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United States · Election results history · 1986 Senate · Pennsylvania
Election 1986 Results

Each election opens in its own mode: the forecast before the votes are counted, the live count while races are still too close to call, and the results once every race is decided.

1986 US Senate election in Pennsylvania

Arlen Specter (Republican) beat Bob Edgar (Democrat) in Pennsylvania in 1986, 56.4% to 42.9%, a margin of 13.6 points and 458,318 votes.

The Republican hold continued from 1980, when Arlen Specter also won.

Republicans led in 61 of the 67 counties as they stood then and Democrats in 6. The largest, Philadelphia, cast 485,993 votes and went to the Democrat by 12.5 points. The closest was Greene, where 138 votes separated the two parties.

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Early projection, based on early and incomplete polling: the likely matchups, each weighted by the betting markets' odds of both nominations, not a result. Each county is its 2024 presidential margin moved by its state's projected swing; set a national vote and every state, district and county moves by the same amount from our projection. Colours run in 100 steps from a safe Republican to a safe Democratic margin. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.

Senate

CandidatePartyVotesShare
Arlen Specter won Republican 1,906,537 56.4%
Bob Edgar Democratic 1,448,219 42.9%
All other candidates 23,470 0.7%
Total3,378,226

Every county

CountyDemocratRepublicanOthersTotalMargin
Philadelphia 271,759 55.9% 211,193 43.5% 3,041 485,993 D+12.5
Allegheny 207,814 48.6% 216,279 50.6% 3,619 427,712 R+2.0
Montgomery 61,576 31.0% 136,265 68.6% 917 198,758 R+37.6
Delaware 83,779 43.5% 107,922 56.0% 952 192,653 R+12.5
Bucks 49,703 35.1% 91,209 64.4% 818 141,730 R+29.3
Westmoreland 51,648 49.9% 50,804 49.1% 1,055 103,507 D+0.8
Luzerne 50,421 49.3% 51,246 50.1% 599 102,266 R+0.8
Lancaster 23,774 24.6% 72,164 74.8% 570 96,508 R+50.1
Chester 27,010 30.6% 60,782 68.9% 379 88,171 R+38.3
Berks 30,990 38.4% 49,113 60.8% 616 80,719 R+22.5
Lackawanna 35,815 45.6% 42,355 53.9% 371 78,541 R+8.3
York 25,766 33.8% 49,950 65.4% 605 76,321 R+31.7
Erie 30,701 41.5% 42,267 57.1% 1,071 74,039 R+15.6
Lehigh 27,978 39.6% 42,216 59.7% 529 70,723 R+20.1
Dauphin 23,015 34.3% 43,717 65.1% 379 67,111 R+30.8
Beaver 35,155 57.5% 25,498 41.7% 450 61,103 D+15.8
Washington 30,095 49.4% 30,526 50.1% 333 60,954 R+0.7
Northampton 25,958 45.6% 30,465 53.5% 521 56,944 R+7.9
Cambria 29,953 52.8% 26,302 46.4% 439 56,694 D+6.4
Cumberland 17,048 32.1% 35,749 67.3% 314 53,111 R+35.2
Schuylkill 19,273 38.5% 30,429 60.8% 316 50,018 R+22.3
Fayette 20,609 54.1% 17,151 45.0% 361 38,121 D+9.1
Butler 14,363 38.0% 23,163 61.2% 312 37,838 R+23.3
Mercer 15,230 44.5% 18,560 54.3% 420 34,210 R+9.7
Blair 10,240 30.9% 22,616 68.3% 245 33,101 R+37.4
Lawrence 16,764 52.8% 14,832 46.7% 172 31,768 D+6.1
Centre 11,570 37.8% 18,844 61.6% 163 30,577 R+23.8
Northumberland 12,094 42.0% 16,427 57.1% 273 28,794 R+15.0
Lycoming 9,874 34.4% 18,568 64.7% 249 28,691 R+30.3
Lebanon 8,737 31.4% 18,883 67.8% 227 27,847 R+36.4
Somerset 10,477 40.3% 15,297 58.9% 199 25,973 R+18.6
Indiana 10,033 40.9% 14,370 58.6% 133 24,536 R+17.7
Franklin 8,117 33.2% 16,174 66.2% 124 24,415 R+33.0
Clearfield 10,346 44.1% 12,970 55.3% 147 23,463 R+11.2
Crawford 8,189 35.2% 14,896 64.1% 165 23,250 R+28.8
Armstrong 9,188 43.4% 11,854 56.0% 141 21,183 R+12.6
Adams 6,730 37.5% 11,121 61.9% 119 17,970 R+24.4
Venango 6,370 36.9% 10,761 62.3% 149 17,280 R+25.4
Columbia 6,567 38.9% 10,229 60.5% 107 16,903 R+21.7
Monroe 6,328 37.4% 10,476 62.0% 96 16,900 R+24.5
Carbon 7,105 46.3% 8,073 52.6% 156 15,334 R+6.3
Bedford 5,214 34.4% 9,890 65.2% 70 15,174 R+30.8
Bradford 4,093 27.7% 10,564 71.6% 96 14,753 R+43.9
Jefferson 5,369 37.4% 8,907 62.0% 92 14,368 R+24.6
Warren 4,672 35.9% 8,237 63.3% 109 13,018 R+27.4
Clarion 4,624 36.5% 7,937 62.7% 98 12,659 R+26.2
Elk 5,787 46.3% 6,639 53.1% 68 12,494 R+6.8
Susquehanna 3,417 29.0% 8,270 70.3% 81 11,768 R+41.2
Huntingdon 3,835 33.4% 7,562 66.0% 69 11,466 R+32.5
Tioga 3,260 28.5% 8,102 70.8% 76 11,438 R+42.3
McKean 3,509 30.8% 7,769 68.2% 115 11,393 R+37.4
Greene 5,579 49.2% 5,717 50.4% 48 11,344 R+1.2
Mifflin 3,846 37.0% 6,466 62.1% 96 10,408 R+25.2
Wayne 2,794 26.9% 7,487 72.1% 97 10,378 R+45.2
Perry 2,924 28.8% 7,144 70.3% 90 10,158 R+41.5
Snyder 2,098 22.6% 7,105 76.7% 60 9,263 R+54.1
Clinton 3,722 43.7% 4,706 55.2% 93 8,521 R+11.5
Union 2,191 27.1% 5,836 72.3% 45 8,072 R+45.2
Wyoming 1,914 24.9% 5,731 74.6% 35 7,680 R+49.7
Juniata 2,538 38.0% 4,114 61.7% 21 6,673 R+23.6
Pike 1,740 30.3% 3,954 68.8% 49 5,743 R+38.6
Potter 1,533 30.2% 3,506 69.2% 29 5,068 R+38.9
Montour 1,725 37.2% 2,877 62.1% 30 4,632 R+24.9
Fulton 1,315 38.5% 2,078 60.9% 21 3,414 R+22.3
Sullivan 949 38.5% 1,497 60.8% 16 2,462 R+22.3
Cameron 764 32.5% 1,580 67.1% 9 2,353 R+34.7
Forest 645 35.9% 1,146 63.8% 5 1,796 R+27.9

Counties as they stood in 1986; some have since been split, merged or renamed. Margin: the Democrat's share of all votes minus the Republican's. Sources and how the results were checked.

Pennsylvania Senate elections we hold

YearWinnerMargin
2024 Dave McCormick (R) R+0.2
2022 John K Fetterman (D) D+4.9
2018 Robert P Casey Jr (D) D+12.9
2016 Patrick J. Toomey (R) R+1.4
2012 Robert P. Casey, Jr. (D) D+9.1
2010 Pat Toomey (R) R+2.0
2006 Bob Casey, Jr. (D) D+17.4
2004 Arlen Specter (R) R+10.6
2000 Rick Santorum (R) R+6.9
1998 Arlen Specter (R) R+26.6
1994 Rick Santorum (R) R+2.5
1992 Arlen Specter (R) R+2.8
1988 John Heinz (R) R+34.0
1986 Arlen Specter (R) R+13.6
1982 John Heinz (R) R+20.1
1980 Arlen Specter (R) R+2.4
1976 H. John Heinz III (R) R+5.6
1974 Richard Schweiker (R) R+7.1
1970 Hugh Scott (R) R+6.0
1968 Richard Schweiker (R) R+6.1
1964 Hugh Scott (R) R+1.5
1962 Joseph S. Clark (D) D+2.4
1958 Hugh Scott (R) R+2.8
1956 Joseph S. Clark (D) D+0.4
1952 Edward Martin (R) R+3.6
1950 James H. Duff (R) R+3.6
1946 Edward Martin (R) R+19.4
1944 Francis Myers (D) D+0.6
1940 Joseph F. Guffey (D) D+4.4
1938 James J. Davis (R) R+10.6
1934 Joseph F. Guffey (D) D+4.3
1932 James J. Davis (R) R+6.2
1928 David A. Reed (R) R+30.4
1926 William S. Vare (R) R+11.5
1922 David A. Reed (R) R+25.5
1920 Boies Penrose (R) R+32.8
1916 Philander Knox (R) R+19.1
1914 Boies Penrose (R) R+22.8