voterportal.sos.la.gov. Retrieved November 18, 2018.

Works cited

• Black, Earl; Black, Merle (1992). The Vital South: How Presidents Are Elected. Harvard University Press. ISBN   0674941306.
• Moreland, Laurence; Steed, Robert; Baker, Tod, eds. (1991). The 1988 Presidential Election in the South: Continuity Amidst Change in Southern Party Politics. Praeger Publishers. ISBN   0275931455.