United States Presidential election7 Nov 2028in 729 days Senate D 97% House D 58% Calendar Track record Research
Closest results
Election 1987 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.

1987 governor election results by state and county

Democrats won all three governor races in 1987, as Buddy Roemer ended Edwin Edwards's tenure in Louisiana and Ray Mabus was elected in Mississippi.

3 governor races were held in 1987. Democrats won 3 and Republicans 0.

The closest were Mississippi (D+6.9), Louisiana (D+14.7) and Kentucky (D+29.6).

United States
If only voted How this works
If the polls miss like

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 1987 governor elections

Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi chose governors in 1987, late in Ronald Reagan's presidency, with the oil bust hurting Louisiana's economy badly. In Louisiana, Democratic Congressman Charles "Buddy" Roemer ran as a reformer against Governor Edwin W. Edwards. Roemer led the open primary, and Edwards dropped out instead of contesting the runoff. Republican Congressman Bob Livingston also ran and finished behind Roemer by about 15 points. In Mississippi, Democrat Ray Mabus, the state auditor, beat Republican Jack R. Reed by about seven points. Mabus was 39 and ran as a reformer promising to modernize the state. In Kentucky, Democrat Wallace G. Wilkinson, a businessman who campaigned for a state lottery, defeated Republican John Harper by about 30 points. Roemer and Mabus both lost re-election bids four years later.

Every race

StateDemocratVotesRepublicanVotesOthersMargin
Kentucky Wallace G. Wilkinson504,674 (64.5%) John Harper273,141 (34.9%) 4,639 D+29.6
Louisiana Buddy Roemer516,078 (33.1%) Bob Livingston287,780 (18.5%) Edwin Edwards (Democratic) 437,801 (28.1%)
D+14.7
Mississippi Ray Mabus385,689 (53.4%) Jack R. Reed336,006 (46.6%) D+6.9

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.

Every election since 1865 → · The 2028 governor map →