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County results Rolvaag: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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Elections in Minnesota |
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The 1962 Minnesota gubernatorial election was the closest statewide race in Minnesota history and one of the closest gubernatorial elections in U.S. history. The election was held on November 6, 1962, but the results were not known until March 21, 1963. The vote count after election day had Governor Elmer L. Andersen in the lead by 142 votes. Then-Lieutenant Governor Karl Rolvaag went to court and won the right to a recount. [1] After the recount, it was determined that Rolvaag had defeated Andersen by 91 votes out of over 1.2 million cast. He received 619,842 votes to Andersen's 619,751.
At the time, governors and lieutenant governors were elected on separate ballots. Andersen was a Republican and Rolvaag a Democrat. The 1962 election was also the first four-year term election for Minnesota governor.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
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Democratic (DFL) | Karl Rolvaag | 619,842 | 49.713% | +0.63% | |
Republican | Elmer Andersen (incumbent) | 619,751 | 49.706% | -0.85% | |
Industrial Government | William Braatz | 7,234 | 0.580% | +0.22% | |
Majority | 91 | 0.01% | |||
Turnout | 1,246,827 | ||||
Democratic (DFL) gain from Republican | Swing | ||||
Karl Fritjof Rolvaag was an American diplomat and politician who served as the 31st governor of Minnesota from March 25, 1963, to January 2, 1967, as a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party. He was the son of the author and professor Ole E. Rølvaag.
The 1974 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1974. The 1974 election was the first election where the Governor and Lieutenant Governor ran on the same ticket. Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party candidate Wendell Anderson defeated Republican Party of Minnesota challenger John W. Johnson. Anderson won every single county in the state, becoming the first person to do so since Governor J.A.A. Burnquist in 1916. This was the last time until 1994 that a candidate would win every single county in a statewide election.
The 1966 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 1966. Republican Party of Minnesota challenger Harold LeVander defeated Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party incumbent Karl Rolvaag. Sandy Keith unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic nomination.
The 1960 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 1960. Republican Party of Minnesota candidate Elmer Andersen defeated Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party challenger Orville Freeman.
The 1954 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 1954. Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party candidate Orville Freeman defeated Republican Party of Minnesota incumbent C. Elmer Anderson.
The 1952 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 1952. Republican Party of Minnesota candidate C. Elmer Anderson defeated Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party challenger Orville Freeman.
The 1950 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 1950. Republican Party of Minnesota candidate Luther Youngdahl defeated Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party challenger Harry H. Peterson.
The 1948 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 1948. Republican Party of Minnesota candidate Luther Youngdahl defeated Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party challenger Charles Halsted.
The 1946 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1946. Incumbent governor Edward John Thye did not seek reelection and instead ran for the United States Senate. Republican Party of Minnesota candidate Luther Youngdahl defeated Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party challenger Harold H. Barker. Hjalmar Petersen unsuccessfully ran for the Republican nomination.
The 1944 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 1944. Republican Party of Minnesota candidate Edward John Thye defeated Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party challenger Byron G. Allen. As the Democratic Party of Minnesota and Farmer–Labor Party merged earlier in the year, this was the first gubernatorial election in which the parties ran a combined ticket. The vote change below reflects the departure from the combined Democratic and Farmer–Labor totals in 1942.
The 1940 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1940. Republican Party of Minnesota candidate Harold Stassen defeated Farmer–Labor Party challenger Hjalmar Petersen.
The 1930 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 1930. It was the first gubernatorial race to start in Minnesota since the beginning of the Great Depression, which contributed to the meteoric rise of the Farmer–Labor Party in the state. Farmer–Labor Party candidate Floyd B. Olson decisively defeated Republican Party of Minnesota challenger Raymond P. Chase. Joseph A. A. Burnquist unsuccessfully ran for the Republican nomination.
The 1928 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 1928. Republican Party of Minnesota candidate Theodore Christianson defeated Farmer–Labor Party challenger Ernest Lundeen.
The 1920 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 1920. Republican Party of Minnesota candidate J. A. O. Preus defeated Independent challenger's Henrik Shipstead and the Mayor of St. Paul, Laurence C. Hodgson. Shipstead narrowly lost to Preus in the Republican primary of that year and challenged him in the general, beating the Democratic nominee but coming far short of winning the general.
The 1918 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1918. The incumbent Republican Party of Minnesota governor J. A. A. Burnquist defeated Farmer–Labor Party challenger David H. Evans. This is the first gubernatorial election in Minnesota with a Farmer–Labor candidate. Charles August Lindbergh unsuccessfully ran for the Republican nomination.
The 1916 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 1916. Republican Party of Minnesota candidate J. A. A. Burnquist defeated Democratic Party of Minnesota challenger Thomas P. Dwyer.
The 1914 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1914. Democratic Party of Minnesota candidate Winfield Scott Hammond defeated Republican Party of Minnesota challenger William E. Lee.
The 1904 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 1904. Democratic Party of Minnesota candidate John Albert Johnson defeated Republican Party of Minnesota challenger Robert C. Dunn.
The 1900 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 1900. Republican Party of Minnesota candidate Samuel Rinnah Van Sant narrowly defeated incumbent Democratic Party of Minnesota Governor John Lind. This was the third of three successive elections in which Lind headed a coalition of the Democrats with the People's Party.
The 1896 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1896. Republican Party of Minnesota incumbent David Marston Clough narrowly defeated Democratic Party of Minnesota challenger John Lind. Lind later won the 1898 gubernatorial election and became the first Democrat elected to the office of Governor of Minnesota since Henry Hastings Sibley left office in 1860. 1896 was the first of three successive elections in which Lind ran for governor at the head of a coalition consisting of the Democratic Party and the majority faction of the People's Party.