PolitiFinder

1986 Alabama U.S. Senate Election

Alabama · 2 candidates · See every 1986 U.S. Senate race

Who won the 1986 Alabama U.S. Senate Election?

Richard C. Shelby won the 1986 Alabama U.S. Senate Election. Richard C. Shelby received 609,360 popular votes (50.28%). The main challenger was Jeremiah Denton (49.72%).

See the full head-to-head between Shelby and Denton

Shelby +0.6 pts · won by 6,823 votes
Richard C. ShelbyDemocraticWINNER50.28%
609,360 votes
Jeremiah DentonRepublican49.72%
602,537 votes
Popular-vote totals for U.S. Senate elections come from the MIT Election Data and Science Lab (1976–2024).

Data last verified July 28, 2026.