The 1986 New York gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1986, to elect the

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

and

Lieutenant Governor of New York The lieutenant governor of New York is a Constitution of New York, constitutional office in the executive branch of the Government of the State of New York. It is the second highest-ranking official in state government. The lieutenant governo ...

. Incumbent Democratic governor

Mario Cuomo Mario Matthew Cuomo ( , ; June 15, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 52nd governor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ...

defeated Republican

Andrew O'Rourke Andrew Patrick O'Rourke (October 26, 1933 – January 3, 2013) was an American judge and politician from New York State. A Republican, he served as the County Executive of Westchester County, New York from 1982 to 1997. He was the Republic ...

, the County Executive of Westchester County in a landslide. Cuomo carried all but 5 counties.

Republican nomination

Candidates

* Andrew P. O'Rourke,

Westchester County Executive The Westchester County Executive is the head of the Executive (government), executive branch of the Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York, government. The current County Executive is Ken Jenkins. The county executive has powe ...

Declined

* James L. Emery, nominee for lieutenant governor in 1982 *

Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani ( , ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and Disbarment, disbarred lawyer who served as the 107th mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney ...

, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York * Roy M. Goodman, State Senator from Manhattan *

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 56th United States secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 and the 7th National Security Advisor (United States), natio ...

, former U.S. Secretary of State * Lewis Lehrman, banker and nominee for governor in 1982 Lewis Lehrman, the

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

Republican nominee for governor, decided early on not to mount another candidacy versus Cuomo. Lehrman's decision to forgo a candidacy was seen as a blow to state Republican leaders, given his strong performance in 1982 and wide fundraising capacity. Former Secretary of State

considered running for governor and was deemed an "able" challenger, and his decision to ultimately pass on a candidacy also led to a leadership vacuum. In the end, O'Rourke secured the Republican nomination, and was praised as an "extremely credible candidate" by

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

official Bill Lacy. His running mate was E. Michael Kavanagh, who served as

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

Ulster County Ulster County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. It is situated along the Hudson River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 181,851. The county seat is Kingston. The county is named after the Irish province of Ulster. The count ...

Results

References

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

Gubernatorial A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Mario Cuomo {{NewYork-election-stub