Election 1938 Results
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1938 governor election results by state and county
Republicans recovered strongly in 1938, gaining Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Massachusetts and other states, while Herbert H. Lehman narrowly held New York against Thomas E. Dewey.
33 governor races were held in 1938. Democrats won 15 and Republicans 18.
The closest were Connecticut (R+0.4), New York (D+1.4) and Nebraska (D+3.4). 17 governorships changed party: California to the Democrats, Colorado to the Republicans, Connecticut to the Republicans, Idaho to the Republicans, Iowa to the Republicans, Kansas to the Republicans, Maryland to the Democrats, Massachusetts to the Republicans, Michigan to the Republicans, Minnesota to the Republicans, North Dakota to the Democrats, Ohio to the Republicans, Oregon to the Republicans, Pennsylvania to the Republicans, Rhode Island to the Republicans, Wisconsin to the Republicans and Wyoming to the Republicans.
Early projection, based on early and incomplete polling: the likely matchups, each weighted by the betting markets' odds of both nominations, not a result. Each county is its 2024 presidential margin moved by its state's projected swing; set a national vote and every state, district and county moves by the same amount from our projection. Colours run in 100 steps from a safe Republican to a safe Democratic margin. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.
About the 1938 governor elections
The recession of 1937 and 1938, Franklin D. Roosevelt's court-packing plan and his failed purge of conservative Democrats all hurt his party in the 1938 midterms. Republicans gained seats in both houses of Congress and won back a long list of governorships. John W. Bricker took Ohio by about 5 points, Arthur H. James won Pennsylvania, and Frank D. Fitzgerald returned in Michigan by about 6 points over Frank Murphy. Leverett Saltonstall won Massachusetts, George Wilson took Iowa by about 7 points, and Payne Ratner won Kansas by a similar margin. Republicans also gained Maine, Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, Wyoming and Rhode Island. In Minnesota, Harold Stassen won for the Republicans, and in Wisconsin, Julius P. Heil beat Philip La Follette. In New York, Herbert H. Lehman won a fourth term over Thomas E. Dewey, the racket-busting prosecutor, with help from the American Labor Party line. In Connecticut, Raymond E. Baldwin unseated Wilbur L. Cross by a fraction of a point in a three-way race. Democrats gained California with Culbert L. Olson and Maryland with Herbert R. O'Conor.
Every race
| State | Democrat | Votes | Republican | Votes | Others | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Frank M. Dixon | 115,761 (87.4%) | W. A. Clardy | 16,522 (12.5%) | 234 | D+74.9 |
| Arizona | Robert T. Jones | 80,350 (68.6%) | Jerrie W. Lee | 32,022 (27.3%) | 4,814 | D+41.2 |
| Arkansas | Carl E. Bailey | 118,696 (86.3%) | Charles F. Cole | 12,077 (8.8%) | 6,775 | D+77.5 |
| California flip | Culbert L. Olson | 1,391,734 (52.5%) | Frank F. Merriam | 1,171,019 (44.2%) | 88,710 | D+8.3 |
| Colorado flip | Teller Ammons | 199,562 (43.7%) | Ralph L. Carr | 255,159 (55.8%) | 2,402 | R+12.2 |
| Connecticut flip | Wilbur Lucius Cross | 227,549 (36.0%) | Raymond E. Baldwin | 230,237 (36.4%) | Jasper McLevy (Socialist) 166,253 (26.3%) |
R+0.4 |
| Georgia | Eurith D. Rivers | 66,863 (94.3%) | none | 4,056 | D+94.3 | |
| Idaho flip | C. Ben Ross | 77,697 (41.9%) | C. A. Bottolfsen | 106,268 (57.3%) | 1,494 | R+15.4 |
| Iowa flip | Nelson G. Kraschel | 387,779 (45.7%) | George Wilson | 447,061 (52.7%) | 13,391 | R+7.0 |
| Kansas flip | Walter A. Huxman | 341,271 (45.1%) | Payne Ratner | 393,989 (52.1%) | 21,438 | R+7.0 |
| Maine | Louis J. Brann | 139,745 (47.0%) | Lewis O. Barrows | 157,350 (52.9%) | 143 | R+5.9 |
| Maryland flip | Herbert R. O'Conor | 308,372 (54.6%) | Harry W. Nice | 242,095 (42.9%) | 14,073 | D+11.7 |
| Massachusetts flip | James M. Curley | 793,884 (45.0%) | Leverett Saltonstall | 941,465 (53.3%) | 30,520 | R+8.4 |
| Michigan flip | Frank Murphy | 753,752 (47.0%) | Frank D. Fitzgerald | 847,245 (52.8%) | 4,244 | R+5.8 |
| Minnesota flip | Thomas F. Gallagher | 65,875 (5.8%) | Harold Stassen | 678,839 (59.9%) | Elmer Benson (Farmer-Labor) 387,263 (34.2%) |
R+54.1 |
| Nebraska | Robert L. Cochran | 218,787 (44.0%) | Charles J. Warner | 201,898 (40.6%) | Charles W. Bryan (Independent) 76,258 (15.3%) |
D+3.4 |
| Nevada | Edward P. Carville | 28,528 (61.9%) | John A. Fulton | 17,586 (38.1%) | D+23.7 | |
| New Hampshire | John L. Sullivan | 80,847 (42.8%) | Francis P. Murphy | 107,841 (57.1%) | 237 | R+14.3 |
| New Mexico | John E. Miles | 82,344 (52.2%) | Albert K. Mitchell | 75,017 (47.6%) | 270 | D+4.7 |
| New York | Herbert H. Lehman | 2,391,286 (50.4%) | Thomas E. Dewey | 2,326,892 (49.0%) | 28,446 | D+1.4 |
| North Dakota flip | John Moses | 138,270 (52.5%) | John N. Hagan | 125,246 (47.5%) | D+4.9 | |
| Ohio flip | Charles Sawyer | 1,147,323 (47.6%) | John W. Bricker | 1,265,548 (52.4%) | R+4.9 | |
| Oklahoma | Leon C. Phillips | 355,740 (70.0%) | Ross Rizley | 148,861 (29.3%) | 3,355 | D+40.7 |
| Oregon flip | Henry L. Hess | 158,744 (42.6%) | Charles A. Sprague | 214,062 (57.4%) | 57 | R+14.8 |
| Pennsylvania flip | Charles Jones | 1,745,465 (45.8%) | Arthur H. James | 2,036,345 (53.4%) | 31,250 | R+7.6 |
| Rhode Island flip | Robert E. Quinn | 129,603 (41.6%) | William Henry Vanderbilt III | 168,624 (54.2%) | 13,059 | R+12.5 |
| South Carolina | Burnet Rhett Maybank | 49,009 (99.4%) | Joseph Augustis Tolbert | 283 (0.6%) | D+98.9 | |
| South Dakota | Oscar Fosheim | 127,485 (46.0%) | Harlan J. Bushfield | 149,362 (54.0%) | R+7.9 | |
| Tennessee | Prentice Cooper | 210,567 (71.7%) | Howard Baker Sr. | 83,031 (28.3%) | D+43.4 | |
| Texas | W. Lee O'Daniel | 358,943 (96.8%) | Alexander Boynton | 11,309 (3.0%) | 535 | D+93.8 |
| Vermont | Fred C. Martin | 37,404 (33.2%) | George David Aiken | 75,098 (66.8%) | R+33.5 | |
| Wisconsin flip | Harry W. Bolens | 78,446 (8.0%) | Julius P. Heil | 543,675 (55.4%) | Philip La Follette (Progressive) 353,381 (36.0%) |
R+47.4 |
| Wyoming flip | Leslie A. Miller | 38,501 (40.2%) | Nels H. Smith | 57,288 (59.8%) | R+19.6 |
Margin: the Democrat's share of all votes minus the Republican's. Margins are Democrat minus Republican, of all votes. Certified results, from the states' own archives, the MIT Election Data and Science Lab, Heideman (2026) and Algara & Amlani (2021). By county: "As they were" draws each county as it stood on election day; "Today's" shares the old votes among today's counties by area. County boundaries: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries (CC BY-NC-SA 2.5). How these results were checked.