1981 United States gubernatorial elections

1981 United States gubernatorial elections
3 governorships ; 2 states; 1 territory
	Republican gain Democratic gain

United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 3, 1981, in two states and one territory. Both seats were open due to term limits, and both also switched parties, resulting in zero net change for both parties.

Election results[]

State	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
New Jersey	Brendan Byrne	Democratic	1973	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Republican gain.	Y Thomas Kean (Republican) 49.5% James Florio (Democratic) 49.4%^[1]
Virginia	John N. Dalton	Republican	1977	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic gain.	Y Chuck Robb (Democratic) 53.6% Marshall Coleman (Republican) 46.4%

References[]

^ The original election results were close; Florio called for a recount. The results here are from the recount.

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[1] The original election results were close; Florio called for a recount. The results here are from the recount.

[1]

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