United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 4, 1986, in 36 states and two territories. The Democrats had a net loss of eight seats during this election, which coincided with the Senate and the House elections. This was despite the Democratic trend on a federal level, making this the last midterm election until 2022 where the party of the incumbent president achieved a net gain of governorships.

Election results

States State Incumbent Party Firstelected Result Candidates Alabama George Wallace 19621966 19701978 1982 Incumbent retired.New governor elected.Republican gain. Alaska Bill Sheffield 1982 Incumbent lost re-nomination.New governor elected.Democratic hold. Arizona Bruce Babbitt 1978 Incumbent retired.New governor elected.Republican gain. Arkansas Bill Clinton 19781980 1982 Incumbent re-elected. California George Deukmejian 1982 Incumbent re-elected. Colorado Richard Lamm 1974 Incumbent retired.New governor elected.Democratic hold. Connecticut William A. O'Neill 1980 Incumbent re-elected. Florida Bob Graham 1978 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Republican gain. Georgia Joe Frank Harris 1982 Incumbent re-elected. Hawaii George Ariyoshi 1974 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Democratic hold. Idaho John Evans 1978 Incumbent retired.New governor elected.Democratic hold. Illinois James R. Thompson 1976 Incumbent re-elected Iowa Terry Branstad 1982 Incumbent re-elected Kansas John W. Carlin 1978 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Republican gain. Maine Joseph E. Brennan 1978 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Republican gain. Maryland Harry Hughes 1978 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Democratic hold. Massachusetts Michael Dukakis 19741978 1982 Incumbent re-elected Michigan James Blanchard 1982 Incumbent re-elected Minnesota Rudy Perpich 19761978 1982 Incumbent re-elected Nebraska Bob Kerrey 1982 Incumbent retired.New governor elected.Republican gain. Nevada Richard Bryan 1982 Incumbent re-elected. New Hampshire John H. Sununu 1982 Incumbent re-elected. New Mexico Toney Anaya 1982 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Republican gain. New York Mario Cuomo 1982 Incumbent re-elected. Ohio Dick Celeste 1982 Incumbent re-elected. Oklahoma George Nigh 1978 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Republican gain. Oregon Victor Atiyeh 1978 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Democratic gain. Pennsylvania Dick Thornburgh 1978 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Democratic gain. Rhode Island Edward D. DiPrete 1984 Incumbent re-elected. South Carolina Richard Riley 1978 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Republican gain. South Dakota Bill Janklow 1978 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Republican hold. Tennessee Lamar Alexander 1978 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Democratic gain. Texas Mark White 1982 Incumbent lost re-election.New governor elected.Republican gain. Vermont Madeleine Kunin 1982 Incumbent re-elected. Wisconsin Tony Earl 1982 Incumbent lost re-election.New governor elected.Republican gain. Wyoming Edward Herschler 1974 Incumbent retired.New governor elected.Democratic hold.

Territories and federal district Territory Incumbent Party Firstelected Result Candidates District of Columbia Marion Barry 1978 Incumbent re-elected. Guam Ricardo Bordallo 1982 Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. Republican gain. U.S. Virgin Islands Juan Francisco Luis 1978 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected. Democratic gain.

Close states States where the margin of victory was under 1%: Idaho, 1.0%

States where the margin of victory was under 5%: Pennsylvania, 2.3% Oklahoma, 2.9% South Carolina, 3.1% South Dakota, 3.6% Iowa, 3.9% Hawaii, 4.0% Oregon, 4.0% Alaska, 4.7%

States where the margin of victory was under 10%: Arizona, 5.2% Nebraska, 5.8% New Mexico, 6.0% Wisconsin, 6.5% Texas, 6.7% New Hampshire, 7.4% Guam, 7.6% Wyoming, 8.0% Tennessee, 8.6% Vermont, 8.7% Florida, 9.2% Maine, 9.7%

Alabama

The 1986 Alabama gubernatorial election saw the election of Republican H. Guy Hunt over Democrat Bill Baxley. In state politics, this election is largely seen as a realigning election since Hunt was the first Republican to be elected governor in 114 years – the last Republican to be elected was David P. Lewis in 1872 during the Reconstruction era. In March 1986, incumbent George Wallace announced that he would not seek a fifth term as governor, ending an era in Alabama politics.

Alaska

The 1986 Alaska gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 1986, for the post of Governor of Alaska. Incumbent Governor Bill Sheffield, a Democrat who was seeking re-election, was defeated by Steve Cowper in the Democratic primary election on August 26, 1986.

In the general election, Democratic state Representative Steve Cowper defeated Republican candidate Arliss Sturgulewski and Alaska Independence candidate Joe Vogler. Sturgulewski had defeated former governor Wally Hickel, former Libertarian nominee Dick Randolph, former State House Speaker Joe L. Hayes, and former Alaskan Independence nominee Don Wright for the Republican nomination.

Arizona

The 1986 Arizona gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 1986, for the post of Governor of Arizona. Republican Evan Mecham, who defeated Burton Barr for the Republican nomination, defeated the Democratic nominee and State Superintendent Carolyn Warner and independent candidate Bill Schulz.

Arkansas

The 1986 Arkansas gubernatorial election was conducted on November 4, 1986, to elect the Governor of Arkansas. Incumbent Democratic Governor Bill Clinton stood for re-election. He had been elected in 1982 and re-elected in 1984, and sought a third consecutive term and fourth overall (Clinton had been first elected in 1978). His opponent was former Republican Governor Frank D. White, who was seeking to return to the office he had defeated Clinton for in the 1980 election.

Clinton had defeated former Governor Orval Faubus for the Democratic nomination, while White defeated former Lieutenant Governor Maurice Britt in the Republican primary.

California

The 1986 California gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 1986. Incumbent Republican George Deukmejian won easily in this rematch over the Democratic challenger, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley. This was the largest gubernatorial victory since that of Earl Warren in 1946, who won 91.64% of the vote.

Colorado

The 1986 Colorado gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1986. Democratic nominee Roy Romer defeated Republican nominee Ted L. Strickland with 58.20% of the vote.

Connecticut

The 1986 Connecticut gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 1986. Incumbent Democratic governor Bill O'Neill won his second full term against Republican assemblywoman Julie Belaga, who defeated Jerry Labriola for the Republican nomination. This election marked the last time a Democrat would win the governorship in Connecticut until the 2010 election, the last time a Democratic gubernatorial candidate has won every county in the state and the last time a Democrat won by a margin of larger than 5 percent until the 2022 election.

Florida

The 1986 Florida gubernatorial election took place alongside the midterm congressional elections. The Democratic Party won many victories across the country (including retaking the Senate). However, in Florida, where Democrats gained the Senate seat from Republicans, they lost the Governorship for just the second time since Reconstruction.

Georgia

The 1986 Georgia gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1986. Governor Joe Frank Harris (D) was overwhelmingly re-elected over Guy Davis (R) to win re-election.

Hawaii

The 1986 Hawaii gubernatorial election was Hawaii's eighth gubernatorial election. The election was held on November 4, 1986, and resulted in a victory for the Democratic candidate, Lt. Gov. John D. Waiheʻe III over the Republican candidate, State Senator D. G. Anderson.

Idaho

The 1986 Idaho gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1986 to elect the governor of the state of Idaho. Cecil Andrus, a former Democratic governor, was elected defeating the Republican Lieutenant Governor David Leroy.

This was an open seat election; longtime incumbent John V. Evans ran for the U.S. Senate, but lost. This was the first open-seat gubernatorial election in Idaho or the first open-seat Idaho gubernatorial election since 1954.

Illinois

The 1986 Illinois gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1986. Republican candidate James R. Thompson won a fourth term in office, defeating the Illinois Solidarity Party nominee, former United States Senator Adlai Stevenson III, by around 400,000 votes.

Iowa

The 1986 Iowa gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1986. Incumbent Republican Terry Branstad defeated Democratic nominee Lowell Junkins with 51.91% of the vote.

Kansas

The 1986 Kansas gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1986. Incumbent Democratic Governor John W. Carlin did not run for re-election. Republican nominee Mike Hayden, then Speaker of the Kansas House of Representatives, beat the Democratic nominee Thomas Docking, who was then the incumbent Lieutenant Governor of Kansas. This was the last gubernatorial election in Kansas in which the winner was of the same party as the incumbent president until Laura Kelly's victory in 2022.

Maine

The 1986 Maine gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 1986. Incumbent Democratic Governor Joseph Brennan was term limited and ineligible to seek re-election. First district Congressman John McKernan defeated Democratic Party challenger James Tierney as well as former Republican turned Independent Sherry Huber and former Portland, Maine, city manager John Menario, making McKernan the first Republican to win The Blaine House since 1962.

Maryland

The 1986 Maryland gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1986. Democratic nominee William Donald Schaefer defeated Republican nominee Thomas J. Mooney with 82.37% of the vote.

Massachusetts

The 1986 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1986. Michael Dukakis was elected Governor of Massachusetts for a third term. He defeated Republican George Kariotis by a 69–31% margin. This was the last time a Democrat was elected governor of Massachusetts until 2006.

Michigan

The 1986 Michigan gubernatorial election was held on November 4.

The primary elections occurred on August 6, 1986. The Democrats nominated incumbent governor James Blanchard. The Republicans nominated Wayne County executive William Lucas, who made history by being the first African-American nominee by either major party for Governor of Michigan.

Blanchard was re-elected by a landslide, winning the election with 68.1% of the vote.

Minnesota

The 1986 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 1986. Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party candidate Rudy Perpich defeated Independent-Republican Party challenger Cal Ludeman. George Latimer unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic nomination.

Democrats would not win another gubernatorial election in the state until 2010.

Nebraska

The 1986 Nebraska gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1986, and featured state Treasurer Kay Orr, a Republican, defeating Democratic nominee, former Mayor of Lincoln Helen Boosalis. Incumbent Democratic governor Bob Kerrey did not seek a second term.

The election was the first state gubernatorial election in U.S. history where the candidates of both major national parties were women.Knudson, Thomas J. "Nebraska, in new page to history, installs woman". New York Times. 1987-01-09. Retrieved 2017-09-17.

Nevada

The 1986 Nevada gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 1986. Incumbent Democrat Richard Bryan won re-election to a second term as Governor of Nevada, defeating Republican nominee Patty Cafferata.

New Hampshire