1990 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election

1990 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election

←  1986 November 6, 1990 (1990-11-6) 1994  →

Nominee Bob Casey Barbara Hafer Party Democratic Republican Running mate Mark Singel Harold Mowery Popular vote 2,065,244 987,516 Percentage 67.63% 32.34%

County results Congressional district results Municipality results Casey:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Hafer:     40-50%     50–60%     60-70%     80-90% Tie:     40-50%     50%     No data

Governor before election Robert P. Casey Democratic Elected Governor Robert P. Casey Democratic

The 1990 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1990. Incumbent Democratic governor Robert P. Casey easily defeated Republican Barbara Hafer. Governor Casey defeated Hafer by a margin of 35.29%, and carried 66 out of 67 Pennsylvania counties.

This was the first election since 1974 that a Democrat carried Bucks County, the first since 1906 that a Democrat won Chester County, the first since 1829 that a Democrat won Delaware County, and the last time as of 2023 that a Democrat won York County.

Casey achieved the second-largest gubernatorial landslide in the state in the 20th century (and the largest victory for a Democrat), losing only Montgomery County by just 586 votes. ^[1]

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Bob Casey, incumbent Governor since 1987
• Philip J. Berg, attorney and perennial candidate from Montgomery County

Incumbent Bob Casey was challenged by Philip J. Berg, an attorney and perennial candidate from Montgomery County.

Results

Democratic primary results

  Casey

•   50%-60%
•   60%-70%
•   70%-80%
•   80%-90%
•   90%-100%

  Berg

•   50%-60%

Pennsylvania gubernatorial Democratic primary election, 1990 ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bob Casey	636,594	77.54
	Democratic	Philip J. Berg	184,365	22.46
Total votes			820,959	100.00

Republican primary

Candidates

• Barbara Hafer, Auditor General and candidate for Lieutenant Governor
• Peg Luksik, anti-abortion activist

Endorsed Republican candidate Barbara Hafer, Auditor General and former candidate for Lt. Governor, won a surprisingly close race over Peg Luksik, an outspoken opponent of abortion rights.^{[ citation needed ]}

Results

Republican primary results

  Hafer

•   50%-60%
•   60%-70%
•   70%-80%

  Luksik

•   50%-60%
•   60%-70%

Pennsylvania gubernatorial Republican primary election, 1990 ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Barbara Hafer	321,026	54.43
	Republican	Peg Luksik	268,773	45.57
Total votes			589,799	100.00

General Election

Candidates

• Bob Casey, incumbent Governor (Democratic)
  • running mate: Mark Singel, incumbent Lieutenant Governor
• Barbara Hafer, Pennsylvania Auditor General (Republican)
  • running mate: Harold Mowery, State Representative

Campaign

Casey had maintained enormous popularity in the state, ^[4] was considered to have a generally positive record from his first term as governor, and was endorsed by major newspapers statewide, including The Philadelphia Inquirer. ^[5] In addition, Casey had the traditionally strong backing of urban voters and organized labor, and performed well in many heavily Republican, rural counties, as he was seen as a relatively conservative populist.

The campaign briefly turned ugly when Hafer, a pro-choice Republican who had attempted to position herself as the more liberal candidate, referred to Casey as a "redneck Irishman." Her comment, which was widely reported, helped to alienate both rural voters and those of Irish descent. Unable to gain a funding foothold or to carve out a strong public image, and trailing in the polls by forty percent on election day, ^[6] Hafer was subsequently defeated by Casey by a large margin. ^[1]

Results

Pennsylvania gubernatorial election, 1990 [7] [8]
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Percentage
	Democratic	Bob Casey (incumbent)	Mark Singel (incumbent)	2,065,244	67.63%
	Republican	Barbara Hafer	Harold Mowery	987,463	32.34%
	Write-ins	Write-ins		906	0.03%
Totals				3,053,666	100.00%
Voter turnout (Voting age population)					53.96%

Results by county

County [9]	Bob Casey Democratic		Barbara Hafer Republican		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Adams	13,890	70.95%	5,687	29.05%	15	0.00%	8,203	41.90%	19,577
Allegheny	281,883	71.95%	109,895	28.05%	0	0.00%	171,988	43.90%	391,778
Armstrong	14,077	69.45%	6,192	30.55%	0	0.00%	7,885	38.90%	20,269
Beaver	43,348	76.15%	13,577	23.85%	315	0.00%	29,771	52.30%	56,925
Bedford	7,709	61.26%	4,876	38.74%	0	0.00%	2,833	22.52%	12,585
Berks	47,887	61.81%	29,589	38.19%	203	0.00%	18,298	23.62%	77,476
Blair	20,713	68.11%	9,698	31.89%	0	0.00%	11,015	36.22%	30,411
Bradford	7,063	55.50%	5,663	44.50%	51	0.00%	1,400	11.00%	12,726
Bucks	81,715	58.58%	57,783	41.42%	0	0.00%	23,932	17.16%	139,498
Butler	25,327	66.58%	12,715	33.42%	0	0.00%	12,612	33.16%	38,042
Cambria	40,331	79.97%	10,104	20.03%	0	0.00%	30,227	59.94%	50,435
Cameron	1,314	64.57%	721	35.43%	3	0.00%	593	29.14%	2,035
Carbon	9,773	70.10%	4,169	29.90%	0	0.00%	5,604	40.20%	13,942
Centre	17,442	59.39%	11,925	40.61%	0	0.00%	5,517	18.78%	29,367
Chester	48,935	52.48%	44,307	47.52%	0	0.00%	4,628	4.96%	93,242
Clarion	7,235	65.50%	3,811	34.50%	0	0.00%	3,424	31.00%	11,046
Clearfield	16,464	73.97%	5,793	26.03%	0	0.00%	10,671	47.94%	22,257
Clinton	6,796	70.59%	2,832	29.41%	0	0.00%	3,964	41.18%	9,628
Columbia	9,449	68.05%	4,436	31.95%	15	0.00%	5,013	36.10%	13,885
Crawford	16,154	66.72%	8,056	33.28%	15	0.00%	8,098	33.44%	24,210
Cumberland	32,487	66.06%	16,692	33.94%	0	0.00%	15,795	32.12%	49,179
Dauphin	43,063	71.90%	16,833	28.10%	0	0.00%	26,230	43.80%	59,896
Delaware	92,865	54.82%	76,531	45.18%	0	0.00%	16,334	9.64%	169,396
Elk	8,757	77.28%	2,575	22.72%	0	0.00%	6,182	54.56%	11,332
Erie	52,168	71.86%	20,424	28.14%	0	0.00%	31,744	43.72%	72,592
Fayette	28,719	83.00%	5,882	17.00%	0	0.00%	22,837	66.00%	34,601
Forest	1,104	64.98%	595	35.02%	3	0.00%	509	29.96%	1,699
Franklin	15,126	64.13%	8,461	35.87%	0	0.00%	6,665	28.26%	23,587
Fulton	1,939	62.31%	1,173	37.69%	0	0.00%	766	24.62%	3,112
Greene	7,998	78.76%	2,157	21.24%	0	0.00%	5,841	57.52%	10,155
Huntingdon	6,656	65.60%	3,490	34.40%	0	0.00%	3,166	31.20%	10,146
Indiana	15,692	70.32%	6,622	29.68%	0	0.00%	9,070	40.64%	22,314
Jefferson	8,117	67.44%	3,918	32.56%	0	0.00%	4,199	34.88%	12,035
Juniata	4,617	73.82%	1,637	26.18%	0	0.00%	2,980	47.64%	6,254
Lackawanna	49,393	81.88%	10,930	18.12%	0	0.00%	38,463	63.76%	60,323
Lancaster	66,069	72.89%	24,569	27.11%	0	0.00%	41,500	45.78%	90,638
Lawrence	19,563	72.87%	7,282	27.13%	80	0.03%	12,281	45.74%	26,845
Lebanon	18,776	69.98%	8,055	30.02%	0	0.00%	10,721	39.96%	26,831
Lehigh	42,592	63.47%	24,519	36.53%	44	0.00%	18,073	26.94%	67,111
Luzerne	60,043	80.56%	14,448	19.44%	0	0.00%	45,555	61.12%	74,531
Lycoming	17,238	66.64%	8,628	33.36%	19	0.00%	8,610	33.28%	25,866
McKean	5,151	56.95%	3,893	43.05%	0	0.00%	1,258	13.90%	9,044
Mercer	24,078	69.68%	10,479	30.32%	1	0.00%	13,599	39.66%	34,557
Mifflin	6,472	69.94%	2,781	30.06%	0	0.00%	3,691	39.88%	9,253
Monroe	12,243	64.42%	6,761	35.58%	0	0.00%	5,482	28.84%	19,004
Montgomery	89,465	49.84%	90,051	50.16%	0	0.00%	-586	-0.32%	179,516
Montour	2,666	68.94%	1,201	31.06%	0	0.00%	1,465	37.88%	3,867
Northampton	38,862	68.04%	18,253	31.96%	0	0.00%	20,609	36.08%	57,115
Northumberland	17,948	73.75%	6,388	26.25%	0	0.00%	11,560	47.00%	24,336
Perry	6,205	65.68%	3,242	34.32%	0	0.00%	2,693	31.36%	9,447
Philadelphia	276,427	70.79%	114,078	29.21%	4	0.00%	162,349	41.58%	390,505
Pike	3,122	55.25%	2,529	44.75%	0	0.00%	593	10.50%	5,651
Potter	2,398	57.59%	1,766	42.41%	0	0.00%	632	15.18%	4,164
Schuylkill	29,832	70.32%	12,591	29.68%	0	0.00%	17,241	40.64%	42,423
Snyder	4,777	63.91%	2,697	36.09%	0	0.00%	2,080	27.82%	7,474
Somerset	17,610	71.74%	6,937	28.26%	0	0.00%	10,673	43.48%	24,547
Sullivan	1,207	59.11%	835	40.89%	0	0.00%	372	18.22%	2,042
Susquehanna	6,655	67.50%	3,204	32.50%	0	0.00%	3,451	35.00%	9,859
Tioga	5,737	57.10%	4,310	42.90%	0	0.00%	1,427	14.20%	10,047
Union	4,694	65.80%	2,440	34.20%	0	0.00%	2,254	31.60%	7,134
Venango	9,999	67.12%	4,899	32.88%	0	0.00%	5,100	34.24%	14,898
Warren	9,260	69.04%	4,153	30.96%	39	0.00%	5,107	38.08%	13,413
Washington	40,354	74.61%	13,734	25.39%	0	0.00%	26,620	49.22%	54,088
Wayne	5,882	62.67%	3,503	37.33%	9	0.00%	2,379	25.34%	9,385
Westmoreland	71,922	74.95%	24,039	25.05%	90	0.00%	47,883	49.90%	95,961
Wyoming	4,434	69.25%	1,969	30.75%	0	0.00%	2,465	38.50%	6,403
York	57,394	71.00%	23,440	29.00%	0	0.00%	33,954	42.00%	80,834
Totals	2,065,281	67.65%	987,643	32.35%	906	0.00%	1,077,818	35.30%	3,052,744

Notes

1. Kennedy, John J. (2006). Pennsylvania Elections: Statewide Contests From 1950-2004. University Press of America. ISBN   9780761832799.
2. "Our Campaigns - PA Governor - D Primary Race - May 15, 1990".
3. "Our Campaigns - PA Governor- R Primary Race - May 15, 1990".
4. Singleton, David. "Gubernatorial candidates now await decision of voters: Casey winds up campaign in home region." Scranton, Pennsylvania: The Tribune, November 6, 1990, p. 3 (subscription required).
5. "Editorials: Endorsements." Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 6, 1990, p. 10 (subscription required).
6. Bradley-Steck, Tara. "Gubernatorial candidates now await decision of voters: Underdog Hafer remains optimistic." Scranton, Pennsylvania: The Tribune, November 6, 1990, p. 3 (subscription required).
7. The Pennsylvania Manual, p. 671.
8. The Pennsylvania Manual, p. 633.
9. "Pennsylvania Gubernatorial Election Returns 1990". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Retrieved March 9, 2025.

References

• DiFlaviana, Kathleen, ed. (1991). The Pennsylvania Manual . Vol. 110. Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Department of General Services. ISBN   0-8182-0145-2.