1986 United States Senate special election in North Carolina

The 1986 United States Senate special election in North Carolina was held on November 8, 1986 as part of the nationwide elections to the Senate. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Jim Broyhill, who had been appointed in June 1986 to serve out the rest of John Porter East's term, faced off against the popular Democratic former Governor Terry Sanford. This was a special election for what little remained of the 99th United States Congress (November 1986-January 1987), being held contemporaneously with a regular election for a new six-year term (beginning in January 1987).[1] Sanford won both elections.

1986 United States Senate special election in North Carolina

November 8, 1986

Nominee Terry Sanford Jim Broyhill Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 780,967 753,881 Percentage 50.88% 49.12%

U.S. senator before election Jim Broyhill Republican Elected U.S. Senator Terry Sanford Democratic

The primary elections would nominate candidates to the special and the regular election.

Democratic primary

Terry Sanford, then the outgoing president of Duke University, first said in September 1985 that he was planning to run for the U.S. Senate the next year but quickly withdrew, as it appeared that the party wanted a "fresh" face, most likely in the person of UNC System President William Friday.[2] Then, Friday declined to run, as did other well-known politicians like former Gov. Jim Hunt.[3] Former North Carolina Secretary of Commerce Lauch Faircloth then made it known that he would run, but he was considered too conservative by many party leaders, who encouraged Sanford to enter the race in order to defeat Faircloth.[2] Sanford agreed to run, which led Faircloth and another candidate, Judge Marvin K. Blount Jr., to withdraw before filing their candidacies. Six years later, Faircloth did run for the Senate against Sanford, but this time as a Republican.

Candidates

• Walt Atkins
• William Belk, Belk department store executive and former president of Young Democrats of America[3]
• Katherine Harper, business executive[4]
• John Ingram, former North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance
• Theodore Kinney, real estate agent and African-American political activist[5]
• T.L. "Fountain" Odom, Mecklenburg County commissioner and attorney[4] (later a state senator)[6]
• Terry Sanford, former Governor
• Betty Wallace, educator and deputy superintendent of North Carolina Department of Public Instruction[3][7]

Results

1986 North Carolina U.S. Senate Democratic primary election[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Terry Sanford	409,394	60.25%
	Democratic	John Ingram	111,557	16.42%
	Democratic	Fountain Odom	49,689	7.31%
	Democratic	William Belk	33,821	4.98%
	Democratic	Theodore Kinney	27,228	4.01%
	Democratic	Betty Wallace	17,001	2.50%
	Democratic	Katherine Harper	12,998	1.91%
	Democratic	Walt Atkins	8,306	1.22%
	Democratic	Others	9,493	1.40%
Turnout			679,487

Republican primary

Sen. East declined to run for a second term, citing his health. Longtime U.S. Representative Jim Broyhill entered the race with much of the establishment support, but David Funderburk had the backing of the organization of Senator Jesse Helms.[3] Funderburk charged Broyhill with being insufficiently conservative, but in the end, Broyhill won the nomination handily in the May primary. The next month, Sen. East committed suicide, and Gov. James G. Martin appointed Broyhill to his seat.

Candidates

• Jim Broyhill, incumbent U.S. Senator and U.S. Congressman
• David Funderburk, former U.S. Ambassador to Romania (later a U.S. Congressman)
• Glenn Miller, perennial candidate

Results

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1986 North Carolina U.S. Senate Republican primary election[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jim Broyhill	139,570	66.52%
	Republican	David Funderburk	63,593	30.31%
	Republican	Glenn Miller	6,662	3.18%
Turnout			148,574

Special election

Candidates

• Jim Broyhill (R), incumbent U.S. Senator and U.S. Congressman
• Terry Sanford (D), former Governor

Results

1986 North Carolina U.S. Senate election – Special election[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Terry Sanford	780,967	50.88%
	Republican	Jim Broyhill (incumbent)	753,881	49.12%
Total votes			1,534,875	100.00%
	Democratic gain from Republican

See also

• 1986 United States Senate elections

References

1. Advisory Opinion of the Federal Election Commission
2. D.G. Martin
3. New York Times
4. Star-News: Senate candidate claims revelations from deity
5. The Dispatch
6. The Odom Firm
7. Newspapers.com: The Daily Tar Heel
8. http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=132134
9. http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=78951
10. http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=78950