Election 1998 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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1998 governor election results by state and county
Republicans won 25 governor races to the Democrats' ten in 1998, though Democrats took California and Alabama and Reform Party candidate Jesse Ventura won Minnesota.
36 governor races were held in 1998. Democrats won 11 and Republicans 23, and 2 went to neither party.
The closest were Colorado (R+0.6), Hawaii (D+1.3) and Minnesota (D+2.7). 10 governorships changed party: Alabama to the Democrats, Arkansas to the Republicans, California to the Democrats, Colorado to the Republicans, Florida to the Republicans, Iowa to the Democrats, Minnesota to the third party, Nebraska to the Republicans, Nevada to the Republicans and South Carolina 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 1998 governor elections
The 1998 midterms came as the House prepared to impeach Bill Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair. Democrats gained House seats, an unusual result for the president's party in a midterm, while the governor races were mixed. Republicans won 25 and Democrats ten. Republicans took Colorado, where Bill Owens beat Gail Schoettler by 0.6 points, Florida with Jeb Bush, Nebraska with Mike Johanns and Nevada. Mike Huckabee won a full term in Arkansas. George W. Bush won re-election in Texas by a wide margin, putting him in front for the 2000 presidential race. Democrats gained California, where Gray Davis won easily, Alabama, Iowa with Tom Vilsack, and South Carolina, where James H. Hodges beat Governor David Beasley by eight points on a promise of a state lottery. In Minnesota, former wrestler Jesse Ventura won as the Reform Party candidate, beating Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Skip Humphrey. Benjamin J. Cayetano held Hawaii by 1.3 points.
Every race
| State | Democrat | Votes | Republican | Votes | Others | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama flip | Don Siegelman | 760,155 (57.7%) | Fob James | 554,746 (42.1%) | 2,941 | D+15.6 |
| Alaska | Tony Knowles | 112,879 (51.3%) | John Howard Lindauer | 39,331 (17.9%) | Robin L. Taylor (Republican (write-in)) 40,209 (18.3%) |
D+33.4 |
| Arizona | Paul Johnson | 361,552 (35.5%) | Jane Dee Hull | 620,188 (60.9%) | 35,876 | R+25.4 |
| Arkansas flip | Bill Bristow | 272,923 (38.7%) | Mike Huckabee | 421,989 (59.8%) | 11,099 | R+21.1 |
| California flip | Gray Davis | 4,860,702 (58.0%) | Dan Lungren | 3,218,030 (38.4%) | 306,464 | D+19.6 |
| Colorado flip | Gail Schoettler | 639,905 (48.4%) | Bill Owens | 648,202 (49.1%) | 33,200 | R+0.6 |
| Connecticut | Barbara B. Kennelly | 354,187 (35.4%) | John G. Rowland | 628,707 (62.9%) | 16,643 | R+27.5 |
| Florida flip | Kenneth H. MacKay | 1,773,054 (44.7%) | Jeb Bush | 2,191,105 (55.3%) | 282 | R+10.6 |
| Georgia | Roy E. Barnes | 941,076 (52.5%) | Guy Millner | 790,201 (44.1%) | 61,531 | D+8.4 |
| Hawaii | Benjamin J. Cayetano | 204,206 (50.1%) | Linda Lingle | 198,952 (48.8%) | 4,398 | D+1.3 |
| Idaho | Robert C. Huntley | 110,815 (29.1%) | Dirk Kempthorne | 258,095 (67.7%) | 12,338 | R+38.6 |
| Illinois | Glenn Poshard | 1,594,191 (47.5%) | George H. Ryan | 1,714,094 (51.0%) | 50,420 | R+3.6 |
| Iowa flip | Tom Vilsack | 500,231 (52.3%) | Jim Ross Lightfoot | 444,787 (46.5%) | 11,400 | D+5.8 |
| Kansas | Tom Sawyer | 168,243 (22.7%) | Bill Graves | 544,882 (73.4%) | 29,540 | R+50.7 |
| Maine | Thomas J. Connolly | 50,506 (12.0%) | James B. Longley Jr. | 79,716 (18.9%) | Angus King (Independent) 246,772 (58.6%) |
Ind. +39.7 |
| Maryland | Parris N. Glendening | 846,972 (55.1%) | Ellen R. Sauerbrey | 688,357 (44.8%) | 649 | D+10.3 |
| Massachusetts | Scott Harshbarger | 901,843 (47.4%) | Argeo Paul Cellucci | 967,160 (50.8%) | 34,333 | R+3.4 |
| Michigan | Geoffrey Fieger | 1,143,574 (37.8%) | John Engler | 1,883,005 (62.2%) | 525 | R+24.4 |
| Minnesota flip | Skip Humphrey | 587,528 (28.1%) | Norm Coleman | 717,350 (34.3%) | Jesse Ventura (Reform) 773,713 (37.0%) |
Ind. +2.7 |
| Nebraska flip | Bill Hoppner | 250,678 (46.0%) | Mike Johanns | 293,910 (53.9%) | 650 | R+7.9 |
| Nevada flip | Jan Laverty Jones | 182,281 (42.0%) | Kenny Guinn | 223,892 (51.6%) | 27,457 | R+9.6 |
| New Hampshire | Jeanne Shaheen | 210,769 (66.1%) | Jay Lucas | 98,473 (30.9%) | 9,698 | D+35.2 |
| New Mexico | Martin J. Chavez | 226,755 (45.5%) | Gary E. Johnson | 271,948 (54.5%) | R+9.1 | |
| New York | Peter Vallone Sr. | 1,570,317 (33.2%) | George Pataki | 2,571,991 (54.3%) | Tom Golisano (Independence) 364,056 (7.7%) |
R+21.2 |
| Ohio | Lee Fisher | 1,498,956 (44.7%) | Robert Alphonso Taft | 1,678,721 (50.0%) | 176,536 | R+5.4 |
| Oklahoma | Laura Boyd | 357,552 (40.9%) | Frank Keating | 505,498 (57.9%) | 10,535 | R+16.9 |
| Oregon | John Kitzhaber | 717,061 (64.4%) | Bill Sizemore | 334,001 (30.0%) | 62,036 | D+34.4 |
| Pennsylvania | Ivan Itkin | 938,745 (31.0%) | Tom Ridge | 1,736,844 (57.4%) | Peg Luksik (Constitution) 315,761 (10.4%) |
R+26.4 |
| Rhode Island | Myrth York | 129,105 (42.1%) | Lincoln Almond | 156,180 (51.0%) | Robert J. Healey (Cool Moose Party) 19,250 (6.3%) |
R+8.8 |
| South Carolina flip | James H. Hodges | 570,070 (53.2%) | David Beasley | 484,088 (45.2%) | 16,711 | D+8.0 |
| South Dakota | Bernie Hunhoff | 85,473 (32.9%) | William J. Janklow | 166,621 (64.0%) | 8,093 | R+31.2 |
| Tennessee | John Jay Hooker | 287,750 (29.5%) | Don Sundquist | 669,973 (68.6%) | 18,513 | R+39.2 |
| Texas | Garry Mauro | 1,165,444 (31.2%) | George W. Bush | 2,551,454 (68.2%) | 21,585 | R+37.1 |
| Vermont | Howard B. Dean | 121,425 (55.7%) | Ruth Dwyer | 89,726 (41.1%) | 6,969 | D+14.5 |
| Wisconsin | Ed Garvey | 679,553 (38.7%) | Tommy G. Thompson | 1,047,716 (59.7%) | 28,745 | R+21.0 |
| Wyoming | John P. Vinich | 70,754 (40.5%) | Jim Geringer | 97,235 (55.6%) | 6,899 | R+15.1 |
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). How these results were checked.