1986 United States House of Representatives elections
House elections for the 100th U.S. Congress
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.
Overall results
393 incumbent members sought reelection, but 2 were defeated in primaries and 6 defeated in the general election for a total of 385 incumbents winning.
Source: Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk
Retiring incumbents
A total of 40 representatives (19 Democrats and 21 Republicans) retired, 22 of whom (12 Democrats and 10 Republicans) retired to run for other offices.
Democrats
Nineteen incumbent Democrats retired.
Alabama 7: Richard Shelby: retired to run for U.S. Senate.
Colorado 2: Tim Wirth: retired to run for U.S. Senate.
Florida 2: Don Fuqua retired.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “1986 United States House of Representatives elections” as house elections for the 100th U.S. Congress. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as house elections for the 100th U.S. Congress. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7890194. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1986.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “1986 United States House of Representatives elections”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow 1986 United States House of Representatives elections primary sources, 1986 United States House of Representatives elections archive and United research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “1986 United States House of Representatives elections”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “1986 United States House of Representatives elections” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.