California
Incumbent Democratic Alan Cranston won re-nomination over nominal Democratic opposition. Congressman Ed Zschau narrowly defeated Bruce Herschensohn in the Republican primary to secure the nomination. Cranston narrowly won re-election to a fourth term over Zschau, 49%-48%.
Colorado
Incumbent Democrat Gary Hart retired instead of seeking a third term. Democratic nominee Tim Wirth and Republican Ken Kramer ran unopposed for the seat. In an ultimately very close election, Wirth defeated Kramer by just under 2%. Wirth would retire and opt not to seek a second term.
Florida
Incumbent Republican Paula Hawkins won renomination with nominal opposition, but so did her Democratic opponent, popular Governor of Florida Bob Graham. Graham defeated Hawkins by nearly 9% on election day.
Hawaii
Incumbent Democratic Daniel Inouye won re-election to a fifth term, 74%-26%, over Republican Frank Hutchinson, who had defeated Marvin Franklin in the Republican primary.
Indiana
Incumbent Republican Dan Quayle won re-election to a second term over Democratic Valparaiso City Councilwoman Jill L. Long.
New York
Incumbent Republican Al D'Amato won re-election to a second term over Democrat Mark Green, the Chief Speechwriter for U.S. Senator Gary Hart and former congressional candidate. Sanford won both elections.
The primary elections would nominate candidates to the special and the regular election.
North Carolina (regular)
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. Then, Friday declined to run, as did other well-known politicians like former Gov. Jim Hunt. 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.
North Carolina (special)
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).
North Dakota
Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Mark Andrews lost re-election to a second term to Dem-NPL nominee Kent Conrad, State Tax Commissioner. Andrews lost re-election by just over 2,000
Ohio
Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator John Glenn won re-election to a third term over Republican U.S. Congressman Tom Kindness.
Oklahoma
Incumbent Republican Don Nickles won re-election to his second term, over Democratic U.S. Congressman James R. Jones, who defeated James Gentry in the primary.
Oregon
Incumbent Bob Packwood ran for re-election, though he faced a significant primary challenge from Joe Lutz. U.S. Congressman Jim Weaver received the Democratic nomination. A populist Democratic congressman from Eugene, Oregon, he was a darling of the environmentalists. Weaver supported the Oregon Wilderness Act of 1984. Packwood was confident despite the popular opponent, because had more money and a better campaign organization. After winning the party nomination, Weaver was the subject of a House Ethics Committee probe into his campaign finances, and withdrew his candidacy. Rick Bauman was selected to replace Weaver on the ballot, and lost handily to Packwood.
Pennsylvania
Incumbent Republican Arlen Specter, who had been elected in 1980, ran for re-election and faced Democrat Robert W. Edgar in the general election.
Specter was viewed somewhat tepidly by the Pennsylvania electorate entering the race, although both men shared similar moderate profiles. Additionally, economic woes had dragged down the popularity of Republican candidates in the industrial states. Don Bailey, the state's incumbent Auditor General, who projected a strong blue collar image and had moderate positions that were often relatively close to Specter's, and Edgar, a Methodist minister and sitting Congressman, who had more liberal viewpoints and was with the Vietnam War-era peace movement and anti-corruption movement following the Watergate scandals, ran for the Democratic nomination. However, issues played a very minor role in the primary, which instead showcased the state's geographical divide, with Delaware County-based Edgar narrowly defeating Westmoreland County-based Bailey.
Specter defeated Edgar in the general election by nearly 13% of the vote.
Wisconsin
Incumbent Republican Bob Kasten ran unopposed in the Republican primary. Ed Garvey, former Deputy Attorney General of Wisconsin and executive director of the NFLPA, defeated Matt Flynn in the Democratic primary. Kasten defeated Garvey in the general election by just over 3%.