United States Senate election in South Carolina, 1986

United States Senate election in South Carolina, 1986

November 4, 1986

Nominee Ernest Hollings Henry McMaster Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 463,354 261,394 Percentage 63.10% 35.60%

Senator before election Ernest Hollings Democratic Elected Senator Ernest Hollings Democratic

The 1986 South Carolina United States Senate election was held on November 4, 1986 to select the U.S. Senator from the state of South Carolina. Popular incumbent Democratic Senator Fritz Hollings easily defeated Republican challenger Henry McMaster.

Republican primary

Candidates

• Henry Jordan
• Henry McMaster, U.S. Attorney

Results

Republican Primary
Candidate	Votes	%
Henry McMaster	27,695	53.4
Henry Jordan	24,164	46.6

General election

Candidates

• Ray Hillyard (A)
• Fritz Hollings (D), incumbent U.S. Senator
• Henry McMaster (R), U.S. Attorney
• Steven Vandervelde (L)

Campaign

The race was not seriously contested and was not a target by the Republicans. With little financial assistance, McMaster was unable to mount a credible challenge to Hollings' re-election in what became a difficult year for Republicans.

Results

South Carolina U.S. Senate Election, 1986

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Fritz Hollings	465,511	63.1	-7.3
	Republican	Henry McMaster	262,976	35.6	+6.0
	Libertarian	Steven B. Vandervelde	4,788	0.7	+0.7
	American	Ray Hillyard	4,588	0.6	+0.6
	No party	Write-Ins	199	0.0	0.0
Majority			202,535	27.5	-13.3
Turnout			738,062	56.6	-13.9
	Democratic hold

See also

• List of United States Senators from South Carolina
• United States Senate elections, 1986
• South Carolina gubernatorial election, 1986