 At the Oregon Democratic State Convention in 1988 Kerans was one of ten Oregon Democrats elected as Dukakis delegates to the 1988 Democratic National Convention in Atlanta, Georgia.Kerans returned to the Oregon Legislative Assembly after election to the Oregon State Senate from Lane County in 1986.In 1987, he was the lone dissenter in a 24–1 vote appointing Richard G. Reiten as the new director of the state Economic Development Department.