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 County results D'Amato: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Green: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The1986 United States Senate election in New York took place on November 4, 1986, alongside other elections to theUnited States Senate in other states as well as elections to theUnited States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
IncumbentRepublican U.S. SenatorAl D'Amato won re-election to a second term by a wide margin versusDemocratic opponentMark Green. D'Amato's performance was credited to his strength in suburban areas.[1] During his Senate campaign, Green refused to accept money from special interest groups'political action committees (PACs) – which had accounted for 25% of all campaign spending in Congressional campaigns in 1984[2] – denouncing PACs as "legalized bribery."[3]
Former Representative and1984 vice-presidential nomineeGeraldine Ferraro had been widely expected to run for Senate. However, Ferraro chose to forgo a candidacy in December 1985 due to legal problems facing her and her husband.[4]
In the run-up to the Senate contest, former RepresentativeGeraldine Ferraro was widely expected to run against D'Amato. Despite her presence on the losing presidential ticket in1984, her high public stature led commentators to believe she'd be a formidable Senate candidate.[4] In 1985, one year before the election, Ferraro did groundwork inUpstate New York towards that end.[5]
However, inDecember 1985, she said she would not run. She explained that she would not run due to an ongoingU.S. Justice Department probe on her and her husband's finances stemming from 1984 campaign revelations.[4]
In her absence, two major Democrats entered the race:
The moderate Dyson was supported by many high-profile Democrats, and received the behind-the-scenes support of GovernorMario Cuomo. Green received the support of eight Democratic members of Congress.[6] Despite spending $6 million on his campaign to the $600,000 raised by Green,[7] Dyson was defeated by the more liberal Green in the primary. Upon hearing news of his victory, Green boasted:[8]
"We were outspent by 800 percent and won by 600 percent. No one has ever been outspent in a primary by $6 million to $800,000 and still won.''
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Al D'Amato (incumbent) | 2,030,260 | 45.27% |  7.50 | |
| Conservative | Al D'Amato | 212,101 | 4.73% | 0.16 | |
| Right to Life | Al D'Amato | 135,386 | 3.02% | 0.51 | |
| Total | Al D'Amato (incumbent) | 2,378,197 | 53.03% | 8.15 | |
| Democratic | Mark Green | 1,723,216 | 38.42% |  5.12 | |
| Liberal | John S. Dyson | 60,099 | 1.34% | 9.71 | |
| New Alliance | Fred Newman | 10,559 | 0.24% | N/A | |
| Socialist Workers | Michael Shur | 7,376 | 0.16% | 0.11 | |
| Various | Others | 305,412 | 6.81% | N/A | |
| Total votes | 4,484,859 | 100.00% | |||
| Republicanhold | Swing | ||||
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