1987 United States gubernatorial elections

1987 United States gubernatorial elections

October 24 and November 3, 1987
4 governorships 3 states; 1 territory
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic Republican Seats before 26 24 Seats after 26 24 Seat change Seats up 3 0 Seats won 3 0
Democratic hold

United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 3, 1987, in three states and one territory. Democrats retained all three seats up for election; although three new people were elected governor.

This is also the last time Louisiana, Kentucky and Mississippi all elected governors of the same party.

Election results

State	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Kentucky	Martha Layne Collins	Democratic	1983	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic hold.	Y Wallace Wilkinson (Democratic) 64.5% John Harper (Republican) 34.9%
Louisiana	Edwin Edwards	Democratic	1972 1979 (term-limited) 1983	Incumbent lost re-election and withdrew from advanced runoff. New governor elected. Democratic hold.	Y Buddy Roemer (Democratic) 33.2% Edwin Edwards (Democratic) 27.9% Bob Livingston (Republican) 18.5% Billy Tauzin (Democratic) 9.9% Jim Brown (Democratic) 8.9% Speedy Long (Democratic) 1.2%
Mississippi	William Allain	Democratic	1983	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic hold.	Y Ray Mabus (Democratic) 53.4% Jack Reed (Republican) 46.6%

Close states

States where the margin of victory was under 10%:

1. Louisiana, 5.3%
2. Mississippi, 6.8%

Kentucky

1987 Kentucky gubernatorial election

November 3, 1987
Turnout	39.9% 15.8 pp
Nominee Wallace Wilkinson John Harper Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 504,674 273,141 Percentage 64.50% 34.91%
Wilkinson:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Harper:      50–60%      60–70%
Governor before election Martha Layne Collins Democratic Elected Governor Wallace Wilkinson Democratic

The 1987 Kentucky gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1987. Democratic nominee Wallace Wilkinson defeated Republican nominee John Harper with 64.50% of the vote.

Louisiana

1987 Louisiana gubernatorial election

October 24, 1987 (first round)

Candidate Buddy Roemer Edwin Edwards Bob Livingston Party Democratic Democratic Republican First round 516,078 33.11% 437,801 28.09% 287,780 18.46% Runoff Winner by default Withdrew Eliminated   Candidate Billy Tauzin James H. "Jim" Brown Party Democratic Democratic First round 154,079 9.88% 138,223 8.87% Runoff Eliminated Eliminated

Roemer:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Edwards:      30–40%      40–50% Livingston:      30–40%      40–50% Tauzin:      20–30%      30–40%      40–50%

Governor before election Edwin Edwards Democratic Elected Governor Buddy Roemer Democratic

The 1987 Louisiana gubernatorial election was held to elect the governor of Louisiana. Three-term incumbent Democratic governor Edwin Edwards lost re-election to a fourth term, defeated by Democratic congressman Buddy Roemer.

Edwin Edwards defeated Governor Dave Treen in the 1983 election. Edwards was prosecuted as governor by U.S. District Attorney John Volz for selling hospital certificates, but the first trial results in a hung jury before Edwards was acquitted.

Under Louisiana's jungle primary system, all candidates appear on the same ballot, regardless of party, and voters may vote for any candidate, regardless of their party affiliation. On October 24, 1987, Roemer and Edwards took the two highest popular vote counts. As neither took over 50% a runoff was scheduled, but Edwards withdrew, causing the runoff's cancellation.

Mississippi

1987 Mississippi gubernatorial election

November 3, 1987

Nominee Ray Mabus Jack Reed Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 385,689 336,006 Percentage 53.44% 46.56%

County results Mabus:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%      80-90% Reed:      50-60%      60-70%

Governor before election William Allain Democratic Elected Governor Ray Mabus Democratic

The 1987 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1987 to elect the governor of Mississippi.

Sources

• Moreland, Laurence; Steed, Robert; Baker, Tod, eds. (1991). The 1988 Presidential Election in the South: Continuity Amidst Change in Southern Party Politics. Praeger Publishers. ISBN 0275931455.