United States gubernatorial elections, 1990

United States Gubernatorial elections, 1990

November 6, 1990

Governorships of AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IA, KS, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, NE, NV, NH, NM, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, WI, WY, GU, and VI   Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic Republican Last election 29 governorships 21 governorships Seats before 29 21 Seats after 28 20 Seat change 1 1

Republican holds   Republican pickups   Democratic holds   Democratic pickups   Alaskan Independence Pickup   A Connecticut Party Pickup

The 1990 United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 6, 1990 in 36 states. Most elected in these elections would serve for a four-year term, while those in New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont would serve for a two-year term.

Heading into the elections, there were twenty seats held by Democrats and sixteen held by Republicans. By the end of the elections, nineteen seats would be held by a Democrat, fifteen would be held by a Republican, and two would be held by other parties.

Notably in these elections, there were two people elected from a third party: Former Alaskan governor and Secretary of the Interior under President Nixon Walter Joseph Hickel was elected governor as a part of the Alaskan Independence Party. Former U.S. Senator Lowell Weicker of Connecticut won on A Connecticut Party's ticket. In addition to Weicker, two other former U.S. senators were elected governors that year, Pete Wilson of California and Lawton Chiles of Florida.

In 1988, Arizona voters approved a runoff-style election following the impeachment of governor Evan Mecham. Because no candidate received a majority (50%) of the vote in the November election, a run-off election occurred on February 26, 1991. Note, this style of voting was later repealed in 1992.

The elections coincided with the mid-term elections for the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives.

Election results

State	Incumbent	Party	Status	Opposing Candidates
Alabama	H. Guy Hunt	Republican	Re-elected, 52.1%	Paul Hubbert (Democratic) 47.9%
Alaska	Steve Cowper	Democratic	Retired, Alaskan Ind. victory	Walter Joseph Hickel (Alaskan Ind.) 38.9% Tony Knowles (Democratic) 30.9% Arliss Sturgulewski (Republican) 26.2% Jim Sykes (Green) 3.4% Michael O'Callaghan (Independent) 0.5%
Arizona	Rose Perica Mofford	Democratic	Retired, Republican victory in runoff	Fife Symington III (Republican) 49.65% (52%) Terry Goddard (Democratic) 49.24% (48%) Max Hawkins (Stop Abortion) (WI) 1.04% Ed Yetman (Libertarian) (WI) 0.03%
Arkansas	Bill Clinton	Democratic	Re-elected, 57.5%	Sheffield Nelson (Republican) 42.5%
California	George Deukmejian	Republican	Retired, Republican victory	Pete Wilson (Republican) 48.7% Dianne Feinstein (Democratic) 46.3% Dennis Thompson (Libertarian) 1.9% Jerome McCready (American Ind.) 1.8% Maria Elizabeth Muñoz (Peace & Freedom) 1.3%
Colorado	Roy Romer	Democratic	Re-elected, 61.9%	John Andrews (Republican) 35.4% David Aitken (Libertarian) 1.9% William David Livingston (Prohibition) 0.8%
Connecticut	William O'Neill	Democratic	Retired, A Connecticut Party victory	Lowell Weicker (A Connecticut Party) 40.4% John G. Rowland (Republican) 37.5% Bruce Morrison (Democratic) 20.7% Joseph A. Zdonczyk (Concerned Citizens) 1.4%
Florida	Bob Martinez	Republican	Defeated, 43.5%	Lawton Chiles (Democratic) 56.5% Rose 'Jackie' Floyd (Independent) (WI) 0.02%
Georgia	Joe Frank Harris	Democratic	Term-limited, Democratic victory	Zell Miller (Democratic) 52.9% Johnny Isakson (Republican) 44.5% Carole Ann Rand (Libertarian) 2.3%
Hawaii	John D. Waihee III	Democratic	Re-elected, 59.8%	Fred Hemmings (Republican) 38.6% Triaka-Don Smith (Libertarian) 0.9% Peggy Ross (Natural Law) 0.7%
Idaho	Cecil D. Andrus	Democratic	Re-elected, 68.2%	Roger Fairchild (Republican) 31.8%
Illinois	James R. Thompson	Republican	Retired, Republican victory	Jim Edgar (Republican) 50.8% Neil Hartigan (Democratic) 48.2% Jessie Fields (Solidarity) 1.1%
Iowa	Terry E. Branstad	Republican	Re-elected, 60.6%	Donald Avenson (Democratic) 38.5% F. Nan Bailey (Socialist Workers) 0.4%
Kansas	Mike Hayden	Republican	Defeated, 42.6%	Joan Finney (Democratic) 48.6% Christina Campbell-Cline (Independent) 8.8%
Maine	John R. McKernan, Jr.	Republican	Re-elected, 46.6%	Joseph E. Brennan (Democratic) 44.0% Andrew Adam (Independent) 9.3%
Maryland	William Donald Schaefer	Democratic	Re-elected, 59.8%	William S. Shepard (Republican) 40.2% Carol Thies (Independent) (WI) 0.01%
Massachusetts	Michael Dukakis	Democratic	Retired, Republican victory	William Weld (Republican) 50.2% John Silber (Democratic) 46.9% Leonard Umina (Independent) 2.7%
Michigan	James Blanchard	Democratic	Defeated, 49.1%	John Engler (Republican) 49.8% William Roundtree (Workers World) 1.1%
Minnesota	Rudy Perpich	DFL	Defeated, 46.8%	Arne Carlson (Ind. Republican) 50.1% Judith Ann Chosa (Independent) 1.2% Ross S. Culverhouse (Grassroots) 1.0% Jon Grunseth (Ind. Republican) 0.6% Wendy Lyons (Socialist Workers) 0.4%
Nebraska	Kay A. Orr	Republican	Defeated, 49.2%	Ben Nelson (Democratic) 49.9% Mort Sullivan (Write-in) 0.3%
Nevada	Bob Miller	Democratic	Re-elected, 64.8%	Jim Gallaway (Republican) 29.9% None of These Candidates 2.8% James Frye (Libertarian) 2.5%
New Hampshire	Judd Gregg	Republican	Re-elected, 60.5%	J. Joseph Grandmaison (Democratic) 34.7% Miriam F. Luce (Libertarian) 4.9%
New Mexico	Garrey Carruthers	Republican	Term-limited, Democratic victory	Bruce King (Democratic) 54.6% Frank M. Bond (Republican) 45.2%
New York	Mario Cuomo	Democratic	Re-elected, 53.17%	Pierre Andrew Rinfret (Republican) 21.35% Herbert London (Conservative) 20.40% Louis P. Wein (Right to Life) 3.40% Lenora Fulani (New Alliance) 0.77% W. Gary Johnson (Libertarian) 0.61% Craig Gannon (Socialist Workers) 0.31%
Ohio	Dick Celeste	Democratic	Term-limited, Republican victory	George Voinovich (Republican) 55.7% Anthony J. Celebrezze Jr. (Democratic) 44.3%
Oklahoma	Henry Bellmon	Republican	Retired, Democratic victory	David Walters (Democratic) 57.4% Bill Price (Republican) 32.3% Thomas D. Ledgerwood II (Reform) 9.9%
Oregon	Neil Goldschmidt	Democratic	Retired, Democratic victory	Barbara Roberts (Democratic) 45.7% David B. Frohnmayer (Republican) 40.0% Al Mobley (Independent) 13.0% Fred Oerther (Libertarian) 1.3%
Pennsylvania	Robert P. Casey	Democratic	Re-elected, 67.7%	Barbara Hafer (Republican) 32.3%
Rhode Island	Edward D. DiPrete	Republican	Defeated, 25.8%	Bruce Sundlun (Democratic) 74.2%
South Carolina	Carroll A. Campbell, Jr.	Republican	Re-elected, 69.5%	Theo Mitchell (Democratic) 27.9% John R. Peeples, Jr. (American) 2.3%
South Dakota	George S. Mickelson	Republican	Re-elected, 58.9%	Bob L. Samuelson (Democratic) 41.1%
Tennessee	Ned McWherter	Democratic	Re-elected, 60.8%	Dwight Henry (Republican) 36.6% W. Curtis Jacox (Independent) 1.4% David Brandon Shepard (Independent) 1.2%
Texas	Bill Clements	Republican	Retired, Democratic victory	Ann Richards (Democratic) 49.5% Clayton Williams (Republican) 46.9% Jeff Daiell (Libertarian) 3.3%
Vermont	Madeleine M. Kunin	Democratic	Retired, Republican victory	Richard A. Snelling (Republican) 51.8% Peter Welch (Democratic) 46.0% David Atkinson (Libertarian) 1.3% Richard F. Gottlieb (Liberty Union) 0.7%
Wisconsin	Tommy Thompson	Republican	Re-elected, 58.2%	Tom Loftus (Democratic) 41.8%
Wyoming	Mike Sullivan	Democratic	Re-elected, 65.4%	Mary Mead (Republican) 34.6%