The 1986 United States House of Representatives elections was held on November 4, 1986, to elect U.S. Representatives to serve in the 100th United States Congress. They occurred in the middle of President Ronald Reagan'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 — lost seats, with the Democratic Party gaining a net of five seats and cementing its majority. These results were not as dramatic as those in the Senate, where the Republicans lost control of the chamber to the Democrats.

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Quick Facts All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives 218 seats needed for a majority, Majority party ...

1986 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1984 November 4, 1986 1988 →
All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives 218 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Tip O'Neill (did not seek re-election) Bob Michel Party Democratic Republican Leader since January 4, 1977 January 3, 1981 Leader's seat Massachusetts 8th Illinois 18th Last election 253 seats 181 seats Seats won 258 177 Seat change 5 4 Popular vote 32,447,021 26,533,178 Percentage 54.3% 44.4% Swing 2.2% 2.6%   Third party   Party Conservative Last election 1 Seats won 0 Seat change 1 Popular vote 58,712 Percentage 0.1% Swing 0.1%
Results:      Democratic hold      Democratic gain      Republican hold      Republican gain
Speaker before election Tip O'Neill Democratic Elected Speaker Jim Wright Democratic

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More information Party, Seats ...

Party		Seats			Seat percentage	Vote percentage	Popular vote
		Last election (1984)	This election	Net change
	Democratic	253	258	5	59.3%	54.3%	32,447,021
	Republican	181	177	4	40.7%	44.4%	26,533,178
	Independent	0	0		0.0%	0.2%	157,332
	Libertarian	0	0		0.0%	0.2%	121,076
	Conservative	1	0	1	0.0%	0.1%	58,712
	Peace and Freedom	0	0		0.0%	0.1%	57,003
	Right to Life	0	0		0.0%	0.1%	39,407
	Others	0	0		0.0%	0.6%	344,668
Totals		435	435		100.0%	100.0%	59,758,397

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Source: Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk

More information House seats by party holding plurality in state, Change in House seats by party ...

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Forty incumbents retired.

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