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 city manager John Menario, making McKernan the first Republican to win The Blaine House since 1962.
Tierney, the sitting state Attorney General, won a crowded Democratic primary over state senators Severin Beliveau and William Diamond, as well as David Redmond, the chief of staff of incumbent governor Joseph Brennan. McKernan faced only conservative activist Porter Leighton in the GOP primary, and dispatched him with relative ease.
The three main issues during the campaign were: the future of the Maine Yankee Nuclear Power Plant in Wiscasset, economic development and McKernan's congressional record.
As Brennan was term-limited and ineligible to seek office, this is the only Maine gubernatorial election between 1974 and 1994 in which he was not a candidate; he was an unsuccessful Democratic primary candidate in 1974, and would be the unsuccessful Democratic nominee in 1990 and 1994.
Maine Yankee
The future of the Maine Yankee nuclear power plant had been placed up for statewide referendum in 1980 and again in 1982. McKernan and Menario opposed the closure of Maine Yankee, while Tierney and Huber supported the efforts to close the plant in 1988.
Democratic primary
Candidates
- Severin Beliveau, of Augusta, member of the Maine Senate
- William Diamond, of Windham, member of the Maine Senate
- David Redmond, of Portland, Chief of Staff to Governor Joseph E. Brennan
- Joseph Ricci, of Falmouth, founder of the Élan School
- James Tierney, of Lisbon, Attorney General of Maine
Republican primary
Candidates
- Porter D. Leighton, of Harrison, conservative activist
- John McKernan Jr., of Cumberland, U.S. Representative for Maine's 1st congressional district
General election
Candidates
- John McKernan Jr., former U.S. Representative from the 1st congressional district (Republican)
- James Tierney, incumbent Attorney General of Maine (Democratic)
- Sherry Huber, former state representative from Falmouth and Republican candidate for governor in 1982 (Independent)
- John Menario, banker and city administrator (Independent)
Results
Despite receiving less than 40% of the vote, McKernan outpaced his nearest rival Tierney by nearly ten percentage points. McKernan would also carry 15 of the 16 counties in the state, with Tierney carrying traditionally Democratic Androscoggin County.
Menario and Huber would carry only a handful of municipalities each: Menario would win Hammond by a margin of eight votes to seven for McKernan, six for Tierney, and two for Huber, while Huber would win Glenwood Plantation by a margin of three votes to one for McKernan and none for both Tierney and Menario, and Brighton Plantation by a margin of 12 votes to 11 for Tierney, four for Menario, and two for McKernan.
Additionally, the municipalities of Codyville, Drew, Kingsbury Plantation, and Vanceboro, finished as exact ties for McKernan and Tierney, while Beddington and The Forks finished as exact ties for McKernan and Huber.
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
- Aroostook (largest city: Presque Isle)
- Cumberland (largest city: Portland)
- Franklin (largest town: Farmington)
- Hancock (largest municipality: Ellsworth)
- Kennebec (largest city: Augusta)
- Knox (largest municipality: Rockland)
- Oxford (largest town: Rumford)
- Lincoln (largest city: Waldoboro)
- Penobscot (largest city: Bangor)
- Piscataquis (largest municipality: Dover-Foxcroft)
- Sagadahoc (largest town: Bath)
- Somerset (largest town: Skowhegan)
- Waldo (largest city: Belfast)
- Washington (largest city: Calais)
- York (largest town: Biddeford)