1986 United States Senate election in Maryland

Summary

The 1986 United States Senate election in Maryland was held on November 4, 1986. Incumbent Republican U.S. 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. Barbara Mikulski's swearing-in marked the first time since 1969 where Democrats held both Senate seats from Maryland.

1986 United States Senate election in Maryland

← 1980 November 4, 1986 1992 →
 
Nominee Barbara Mikulski Linda Chavez
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 675,225 437,411
Percentage 60.69% 39.31%

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

Democratic primary edit

Candidates edit

Results edit

 
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]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Barbara A. Mikulski 307,876 49.50%
Democratic Michael D. Barnes 195,086 31.37%
Democratic Harry Hughes 88,908 14.30%
Democratic Debra Hanania Freeman 9,350 1.50%
Democratic Edward M. Olszewski 7,877 1.27%
Democratic A. Robert Kaufman 6,505 1.05%
Democratic Boyd E. Sweatt 3,580 0.58%
Democratic Leonard E. Trout, Jr. 2,742 0.44%
Total votes 621,924 100.00%

Republican primary edit

Candidates edit

Results edit

 
Republican primary results by county:
Map legend
  •   Chavez—70–80%
  •   Chavez—80–90%
  •   Chavez—>90%
Republican primary results[1][3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Linda Chavez 100,888 73.07%
Republican Michael Schaefer 16,902 12.24%
Republican George Haley 5,808 4.21%
Republican Melvin Perkins 2,785 2.02%
Republican Nicholas T. Nonnenmacher 2,751 1.99%
Republican Richard Sullivan 2,328 1.69%
Republican Howard D. Greyber 1,678 1.22%
Republican Monroe Cornish 1,497 1.08%
Republican Herbert Stone Rosenberg 1,337 0.97%
Republican Horace Stuart Rich 1,199 0.87%
Republican Abraham H. Kalish 901 0.65%
Total votes 138,074 100.00%

General election edit

Candidates edit

Campaign edit

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 edit

United States Senate election in Maryland, 1986[4][5][6][7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Barbara A. Mikulski 675,225 60.69% +26.85%
Republican Linda Chavez 437,411 39.31% -26.85%
Majority 237,814 21.37% -10.96%
Total votes 1,017,151 100.00%
Democratic gain from Republican Swing

Results by county edit

County Barbara A. Mikulski

Democratic

Linda Chavez

Republican

Margin Total

Votes

Cast

# % # % # %
Allegany 8845 45.05% 10790 54.95% -1945 -9.91% 19635
Anne Arundel 54936 54.14% 46536 45.86% 8400 8.28% 101472
Baltimore (City) 137775 82.65% 28926 17.35% 108849 65.30% 166701
Baltimore (County) 126914 62.30% 76785 37.70% 50129 24.61% 203699
Calvert 5420 50.23% 5371 49.77% 49 0.45% 10791
Caroline 2241 45.04% 2735 54.96% -494 -9.93% 4976
Carroll 11659 43.20% 15329 56.80% -3670 -13.60% 26988
Cecil 6879 48.47% 7312 51.53% -433 -3.05% 14191
Charles 8958 50.82% 8670 49.18% 288 1.63% 17628
Dorchester 3562 47.18% 3988 52.82% -426 -5.64% 7550
Frederick 13153 44.29% 16547 55.71% -3394 -11.43% 29700
Garrett 1908 33.26% 3829 66.74% -1921 -33.48% 5737
Harford 21534 52.91% 19168 47.09% 2366 5.81% 40702
Howard 25723 57.57% 18960 42.43% 6763 15.14% 44683
Kent 2791 54.13% 2365 45.87% 426 8.26% 5156
Montgomery 117058 59.26% 80469 40.74% 36589 18.52% 197527
Prince George's 85536 66.76% 42585 33.24% 42951 33.52% 128121
Queen Anne's 3915 49.14% 4052 50.86% -137 -1.72% 7967
St. Mary's 6484 53.32% 5676 46.68% 808 6.64% 12160
Somerset 2566 43.65% 3312 56.35% -746 -12.69% 5878
Talbot 3712 43.12% 4896 56.88% -1184 -13.75% 8608
Washington 12181 44.81% 15005 55.19% -2824 -10.39% 27186
Wicomico 7463 44.54% 9291 55.46% -1828 -10.91% 16754
Worcester 4016 45.44% 4822 54.56% -806 -9.12% 8838
Total 675229 60.69% 437419 39.31% 237810 21.37% 1112648

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democrat edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b "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.