Senator Percy was opposed by Democratic nominee Paul Simon, who was a United States Congressman from Illinois's 22nd congressional district.

However, Simon received huge numbers out of the heavily populated and Democratic Cook County, which encompasses most of the Chicago Metropolitan Area.

Percy led early on and well into the night, but as Cook County began to count all of its votes, Simon pulled ahead.

Jepsen was opposed by United States Congressman Tom Harkin, from Iowa's 5th congressional district, who won the Democratic primary uncontested.

[7] Ultimately, Harkin defeated Jepsen by a wide margin, winning the first of five terms in the Senate.

One-term incumbent Paul Tsongas declined to seek re-election and retired from the Senate following a battle with cancer.

He easily won renomination in the Democratic primary, and advanced to the general election, where he faced Chuck Cozzens, a former State Representative and the Republican nominee.

Despite President Ronald Reagan's strong performance in the state that year, Baucus was able to easily win a second term over Cozzens.

[19] In the short time before election day, however, the highly popular incumbent US President Ronald Reagan gave Helms a significant boost[20] by campaigning for him and running a local TV ad praising Helms and asking registered voters in North Carolina to re-elect him.

[22] Voters Education Project (VEP) in Atlanta study showed that Helms received 63 percent of the white vote and was particularly successful in small towns and rural areas, while receiving less than 1 percent of the black vote in 35 almost-all-black precincts.

The closeness of the race and the fact that the black candidate did not win propelled Jesse Jackson to request a Justice Department investigation into the primary and he also considered an independent bid for the seat.

Governor Richard Riley and 3rd district Representative Butler Derrick flirted with running, but backed down when Thurmond received endorsements from prominent Democrats in South Carolina.

Senator Strom Thurmond easily defeated Robert Cunningham to advance to the general election.

Howard Baker Republican Al Gore Democratic Three-term popular incumbent Howard Baker, who had served as United States Senate Majority Leader since 1981 (Minority Leader from 1977 to 1981) decided not to seek re-election in order to concentrate on a planned bid for 1988 Republican presidential nomination (which did not happen, as he later accepted a White House Chief of Staff position under President Ronald Reagan).

In the Republican primary, held on August 2, state Senator Victor Ashe easily emerged as a winner.

Although the Senate election coincided with the landslide re-election of President Reagan, who carried Tennessee by a wide margin, this time his victory did not have any coattails, as it did in 1980, and Democrats picked up three Republican seats.

Republican Phil Gramm won the open seat over Democratic State Senator Lloyd Doggett.

Hance positioned himself as the most moderate to conservative candidate, who co-sponsored President Ronald Reagan's tax package.

[27] Doggett was the more liberal candidate, attacking Reaganomics and getting endorsements from the Texas teachers' union and Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower.

[28] Krueger was seen as the front runner and was a moderate who supported the state's oil and gas industry, but had close ties with the Hispanic community because he was Spanish-speaking.

Congressman Hance, saying "Ultimately, the quality of one's public service depends upon the character that one displays in filling an office.