Election 1982 Results
Each election opens in its own mode: the forecast before the votes are counted, the live count while races are still too close to call, and the results once every race is decided.
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1982 governor election results by state and county
A deep recession helped Democrats win 26 governor races to nine in 1982, gaining eight states including Texas, Ohio, Michigan and Bill Clinton's Arkansas.
36 governor races were held in 1982. Democrats won 27 and Republicans 9.
The closest were Illinois (R+0.1), California (R+1.2) and Idaho (D+1.3). 11 governorships changed party: Alaska to the Democrats, Arkansas to the Democrats, California to the Republicans, Michigan to the Democrats, Minnesota to the Democrats, Nebraska to the Democrats, Nevada to the Democrats, New Hampshire to the Republicans, Ohio to the Democrats, Texas to the Democrats 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 1982 governor elections
The 1982 midterms took place during the worst recession since the 1930s, with unemployment near 10 percent, in the middle of Ronald Reagan's first term. Democrats gained House seats and did very well in the governor races, winning 26 to nine. Democrats took Arkansas, where Bill Clinton won back the office he lost in 1980, Michigan with James J. Blanchard, Minnesota with Rudy Perpich, Nebraska, where Bob Kerrey unseated Charles Thone by 1.3 points, Nevada, Ohio with Richard F. Celeste, Texas, where Mark White beat Bill Clements, and Wisconsin. Mario M. Cuomo held New York by about three points over Lew Lehrman. Republicans won two very close races. In Illinois, James R. Thompson beat Adlai E. Stevenson III by about 0.1 points after a recount. In California, George Deukmejian edged Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley by about a point, after polls had shown Bradley ahead. Republicans also gained New Hampshire, where John H. Sununu beat Hugh J. Gallen, and Terry E. Branstad won Iowa.
Every race
| State | Democrat | Votes | Republican | Votes | Others | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | George C. Wallace | 650,538 (57.6%) | Emory Folmar | 440,815 (39.1%) | 37,372 | D+18.6 |
| Alaska flip | Bill Sheffield | 89,918 (46.1%) | Tom Fink | 72,291 (37.1%) | Dick Randolph (Libertarian) 29,067 (14.9%) |
D+9.0 |
| Arizona | Bruce Babbitt | 453,795 (62.5%) | Leo Corbet | 235,877 (32.5%) | Sam Steiger (Libertarian) 36,649 (5.0%) |
D+30.0 |
| Arkansas flip | Bill Clinton | 431,855 (54.7%) | Frank D. White | 357,496 (45.3%) | D+9.4 | |
| California flip | Tom Bradley | 3,787,669 (48.1%) | George Deukmejian | 3,881,014 (49.3%) | 207,652 | R+1.2 |
| Colorado | Richard D. Lamm | 627,960 (65.7%) | John D. Fuhr | 302,740 (31.7%) | 25,321 | D+34.0 |
| Connecticut | William A. O'Neill | 578,264 (53.4%) | Lewis B. Rome | 497,773 (45.9%) | 7,839 | D+7.4 |
| Florida | Bob Graham | 1,739,553 (64.7%) | L. A. Bafalis | 949,013 (35.3%) | D+29.4 | |
| Georgia | Joe Frank Harris | 734,092 (62.8%) | Robert H. Bell | 434,496 (37.2%) | D+25.6 | |
| Hawaii | George Ariyoshi | 141,043 (45.2%) | D. G. Anderson | 81,507 (26.1%) | Frank Fasi (Independent Democrat) 89,303 (28.6%) |
D+19.1 |
| Idaho | John V. Evans | 165,365 (50.6%) | Phil Batt | 161,157 (49.4%) | D+1.3 | |
| Illinois | Adlai Stevenson III | 1,811,027 (49.3%) | James R. Thompson | 1,816,101 (49.4%) | 46,418 | R+0.1 |
| Iowa | Roxanne Conlin | 483,291 (46.5%) | Terry E. Branstad | 548,313 (52.8%) | 6,625 | R+6.3 |
| Kansas | John Carlin | 405,772 (53.2%) | Sam Hardage | 339,356 (44.5%) | 18,135 | D+8.7 |
| Maine | Joseph Brennan | 281,066 (61.9%) | Charles Cragin | 172,949 (38.1%) | D+23.8 | |
| Maryland | Harry R. Hughes | 705,910 (62.0%) | Robert A. Pascal | 432,826 (38.0%) | 413 | D+24.0 |
| Massachusetts | Michael S. Dukakis | 1,219,109 (59.5%) | John W. Sears | 749,679 (36.6%) | 81,466 | D+22.9 |
| Michigan flip | James J. Blanchard | 1,561,291 (51.4%) | Richard H. Headlee | 1,369,582 (45.1%) | 109,135 | D+6.3 |
| Minnesota flip | Rudy Perpich | 1,049,104 (58.6%) | Wheelock Whitney | 715,796 (40.0%) | 24,639 | D+18.6 |
| Nebraska flip | Bob Kerrey | 277,436 (50.6%) | Charles Thone | 270,203 (49.3%) | 263 | D+1.3 |
| Nevada flip | Richard H. Bryan | 128,132 (53.4%) | Robert F. List | 100,104 (41.8%) | 11,515 | D+11.7 |
| New Hampshire flip | Hugh J. Gallen | 132,317 (46.8%) | John H. Sununu | 145,389 (51.4%) | 4,882 | R+4.6 |
| New Mexico | Toney Anaya | 215,840 (53.0%) | John B. Irick | 191,626 (47.0%) | D+5.9 | |
| New York | Mario M. Cuomo | 2,675,213 (50.9%) | Lew Lehrman | 2,494,827 (47.5%) | 84,851 | D+3.4 |
| Ohio flip | Dick Celeste | 1,981,882 (59.0%) | Clarence "Bud" Brown Jr. | 1,303,962 (38.8%) | 70,877 | D+20.2 |
| Oklahoma | George Nigh | 548,159 (62.1%) | Tom Daxon | 332,207 (37.6%) | 2,764 | D+24.5 |
| Oregon | Ted Kulongoski | 374,316 (35.9%) | Victor Atiyeh | 639,841 (61.4%) | 27,852 | R+25.5 |
| Pennsylvania | Allen E. Ertel | 1,772,353 (48.1%) | Richard Thornburgh | 1,872,784 (50.8%) | 38,848 | R+2.7 |
| Rhode Island | J. Joseph Garrahy | 247,208 (73.3%) | Vincent Marzullo | 79,602 (23.6%) | 10,438 | D+49.7 |
| South Carolina | Richard Riley | 468,787 (69.8%) | W. D. Workman Jr. | 202,806 (30.2%) | 184 | D+39.6 |
| South Dakota | Michael J. O'Connor | 81,136 (29.1%) | William J. Janklow | 197,429 (70.9%) | R+41.8 | |
| Tennessee | Randy Tyree | 500,937 (40.4%) | Lamar Alexander | 737,963 (59.6%) | R+19.1 | |
| Texas flip | Mark White | 1,697,870 (53.2%) | William P. Clements | 1,465,937 (45.9%) | 27,284 | D+7.3 |
| Vermont | Madeline Kunin | 74,394 (44.0%) | Richard A. Snelling | 93,111 (55.0%) | 1,746 | R+11.1 |
| Wisconsin flip | Anthony S. Earl | 896,812 (56.7%) | Terry J. Kohler | 662,838 (41.9%) | 20,694 | D+14.8 |
| Wyoming | Ed Herschler | 106,427 (63.1%) | Warren A. Morton | 62,128 (36.9%) | D+26.3 |
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.