1987 United States House of Representatives elections

1987 United States House of Representatives elections

April 7 – August 18, 1987
2 of the 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives 218 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Jim Wright Robert H. Michel Party Democratic Republican Leader since January 6, 1987 January 3, 1981 Leader's seat Texas 12th Illinois 18th Last election 258 seats, 54.3% 177 seats, 44.4% Seats before 258 177 Seat change 0 0 Seats up 1 1 Races won 1 1

There were two special elections to the United States House of Representatives in 1987 during the 100th United States Congress.

List of elections

Elections are listed by date and district.

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
California 5	Sala Burton	Democratic	1983 (special)	Incumbent died February 1, 1987. A special election was held April 7, 1987, but no candidate received the required majority. New member won a special run-off election June 2, 1987. Democratic hold.	Primary ballot (April 7, 1987): ▌Y Nancy Pelosi (Democratic) 36.12% ▌Harry Britt (Democratic) 32.48% ▌William Maher (Democratic) 14.25% ▌Doris M. Ward (Democratic) 6.03% ▌Y Harriet Ross (Republican) 2.80% ▌Carol Ruth Silver (Democratic) 2.69% ▌Kevin W. Wadsworth (Republican) 1.63% ▌Tom Spinosa (Republican) 1.59% ▌Mike Garza (Republican) 1.17% ▌Y Karen Edwards (Independent) 0.42% ▌Y Sam Grove (Libertarian) 0.38% ▌Y Ted Zuur (Peace & Freedom) 0.17% ▌Y Catherine Renee Sedwick (Independent) 0.15% ▌Brian Lantz (Democratic) 0.13% Run-off ballot (June 2, 1987): ▌Y Nancy Pelosi (Democratic) 63.36% ▌Harriet Ross (Republican) 30.68% ▌Karen Edwards (Independent) 2.19% ▌Ted Zuur (Peace & Freedom) 1.51% ▌Sam Grove (Libertarian) 1.37% ▌Catherine Renee Sedwick (Independent) 0.90%
Connecticut 4	Stewart McKinney	Republican	1970	Incumbent died May 7, 1987. New member elected August 18, 1987. Republican hold.	▌Y Chris Shays (Republican) 57.17% ▌Christine Niedermeier (Democratic) 42.20% ▌Nicholas J. Tarzia (War Against AIDS) 0.59% Scattering 0.03%

California's 5th congressional district

Main article: 1987 California's 5th congressional district special election

See also: List of United States representatives from California

Nancy Pelosi, first elected in 1987.

Incumbent Democrat Sala Burton died of colorectal cancer on February 1, 1987, triggering a special election. A nonpartisan blanket special primary was held on April 7, 1987, featuring over a dozen candidates, including Nancy Pelosi, Harry Britt, and Carol Ruth Silver. As no candidate won over 50% of the vote, a run-off was held on June 2, 1987.

Democrat Nancy Pelosi won the election with 63% of the vote.

1987 California's 5th congressional district special general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Nancy Pelosi	46,428	63.36
	Republican	Harriet Ross	22,478	30.68
	Independent	Karen Edwards	1,602	2.19
	Peace and Freedom	Theodore Zurr	1,105	1.51
	Libertarian	Sam Grove	1,007	1.37
	Independent	Catherine Renee Sedwick	659	0.9
Total votes			73,279	100.0
	Democratic hold

See also

• List of special elections to the United States House of Representatives
• 100th United States Congress