John W. Carlin Democratic Mike Hayden Republican The 1986 Kansas gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1986.

Incumbent Democratic Governor John W. Carlin did not run for re-election.

Republican nominee Mike Hayden, then Speaker of the Kansas House of Representatives, beat the Democratic nominee Thomas Docking, who was then the incumbent Lieutenant Governor of Kansas.

[1] This was the last gubernatorial election in Kansas in which the winner was of the same party as the incumbent president until Laura Kelly's victory in 2022.