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 County results McKernan: 30–40% 40–50% Tierney: 30–40% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1986 Maine gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 1986. Incumbent Democratic Governor Joseph Brennan was term limited and ineligible to seek re-election. First district Congressman John McKernan defeated Democratic Party challenger James Tierney as well as former Republican turned Independent Sherry Huber and former Portland, Maine, city manager John Menario, making McKernan the first Republican to win The Blaine House since 1962.
Tierney, the sitting state Attorney General, won a crowded Democratic primary over state senators Severin Beliveau and William Diamond, as well as David Redmond, the chief of staff of incumbent governor Joseph E. Brennan. McKernan faced only conservative activist Porter Leighton in the GOP primary, and dispatched him with relative ease.
The three main issues during the campaign were: the future of the Maine Yankee Nuclear Power Plant in Wiscasset, economic development and McKernan's congressional record.[1]
- ^ Mothes, J. Barry (October 31, 1986). "Three issues have hung in there all the way". Sun Journal. p. A8. Retrieved March 29, 2013.