| Election Name: | 1886 Nebraska gubernatorial election |
| Country: | Nebraska |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1884 Nebraska gubernatorial election |
| Previous Year: | 1884 |
| Next Election: | 1888 Nebraska gubernatorial election |
| Next Year: | 1888 |
| Election Date: | November 2, 1886 |
| Nominee1: | John Milton Thayer |
| Party1: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote1: | 75,956 |
| Percentage1: | 55.0% |
| Nominee2: | James E. North |
| Party2: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote2: | 52,656 |
| Percentage2: | 38.09% |
| Nominee3: | Harvey W. Hardy |
| Party3: | Prohibition Party |
| Popular Vote3: | 8,175 |
| Percentage3: | 5.9% |
| Governor | |
| Before Election: | James W. Dawes |
| Before Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
| After Election: | John Milton Thayer |
| After Party: | Republican Party (United States) |
The 1886 Nebraska gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1886.
Incumbent Republican governor James W. Dawes did not seek reelection. The two candidates from the major parties were Republican nominee John Milton Thayer, a former United States senator from Nebraska, and Democratic nominee James E. North, the former mayor of Columbus, Nebraska.
Additionally, the Prohibition Party nominated Harvey W. Hardy, a former mayor of Lincoln, Nebraska, and a newly created "National Union" party nominated Jay Burrows, one of its founders from Filley, Nebraska. The National Union Party was founded just prior to the election of 1886 and appears to have been a precursor to the later populist movement in Nebraska.[1] One source refers to the party as the "anti-monopoly party."[2] The party was very closely associated with various figures such as John H. Powers[3] and Charles Van Wyck who were later prominent in the populist movement.[4] [5] Jay Burrows was associated with the Nebraska Farmers' Alliance, which he helped found in Filley, Nebraska in 1880.[6] Burrows later became the founder and editor of The Farmers' Alliance, a publication associated with the Farmers' Alliance movement founded in 1889.[7] [8]