The 1986 United States House of Representatives elections was held on November 4, 1986, 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 midterm 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. Notable freshmen include future House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL).
Source: Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk
Forty incumbents retired.
Nineteen incumbent Democrats retired.
Alabama's 7th congressional district: Richard Shelby: To run for U.S.Senate
Colorado's 2nd congressional district: Tim Wirth: To run for U.S.Senate
Florida's 2nd congressional district: Don Fuqua
Georgia's 5th congressional district: Wyche Fowler: To run for U.S.Senate
Iowa's 6th congressional district: Berkley Bedell
Louisiana's 7th congressional district: John Breaux: To run for U.S.Senate
Louisiana's 8th congressional district: Catherine Small Long
Maryland's 3rd congressional district: Barbara Mikulski: To run for U.S.Senate
Maryland's 7th congressional district: Parren Mitchell
Maryland's 8th congressional district: Michael D. Barnes: To run for U.S.Senate
Massachusetts's 8th congressional district: Tip O'Neill
Nevada's 1st congressional district: Harry Reid: To run for U.S.Senate
New York 34: Stan Lundine: To Lieutenant Governor
North Carolina 3: Charles Orville Whitley
Ohio's 14th congressional district: John F. Seiberling
Oklahoma's 1st congressional district: James Robert Jones: To run for U.S.Senate
Oregon's 4th congressional district: Jim Weaver: To run for U.S.Senate
Pennsylvania's 7th congressional district: Robert W. Edgar: To run for U.S.Senate
South Dakota at-large: Tom Daschle: To run for U.S.Senate
Twenty-one incumbent Republicans retired.
Arizona's 1st congressional district: John McCain: To run for U.S.Senate
Arizona's 4th congressional district: Eldon Rudd
California's 2nd congressional district: Eugene A. Chappie
California's 12th congressional district: Ed Zschau: To run for U.S.Senate
California's 21st congressional district: Bobbi Fiedler: To run for U.S.Senate
Colorado's 5th congressional district: Ken Kramer: To run for U.S.Senate
Illinois's 4th congressional district: George M. O'Brien
Illinois's 14th congressional district: John E. Grotberg
Indiana's 5th congressional district: Elwood Hillis
Iowa's 3rd congressional district: T. Cooper Evans
Kentucky's 4th congressional district: Gene Snyder
Louisiana's 6th congressional district: Henson Moore: To run for U.S.Senate
Maine's 1st congressional district: John R. McKernan, Jr.: To run for Governor
Maryland's 4th congressional district: Marjorie Holt
New York 1: William Carney
Ohio's 8th congressional district: Tom Kindness: To run for U.S.Senate
South Carolina 1: Thomas F. Hartnett: To run for Lieutenant Governor
South Carolina 4: Carroll A. Campbell, Jr.: To run for Governor
Texas's 21st congressional district: Tom Loeffler: To run for Governor
Utah's 2nd congressional district: David Smith Monson
Virginia's 2nd congressional district: G. William Whitehurst
Key to party abbreviations: AI=American Independent, C=Constitution, D=Democrat, G=Green, I=Independent, IP=Independence Party, L=Libertarian, PF=Peace and Freedom, R=Republican.