The 1986 United States House of Representatives elections was held on November 4, 1986, in the middle of President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

's second term in office, while he was still relatively popular with the American public. As in most mid-term elections, the President's party — in this case, the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

— lost seats, with the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

gaining a net of five seats and cementing its majority. These results were not as dramatic as those in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, where the Republicans lost control of the chamber to the Democrats.

Overall results

Source
Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk

Retiring incumbents

Forty incumbents retired.

Democrats

Nineteen incumbent Democrats retired. # :

Richard Shelby Richard Craig Shelby (born May 6, 1934) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Alabama. First elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986 as a Democrat who later switched to the Republican Party in 1994, h ...

: To run for U.S. senator # : Tim Wirth: To run for U.S. senator # : Don Fuqua # :

Wyche Fowler William Wyche Fowler Jr. (born October 6, 1940) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat. He is a member of the Democratic Party and served as a U.S. Senator from Georgia from 1987 to 1993. He had previously served in the U.S. House of ...

: To run for U.S. senator # : Berkley Bedell # : John Breaux: To run for U.S. senator # : Catherine Small Long # : Barbara Mikulski: To run for U.S. senator # :

Parren Mitchell Parren James Mitchell (April 29, 1922 – May 28, 2007) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Congressman affiliated with the Democratic Party representing the 7th congressional district of Maryland from January 3, 1971 to January 3 ...

# :

Michael D. Barnes Michael Darr Barnes (born September 3, 1943) is an American lawyer and politician who represented the eighth district of Maryland in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 1987. Early life Born in Washington, D.C. to John P. Ba ...

: To run for U.S. senator # :

Tip O'Neill Thomas Phillip "Tip" O'Neill Jr. (December 9, 1912 – January 5, 1994) was an American politician who served as the 47th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1987, representing northern Boston, Massachusetts, as ...

# : Harry Reid: To run for U.S. senator # :

Stan Lundine Stanley Nelson Lundine (born February 4, 1939) is an American politician from Jamestown, New York who served as Mayor of Jamestown, a United States representative, and Lieutenant Governor of New York. Life and career Lundine graduated from ...

: To run for Lieutenant Governor of New York # :

Charles Orville Whitley Charles Orville Whitley (January 3, 1927 – October 27, 2002) was a Democratic U.S. Congressman from North Carolina between 1977 and 1986. Born in Siler City, North Carolina, Whitley attended Siler City High School, graduating in 1943. He ser ...

# :

John F. Seiberling John Frederick Seiberling, Jr. (September 8, 1918 – August 2, 2008) was a United States representative from Ohio. In 1974, he helped to establish what later became the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and served on the House Judiciary Committee ...

# :

James R. Jones James Robert Jones (born May 5, 1939) is an American lawyer, diplomat, Democratic politician, a retired U.S. Congressman from Oklahoma, and a former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico under President Bill Clinton. Jones grew up in Muskogee, Oklahoma, a ...

: To run for U.S. senator # : Jim Weaver: To run for U.S. senator # :

Robert W. Edgar Robert William "Bob" Edgar (May 29, 1943 – April 23, 2013) was an American politician and administrator from Pennsylvania, and a member of the Democratic Party. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 19 ...

: To run for U.S. senator # :

Tom Daschle Thomas Andrew Daschle ( ; born December 9, 1947) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States senator from South Dakota from 1987 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he became U.S. Senate Minority Leader in 1995 an ...

: To run for U.S. senator

Republicans

Twenty-one incumbent Republicans retired. # :

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

: To run for U.S. senator # :

Eldon Rudd Eldon Dean Rudd (July 15, 1920February 8, 2002) was a U.S. Republican politician. Early life Rudd was born in Camp Verde, Arizona. A 1939 graduate of Clarkdale High School in Clarkdale, Arizona, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in ...

# : Eugene A. Chappie # :

Ed Zschau Edwin Van Wyck "Ed" Zschau (; born January 6, 1940) is an American educator who represented California's 12th District in the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 1987. In 1986 he ran as the Republican candidate for a seat in t ...

: To run for U.S. senator # :

Bobbi Fiedler Roberta Frances "Bobbi" Fiedler (née Horowitz; April 22, 1937 – March 3, 2019) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Representative from California. Early life and education Born Roberta Frances Horowitz in Santa Monica, ...

: To run for U.S. senator # :

Ken Kramer Kenneth Bentley Kramer (born February 19, 1942) is an American lawyer, politician, and jurist from Colorado. He is a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives. Born in 1942, in Chicago, Kramer grew up in the city's ...

: To run for U.S. senator # :

George M. O'Brien George Miller O'Brien (June 17, 1917 – July 17, 1986) was a Republican Party (United States), Republican member of the United States House of Representatives. He represented Illinois' Illinois' 17th congressional district, 17th and Illino ...

# :

John E. Grotberg John E. Grotberg (March 21, 1925 – November 15, 1986) was a Republican Party (United States), Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois serving from 1985 until his death from bronchial pneumonia and colon ca ...

# :

Elwood Hillis Elwood Haynes "Bud" Hillis (March 6, 1926 – January 4, 2023) was an American politician and lawyer from Indiana. He was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, serving Indiana's 5th congressional district for 8 terms ...

# :

T. Cooper Evans Thomas Cooper Evans (May 26, 1924 – December 22, 2005) was a three-term Republican United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from Iowa's 3rd congressional district. First elected to Congress in a close race amidst a Republican ...

# : Gene Snyder # : Henson Moore: To run for U.S. senator # :

John R. McKernan Jr. John Rettie "Jock" McKernan Jr. (born May 20, 1948) is an American politician who served two terms as the 71st Governor of Maine, from 1987 to 1995. Born in Bangor, Maine, McKernan attended Dartmouth College and then the University of Maine Sc ...

: To run for Governor of Maine # :

Marjorie Holt Marjorie Sewell Holt (September 17, 1920 – January 6, 2018), a Republican, was a U.S. Congresswoman who represented Maryland's 4th congressional district from January 3, 1973, to January 3, 1987. She was the first Republican woman elected to ...

# : William Carney # :

Tom Kindness Thomas Norman Kindness (August 26, 1929January 8, 2004) was a member of the United States House of Representatives representing Ohio from January 3, 1975 to January 3, 1987. Life and career Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, Kindness graduated from ...

: To run for U.S. senator # :

Thomas F. Hartnett Thomas Forbes "Tommy" Hartnett (born August 7, 1941) is a former U.S. Representative from South Carolina. Life and career Hartnett was born in Charleston. He graduated from Bishop England High School in Charleston in 1960. He attended the Col ...

: To run for Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina # :

Carroll A. Campbell Jr. Carroll Ashmore Campbell Jr. (July 24, 1940December 7, 2005), was an American Republican Party politician who served as the 112th governor of South Carolina from 1987 to 1995. Prior to this, he served as a member of the South Carolina Sen ...

: To run for Governor of South Carolina # : Tom Loeffler: To run for Governor of Texas # :

David Smith Monson David Smith Monson (born June 20, 1945) is an American politician and former U.S. Representative and the second Lieutenant Governor of Utah. He is a member of the Republican Party. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Monson attended public schools. ...

# :

G. William Whitehurst George William Whitehurst (born March 12, 1925) is an American former journalist and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from the commonwealth of Virginia. He began his career as a professor at the Norfolk campu ...

Special elections

Sorted by election date

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

, - , ,

Les Aspin Leslie Aspin Jr. (July 21, 1938 – May 21, 1995) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as the U.S. representative for Wisconsin's 1st congressional district from 1971 to 1993 and as the 18th United States Secretary of Defens ...

, , Democratic ,

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...