The archive records 36 state governor races in 1986. The party that won each listed race appears below. The balance includes all 50 governorships, including states that did not hold an election that year.
Governor races by winning party
These groups name the states with a gubernatorial race and the party recorded as the winner in the cited source.
Democrats (19)
- Alaska
- Arkansas
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Nevada
- New York
- Ohio
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Vermont
- Wyoming
Republicans (17)
- Alabama
- Arizona
- California
- Florida
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Maine
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- New Mexico
- Oklahoma
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Texas
- Wisconsin
Balance After Election
36 races mapped · 50 total governorships after the election cycle · 26 needed for a majority.
1986 Governor Background
The 1986 U.S. gubernatorial cycle included 36 state races (Democrats: 19, Republicans: 17). After the cycle, the party balance was Democrats: 26, Republicans: 24 out of 50 governorships. The balance includes governors whose terms continued in states without an election that year; the state list and map show only states with a recorded race.
Sources
Bundled governor data file generated June 17, 2026. This is the file generation date, not confirmation that each underlying record was independently reverified then. Data methodology