The 1886 California gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1886, to elect the governor of California. Washington Bartlett won a narrow plurality of the votes to become the state's 16th governor. For the first time since 1863, the incumbent party retained control of the governor's mansion.
Bartlett's term as governor would prove to be the second-shortest in the state's history: he died only eight months into his term on September 17, 1887. He was succeeded by Lieutenant Governor Robert Waterman, who had been elected at the same time as Bartlett.
