| Election Name: | 1986 Vermont gubernatorial election |
| Country: | Vermont |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1984 Vermont gubernatorial election |
| Previous Year: | 1984 |
| Next Election: | 1988 Vermont gubernatorial election |
| Next Year: | 1988 |
| Image1: | File:Madeleine Kunin (D-VT).jpg |
| Nominee1: | Madeleine Kunin |
| Party1: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Electoral Vote1: | 139 |
| Popular Vote1: | 92,485 |
| Percentage1: | 47.0% |
| Party2: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Electoral Vote2: | 39 |
| Nominee2: | Peter Smith |
| Popular Vote2: | 75,239 |
| Percentage2: | 38.2% |
| Image3: | File:Portrait of Bernie Sanders in c. 1986 (1).jpg |
| Party3: | Independent (United States) |
| Electoral Vote3: | 2 |
| Nominee3: | Bernie Sanders |
| Popular Vote3: | 28,418 |
| Percentage3: | 14.4% |
| Governor | |
| Before Election: | Madeleine Kunin |
| Before Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| After Election: | Madeleine Kunin |
| After Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
The 1986 Vermont gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 1986. Incumbent Democrat Madeleine Kunin ran successfully for re-election to a second term as Governor of Vermont, defeating Republican candidate Peter Plympton Smith and independent candidate Bernie Sanders. Since no candidate won a majority of the popular vote, Kunin was elected by the Vermont General Assembly per the state constitution.
This was the first time since 1912 that none of the candidates received a majority of the vote. Along with Democrats' takeover of the state House for the first time in history, Democrats won a trifecta in the state for the first time ever.
After no candidate received a majority of the vote, the Vermont Legislature, consisting of 150 representatives and 30 senators, voted to decide the winner, per the state constitution.