1994 United States gubernatorial elections

On November 8, 1994, gubernatorial elections were held in 36 states and two territories across the United States. Many seats held by Democratic governors switched to the Republicans during the time known as the Republican Revolution. Notably, this marked the first time since 1969 that Republicans secured the majority of governorships in an election cycle.

1994 United States gubernatorial elections

← 1993 November 8, 1994 1995 →
38 governorships 36 states; 2 territories
Majority party Minority party   Party Republican Democratic Seats before 20[a] 29 Seats after 30 19 Seat change 10 10 Seats up 14 21 Seats won 24 11   Third party Fourth party   Party Independent A Connecticut Party Seats before 0 1 Seats after 1 0 Seat change 1 1 Seats up 0 1 Seats won 1 0
Results of the elections:      Democratic gain      Republican gain      Democratic hold      Republican hold      Independent gain      No election

Before the elections, 21 seats were held by Democrats, 14 held by Republicans, and one seat was held by an independent. After the elections, 11 seats would be held by Democrats, 24 by Republicans, and one seat by an independent.

These elections occurred concurrently with the midterm elections for the Senate and the House of Representatives. To date, it remains the last time that Democrats have won gubernatorial elections in Florida and Nebraska. Conversely, this election cycle began an ongoing pattern in which Rust Belt states Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin would vote for gubernatorial candidates of the same party, with the sole exception of 2014.^[2]

Election results

States

State	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Alabama	Jim Folsom Jr.	Democratic	1993[b]	Incumbent lost election to full term. New governor elected. Republican gain.	Y Fob James (Republican) 50.3% Jim Folsom Jr. (Democratic) 49.4%
Alaska	Wally Hickel	Republican	1966[c] 1969 (resigned) 1990	Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Democratic gain.	Y Tony Knowles (Democratic) 41.1% Jim Campbell (Republican) 40.8% Jack Coghill (AK Independence) 13.0% Jim Sykes (Green) 4.1%
Arizona	Fife Symington	Republican	1990	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Fife Symington (Republican) 52.5% Eddie Basha (Democratic) 44.3% John A. Buttrick (Libertarian) 3.1%
Arkansas	Jim Guy Tucker	Democratic	1992[d]	Incumbent elected to full term.	Y Jim Guy Tucker (Democratic) 59.8% Sheffield Nelson (Republican) 40.2%
California	Pete Wilson	Republican	1990	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Pete Wilson (Republican) 55.2% Kathleen Brown (Democratic) 40.6% Richard Rider (Libertarian) 1.7% Jerome McCready (American Independent) 1.5%
Colorado	Roy Romer	Democratic	1986	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Roy Romer (Democratic) 55.5% Bruce D. Benson (Republican) 38.7% Kevin Swanson (Constitution) 3.6% Philip Hufford (Green) 1.5%
Connecticut	Lowell Weicker	A Connecticut Party	1990	Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Republican gain.	Y John G. Rowland (Republican) 36.2% Bill Curry (Democratic) 32.7% Eunice Groark (A Connecticut Party) 18.9% Tom Scott (Independent) 11.3%
Florida	Lawton Chiles	Democratic	1990	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Lawton Chiles (Democratic) 50.8% Jeb Bush (Republican) 49.2%
Georgia	Zell Miller	Democratic	1990	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Zell Miller (Democratic) 51.0% Guy Millner (Republican) 49.0%
Hawaii	John D. Waihe'e III	Democratic	1986	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic hold.	Y Ben Cayetano (Democratic) 36.6% Frank Fasi (Best) 30.7% Pat Saiki (Republican) 29.2% Kioni Dudley (Green) 3.5%
Idaho	Cecil D. Andrus	Democratic	1970 1977 (resigned) 1986	Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Republican gain.	Y Phil Batt (Republican) 52.3% Larry Echo Hawk (Democratic) 43.9% Ronald D. Rankin (Independent) 3.8%
Illinois	Jim Edgar	Republican	1990	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Jim Edgar (Republican) 63.9% Dawn Clark Netsch (Democratic) 34.4%
Iowa	Terry Branstad	Republican	1982	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Terry Branstad (Republican) 56.8% Bonnie Campbell (Democratic) 41.6%
Kansas	Joan Finney	Democratic	1990	Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Republican gain.	Y Bill Graves (Republican) 64.1% Jim Slattery (Democratic) 35.9%
Maine	John R. McKernan Jr.	Republican	1986	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Independent gain.	Y Angus King (Independent) 35.4% Joseph E. Brennan (Democratic) 33.8% Susan Collins (Republican) 23.1% Jonathan Carter (Green) 6.4% Ed Finks (Write-in) 1.3%
Maryland	William D. Schaefer	Democratic	1986	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic hold.	Y Parris Glendening (Democratic) 50.2% Ellen Sauerbrey (Republican) 49.8%
Massachusetts	Bill Weld	Republican	1990	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Bill Weld (Republican) 70.9% Mark Roosevelt (Democratic) 28.3%
Michigan	John Engler	Republican	1990	Incumbent re-elected.	Y John Engler (Republican) 61.5% Howard Wolpe (Democratic) 38.5%
Minnesota	Arne Carlson	Republican	1990	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Arne Carlson (Republican) 63.3% John Marty (Democratic) 34.1% Will Shetterly (Grassroots) 1.2%
Nebraska	Ben Nelson	Democratic	1990	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Ben Nelson (Democratic) 73.0% Gene Spence (Republican) 25.6%
Nevada	Bob Miller	Democratic	1989[e]	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Bob Miller (Democratic) 52.7% Jim Gibbons (Republican) 41.3% Daniel Hansen (Independent American) 2.6% Denis Sholty (Libertarian) 1.0%
New Hampshire	Steve Merrill	Republican	1992	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Steve Merrill (Republican) 69.9% Wayne King (Democratic) 25.6% Steven Winter (Libertarian) 4.4%
New Mexico	Bruce King	Democratic	1970 1974 (term-limited) 1978 1982 (term-limited) 1990	Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. Republican gain.	Y Gary Johnson (Republican) 49.8% Bruce King (Democratic) 39.9% Roberto Mondragón (Green) 10.3%
New York	Mario Cuomo	Democratic	1982	Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. Republican gain.	Y George Pataki (Republican) 48.8% Mario Cuomo (Democratic) 45.5% Tom Golisano (Independence) 4.2% Robert T. Walsh (Right to Life) 1.3%
Ohio	George Voinovich	Republican	1990	Incumbent re-elected.	Y George Voinovich (Republican) 71.8% Rob Burch (Democratic) 25.0% Billy R. Inmon (Independent) 3.2%
Oklahoma	David Walters	Democratic	1990	Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Republican gain.	Y Frank Keating (Republican) 46.9% Jack Mildren (Democratic) 29.6% Wes Watkins (Independent) 23.5%
Oregon	Barbara Roberts	Democratic	1990	Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Democratic hold.	Y John Kitzhaber (Democratic) 51.0% Denny Smith (Republican) 42.4% Ed Hickam (American) 4.8% Danford Ploeg (Libertarian) 1.6%
Pennsylvania	Bob Casey Sr.	Democratic	1986	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Republican gain.	Y Tom Ridge (Republican) 45.4% Mark Singel (Democratic) 39.9% Peg Luksik (Constitution) 12.8%
Rhode Island	Bruce Sundlun	Democratic	1990	Incumbent lost renomination. New governor elected. Republican gain.	Y Lincoln Almond (Republican) 47.4% Myrth York (Democratic) 43.5% Robert J. Healey (Independent) 9.1%
South Carolina	Carroll A. Campbell Jr.	Republican	1986	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Republican hold.	Y David Beasley (Republican) 50.4% Nick Theodore (Democratic) 47.9%
South Dakota	Walter Dale Miller	Republican	1993[f]	Incumbent lost nomination to full term. New governor elected. Republican hold.	Y Bill Janklow (Republican) 55.4% Jim Beddow (Democratic) 40.5% Nathan A. Barton (Libertarian) 4.1%
Tennessee	Ned McWherter	Democratic	1986	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Republican gain.	Y Don Sundquist (Republican) 54.3% Phil Bredesen (Democratic) 44.7%
Texas	Ann Richards	Democratic	1990	Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. Republican gain.	Y George W. Bush (Republican) 53.5% Ann Richards (Democratic) 45.9%
Vermont	Howard Dean	Democratic	1991[g]	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Howard Dean (Democratic) 68.7% David F. Kelley (Republican) 19.0% Thomas J. Morse (Independent) 7.1% Dennis Lane (Grassroots) 1.0%
Wisconsin	Tommy Thompson	Republican	1986	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Tommy Thompson (Republican) 67.2% Charles Chvala (Democratic) 30.9%
Wyoming	Mike Sullivan	Democratic	1986	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Republican gain.	Y Jim Geringer (Republican) 58.7% Kathy Karpan (Democratic) 40.2% Seaghan Uibreaslain (Libertarian) 1.1%

Territories and federal district

Territory	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
District of Columbia	Sharon Pratt	Democratic	1990	Incumbent lost renomination. New mayor elected. Democratic hold.	Y Marion Barry (Democratic) 56.0% Carol Schwartz (Republican) 41.9%
Guam	Joseph Franklin Ada	Republican	1986	Incumbent retired. New governor elected.[3] Democratic gain.	Y Carl Gutierrez (Democratic) 54.8% Tommy Tanaka (Republican) 45.2%
U.S. Virgin Islands	Alexander Farrelly	Democratic	1986	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected.[4] Independent gain.	Y Roy Schneider (Independent) 54.7% Derek Hodge (Democratic) 42.6%

Closest races

States where the margin of victory was under 1%:

1. Alaska, 0.2%
2. Maryland, 0.4%
3. Alabama, 0.9%

States where the margin of victory was under 5%:

1. Florida, 1.5%
2. Maine, 1.5%
3. Georgia, 2.1%
4. South Carolina, 2.5%
5. New York, 3.3%
6. Connecticut, 3.5%
7. Rhode Island, 3.8%

States where the margin of victory was under 10%:

1. Pennsylvania, 5.5%
2. Hawaii, 5.9%
3. Texas, 7.6%
4. Arizona, 8.2%
5. Idaho, 8.4%
6. Oregon, 8.5%
7. Tennessee, 9.6%
8. Guam, 9.7%
9. New Mexico, 9.9%

See also

• 1994 United States elections
  • 1994 United States Senate elections
  • 1994 United States House of Representatives elections

Notes

1. Alaskan Governor Wally Hickel was elected on the Alaskan Independence Party line in 1990 but switched to the Republican Party in April 1994.^[1]
2. Folsom took office after his predecessor (H. Guy Hunt) was removed from office.
3. Hickel was elected as a Republican in his first term in 1966. He was elected under the Alaskan Independence Party for his second term in 1990, before switching back to the Republican Party towards the end of his second term in April 1994.
4. Tucker took office after his predecessor (Bill Clinton) resigned.
5. Miller took office after his predecessor (Richard Bryan) resigned. He was subsequently elected in the 1990 Nevada gubernatorial election.
6. Miller took office after his predecessor (George S. Mickelson) died.
7. Dean took office after his predecessor (Richard Snelling) died. He was subsequently elected in the 1992 Vermont gubernatorial election.

References

1. "Alaska's Gov. Hickel Rejoins Gop Amid Speculation Over Another Term". The Seattle Times. Seattle. Associated Press. April 15, 1994. Retrieved September 28, 2008.
2. Brownstein, Ronald (September 16, 2024). "Why these three states are the most consistent tipping point in American politics". CNN. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
3. "Guam Governor Race - Nov 08, 1994". Our Campaigns. July 3, 2015.
4. "USVI Governor Race - Nov 08, 1994". Our Campaigns. January 19, 2006.