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.
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
County results Cranston: 40-50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Zschau: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
|
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% |
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% |
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% |
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% | ||
Democratic hold |