PolitiFinder

1986 Nevada Gubernatorial Election

Nevada · 2 candidates · See every 1986 Governor race

Who won the 1986 Nevada Gubernatorial Election?

Richard H. Bryan won the 1986 Nevada Gubernatorial Election. Richard H. Bryan received 187,268 popular votes (73.5%). The main challenger was Patty Cafferata (25.5%).

See the full head-to-head between Bryan and Cafferata

Bryan +48.0 pts · won by 122,187 votes
Richard H. BryanDemocraticWINNER73.5%
187,268 votes
Patty CafferataRepublican25.5%
65,081 votes
Other candidates received the remaining 1.0% of the popular vote; only the leading candidates are individually recorded for this election.
Popular-vote totals for governor elections are compiled from official state results (via Wikipedia); Louisiana shows the decisive round of its jungle primary.

Data last verified July 28, 2026.