Brigadier General James Monroe Williams

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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

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

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

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%
Democratic hold

See also

References