1986 United States elections

Elections were held on November 4, 1986 and elected the members of the 100th United States Congress. The elections occurred in the middle of Republican President Ronald Reagan's second term. Democrats regained unified control of both chambers of Congress for the first time since the 1980 elections.

1986 United States elections

← 1984          1985          1986          1987          1988 → Midterm elections
Election day	November 4
Incumbent president	Ronald Reagan (Republican)
Next Congress	100th
Senate elections
Overall control	Democratic gain
Seats contested	35 of 100 seats (34 Class 3 seats + 1 special election)
Net seat change	Democratic +8
1986 Senate election results   Democratic gain   Democratic hold   Republican gain   Republican hold
House elections
Overall control	Democratic hold
Seats contested	All 435 voting seats
Popular vote margin	Democratic +9.9%
Net seat change	Democratic +5
1986 House of Representatives election results   Democratic gain   Democratic hold   Republican gain   Republican hold
Gubernatorial elections
Seats contested	38 (36 states, 2 territories)
Net seat change	Republican +8
1986 gubernatorial election results Territorial races not shown   Republican hold   Republican gain   Democratic hold   Democratic gain

In an instance of the six-year itch phenomenon, the Democrats won a net gain of eight seats to recapture control of the United States Senate, taking back the chamber for the first time since the 1980 elections. Democrats won the national popular vote for the House of Representatives by a margin of 7.7 percentage points, making a net gain of five seats.^[1] Despite Democratic congressional gains, in the gubernatorial elections, the Republican Party picked up a net of eight governorships, making 1986 the last midterm election until 2022 that the president's party made gubernatorial gains.^[2][3]

The national campaign centered largely around the Senate, where Republicans defended a large freshman class of Senators. Despite sweeping Democratic gains, many of the losing Republicans incumbents lost by small margins. The Republican loss of the Senate put an effective check on any further major conservative legislation during the Reagan administration. The elections also had a major impact on the Supreme Court, as Republican losses helped ensure that Robert Bork's nomination to the Supreme Court would be defeated by the Senate. After the Senate rejected the conservative Bork, Reagan instead nominated Anthony Kennedy, who became a critical swing vote on the court.^[4]

Prior to the election, some commentators expected major losses for the Republican Party, as it is common for the party of the president to lose the mid-term in their second presidential term.^[5] Other commentators expected the Republican Party to perform well, as President Reagan had won in a landslide in his 1984 re-election and entered 1986 with historically high levels of support, as well as benefitted from a growing economy.^[6][7] Tip O’Neill, the retiring House Speaker, declared that the election results meant, "If there was a Reagan Revolution, it’s over."^[6]

Political scientists who analyzed the elections found that there were considerable incumbency advantages for officeholders, and that the crop of challenger candidates was relatively weak.^[7]

See also

• 1986 United States House of Representatives elections
• 1986 United States Senate election
• 1986 United States gubernatorial elections

References

1. "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 4, 1986" (PDF). U.S. House of Reps, Office of the Clerk. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
2. Bibby, John F. (1987). "The 1986 Midterm Elections for Governor and State Legislatures: A Modest Departure from past Patterns". Publius. 17 (3): 67–82. ISSN 0048-5950.
3. Rae, Nicol C. (1987). "The US mid-term elections of 1986". Electoral Studies. 6 (1): 41–46. doi:10.1016/0261-3794(87)90050-3. ISSN 0261-3794.
4. Busch, Andrew (1999). Horses in Midstream. University of Pittsburgh Press. pp. 126–135.
5. Ware, Alan (1987). "THE 1986 AMERICAN MID-TERM ELECTIONS: THE REAGAN LEGACY TO THE REPUBLICAN PARTY". Parliamentary Affairs. 40 (2): 172–187. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.pa.a052090. ISSN 0031-2290.
6. Ryan-Hume, Joe (2022), McLay, Mark; Andelic, Patrick; Mason, Robert (eds.), "The 1986 Midterms: The End of the Reagan Revolution?", Midterms and Mandates: Electoral Reassessment of Presidents and Parties, Edinburgh University Press, pp. 284–307, ISBN 978-1-4744-7820-5
7. Jacobson, Gary C.; Kernell, Samuel (1990). "National Forces in the 1986 U. S. House Elections". Legislative Studies Quarterly. 15 (1): 65–87. doi:10.2307/440002. ISSN 0362-9805.