1946 United States gubernatorial elections

1946 United States gubernatorial elections

←  1945 November 5, 1946; September 9, 1946 (ME) 1947  →
34 governorships
Majority party Minority party   Party Republican Democratic Seats before 22 26 [a] Seats after 25 23 Seat change 3 3 Seats up 17 17 Seats won 20 14
Democratic hold     Democratic gain      Republican hold     Republican gain      No election

United States gubernatorial elections were held in 1946, in 34 states, concurrent with the House and Senate elections, on November 5, 1946. Elections took place on September 9 in Maine.

In Idaho, the governor was elected to a 4-year term for the first time, instead of a 2-year term. In New Jersey, this was the last election on a 3-year cycle, before switching to a 4-year term for governors from 1949.

Results

State	Incumbent	Party	Status	Opposing candidates
Alabama	Chauncey Sparks	Democratic	Term-limited, Democratic victory	Jim Folsom (Democratic) 88.67% Lyman Ward (Republican) 11.33% [1]
Arizona	Sidney Preston Osborn	Democratic	Re-elected, 60.10%	Bruce Brockett (Republican) 39.90% [2]
Arkansas	Benjamin Travis Laney	Democratic	Re-elected, 84.14%	W. T. Mills (Republican) 15.86% [3]
California	Earl Warren	Republican [4]	Re-elected, 91.64%	Henry R. Schmidt (Prohibition) 7.06% Archie Brown (write-in) (Communist) 0.88% James Roosevelt (write-in) (Democratic) 0.13% Robert W. Kenny (Independent) 0.06% Albert Clark (Independent) 0.03% [5]
Colorado	John Charles Vivian	Republican	Retired, Democratic victory	William Lee Knous (Democratic) 52.11% Leon E. Lavington (Republican) 47.89% [6]
Connecticut	Raymond E. Baldwin	Republican	Retired to run for U.S. Senate, Republican victory	James L. McConaughy (Republican) 54.38% Charles Wilbert Snow (Democratic) 40.41% Jasper McLevy (Socialist) 4.72% Herman N. Simon (Socialist Labor) 0.50% [7]
Georgia	Ellis Arnall	Democratic	Term-limited, Democratic victory	Eugene Talmadge (Democratic) 98.54% Herman Talmadge (write-in) (Democratic) 0.46% James V. Carmichael (write-in) (Democratic) 0.46% D. Talmadge Bowers (write-in) (Independent) 0.44% Ellis Arnall (write-in) (Democratic) 0.08% Scattering 0.01% [8] (Democratic primary results) Eugene Talmadge 42.96% (244) James V. Carmichael 45.30% (144) Eurith D. Rivers 10.04% (22) Hoke O’Kelley 1.70% [9]
Idaho	Arnold Williams	Democratic	Defeated, 43.63%	C. A. Robins (Republican) 56.37% [10]
Iowa	Robert D. Blue	Republican	Re-elected, 57.40%	Frank Miles (Democratic) 42.14% E. P. Gabriel (Prohibition) 0.46% [11]
Kansas	Andrew Frank Schoeppel	Republican	Retired, Republican victory	Frank Carlson (Republican) 53.50% Harry Hines Woodring (Democratic) 44.02% David C. White (Prohibition) 2.17% Harry Graber (Socialist) 0.32% [12]
Maine	Horace Hildreth	Republican	Re-elected, 61.31%	F. Davis Clark (Democratic) 38.69% [13]
Maryland	Herbert O'Conor	Democratic	Retired to run for U.S. Senate, Democratic victory	William Preston Lane Jr. (Democratic) 54.73% Theodore McKeldin (Republican) 45.27% [14]
Massachusetts	Maurice J. Tobin	Democratic	Defeated, 45.31%	Robert F. Bradford (Republican) 54.12% Horace I. Hillis (Socialist Labor) 0.42% Guy S. Williams (Prohibition) 0.14% [15]
Michigan	Harry Kelly	Republican	Retired, Republican victory	Kim Sigler (Republican) 60.28% Murray Van Wagoner (Democratic) 38.70% Gordon Phillips (Prohibition) 0.72% James Sim (Socialist Labor) 0.30% [16]
Minnesota	Edward John Thye	Republican	Retired to run for U.S. Senate, Republican victory	Luther Youngdahl (Republican) 58.96% Harold H. Barker (DFL) 39.71% Rudolph Gustafson (Industrial Government) 1.33% [17]
Nebraska	Dwight Griswold	Republican	Retired to run for U.S. Senate, Republican victory	Val Peterson (Republican) 65.51% Frank Sorrell (Democratic) 34.49% [18]
Nevada	Vail M. Pittman	Democratic	Re-elected, 57.42%	Melvin E. Jepson (Republican) 42.58% [19]
New Hampshire	Charles M. Dale	Republican	Re-elected, 63.14%	F. Clyde Keefe (Democratic) 36.86% [20]
New Jersey	Walter Evans Edge	Republican	Term-limited, Republican victory	Alfred E. Driscoll (Republican) 57.08% Lewis G. Hansen (Democratic) 41.42% Alan Kohlman (Socialist Workers) 0.69% Lawrence Mahan (Communist) 0.29% Rubye Smith (Socialist) 0.16% Robert L. Gittings (Independent) 0.15% George E. Bopp (Socialist Labor) 0.10% John Binns (Prohibition) 0.10% [21]
New Mexico	John J. Dempsey	Democratic	Retired to run for U.S. Senate, Republican victory	Thomas J. Mabry (Democratic) 52.70% Edward L. Safford (Republican) 47.30% [22]
New York	Thomas E. Dewey	Republican	Re-elected, 56.92%	James M. Mead (Democratic) 43.08% [23]
North Dakota	Fred G. Aandahl	Republican	Re-elected, 68.88%	Quentin Burdick (Democratic) 31.12% [24]
Ohio	Frank Lausche	Democratic	Defeated, 48.88%	Thomas J. Herbert (Republican) 50.64% Arla A. Albaugh (Socialist Labor) 0.49% [25]
Oklahoma	Robert S. Kerr	Democratic	Term-limited, Democratic victory	Roy J. Turner (Democratic) 52.47% Olney F. Flynn (Republican) 45.98% Mildred “Mickey” Harrell (Independent) 1.45% R. M. Funk (Independent) 0.05% Bruno H. Miller (Independent) 0.05% [26]
Oregon	Earl Snell	Republican	Re-elected, 69.06%	Carl C. Donaugh (Democratic) 30.94% [27]
Pennsylvania	Edward Martin	Republican	Term-limited, Republican victory	James H. Duff (Republican) 58.53% John S. Rice (Democratic) 40.68% James Killip (Prohibition) 0.44% George S. Taylor (Socialist Labor) 0.34% [28]
Rhode Island	John Pastore	Democratic	Re-elected, 54.27%	John G. Murphy (Republican) 45.73% [29]
South Carolina	Ransome Judson Williams	Democratic	Defeated in Democratic primary, Democratic victory	Strom Thurmond (Democratic) unopposed [30] (Democratic primary run-off results) Strom Thurmond 56.95% James C. McLeod 43.05% [31]
South Dakota	Merrell Q. Sharpe	Republican	Defeated in Republican primary, Republican victory	George Theodore Mickelson (Republican) 67.16% Richard Haeder (Democratic) 32.84% [32]
Tennessee	Jim Nance McCord	Democratic	Re-elected, 65.35%	W. O. Lowe (Republican) 31.91% John Randolph Neal Jr. (Independent) 2.74% [33]
Texas	Coke R. Stevenson	Democratic	Retired, Democratic victory	Beauford H. Jester (Democratic) 91.23% Eugene Nolte (Republican) 8.77% [34]
Vermont	Mortimer R. Proctor	Republican	Defeated in Republican primary, Republican victory	Ernest W. Gibson Jr. (Republican) 80.30% Berthold C. Coburn (Democratic) 19.57% Scattering 0.14% [35]
Wisconsin	Walter Samuel Goodland	Republican	Re-elected, 59.78%	Daniel Hoan (Democratic) 39.07% Walter H. Uphoff (Socialist) 0.87% Sigmund Eisenscher (Communist) 0.18% Jerry Kenyon (Socialist Labor) 0.09% Scattering 0.02% [36]
Wyoming	Lester C. Hunt	Democratic	Re-elected, 52.88%	Earl Wright (Republican) 47.12% [37]

Notes

1. Charles Wilbert Snow (D) succeeded Connecticut Governor Raymond E. Baldwin (R) who resigned to take a seat in the U.S. Senate in December 1946.

References

1. "AL Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
2. "AZ Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
3. "AR Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
4. Warren also won the Democratic nomination by cross-filing
5. "CA Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
6. "CO Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
7. "CT Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
8. "GA Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
9. "GA Governor, 1946 – D Primary". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
10. "ID Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
11. "IA Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
12. "KS Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
13. "ME Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
14. "MD Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
15. "MA Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
16. "MI Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
17. "MN Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
18. "NE Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
19. "NV Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
20. "NH Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
21. "NJ Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
22. "NM Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
23. "NY Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
24. "ND Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
25. "OH Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
26. "OK Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
27. "OR Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
28. "PA Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
29. "RI Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
30. "SC Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
31. "SC Governor, 1948 – D Runoff". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
32. "SD Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
33. "TN Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
34. "TX Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
35. "VT Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
36. "WI Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
37. "WY Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 3, 2019.