Election 1954 Results
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1954 governor election results by state and county
Democrats won 17 governor races to 15 in 1954 and gained seven states, including Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Minnesota and Maine, in Eisenhower's first midterm.
34 governor races were held in 1954. Democrats won 19 and Republicans 15.
The closest were New York (D+0.2), Connecticut (D+0.3) and Wyoming (R+1.0). 8 governorships changed party: Arizona to the Democrats, Colorado to the Democrats, Connecticut to the Democrats, Maine to the Democrats, Minnesota to the Democrats, New Mexico to the Democrats, New York to the Democrats and Pennsylvania to the Democrats.
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 1954 governor elections
The 1954 midterms came during Dwight Eisenhower's first term, after the Korean armistice and during a mild recession. Democrats regained both houses of Congress, and they made gains in the governor races too, winning 17 to the Republicans' 15. Democrats took Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Minnesota, New Mexico and Pennsylvania. Abraham A. Ribicoff beat Governor John Davis Lodge in Connecticut by 0.3 points. Orville L. Freeman won Minnesota, and Ernest W. McFarland, the former Senate majority leader, defeated Governor Howard Pyle in Arizona. In Maine, Edmund Muskie became the state's first Democratic governor in two decades. Averell Harriman also won New York for the Democrats. Republicans held several close races. Milward L. Simpson won Wyoming by a single point, Leo A. Hoegh held Iowa, and Walter J. Kohler Jr. kept Wisconsin over William Proxmire. Christian A. Herter was re-elected in Massachusetts, and Fred Hall held Kansas.
Every race
| State | Democrat | Votes | Republican | Votes | Others | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Jim Folsom | 244,401 (73.4%) | Tom Abernathy | 88,688 (26.6%) | 2 | D+46.8 |
| Arizona flip | Ernest W. McFarland | 128,104 (52.5%) | Howard Pyle | 115,866 (47.5%) | D+5.0 | |
| Arkansas | Orval E. Faubus | 208,121 (62.1%) | Pratt C. Remmel | 127,004 (37.9%) | 51 | D+24.2 |
| California | Richard Perrin Graves | 1,739,368 (43.2%) | Goodwin J. Knight | 2,290,519 (56.8%) | 481 | R+13.7 |
| Colorado flip | Edwin C. Johnson | 262,205 (53.6%) | Donald G. Brotzman | 227,335 (46.4%) | D+7.1 | |
| Connecticut flip | Abraham Ribicoff | 463,643 (49.5%) | John Davis Lodge | 460,528 (49.2%) | 12,582 | D+0.3 |
| Florida | LeRoy Collins | 287,769 (80.4%) | J. Thomas Watson | 69,852 (19.5%) | 162 | D+60.9 |
| Georgia | S. Marvin Griffin | 331,899 (100.0%) | none | 66 | D+100.0 | |
| Idaho | Clark Hamilton | 104,647 (45.8%) | Robert E. Smylie | 124,038 (54.2%) | R+8.5 | |
| Iowa | Clyde E. Herring | 410,255 (48.3%) | Leo A. Hoegh | 435,944 (51.4%) | 2,393 | R+3.0 |
| Kansas | George Docking | 286,218 (46.0%) | Fred Hall | 329,868 (53.0%) | 6,547 | R+7.0 |
| Maine flip | Edmund S. Muskie | 135,673 (54.5%) | Burton M. Cross | 113,298 (45.5%) | D+9.0 | |
| Maryland | Harry Clifton Byrd | 319,033 (45.5%) | Theodore R. McKeldin | 381,451 (54.5%) | R+8.9 | |
| Massachusetts | Robert F. Murphy | 910,087 (47.8%) | Christian A. Herter | 985,339 (51.8%) | 8,348 | R+4.0 |
| Michigan | G. Mennen Williams | 1,216,308 (55.6%) | Donald S. Leonard | 963,300 (44.0%) | 7,419 | D+11.6 |
| Minnesota flip | Orville L. Freeman | 607,099 (52.7%) | C. Elmer Anderson | 538,865 (46.8%) | 5,453 | D+5.9 |
| Nebraska | William Ritchie | 164,753 (39.7%) | Victor E. Anderson | 250,080 (60.3%) | R+20.6 | |
| Nevada | Vail Pittman | 36,797 (46.9%) | Charles H. Russell | 41,665 (53.1%) | R+6.2 | |
| New Hampshire | John Shaw | 87,344 (44.9%) | Lane Dwinell | 107,287 (55.1%) | R+10.3 | |
| New Mexico flip | John F. Simms | 110,583 (57.0%) | Alvin Stockton | 83,373 (43.0%) | D+14.0 | |
| New York flip | W. Averell Harriman | 2,560,738 (49.6%) | Irving Ives | 2,549,613 (49.4%) | 51,223 | D+0.2 |
| North Dakota | Cornelius Bymers | 69,248 (35.8%) | Norman Brunsdale | 124,253 (64.2%) | R+28.4 | |
| Ohio | Frank J. Lausche | 1,405,262 (54.1%) | James A. Rhodes | 1,192,528 (45.9%) | D+8.2 | |
| Oklahoma | Raymond Gary | 357,386 (58.7%) | Reuben K. Sparks | 251,808 (41.3%) | D+17.3 | |
| Oregon | Joseph K. Carson | 244,170 (43.1%) | Paul L. Patterson | 322,522 (56.9%) | 9 | R+13.8 |
| Pennsylvania flip | George M. Leader | 1,996,266 (53.7%) | Lloyd H. Wood | 1,717,070 (46.2%) | 7,121 | D+7.5 |
| Rhode Island | Dennis J. Roberts | 189,595 (57.7%) | Dean J. Lewis | 137,131 (41.7%) | 1,944 | D+16.0 |
| South Carolina | George Bell Timmerman | 214,204 (100.0%) | none | 8 | D+100.0 | |
| South Dakota | Ed C. Martin | 102,377 (43.3%) | Joe Foss | 133,878 (56.7%) | R+13.3 | |
| Tennessee | Frank G. Clement | 281,291 (87.2%) | W. E. Michel | 1,705 (0.5%) | John Randolph Neal Jr. (Independent) 39,574 (12.3%) |
D+86.7 |
| Texas | Allan Shivers | 569,533 (89.4%) | Tod R. Adams | 66,154 (10.4%) | 1,205 | D+79.0 |
| Vermont | E. Frank Branon | 54,554 (47.7%) | Joseph B. Johnson | 59,778 (52.3%) | R+4.6 | |
| Wisconsin | William Proxmire | 560,747 (48.4%) | Walter J. Kohler Jr. | 596,158 (51.5%) | 1,761 | R+3.1 |
| Wyoming | William Jack | 55,163 (49.5%) | Milward L. Simpson | 56,275 (50.5%) | R+1.0 |
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.