1988 United States gubernatorial elections

1988 United States gubernatorial elections

←  1987 November 8, 1988 1989  →
14 governorships 12 states; 2 territories
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic Republican Seats before 27 [a] 23 Seats after 28 22 Seat change 1 1 Seats up 4 8 Seats won 5 7
Democratic gain  Democratic hold   Republican gain  Republican hold   Scheduled Recall cancelled

United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 8, 1988, in 12 states and two territories. Going into the elections, eight seats were held by Republicans, and four by Democrats. After the elections, the Democrats had a net gain of one seat. The elections coincided with the United States House elections, United States Senate elections and presidential election. As of 2025, this is the last time that a Republican was elected as a Governor of Delaware, and the last time a Democrat was elected as a Governor of North Dakota.

Election results

State	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Arizona (recall)	Evan Mecham	Republican	1986	Already scheduled recall election cancelled after Mecham's impeachment Secretary of State Rose Mofford (D) succeeded him.
Delaware	Mike Castle	Republican	1984	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Mike Castle (Republican) 70.7% Jacob Kreshtool (Democratic) 29.3%
Indiana	Robert D. Orr	Republican	1980	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic gain.	Y Evan Bayh (Democratic) 53.2% John Mutz (Republican) 46.8%
Missouri	John Ashcroft	Republican	1984	Incumbent re-elected.	Y John Ashcroft (Republican) 64.2% Betty Cooper Hearnes (Democratic) 34.8% Mike Roberts (Libertarian) 1.0%
Montana	Ted Schwinden	Democratic	1980	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Republican gain.	Y Stan Stephens (Republican) 51.9% Thomas Lee Judge (Democratic) 46.1%
New Hampshire	John H. Sununu	Republican	1982	Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Republican hold.	Y Judd Gregg (Republican) 60.4% Paul McEachern (Democratic) 39.0%
North Carolina	James G. Martin	Republican	1984	Incumbent re-elected.	Y James G. Martin (Republican) 56.1% Robert B. Jordan (Democratic) 43.9%
North Dakota	George A. Sinner	Democratic-NPL	1984	Incumbent re-elected.	Y George A. Sinner (Democratic-NPL) 59.9% Leon L. Mallberg (Republican) 40.1%
Rhode Island	Edward D. DiPrete	Republican	1984	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Edward D. DiPrete (Republican) 50.8% Bruce Sundlun (Democratic) 49.2%
Utah	Norman H. Bangerter	Republican	1984	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Norman H. Bangerter (Republican) 40.1% Ted Wilson (Democratic) 38.4% Merrill Cook (Independent) 21.1% Kitty K. Burton (Libertarian) 0.3% Arly H. Pedersen (Ind. American) 0.2%
Vermont	Madeleine Kunin	Democratic	1982	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Madeleine Kunin (Democratic) 55.3% Michael Bernhardt (Republican) 43.3% Richard Gottlieb (Liberty Union) 1.2%
Washington	Booth Gardner	Democratic	1984	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Booth Gardner (Democratic) 62.2% Robert Williams (Republican) 37.8%
West Virginia	Arch A. Moore Jr.	Republican	1968 1976 (term-limited) 1984	Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. Democratic gain.	Y Gaston Caperton (Democratic) 58.9% Arch A. Moore Jr. (Republican) 41.1%

Close states

States where the margin of victory was under 5%:

1. Rhode Island, 1.6%
2. Utah, 1.7%

States where the margin of victory was under 10%:

1. Indiana, 6.4%
2. Montana, 5.8%

See also

• 1988 United States elections
  • 1988 United States presidential election
  • 1988 United States Senate elections
  • 1988 United States House of Representatives elections

Notes

1. Rose Mofford (D) succeeded Arizona Governor Evan Mecham (R) following his impeachment conviction.