1986 United States Senate election in Maryland

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1986 United States Senate election in Maryland
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  Barbara A Mikulski.jpg Reagan Contact Sheet C28746 (cropped).jpg
Nominee Barbara Mikulski Linda Chavez
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote675,225437,411
Percentage60.69%39.31%
1986 United States Senate election in Maryland results map by county.svg
County results
Mikulski:      50–60%     60–70%     80–90%
Chavez:      50–60%     60–70%
U.S. senator before election

Charles Mathias Jr.
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Barbara Mikulski
Democratic

The 1986 United States Senate election in Maryland was held on November 4, 1986. Incumbent Republican Senator Charles Mathias Jr. decided to retire instead of seeking a fourth term. Democratic U.S. Representative Barbara Mikulski defeated Reagan Administration official Linda Chavez for the open seat. Mikulski's swearing-in marked the first time since 1969 where Democrats held both Senate seats from Maryland.

Contents

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Democratic primary results by county: Map legend .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{} Mikulski--30-40% Mikulski--40-50% Mikulski--50-60% Mikulski--60-70% Barnes--30-40% Barnes--40-50% Barnes--70-80% Hughes--30-40% 1986 United States Senate Democratic primary election in Maryland results map by county.svg
Democratic primary results by county:
Map legend
  •   Mikulski—30–40%
  •   Mikulski—40–50%
  •   Mikulski—50–60%
  •   Mikulski—60–70%
  •   Barnes—30–40%
  •   Barnes—40–50%
  •   Barnes—70-80%
  •   Hughes—30–40%
Democratic primary results [1] [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Barbara A. Mikulski 307,876 49.50%
Democratic Michael D. Barnes195,08631.37%
Democratic Harry Hughes88,90814.30%
Democratic Debra Hanania Freeman9,3501.50%
Democratic Edward M. Olszewski7,8771.27%
Democratic A. Robert Kaufman6,5051.05%
Democratic Boyd E. Sweatt3,5800.58%
Democratic Leonard E. Trout, Jr.2,7420.44%
Total votes621,924 100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Republican primary results by county: Map legend Chavez--70-80% Chavez--80-90% Chavez-->90% 1986 United States Senate Repulican primary election in Maryland results map by county.svg
Republican primary results by county:
Map legend
  •   Chavez—70–80%
  •   Chavez—80–90%
  •   Chavez—>90%
Republican primary results [1] [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Linda Chavez 100,888 73.07%
Republican Michael Schaefer16,90212.24%
Republican George Haley5,8084.21%
Republican Melvin Perkins2,7852.02%
Republican Nicholas T. Nonnenmacher2,7511.99%
Republican Richard Sullivan2,3281.69%
Republican Howard D. Greyber1,6781.22%
Republican Monroe Cornish1,4971.08%
Republican Herbert Stone Rosenberg1,3370.97%
Republican Horace Stuart Rich1,1990.87%
Republican Abraham H. Kalish9010.65%
Total votes138,074 100.00%

General election

Candidates

Campaign

Mathias announced his retirement from politics. At the time of this announcement, it was expected that then-Governor Harry Hughes would run for the seat being vacated by retiring Senator Mathias. However, Hughes became caught up in the aftermath of the Maryland savings and loan crisis. He lost popularity with voters, opening the door for Mikulski's bid for the Senate.

Chavez won the primary handily, defeating several Republican challengers. Later, she made comments that some Mikulski supporters interpreted as an attempt to draw attention to the issue of Mikulski's sexual orientation. In an article quoting Chavez's claim that Mikulski was a "San Francisco-style, George McGovern, liberal Democrat", The Washington Post reported that Chavez was directly implying that the never-married Mikulski was a lesbian.[ citation needed ] Chavez was accused of making Mikulski's sexual orientation a central issue of the political campaign. In defending her use of the phrase, Chavez stated the line "San Francisco Democrats" was a reference to Jeane Kirkpatrick's 1984 Republican National Convention "Blame America First" speech, in which Kirkpatrick coined the phrase "San Francisco Liberal."[ citation needed ]. The phrase "San Francisco liberal" was common at the time.

Mikulski never directly responded to the issue and eventually won the race with 61 percent of the vote. She was the first female Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate in her own right (not appointed or filling a seat of a deceased husband).

Results

United States Senate election in Maryland, 1986 [4] [5] [6] [7]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Barbara A. Mikulski 675,225 60.69% +26.85%
Republican Linda Chavez437,41139.31%−26.85%
Majority237,81421.37%−10.96%
Total votes1,112,636 100.00%
Democratic gain from Republican Swing

Results by county

CountyBarbara A. Mikulski

Democratic

Linda Chavez

Republican

MarginTotal

Votes

Cast

#%#%#%
Allegany 884545.05%1079054.95%-1945-9.91%19635
Anne Arundel 5493654.14%4653645.86%84008.28%101472
Baltimore (City) 13777582.65%2892617.35%10884965.30%166701
Baltimore (County) 12691462.30%7678537.70%5012924.61%203699
Calvert 542050.23%537149.77%490.45%10791
Caroline 224145.04%273554.96%-494-9.93%4976
Carroll 1165943.20%1532956.80%-3670-13.60%26988
Cecil 687948.47%731251.53%-433-3.05%14191
Charles 895850.82%867049.18%2881.63%17628
Dorchester 356247.18%398852.82%-426-5.64%7550
Frederick 1315344.29%1654755.71%-3394-11.43%29700
Garrett 190833.26%382966.74%-1921-33.48%5737
Harford 2153452.91%1916847.09%23665.81%40702
Howard 2572357.57%1896042.43%676315.14%44683
Kent 279154.13%236545.87%4268.26%5156
Montgomery 11705859.26%8046940.74%3658918.52%197527
Prince George's 8553666.76%4258533.24%4295133.52%128121
Queen Anne's 391549.14%405250.86%-137-1.72%7967
St. Mary's 648453.32%567646.68%8086.64%12160
Somerset 256643.65%331256.35%-746-12.69%5878
Talbot 371243.12%489656.88%-1184-13.75%8608
Washington 1218144.81%1500555.19%-2824-10.39%27186
Wicomico 746344.54%929155.46%-1828-10.91%16754
Worcester 401645.44%482254.56%-806-9.12%8838
Total67522960.69%43741939.31%23781021.37%1112648

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "Maryland State Board of Elections". Elections.state.md.us. August 17, 2001. Retrieved May 18, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Our Campaigns - MD US Senate Race - D Primary Race - Sep 09 1986". www.ourcampaigns.com. Our Campaigns. n.d. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Our Campaigns - MD US Senate Race - R Primary Race - Sep 09 1986". www.ourcampaigns.com. Our Campaigns. n.d. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
  4. ↑ "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 4, 1986" (PDF). Clerk of the House of Representatives. p. 17.
  5. ↑ "Archives of Maryland, Volume 0183, Page 0676 - Maryland Manual, 1987-88". msa.maryland.gov. Maryland State Archives. n.d. p. 676. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Our Campaigns - MD US Senate Race - Nov 04, 1986". www.ourcampaigns.com. Our Campaigns. n.d. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
  7. ↑ "1986 Senatorial General Election Results - Maryland". uselectionatlas.org. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. March 26, 2009. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
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