The 1986 United States Senate election in California took place on November 4, 1986. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator
Alan Cranston
Alan MacGregor Cranston (June 19, 1914 – December 31, 2000) was an American politician and journalist who served as a United States Senator from California from 1969 to 1993, and as a President of the World Federalist Association from 1949 to 1 ...
narrowly won re-election to a fourth and final term over Republican U.S. Congressman
Ed Zschau
Edwin Van Wyck "Ed" Zschau (; born January 6, 1940) is an American educator who represented California's 12th District in the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 1987. In 1986 he ran as the Republican candidate for a seat in t ...
.
Democratic primary
Candidates
* John Hancock Abbott, perennial candidate
* Robert John Banuelos, resident of
Costa Mesa
*
Alan Cranston
Alan MacGregor Cranston (June 19, 1914 – December 31, 2000) was an American politician and journalist who served as a United States Senator from California from 1969 to 1993, and as a President of the World Federalist Association from 1949 to 1 ...
, incumbent Senator
* Charles Greene
* Brian Lantz, candidate for Mayor of San Francisco in 1983
Results
Republican primary
Candidates
*
William B. Allen, professor at
Harvey Mudd College
Harvey Mudd College (HMC) is a private college in Claremont, California, focused on science and engineering. It is part of the Claremont Colleges, which share adjoining campus grounds and resources. The college enrolls 902 undergraduate students ...
and member of the National Council on the Humanities
*
Michael D. Antonovich,
Los Angeles County Supervisor
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (LACBOS) is the five-member governing body of Los Angeles County, California, United States.
History
On April 1, 1850 the citizens of Los Angeles elected a three-man Court of Sessions as their first ...
and former State Assemblyman
*
Eldridge Cleaver, author and former
Black Panther
A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical rosettes are also present. They have been d ...
*
Edward M. Davis, State Senator and former chief of the
Los Angeles Police Department
*
Bobbi Fiedler
Roberta Frances "Bobbi" Fiedler (née Horowitz; April 22, 1937 – March 3, 2019) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Representative from California.
Early life and education
Born Roberta Frances Horowitz in Santa Monica, ...
, U.S. Representative from
Encino
*
Bruce Herschensohn
Stanley Bruce Herschensohn (September 10, 1932 – November 30, 2020) was an American conservative political commentator, author, and senior fellow at the Pepperdine University School of Public Policy in Malibu, California.
Herschensohn qui ...
, political commentator for
KABC-TV in Los Angeles
*
Joe Knowland, actor, publisher of ''
The Oakland Tribune'' and son of former Senator
William F. Knowland
William Fife Knowland (June 26, 1908 – February 23, 1974) was an American politician and newspaper publisher. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from California from 1945 to 1959. He was Senate Majority Le ...
*
Art Laffer
Arthur Betz Laffer (; born August 14, 1940) is an American economist and author who first gained prominence during the Reagan administration as a member of Reagan's Economic Policy Advisory Board (1981–1989). Laffer is best known for the Laf ...
, economic advisor to President
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
* George Montgomery
*
Robert W. Naylor
Robert Wesley Naylor (born January 21, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician. He is a former California State Assemblyman who represented the San Francisco Bay Area's 20th Assembly District from 1978 to 1986. During his tenure in the State ...
, State Assemblyman from
Menlo Park
* William H. Pemberton, candidate for Senate in 1982
* John W. Spring
*
Ed Zschau
Edwin Van Wyck "Ed" Zschau (; born January 6, 1940) is an American educator who represented California's 12th District in the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 1987. In 1986 he ran as the Republican candidate for a seat in t ...
, U.S. Representative from
Los Altos
Results
Peace and Freedom primary
Candidates
*
Lenni Brenner, Trotskyist anti-war activist and writer
* Paul Kangas, private investigator and perennial candidate
Results
General election
Results
See also
*
1986 United States Senate elections
The 1986 United States Senate elections was an election for the United States Senate in the middle of Ronald Reagan's second presidential term. The Republicans had to defend an unusually large number of freshman Senate incumbents who had been el ...
References
{{United States elections, 1986
1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal ente ...
California
1986 California elections