PolitiFinder

1986 North Carolina U.S. Senate Special

North Carolina · 2 candidates · See every 1986 U.S. Senate race

Who won the 1986 North Carolina U.S. Senate Special?

Terry Sanford won the 1986 North Carolina U.S. Senate Special. Terry Sanford received 780,967 popular votes (50.88%). The main challenger was James T. Broyhill (49.12%).

See the full head-to-head between Sanford and Broyhill

Sanford +1.8 pts · won by 27,086 votes
Terry SanfordDemocraticWINNER50.88%
780,967 votes
James T. BroyhillRepublican49.12%
753,881 votes
A special election fills a Senate seat that came open mid-term. 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.