1986 United States Senate election in California

The 1986 United States Senate election in California took place on November 4, 1986. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Alan Cranston narrowly won re-election to a fourth and final term over Republican U.S. Congressman Ed Zschau. This was the last time where both major party nominees for the Class 3 Senate seat in California were men until 2022.

1986 United States Senate election in California

← 1980 November 4, 1986 (1986-11-04) 1992 →

Nominee Alan Cranston Ed Zschau Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 3,646,672 3,541,804 Percentage 49.29% 47.87%

County results Cranston:      40-50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Zschau:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%

U.S. senator before election Alan Cranston Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Alan Cranston Democratic

Democratic primary

Candidates

• John Hancock Abbott, perennial candidate
• Robert John Banuelos, resident of Costa Mesa
• Alan Cranston, incumbent Senator
• Charles Greene
• Brian Lantz, candidate for Mayor of San Francisco in 1983

Results

1986 Democratic Senate primary^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Alan Cranston (incumbent)	1,807,244	80.71%
	Democratic	Charles Greene	165,594	7.40%
	Democratic	John Hancock Abbott	124,218	5.55%
	Democratic	Robert John Banuelos	77,286	3.45%
	Democratic	Brian Lantz	64,907	2.90%
Total votes			2,239,249	100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

• William B. Allen, professor at Harvey Mudd College and member of the National Council on the Humanities
• Michael D. Antonovich, Los Angeles County Supervisor and former State Assemblyman
• Eldridge Cleaver, author and former Black Panther
• Edward M. Davis, State Senator and former chief of the Los Angeles Police Department
• Bobbi Fiedler, U.S. Representative from Encino
• Bruce Herschensohn, political commentator for KABC-TV in Los Angeles
• Joe Knowland, actor, publisher of The Oakland Tribune and son of former Senator William Knowland
• Art Laffer, economic advisor to President Ronald Reagan
• George Montgomery
• Robert W. Naylor, State Assemblyman from Menlo Park
• William H. Pemberton, candidate for Senate in 1982
• John W. Spring
• Ed Zschau, U.S. Representative from Los Altos

Results

1986 Republican Senate primary^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ed Zschau	737,384	37.12%
	Republican	Bruce Herschensohn	587,852	29.59%
	Republican	Michael D. Antonovich	180,010	9.06%
	Republican	Bobbi Fiedler	143,032	7.20%
	Republican	Edward M. Davis	130,309	6.56%
	Republican	Robert W. Naylor	60,820	3.06%
	Republican	Art Laffer	47,288	2.38%
	Republican	Joe Knowland	35,987	1.81%
	Republican	Eldridge Cleaver	23,512	1.17%
	Republican	George Montgomery	16,374	0.82%
	Republican	William B. Allen	12,990	0.65%
	Republican	William H. Pemberton	6,698	0.34%
	Republican	John W. Spring	4,478	0.23%
Total votes			1,986,374	100.00%

Peace and Freedom primary

Candidates

• Lenni Brenner, Trotskyist anti-war activist and writer
• Paul Kangas, private investigator and perennial candidate

Results

1986 Peace and Freedom Senate primary^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Peace and Freedom	Paul Kangas	2,495	51.03%
	Peace and Freedom	Lenni Brenner	2,394	48.97%
Total votes			4,889	100.00%

General election

Results

Shift by county

Trend by county

Legend

•   Republican — >15%
•   Republican — +12.5−15%
•   Republican — +10−12.5%
•   Republican — +7.5−10%
•   Republican — +5−7.5%
•   Republican — +2.5−5%
•   Republican — +0−2.5%
•   Democratic — +0−2.5%
•   Democratic — +2.5−5%
•   Democratic — +5−7.5%
•   Democratic — +7.5-10%
•   Democratic — +10−12.5%

1986 California U.S. Senate election^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Alan Cranston (incumbent)	3,646,672	49.29%
	Republican	Ed Zschau	3,541,804	47.87%
	American Independent	Edward B. Vallen	109,916	1.49%
	Libertarian	Breck McKinley	66,261	0.90%
	Peace and Freedom	Paul Kangas	33,869	0.46%
	Independent	John W. Spring	12	0.00%
	Independent	Sam Manuel	11	0.00%
	Independent	John Hancock Abbott	4	0.00%
Total votes			7,398,549	100.00%
	Democratic hold

See also

• 1986 United States Senate elections