1973 United States gubernatorial elections

1973 United States gubernatorial elections

←  1972 November 6, 1973 1974  →
2 governorships
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic Republican Seats before 31 19 Seats after 32 18 Seat change 1 1 Seats up 0 2 Seats won 1 1
Republican hold   Democratic gain

United States gubernatorial elections were held 6 November 1973, in two states.

In Virginia, former Governor Mills E. Godwin, Jr., who was elected in the 1965 gubernatorial election as a Democrat, ^[1] ran and won as a Republican. He defeated Henry Howell, who was also a former Democrat. ^[2]

In New Jersey, the moderate incumbent Republican William T. Cahill was defeated in the primary by Charles W. Sandman Jr. ^[3] Cahill did not campaign for Sandman, and Brendan Byrne defeated Sandman handily. ^[4]

Election results

State	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
New Jersey	William T. Cahill	Republican	1969	Incumbent lost renomination. [5] New governor elected. [6] Democratic gain	Y Brendan Byrne (Democratic) 66.40% Charles W. Sandman Jr. (Republican) 32.13% A. Howard Freund (American) 0.31% Alfred V. Colabella (Independent) 0.24% Robert Clement (Socialist Labor) 0.20% John A. Goodson (Libertarian) 0.15% James J. Terlizzi, Sr. (Independent Taxpayer's Watchdog) 0.13%
Virginia	Linwood Holton	Republican	1969	Incumbent term-limited. [7] New governor elected. Republican hold	Y Mills Godwin (Republican) 50.72% Henry Howell (Independent) 49.28%

Closest races

States where the margin of victory was under 5%:

1. Virginia, 1.44%

References

1. "VA Governor" . Retrieved July 5, 2012.
2. "Godwin Narrowly Leads In Va. Governor's Race". November 7, 1973. Retrieved July 24, 2012.
3. "Full of Grace – The governor from Camden Catholic High School". July 12, 2012. Retrieved July 24, 2012.
4. "Brendan Byrne Sweeps N.J. Governor's Contest". November 7, 1973. Retrieved July 24, 2012.
5. "NJ Governor – R Primary" . Retrieved July 4, 2012.
6. "NJ Governor" . Retrieved July 4, 2012.
7. "VA Governor" . Retrieved July 5, 2012.