Election 1986 Results
Each election opens in its own mode: the forecast before the votes are counted, the live count while races are still too close to call, and the results once every race is decided.
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1986 governor election results by state and county
Republicans gained 11 governorships in 1986, including Texas, Florida and Wisconsin, even as Democrats won 18 races to 17 and retook the Senate.
36 governor races were held in 1986. Democrats won 19 and Republicans 17.
The closest were Idaho (D+0.9), Pennsylvania (D+2.3) and Oklahoma (R+2.9). 14 governorships changed party: Alabama to the Republicans, Arizona to the Republicans, Florida to the Republicans, Kansas to the Republicans, Maine to the Republicans, Nebraska to the Republicans, New Mexico to the Republicans, Oklahoma to the Republicans, Oregon to the Democrats, Pennsylvania to the Democrats, South Carolina to the Republicans, Tennessee to the Democrats, Texas to the Republicans and Wisconsin to the Republicans.
Early projection, based on early and incomplete polling: the likely matchups, each weighted by the betting markets' odds of both nominations, not a result. Each county is its 2024 presidential margin moved by its state's projected swing; set a national vote and every state, district and county moves by the same amount from our projection. Colours run in 100 steps from a safe Republican to a safe Democratic margin. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.
About the 1986 governor elections
The 1986 midterms came in Ronald Reagan's second term, just as the Iran-Contra affair was about to break. Democrats won back the Senate, but the governor races ran the other way, with Republicans gaining ground across the South and Midwest. Democrats won 18 races and Republicans 17. Republicans took Alabama, where Guy Hunt became the first Republican governor since Reconstruction, Arizona with Evan Mecham, Florida with Bob Martinez, Kansas with Mike Hayden, Maine, Nebraska with Kay Orr, New Mexico, Oklahoma, where Henry Bellmon returned to office, South Carolina with Carroll Campbell, Texas, where Bill Clements beat Governor Mark White, and Wisconsin with Tommy Thompson. Mecham won Arizona with a plurality in a three-way race and was impeached and removed in 1988. Democrats gained Oregon with Neil Goldschmidt, Pennsylvania, where Robert Casey beat William W. Scranton III by about two points, and Tennessee. Cecil D. Andrus won Idaho by under a point, and Mario Cuomo was re-elected in New York in a landslide.
Every race
| State | Democrat | Votes | Republican | Votes | Others | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama flip | Bill Baxley | 537,163 (43.6%) | Guy Hunt | 696,203 (56.4%) | R+12.9 | |
| Alaska | Steve Cowper | 84,943 (47.3%) | Arliss Sturgulewski | 76,515 (42.6%) | Joe Vogler (Alaskan Independence) 10,013 (5.6%) |
D+4.7 |
| Arizona flip | Carolyn Warner | 298,986 (34.5%) | Evan Mecham | 343,913 (39.7%) | Bill Schulz (Independent) 224,085 (25.8%) |
R+5.2 |
| Arkansas | Bill Clinton | 439,882 (63.9%) | Frank D. White | 248,427 (36.1%) | 242 | D+27.8 |
| California | Tom Bradley | 2,781,714 (37.4%) | George Deukmejian | 4,506,601 (60.5%) | 155,170 | R+23.2 |
| Colorado | Roy Romer | 616,325 (58.2%) | Ted Strickland | 434,420 (41.0%) | 8,183 | D+17.2 |
| Connecticut | William A. O'Neill | 575,638 (57.9%) | Julie D. Belaga | 408,489 (41.1%) | 9,565 | D+16.8 |
| Florida flip | Steve Pajcic | 1,538,620 (45.4%) | Bob Martinez | 1,847,525 (54.6%) | 26 | R+9.1 |
| Georgia | Joe Frank Harris | 828,465 (70.5%) | Guy Davis | 346,512 (29.5%) | D+41.0 | |
| Hawaii | John Waihee | 173,655 (52.0%) | D. G. Anderson | 160,460 (48.0%) | D+4.0 | |
| Idaho | Cecil D. Andrus | 193,429 (49.9%) | David H. Leroy | 189,794 (49.0%) | 4,203 | D+0.9 |
| Illinois | none | James R. Thompson | 1,655,849 (52.7%) | Adlai Stevenson III (Solidarity) 1,256,626 (40.0%) |
R+52.7 | |
| Iowa | Lowell L. Junkins | 436,987 (48.0%) | Terry E. Branstad | 472,712 (51.9%) | 924 | R+3.9 |
| Kansas flip | Thomas R. Docking | 404,338 (48.1%) | Mike Hayden | 436,267 (51.9%) | R+3.8 | |
| Maine flip | James Tierney | 128,744 (30.2%) | John R. McKernan Jr. | 170,312 (39.9%) | Sherry Huber (Independent) 64,317 (15.1%) |
R+9.7 |
| Maryland | William D. Schaefer | 907,291 (82.4%) | Thomas J. Mooney | 194,185 (17.6%) | D+64.7 | |
| Massachusetts | Michael S. Dukakis | 1,157,786 (68.7%) | George Kariotis | 525,364 (31.2%) | 929 | D+37.6 |
| Michigan | James J. Blanchard | 1,632,138 (68.1%) | William Lucas | 753,647 (31.4%) | 10,779 | D+36.7 |
| Minnesota | Rudy Perpich | 790,138 (56.1%) | Cal Ludeman | 606,755 (43.1%) | 11,211 | D+13.0 |
| Nebraska flip | Helen Boosalis | 265,156 (47.0%) | Kay Orr | 298,325 (52.9%) | 941 | R+5.9 |
| Nevada | Richard H. Bryan | 187,268 (71.9%) | Patty Cafferata | 65,081 (25.0%) | 8,026 | D+46.9 |
| New Hampshire | Paul McEachern | 116,142 (46.3%) | John H. Sununu | 134,824 (53.7%) | 141 | R+7.4 |
| New Mexico flip | Ray B. Powell | 185,378 (47.0%) | Garrey E. Carruthers | 209,455 (53.0%) | R+6.1 | |
| New York | Mario M. Cuomo | 2,775,229 (64.6%) | Andrew P. O'Rourke | 1,363,810 (31.8%) | 155,085 | D+32.9 |
| Ohio | Richard F. Celeste | 1,858,372 (60.6%) | James A. Rhodes | 1,207,264 (39.4%) | 975 | D+21.2 |
| Oklahoma flip | David Walters | 405,295 (44.5%) | Henry Bellmon | 431,762 (47.5%) | Jerry Brown (Independent) 60,115 (6.6%) |
R+2.9 |
| Oregon flip | Neil Goldschmidt | 549,456 (51.9%) | Norma Paulus | 506,986 (47.8%) | 3,188 | D+4.0 |
| Pennsylvania flip | Robert Casey | 1,717,484 (50.7%) | William W. Scranton | 1,638,268 (48.4%) | 32,523 | D+2.3 |
| Rhode Island | Bruce G. Sundlun | 104,508 (32.4%) | Edward Diprete | 208,822 (64.7%) | 9,394 | R+32.3 |
| South Carolina flip | Mike Daniel | 361,325 (47.9%) | Carroll Campbell | 384,565 (51.0%) | 7,861 | R+3.1 |
| South Dakota | R. Lars Herseth | 141,898 (48.2%) | George S. Mickelson | 152,543 (51.8%) | R+3.6 | |
| Tennessee flip | Ned McWherter | 656,602 (54.2%) | Winfield Dunn | 553,449 (45.7%) | 288 | D+8.5 |
| Texas flip | Mark White | 1,584,515 (46.0%) | William P. Clements | 1,813,779 (52.7%) | 43,166 | R+6.7 |
| Vermont | Madeleine M. Kunin | 92,485 (47.0%) | Peter Plympton Smith | 75,239 (38.2%) | Bernie Sanders (Independent) 28,418 (14.4%) |
D+8.8 |
| Wisconsin flip | Anthony S. Earl | 705,578 (46.2%) | Tommy G. Thompson | 805,090 (52.7%) | 16,292 | R+6.5 |
| Wyoming | Mike Sullivan | 88,879 (54.0%) | Peter Simpson | 75,841 (46.0%) | D+7.9 |
Margin: the Democrat's share of all votes minus the Republican's. Margins are Democrat minus Republican, of all votes. Certified results, from the states' own archives, the MIT Election Data and Science Lab, Heideman (2026) and Algara & Amlani (2021). By county: "As they were" draws each county as it stood on election day; "Today's" shares the old votes among today's counties by area. County boundaries: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries (CC BY-NC-SA 2.5). How these results were checked.