Election 1970 Results
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1970 governor election results by state and county
Democrats won 21 governor races to 13 in 1970 and took more than a dozen states from Republicans, including Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida, with Jimmy Carter winning Georgia.
35 governor races were held in 1970. Democrats won 22 and Republicans 13.
The closest were Maine (D+0.3), Oklahoma (D+0.3) and Rhode Island (D+0.5). 16 governorships changed party: Alaska to the Democrats, Arkansas to the Democrats, Connecticut to the Republicans, Florida to the Democrats, Idaho to the Democrats, Maryland to the Democrats, Minnesota to the Democrats, Nebraska to the Democrats, Nevada to the Democrats, New Mexico to the Democrats, Ohio to the Democrats, Oklahoma to the Democrats, Pennsylvania to the Democrats, South Dakota to the Democrats, Tennessee to the Republicans and Wisconsin 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 1970 governor elections
The 1970 midterms came during Richard Nixon's first term, with the Vietnam War, campus unrest and a slowing economy dominating. Republicans made small gains in the Senate but did badly in the governor races, where Democrats won 21 to 13. Democrats took Arkansas, where Dale Bumpers beat Winthrop Rockefeller, and Florida with Reubin Askew. Jimmy Carter was elected in Georgia. Democrats also won Idaho, where Cecil D. Andrus unseated Don Samuelson, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico with Bruce King, Nevada with Mike O'Callaghan, Ohio with John J. Gilligan, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania with Milton Shapp, South Dakota and Wisconsin with Patrick J. Lucey. In Oklahoma, David Hall beat Governor Dewey F. Bartlett by 0.3 points. Republicans gained Connecticut and Tennessee, where Winfield Dunn won. Ronald Reagan and Nelson Rockefeller were both re-elected, and William G. Milliken held Michigan. Kenneth M. Curtis kept Maine for the Democrats by 0.3 points, and Frank Licht held Rhode Island by half a point.
Every race
| State | Democrat | Votes | Republican | Votes | Others | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | George Wallace | 637,046 (74.5%) | none | John L. Cashin Jr. (National Democratic) 125,491 (14.7%) |
D+74.5 | |
| Alaska flip | Bill Egan | 42,309 (52.4%) | Keith H. Miller | 37,264 (46.1%) | 1,206 | D+6.3 |
| Arizona | Raul H. Castro | 201,887 (49.1%) | Jack R. Williams | 209,522 (50.9%) | R+1.9 | |
| Arkansas flip | Dale Bumpers | 375,648 (61.7%) | Winthrop Rockefeller | 197,418 (32.4%) | Walter L. Carruth (American) 36,132 (5.9%) |
D+29.3 |
| California | Jess Unruh | 2,938,807 (45.1%) | Ronald Reagan | 3,439,664 (52.8%) | 131,801 | R+7.7 |
| Colorado | Mark Hogan | 302,432 (45.2%) | John A. Love | 350,690 (52.5%) | 15,374 | R+7.2 |
| Connecticut flip | Emilio Q. Daddario | 500,561 (46.2%) | Thomas J. Meskill | 582,160 (53.8%) | 76 | R+7.5 |
| Florida flip | Reubin Askew | 984,305 (56.9%) | Claude Roy Kirk Jr. | 746,243 (43.1%) | D+13.8 | |
| Georgia | Jimmy Carter | 620,419 (59.3%) | Hal Suit | 424,983 (40.6%) | 1,261 | D+18.7 |
| Hawaii | John A. Burns | 137,812 (57.6%) | Samuel P. King | 101,249 (42.4%) | D+15.3 | |
| Idaho flip | Cecil D. Andrus | 128,004 (52.2%) | Don Samuelson | 117,108 (47.8%) | D+4.5 | |
| Iowa | Robert Fulton | 368,911 (46.6%) | Robert E. Ray | 403,394 (51.0%) | 18,936 | R+4.4 |
| Kansas | Robert Docking | 404,611 (54.3%) | Kent Frizzell | 333,227 (44.7%) | 7,358 | D+9.6 |
| Maine | Kenneth M. Curtis | 163,138 (50.1%) | James S. Erwin | 162,248 (49.9%) | D+0.3 | |
| Maryland flip | Marvin Mandel | 639,579 (65.7%) | C. Stanley Blair | 314,336 (32.3%) | 19,184 | D+33.4 |
| Massachusetts | Kevin H. White | 799,269 (42.8%) | Francis W. Sargent | 1,058,623 (56.7%) | 10,014 | R+13.9 |
| Michigan | Sander M. Levin | 1,294,600 (48.7%) | William G. Milliken | 1,338,711 (50.4%) | 22,782 | R+1.7 |
| Minnesota flip | Wendell R. Anderson | 737,921 (54.0%) | Douglas M. Head | 621,780 (45.5%) | 5,742 | D+8.5 |
| Nebraska flip | J. James Exon | 248,552 (53.8%) | Norbert T. Tiemann | 201,994 (43.8%) | 11,073 | D+10.1 |
| Nevada flip | Mike O'Callaghan | 70,697 (48.1%) | Ed Fike | 64,400 (43.8%) | 11,894 | D+4.3 |
| New Hampshire | Robert J. Crowley | 98,098 (44.1%) | Walter R. Peterson Jr. | 102,298 (46.0%) | Meldrim Thomson Jr. (American) 22,033 (9.9%) |
R+1.9 |
| New Mexico flip | Bruce King | 148,835 (51.3%) | Peter V. Domenici | 134,640 (46.4%) | 6,900 | D+4.9 |
| New York | Arthur Goldberg | 2,421,426 (40.3%) | Nelson Rockefeller | 3,151,432 (52.4%) | Paul L. Adams (Conservative) 422,514 (7.0%) |
R+12.1 |
| Ohio flip | John J. Gilligan | 1,725,560 (54.2%) | Roger Cloud | 1,382,657 (43.4%) | 75,914 | D+10.8 |
| Oklahoma flip | David Hall | 338,338 (48.4%) | Dewey F. Bartlett | 336,157 (48.1%) | 24,295 | D+0.3 |
| Oregon | Robert W. Straub | 293,892 (44.1%) | Tom McCall | 369,964 (55.5%) | 2,538 | R+11.4 |
| Pennsylvania flip | Milton J. Shapp | 2,043,029 (55.2%) | Raymond Broderick | 1,542,854 (41.7%) | 114,177 | D+13.5 |
| Rhode Island | Frank Licht | 173,420 (50.1%) | Herbert F. DeSimone | 171,549 (49.5%) | 1,373 | D+0.5 |
| South Carolina | John C. West | 249,951 (51.6%) | Albert W. Watson | 221,233 (45.7%) | 13,073 | D+5.9 |
| South Dakota flip | Richard F. Kneip | 131,616 (54.8%) | Frank Farrar | 108,347 (45.2%) | D+9.7 | |
| Tennessee flip | John Jay Hooker | 509,521 (46.0%) | Winfield Dunn | 575,777 (52.0%) | 22,945 | R+6.0 |
| Texas | Preston Smith | 1,232,506 (53.4%) | Paul Eggers | 1,073,831 (46.6%) | 428 | D+6.9 |
| Vermont | Leo O'Brien | 66,028 (43.0%) | Deane C. Davis | 87,458 (57.0%) | 42 | R+14.0 |
| Wisconsin flip | Patrick J. Lucey | 728,403 (54.2%) | Jack B. Olson | 602,617 (44.9%) | 12,140 | D+9.4 |
| Wyoming | John J. Rooney | 44,008 (37.2%) | Stanley K. Hathaway | 74,249 (62.8%) | R+25.6 |
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.