United States Senate election in Alabama, 1986
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The Alabama United States Senate election of 1986 was a part of the midterm elections, which were generally won by the Democratic Party, which won control of the United States Senate. In Alabama, a Democratic candidate defeated his Republican incumbent opponent, who gained the seat as on Ronald Reagan's coattails.
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[edit] Republican nomination
Incumbent Senator Jeremiah Denton, a retired Rear Admiral and decorated Vietnam War veteran who six years earlier became the first Republican elected to the Senate from Alabama since Reconstruction, won the primary with little opposition[1].
- Jeremiah Denton - 29,805 (88.55%)
- Richard Vickers - 3,854 (11.45%)
[edit] Democratic nomination
Candidates:
- Jim Allen
- Steve Arnold
- Ted McLaughlin
- U.S. Representative (AL-7) Richard Shelby
- Genealogist and writer Magaret E. Stewart
Shelby, a moderate-to-conservative Democrat avoided runoff and won nomination in the Democratic Party primary[2].
- Shelby - 420,155 (51.33%)
- Allen - 284,206 (34.72%)
- McLaughin - 70,784 (8.65%)
- Stewart - 26,723 (3.27%)
- Arnold - 16,722 (2.04%)
[edit] General election result
Shelby won a very narrow victory over Denton (less than one precent)[3].
- Shelby - 609,360 (50.28%)
- Denton - 602,537 (49.72%)
Shelby was re-elected as Democrat in 1992. In 1994, he changed parties becoming a Republican, and as Republican was reelected in 1998 and 2004.
