1994 United States gubernatorial elections

1994 United States gubernatorial elections
38 governorships ; 36 states; 2 territories
	Results of the elections:; Democratic gain Republican gain; Democratic hold Republican hold; Independent gain No election

United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 8, 1994, in 36 states and two territories. Many seats held by Democratic governors switched to the Republicans during the time known as the Republican Revolution.

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

The elections coincided with the midterm elections for the Senate and for the House of Representatives. As of 2022, it was the last time that Democrats have won gubernatorial elections in Florida and Nebraska.

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	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^[c]	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	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^[d]	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	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^[e]	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^[f]	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[]

Territory	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Guam	Joseph Franklin Ada	Republican	1986	Incumbent retired. New governor elected.^[2] 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.^[3] Independent gain.	Y Roy Schneider (Independent) 54.7% Derek Hodge (Democratic) 42.6%

Closest races[]

States where the margin of victory was under 1%:

Alaska, 0.2%
Maryland, 0.4%
Alabama, 0.9%

States where the margin of victory was under 5%:

Florida, 1.5%
Maine, 1.5%
Georgia, 2.1%
South Carolina, 2.5%
New York, 3.3%
Connecticut, 3.5%
Rhode Island, 3.8%

States where the margin of victory was under 10%:

Pennsylvania, 5.5%
Hawaii, 5.9%
Texas, 7.6%
Arizona, 8.2%
Idaho, 8.4%
Oregon, 8.5%
Tennessee, 9.6%
Guam, 9.7%
New Mexico, 9.9%

Notes[]

^ Alaskan Governor Wally Hickel was elected on the Alaskan Independence Party line in 1990 but switched to the Republican Party in April 1994.^[1]
^ Folsom took office after his predecessor (H. Guy Hunt) was removed from office.
^ Tucker took office after his predecessor (Bill Clinton) resigned.
^ Miller took office after his predecessor (Richard Bryan) resigned. He was subsequently elected in the 1990 Nevada gubernatorial election.
^ Miller took office after his predecessor (George S. Mickelson) died.
^ Dean took office after his predecessor (Richard Snelling) died. He was subsequently elected in the 1992 Vermont gubernatorial election.

References[]

^ "Alaska's Gov. Hickel Rejoins Gop Amid Speculation Over Another Term". The Seattle Times. Seattle. Associated Press. April 15, 1994. Retrieved September 28, 2008.
^ "Guam Governor Race - Nov 08, 1994". Our Campaigns. July 3, 2015.
^ "USVI Governor Race - Nov 08, 1994". Our Campaigns. January 19, 2006.

[2] Alaskan Governor Wally Hickel was elected on the Alaskan Independence Party line in 1990 but switched to the Republican Party in April 1994.^[1]

[3] Folsom took office after his predecessor (H. Guy Hunt) was removed from office.

[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.

[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.

[8] "Guam Governor Race - Nov 08, 1994". Our Campaigns. July 3, 2015.

[9] "USVI Governor Race - Nov 08, 1994". Our Campaigns. January 19, 2006.

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