1988 United States gubernatorial elections

1988 United States gubernatorial elections

November 8, 1988
14 governorships 12 states; 2 territories
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic Republican Seats before 27 23 Seats after 28 22 Seat change 1 1 Seats up 4 8 Seats won 5 7
Democratic gain   Democratic hold   Republican gain   Republican hold   Scheduled Recall cancelled

United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 8, 1988, in 12 states and two territories. Going into the elections, eight seats were held by Republicans, and four by Democrats. After the elections, the Democrats had a net gain of one seat. The elections coincided with the United States House elections, United States Senate elections and presidential election. As of 2025, this is the last time that a Republican was elected as a Governor of Delaware, and the last time a Democrat was elected as a Governor of North Dakota.

Election results

State	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Arizona (recall)	Evan Mecham	Republican	1986	Already scheduled recall election cancelled after Mecham's impeachment Secretary of State Rose Mofford (D) succeeded him.
Delaware	Mike Castle	Republican	1984	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Mike Castle (Republican) 70.7% Jacob Kreshtool (Democratic) 29.3%
Indiana	Robert D. Orr	Republican	1980	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic gain.	Y Evan Bayh (Democratic) 53.2% John Mutz (Republican) 46.8%
Missouri	John Ashcroft	Republican	1984	Incumbent re-elected.	Y John Ashcroft (Republican) 64.2% Betty Cooper Hearnes (Democratic) 34.8% Mike Roberts (Libertarian) 1.0%
Montana	Ted Schwinden	Democratic	1980	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Republican gain.	Y Stan Stephens (Republican) 51.9% Thomas Lee Judge (Democratic) 46.1%
New Hampshire	John H. Sununu	Republican	1982	Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Republican hold.	Y Judd Gregg (Republican) 60.4% Paul McEachern (Democratic) 39.0%
North Carolina	James G. Martin	Republican	1984	Incumbent re-elected.	Y James G. Martin (Republican) 56.1% Robert B. Jordan (Democratic) 43.9%
North Dakota	George A. Sinner	Democratic-NPL	1984	Incumbent re-elected.	Y George A. Sinner (Democratic-NPL) 59.9% Leon L. Mallberg (Republican) 40.1%
Rhode Island	Edward D. DiPrete	Republican	1984	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Edward D. DiPrete (Republican) 50.8% Bruce Sundlun (Democratic) 49.2%
Utah	Norman H. Bangerter	Republican	1984	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Norman H. Bangerter (Republican) 40.1% Ted Wilson (Democratic) 38.4% Merrill Cook (Independent) 21.1% Kitty K. Burton (Libertarian) 0.3% Arly H. Pedersen (Ind. American) 0.2%
Vermont	Madeleine Kunin	Democratic	1982	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Madeleine Kunin (Democratic) 55.3% Michael Bernhardt (Republican) 43.3% Richard Gottlieb (Liberty Union) 1.2%
Washington	Booth Gardner	Democratic	1984	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Booth Gardner (Democratic) 62.2% Robert Williams (Republican) 37.8%
West Virginia	Arch A. Moore Jr.	Republican	1968 1976 (term-limited) 1984	Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. Democratic gain.	Y Gaston Caperton (Democratic) 58.9% Arch A. Moore Jr. (Republican) 41.1%

Close states

States where the margin of victory was under 5%:

1. Rhode Island, 1.6%
2. Utah, 1.7%

States where the margin of victory was under 10%:

1. Indiana, 6.4%
2. Montana, 5.8%

Delaware

1988 Delaware gubernatorial election

November 8, 1988

Nominee Mike Castle Jacob Kreshtool Party Republican Democratic Running mate Dale E. Wolf Gary E. Hindes Popular vote 169,733 70,236 Percentage 70.7% 29.3%

Castle:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Kreshtool:      60–70%

Governor before election Mike Castle Republican Elected Governor Mike Castle Republican

The 1988 Delaware gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 1988. Incumbent Republican governor Mike Castle won re-election to a second term, defeating Democratic nominee labor lawyer Jacob Kreshtool in a landslide.

Indiana

1988 Indiana gubernatorial election

November 8, 1988 (1988-11-08)

Nominee Evan Bayh John Mutz Party Democratic Republican Running mate Frank O'Bannon Stephen Goldsmith Popular vote 1,138,574 1,000,207 Percentage 53.2% 46.8%

County results Bayh:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Mutz:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Governor before election Robert D. Orr Republican Elected Governor Evan Bayh Democratic

The 1988 Indiana gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1988, in all 92 counties in the state of Indiana. Incumbent Governor Robert D. Orr, a Republican, was ineligible to run for a third consecutive term due to term limits established by the Indiana Constitution. In the general election, the Republican nominee, Lieutenant Governor John Mutz, was defeated by Democrat Indiana Secretary of State Evan Bayh by a margin of six percentage points. Bayh was the first Democrat to be elected Governor of Indiana since Roger D. Branigin's victory during the 1964 Democratic landslides twenty-four years previously.

Missouri

1988 Montana gubernatorial election

November 8, 1988
Turnout	75.00%
Nominee Stan Stephens Thomas Lee Judge Party Republican Democratic Running mate Allen Kolstad Barbara B. Skelton Popular vote 190,604 169,313 Percentage 51.93% 46.13%
County results Stephens:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Judge:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Governor before election Ted Schwinden Democratic Elected Governor Stan Stephens Republican

The 1988 Montana gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 1988. Incumbent Governor of Montana Ted Schwinden, who was first elected in 1980 and was re-elected in 1984, declined to seek re-election to a third term, creating an open seat. Stan Stephens, the former president of the Montana Senate, won a close Republican primary, and advanced to the general election, where he was opposed by Thomas Lee Judge, Schwinden's predecessor as governor and the Democratic nominee. Though the general election was hotly contested, Stephens ultimately defeated Judge, becoming the first Republican to win a gubernatorial election in Montana since 1964.

New Hampshire

1988 New Hampshire gubernatorial election

November 6, 1988

Nominee Judd Gregg Paul McEachern Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 267,064 172,543 Percentage 60.45% 39.05%

Gregg:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% McEachern:      50–60%      60–70%

Governor before election John Sununu Republican Elected Governor Judd Gregg Republican

The 1988 New Hampshire gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 1988. Incumbent Governor John Sununu did not run for re-election, and was succeeded by U.S. Representative Judd Gregg.

North Carolina

1988 North Carolina gubernatorial election

November 8, 1988

Nominee James G. Martin Robert B. Jordan Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,222,258 997,408 Percentage 55.06% 44.94%

County results Martin:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Jordan:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Governor before election James Martin Republican Elected Governor James Martin Republican

The 1988 North Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1988. Popular Incumbent Governor James G. Martin ran and was re-elected by a comfortable margin over Democratic Challenger former Lieutenant Governor Robert B. Jordan III.

North Dakota

1988 North Dakota gubernatorial election

November 8, 1988

Nominee George A. Sinner Leon Mallberg Party Democratic–NPL Republican Running mate Lloyd Omdahl Donna Nalewaja Popular vote 179,094 119,986 Percentage 59.9% 40.1%

County results Sinner:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Mallberg:      50–60%

Governor before election George A. Sinner Democratic–NPL Elected Governor George A. Sinner Democratic–NPL

The 1988 North Dakota gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 1988 to elect the governor of North Dakota. Incumbent Democratic governor George A. Sinner was reelected to a second term with 58% of the vote, defeating Republican nominee Leon Mallberg.

Rhode Island

1988 Rhode Island gubernatorial election

November 8, 1988

Nominee Edward D. DiPrete Bruce Sundlun Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 203,550 196,925 Percentage 50.8% 49.2%

DiPrete:      50–60%      60–70% Sundlun:      50–60%      60–70%

Governor before election Edward D. DiPrete Republican Elected Governor Edward D. DiPrete Republican

The 1988 Rhode Island gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1988. Incumbent Republican Edward D. DiPrete defeated Democratic nominee Bruce Sundlun with 50.83% of the vote.

Utah

1988 Utah gubernatorial election

November 8, 1988

Nominee Norman H. Bangerter Ted Wilson Merrill Cook Party Republican Democratic Independent Popular vote 260,462 249,321 136,651 Percentage 40.13% 38.41% 21.05%

County results Bangerter:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Wilson:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Governor before election Norman H. Bangerter Republican Elected Governor Norman H. Bangerter Republican

The 1988 Utah gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1988. Republican nominee and incumbent governor Norman H. Bangerter defeated Democratic nominee Ted Wilson and independent Merrill Cook with 40.13% of the vote.

Vermont

1988 Vermont gubernatorial election

November 8, 1988 (1988-11-08)

Nominee Madeleine Kunin Michael Bernhardt Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 134,558 105,319 Percentage 55.3% 43.3%

Kunin:      40-50%      50-60%      60-70%      70-80% Bernhardt:      40-50%      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%      80-90%

Governor before election Madeleine Kunin Democratic Elected Governor Madeleine Kunin Democratic

The 1988 Vermont gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 1988. Incumbent Democrat Madeleine Kunin ran successfully for re-election to a third term as Governor of Vermont, defeating Republican candidate Michael Bernhardt.

Washington

1988 Washington gubernatorial election

November 8, 1988

Nominee Booth Gardner Bob Williams Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,166,448 708,481 Percentage 62.21% 37.79%

County results Gardner:      50–60%      60–70% Williams:      50–60%      60–70%

Governor before election Booth Gardner Democratic Elected Governor Booth Gardner Democratic

The 1988 Washington gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1988. Incumbent Democratic governor Booth Gardner won a second term, defeating Republican state representative Bob Williams in a landslide. This election was the first time since 1960 that an incumbent Democratic governor of Washington was re-elected. Gardner won the highest share of the vote since Clarence Martin in 1936.

West Virginia

1988 West Virginia gubernatorial election

November 8, 1988

Nominee Gaston Caperton Arch A. Moore Jr. Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 382,421 267,172 Percentage 58.9% 41.1%

County results Caperton:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Moore:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Governor before election Arch A. Moore, Jr. Republican Elected Governor Gaston Caperton Democratic

The 1988 West Virginia gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 1988 to elect the governor of West Virginia. Incumbent Republican governor Arch A. Moore Jr. ran for re-election to a fourth term in office, but was defeated by Democratic nominee Gaston Caperton.

See also

• 1988 United States elections
  • 1988 United States presidential election
  • 1988 United States Senate elections
  • 1988 United States House of Representatives elections