1996 United States gubernatorial elections

1996 United States gubernatorial elections

November 5, 1996
13 governorships 11 states; 2 territories
Majority party Minority party   Party Republican Democratic Seats before 32[a] 17 Seats after 32 17 Seat change Seats up 4 7 Seats won 4 7
Map of the results      Democratic gain      Democratic hold      Republican gain      Republican hold      New Progressive hold      Nonpartisan      No election

United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 5, 1996, in 11 states and two territories. Going into the elections, seven of the seats were held by Democrats and four by Republicans. Democrats picked up the open seat in New Hampshire, and Republicans picked up the open seat in West Virginia, for no net change in the partisan balance of power. These elections coincided with the presidential election.

Election results

States

State	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Delaware	Tom Carper	Democratic	1992	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Tom Carper (Democratic) 69.5% Janet Rzewnicki (Republican) 30.5%
Indiana	Evan Bayh	Democratic	1988	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic hold.	Y Frank O'Bannon (Democratic) 51.5% Stephen Goldsmith (Republican) 46.8% Steve Dillon (Libertarian) 1.7%
Missouri	Mel Carnahan	Democratic	1992	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Mel Carnahan (Democratic) 57.2% Margaret B. Kelly (Republican) 40.4% J. Mark Oglesby (Libertarian) 2.4%
Montana	Marc Racicot	Republican	1992	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Marc Racicot (Republican) 79.2% Judy Jacobson (Democratic) 20.8%
New Hampshire	Steve Merrill	Republican	1992	Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Democratic gain.	Y Jeanne Shaheen (Democratic) 57.2% Ovide Lamontagne (Republican) 39.5%
North Carolina	Jim Hunt	Democratic	1976 1984 (term-limited) 1992	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Jim Hunt (Democratic) 56.0% Robin Hayes (Republican) 42.8%
North Dakota	Ed Schafer	Republican	1992	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Ed Schafer (Republican) 66.2% Lee Kaldor (Democratic) 33.8%
Utah	Mike Leavitt	Republican	1992	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Mike Leavitt (Republican) 75.0% Jim Bradley (Democratic) 23.3%
Vermont	Howard Dean	Democratic	1991[b]	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Howard Dean (Democratic) 70.5% John L. Gropper (Republican) 22.5% Mary Alice Herbert (Liberty Union) 1.6% Dennis Lane (Grassroots) 1.4% Bill Brunelle (Natural Law) 1.3% August St. John (Independent) 1.3% Neil Randall (Libertarian) 1.2%
Washington	Mike Lowry	Democratic	1992	Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Democratic hold.	Y Gary Locke (Democratic) 58.0% Ellen Craswell (Republican) 42.0%
West Virginia	Gaston Caperton	Democratic	1988	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Republican gain.	Y Cecil Underwood (Republican) 51.6% Charlotte Pritt (Democratic) 45.8% Wallace Johnson (Libertarian) 2.6%

Territories

Territory	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
American Samoa	A. P. Lutali	Democratic	1992	Incumbent retired. New governor elected.[1] Democratic hold.	Y Tauese Sunia (Democratic) 51.0% L. Peter Reid (Independent) 49.0%
Puerto Rico	Pedro Rosselló	New Progressive	1992	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Pedro Rosselló (PNP) 51.4% Héctor Luis Acevedo (PPD) 44.7% David Noriega Rodríguez (PIP) 3.8%

Closest races

States where the margin of victory was under 5%:

1. American Samoa, 2.0%
2. Indiana, 4.7%

States where the margin of victory was under 10%:

1. West Virginia, 5.8%
2. Puerto Rico, 6.7%

See also

• 1996 United States elections
  • 1996 United States presidential election
  • 1996 United States Senate elections
  • 1996 United States House of Representatives elections

Notes

1. Mike Huckabee (R) succeeded Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker (D) after the latter resigned due to convictions for one count of conspiracy and one count of mail fraud.
2. Dean took office after his predecessor (Richard Snelling) died. He was subsequently elected in the 1992 Vermont gubernatorial election.

References

1. "AS Governor Race - Dec 05, 1996". Our Campaigns. July 30, 2008.