1980 United States gubernatorial elections

1980 United States gubernatorial elections

←  1979 November 4, 1980 1981  →
15 governorships 13 states; 2 territories
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic Republican Seats before 31 19 Seats after 27 23 Seat change 4 4 Seats up 10 3 Seats won 6 7
Democratic hold   Republican hold   Republican gain

United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 4, 1980, in 13 states and two territories. The Republican party had a net gain of four seats in this election, coinciding with the Senate, House elections and presidential election. As of 2025, this was the last election in which a Democrat won the gubernatorial election in Utah and also the last election in which a Republican won the gubernatorial race in the state of Washington.

Election results

State	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Arkansas	Bill Clinton	Democratic	1978 [1]	Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. Republican gain.	Y Frank D. White (Republican) 51.9% Bill Clinton (Democratic) 48.1%
Delaware	Pete du Pont	Republican	1976	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Pete du Pont (Republican) 70.7% William J. Gordy (Democratic) 28.5% Lawrence Levy (Libertarian) 0.8%
Indiana	Otis Bowen	Republican	1972	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Republican hold.	Y Robert D. Orr (Republican) 57.7% John A. Hillenbrand II (Democratic) 41.9% Cletis Artist (American) 0.4%
Missouri	Joseph P. Teasdale	Democratic	1976	Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. Republican gain.	Y Kit Bond (Republican) 52.6% Joseph P. Teasdale (Democratic) 47.0% Helen Savio (Socialist Workers) 0.3%
Montana	Thomas Lee Judge	Democratic	1972	Incumbent lost re-nomination. New governor elected. Democratic hold.	Y Ted Schwinden (Democratic) 55.4% Jack Ramirez (Republican) 44.6%
New Hampshire	Hugh Gallen	Democratic	1978	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Hugh Gallen (Democratic) 59.0% Meldrim Thomson Jr. (Republican) 40.7% James Pinnaird (Libertarian) 0.3%
North Carolina	Jim Hunt	Democratic	1976	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Jim Hunt (Democratic) 61.9% I. Beverly Lake Jr. (Republican) 37.4% Robert Y. Emory (Libertarian) 0.5% Douglas A. Cooper (Socialist Workers) 0.2%
North Dakota	Arthur A. Link	Democratic-NPL	1972	Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. Republican gain.	Y Allen I. Olson (Republican) 53.6% Arthur A. Link (Democratic) 46.4%
Rhode Island	J. Joseph Garrahy	Democratic	1976	Incumbent re-elected.	Y J. Joseph Garrahy (Democratic) 73.7% Buddy Cianci (Republican) 26.3%
Utah	Scott M. Matheson	Democratic	1976	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Scott M. Matheson (Democratic) 55.2% Bob Wright (Republican) 44.4% Lawrence Rey Topham (American) 0.4%
Vermont	Richard A. Snelling	Republican	1976	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Richard A. Snelling (Republican) 58.7% M. Jerome Diamond (Democratic) 36.6% Daniel E. Woodward (Independent) 2.5% Bruce Cullen (Independent) 1.1% John Potthast (Liberty Union) 0.9%
Washington	Dixy Lee Ray	Democratic	1976	Incumbent lost re-nomination. New governor elected. Republican gain.	Y John Spellman (Republican) 56.7% Jim McDermott (Democratic) 43.3%
West Virginia	Jay Rockefeller	Democratic	1976	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Jay Rockefeller (Democratic) 54.1% Arch A. Moore Jr. (Republican) 45.4% Jack Kelley (Libertarian) 0.4%

Close states

States where the margin of victory was under 5%:

1. Arkansas, 3.8%

States where the margin of victory was under 10%:

1. Missouri, 5.6%
2. North Dakota, 7.2%
3. West Virginia, 8.7%

See also

• 1980 United States elections
  • 1980 United States presidential election
  • 1980 United States Senate elections
  • 1980 United States House of Representatives elections

References

1. "Bill Clinton (1946–)". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved September 15, 2018.