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.

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

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

Peace and Freedom primary Candidates Lenni Brenner, Trotskyist anti-war activist and writer Paul Kangas, private investigator and perennial candidate

Results

General election Results

By county County Alan CranstonDemocratic Ed ZschauRepublican Various candidatesOther parties Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % Alameda 235,338 64.6% 121,941 33.4% 7,273 2.0% 113,397 31.2% 364,552 Alpine 186 43.8% 214 50.4% 25 5.9% -28 6.6% 425 Amador 4,131 42.0% 5,356 54.4% 350 3.5% -1,225 -12.4% 9,837 Butte 22,864 40.1% 32,424 56.9% 1,684 3.0% -9,560 -16.8% 56,972 Calaveras 4,375 40.0% 6,249 57.1% 313 2.8% -1,874 -17.1% 10,937 Colusa 1,873 40.2% 2,691 57.8% 93 2.0% -818 -17.6% 4,657 Contra Costa 126,673 50.5% 118,940 47.4% 5,075 2.0% 7,733 3.1% 250,688 Del Norte 2,858 45.0% 3,225 50.7% 272 4.3% -367 -5.7% 6,355 El Dorado 13,983 39.6% 19,890 56.4% 1,413 3.9% -5,907 -16.8% 35,286 Fresno 67,841 46.6% 72,420 49.8% 5,193 3.6% -4,579 -3.2% 145,454 Glenn 2,375 33.4% 4,495 63.3% 231 3.3% -2,120 -29.9% 7,101 Humboldt 22,741 55.5% 16,692 40.7% 1,564 3.8% 6,049 14.8% 40,997 Imperial 8,355 44.6% 9,630 51.4% 750 4.0% -1,275 -6.8% 18,735 Inyo 2,169 32.1% 4,363 64.6% 218 3.3% -2,194 -32.5% 6,750 Kern 48,108 38.2% 74,195 58.8% 3,791 3.0% -26,087 -20.6% 126,094 Kings 7,786 44.1% 9,304 52.7% 573 3.3% -1,518 -8.6% 17,663 Lake 7,755 47.9% 7,930 49.0% 493 3.1% -175 -1.1% 16,178 Lassen 3,660 49.2% 3,414 45.9% 360 4.8% 246 3.3% 7,434 Los Angeles 1,110,614 54.5% 876,250 43.0% 52,368 2.6% 234,364 11.5% 2,039,232 Madera 6,895 39.5% 9,777 56.0% 777 4.4% -2,882 -16.5% 17,449 Marin 52,906 57.8% 37,053 40.5% 1,577 1.7% 15,853 17.3% 91,536 Mariposa 2,292 42.1% 2,940 54.0% 216 3.9% -648 -11.9% 5,448 Mendocino 12,830 52.5% 10,828 44.3% 790 3.2% 2,002 8.2% 24,448 Merced 12,873 43.3% 15,743 53.0% 1,104 3.7% -2,870 -9.7% 29,720 Modoc 1,514 43.2% 1,827 52.2% 162 4.6% -313 -9.0% 3,503 Mono 995 38.5% 1,521 58.9% 67 2.6% -526 -20.4% 2,583 Monterey 35,861 49.2% 35,242 48.4% 1,715 2.3% 619 0.8% 72,818 Napa 18,417 47.6% 19,320 50.0% 932 2.4% -903 -2.4% 38,669 Nevada 10,837 38.8% 16,084 57.6% 1,023 3.7% -5,247 -18.8% 27,944 Orange 223,911 34.6% 399,963 61.9% 40,682 3.4% -176,052 -27.3% 646,556 Placer 20,797 41.0% 27,991 55.2% 1,926 3.8% -7,194 -14.2% 50,714 Plumas 3,084 45.2% 3,426 50.3% 307 4.5% -342 -5.1% 6,817 Riverside 99,788 42.1% 129,312 54.6% 7,708 2.2% -29,524 -12.5% 236,808 Sacramento 151,830 49.9% 143,286 47.1% 8,950 2.9% 8,544 2.8% 304,066 San Benito 3,184 42.2% 3,986 52.8% 374 4.9% -802 -10.6% 7,544 San Bernardino 110,132 42.5% 138,786 53.5% 10,354 4.0% -28,654 -11.0% 259,272 San Diego 245,282 42.1% 317,349 54.5% 19,502 3.3% -72,067 -12.4% 582,133 San Francisco 168,327 74.2% 54,675 24.1% 3,708 1.7% 113,652 50.1% 226,710 San Joaquin 45,770 43.2% 57,572 54.3% 2,640 2.5% -11,802 -11.1% 105,982 San Luis Obispo 24,755 40.0% 25,063 56.6% 2,097 3.4% -10,308 -16.6% 61,915 San Mateo 104,485 53.7% 86,518 44.4% 3,715 1.9% 17,967 9.3% 194,718 Santa Barbara 48,989 45.7% 55,495 51.7% 2,778 2.6% -6,506 -6.0% 107,262 Santa Clara 193,585 51.1% 174,960 46.2% 10,259 2.7% 18,625 4.9% 378,804 Santa Cruz 43,820 59.2% 28,349 38.3% 1,900 2.6% 15,471 20.9% 74,069 Shasta 18,604 45.2% 21,097 51.2% 1,487 3.6% -2,493 -6.0% 41,188 Sierra 712 45.6% 788 50.5% 61 3.9% -76 -4.9% 1,561 Siskiyou 7,328 47.8% 7,369 48.0% 649 4.2% -41 -0.2% 15,346 Solano 38,356 51.6% 33,734 45.4% 2,227 3.0% 4,622 6.2% 74,317 Sonoma 67,721 54.0% 54,254 43.3% 3,393 3.6% 13,467 10.7% 125,368 Stanislaus 33,301 44.4% 39,696 52.9% 2,075 2.7% -6,395 -8.5% 75,072 Sutter 5,099 33.2% 9,658 62.8% 615 4.0% -4,559 -29.6% 15,372 Tehama 6,316 42.9% 7,857 53.4% 534 3.6% -1,541 -10.5% 14,707 Trinity 2,591 46.7% 2,669 48.1% 287 5.2% -78 -1.4% 5,547 Tulare 23,393 38.0% 36,230 58.8% 1,982 3.2% -12,837 -20.8% 61,605 Tuolumne 6,701 43.4% 8,339 54.0% 395 2.5% -1,638 -10.6% 15,435 Ventura 70,847 40.4% 99,223 56.5% 5,412 3.1% -28,376 -16.1% 175,482 Yolo 23,995 55.9% 17,724 41.3% 1,175 2.8% 6,271 14.6% 42,894 Yuba 4,864 41.2% 6,477 54.9% 452 3.8% -1,613 -13.7% 11,793Total3,646,67249.3%3,541,80447.9%210,0732.8%108,8681.4%7,398,549 Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Alpine Amador Butte Calaveras Colusa Del Norte Fresno Glenn Imperial Kings Kern Lake Madera Merced Mariposa Napa Placer Plumas Riverside San Benito San Bernardino San Diego San Joaquin San Luis Obispo Santa Barbara Shasta Sierra Siskiyou Stanislaus Trinity Tehama Tulare Tuolumne Ventura Yuba

See also 1986 United States Senate elections

References