The 1986 Wisconsin gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1986. Republican Tommy G. Thompson won the election with 53% of the vote, winning his first term as Governor of Wisconsin and defeating incumbent Governor Anthony S. Earl .[ 1] This was the first time since 1962 that the winner of a Wisconsin gubernatorial election was of the same party as the incumbent president. Jonathan B. Barry unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination.
1986 Wisconsin gubernatorial election
County resultsThompson : 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%Earl : 50–60% 60–70%
The primary election was held on September 9, 1986. Nominees for Governor and Lieutenant Governor were selected in separate primaries before running on a joint ticket in the general election.
Independent nominations
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Sanford Knapp
Darold E. Wall
Anthony S. Earl & Sharon K. Metz, Democrat
Tommy G. Thompson & Scott McCallum, Republican
Kathryn A. Christensen & John Ervin Bergum, Labor-Farm
Darold E. Wall & Irma L. Lotts, Independent
Sanford Knapp & Verdell Hallingstad, Independent
Thompson was the first Republican since Walter J. Kohler Jr. in 1952 to win Ashland County and Manitowoc County .
County[ 4] [ 5]
Tommy G. Thompson Republican
Anthony S. Earl Democratic
All Others Various
Margin
Total votes cast
#
%
#
%
#
%
#
%
Adams
3,193
63.54%
1,800
35.82%
32
0.64%
1,393
27.72%
5,025
Ashland
3,076
49.67%
3,015
48.68%
102
1.65%
61
0.98%
6,193
Barron
5,720
51.27%
5,366
48.10%
70
0.63%
354
3.17%
11,156
Bayfield
2,664
48.15%
2,788
50.39%
81
1.46%
-124
-2.24%
5,533
Brown
34,762
55.73%
27,000
43.29%
612
0.98%
7,762
12.44%
62,374
Buffalo
2,471
51.27%
2,321
48.15%
28
0.58%
150
3.11%
4,820
Burnett
2,378
44.49%
2,887
54.01%
80
1.50%
-509
-9.52%
5,345
Calumet
6,492
62.79%
3,716
35.94%
131
1.27%
2,776
26.85%
10,339
Chippewa
7,041
47.93%
7,173
48.83%
477
3.25%
-132
-0.90%
14,691
Clark
6,080
57.90%
4,287
40.83%
133
1.27%
1,793
17.08%
10,500
Columbia
9,035
59.74%
6,002
39.69%
86
0.57%
3,033
20.06%
15,123
Crawford
3,563
64.23%
1,926
34.72%
58
1.05%
1,637
29.51%
5,547
Dane
51,412
39.68%
76,204
58.82%
1,947
1.50%
-24,792
-19.14%
129,563
Dodge
15,045
66.73%
7,300
32.38%
200
0.89%
7,745
34.35%
22,545
Door
5,211
63.67%
2,903
35.47%
70
0.86%
2,308
28.20%
8,184
Douglas
4,582
33.33%
9,063
65.93%
101
0.73%
-4,481
-32.60%
13,746
Dunn
4,520
44.77%
5,459
54.07%
117
1.16%
-939
-9.30%
10,096
Eau Claire
12,813
47.42%
13,862
51.30%
344
1.27%
-1,049
-3.88%
27,019
Florence
895
52.10%
815
47.44%
8
0.47%
80
4.66%
1,718
Fond du Lac
17,248
64.83%
9,136
34.34%
219
0.82%
8,112
30.49%
26,603
Forest
1,367
49.65%
1,364
49.55%
22
0.80%
3
0.11%
2,753
Grant
7,847
62.83%
4,548
36.42%
94
0.75%
3,299
26.42%
12,489
Green
4,721
59.99%
3,054
38.81%
94
1.19%
1,667
21.18%
7,869
Green Lake
4,407
73.63%
1,522
25.43%
56
0.94%
2,885
48.20%
5,985
Iowa
3,385
54.31%
2,790
44.76%
58
0.93%
595
9.55%
6,233
Iron
1,205
46.24%
1,381
52.99%
20
0.77%
-176
-6.75%
2,606
Jackson
3,256
54.35%
2,698
45.03%
37
0.62%
558
9.31%
5,991
Jefferson
11,551
58.98%
7,876
40.21%
159
0.81%
3,675
18.76%
19,586
Juneau
5,904
73.04%
2,122
26.25%
57
0.71%
3,782
46.79%
8,083
Kenosha
12,385
38.77%
19,293
60.40%
263
0.82%
-6,908
-21.63%
31,941
Kewaunee
4,052
56.77%
3,029
42.44%
56
0.78%
1,023
14.33%
7,137
La Crosse
17,596
52.92%
15,290
45.98%
365
1.10%
2,306
6.94%
33,251
Lafayette
3,124
59.29%
2,113
40.10%
32
0.61%
1,011
19.19%
5,269
Langlade
3,907
59.43%
2,610
39.70%
57
0.87%
1,297
19.73%
6,574
Lincoln
4,060
53.32%
3,456
45.38%
99
1.30%
604
7.93%
7,615
Manitowoc
15,203
56.75%
11,176
41.72%
411
1.53%
4,027
15.03%
26,790
Marathon
20,827
55.33%
16,318
43.35%
498
1.32%
4,509
11.98%
37,643
Marinette
7,856
60.68%
4,974
38.42%
116
0.90%
2,882
22.26%
12,946
Marquette
3,012
68.45%
1,350
30.68%
38
0.86%
1,662
37.77%
4,400
Menominee
216
23.89%
684
75.66%
4
0.44%
-468
-51.77%
904
Milwaukee
129,933
44.17%
161,149
54.79%
3,066
1.04%
-31,216
-10.61%
294,148
Monroe
6,015
63.65%
3,360
35.56%
75
0.79%
2,655
28.10%
9,450
Oconto
6,058
60.28%
3,897
38.78%
94
0.94%
2,161
21.50%
10,049
Oneida
6,390
57.92%
4,571
41.43%
72
0.65%
1,819
16.49%
11,033
Outagamie
25,445
61.18%
15,701
37.75%
443
1.07%
9,744
23.43%
41,589
Ozaukee
16,973
65.31%
8,807
33.89%
210
0.81%
8,166
31.42%
25,990
Pepin
1,297
51.24%
1,202
47.49%
32
1.26%
95
3.75%
2,531
Pierce
3,614
42.59%
4,781
56.35%
90
1.06%
-1,167
-13.75%
8,485
Polk
4,281
44.69%
5,204
54.33%
94
0.98%
-923
-9.64%
9,579
Portage
7,938
45.27%
9,363
53.40%
233
1.33%
-1,425
-8.13%
17,534
Price
3,969
61.39%
2,437
37.70%
59
0.91%
1,532
23.70%
6,465
Racine
26,575
51.14%
24,892
47.90%
503
0.97%
1,683
3.24%
51,970
Richland
4,051
64.46%
2,165
34.45%
69
1.10%
1,886
30.01%
6,285
Rock
19,459
50.04%
19,005
48.88%
420
1.08%
454
1.17%
38,884
Rusk
2,999
53.00%
2,592
45.81%
67
1.18%
407
7.19%
5,658
Sauk
8,994
61.91%
5,440
37.45%
93
0.64%
3,554
24.46%
14,527
Sawyer
2,895
60.41%
1,839
38.38%
58
1.21%
1,056
22.04%
4,792
Shawano
7,181
66.10%
3,608
33.21%
75
0.69%
3,573
32.89%
10,864
Sheboygan
17,324
49.91%
17,091
49.24%
294
0.85%
233
0.67%
34,709
St. Croix
5,990
46.80%
6,744
52.70%
64
0.50%
-754
-5.89%
12,798
Taylor
4,069
62.52%
2,345
36.03%
94
1.44%
1,724
26.49%
6,508
Trempealeau
4,171
49.26%
4,243
50.11%
53
0.63%
-72
-0.85%
8,467
Vernon
4,911
62.10%
2,9433
37.22%
54
0.68%
1,968
24.89%
7,908
Vilas
4,854
68.32%
2,207
31.06%
44
0.62%
2,647
37.26%
7,105
Walworth
11,786
60.41%
7,505
38.47%
220
1.13%
4,281
21.94%
19,511
Washburn
2,613
53.02%
2,267
46.00%
48
0.97%
346
7.02%
4,928
Washington
16,757
62.57%
9,755
36.43%
269
1.00%
7,002
26.15%
26,781
Waukesha
62,387
62.54%
36,389
36.48%
973
0.98%
25,998
26.06%
99,749
Waupaca
7,835
64.92%
4,121
34.15%
113
0.94%
3,714
30.77%
12,069
Waushara
4,057
67.17%
1,909
31.61%
74
1.23%
2,148
35.56%
6,040
Winnebago
25,786
59.04%
17,316
39.65%
571
1.31%
8,470
19.39%
43,673
Wood
14,401
58.31%
10,059
40.73%
236
0.96%
4,342
17.58%
24,696
Total
805,090
52.73%
705,578
46.21%
16,292
1.07%
99,512
6.52%
1,526,960
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
edit
^ Joint Committee on Legislative Organization, Wisconsin Legislature (2015). Wisconsin Blue Book 2015-2016 . Madison, Wisconsin: Wisconsin Department of Administration. pp. 699– 701. ISBN 978-0-9752820-7-6 .
^ a b c d Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1987). "Vote For State Officers. By County". The State of Wisconsin Blue Book 1987-1988 . Madison, Wisconsin. pp. 874– 875. {{cite book }}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link )
^ a b c Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1987). "Vote For State Officers, By County". The State of Wisconsin Blue Book 1987-1988 . Madison, Wisconsin. pp. 876– 877. {{cite book }}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link )
^ a b Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1987). "Vote For State Officers, By County". The State of Wisconsin Blue Book 1987-1988 . Madison, Wisconsin. p. 896. {{cite book }}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link )
^ a b Richard M. Scammon; Alice V. McGillivray, eds. (1987). America Votes 17, A Handbook of Contemporary American Election Statistics . Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly. pp. 412– 413.