1993 United States gubernatorial elections

1993 United States gubernatorial elections

←  1992 November 2, 1993 1994  →
3 governorships 2 states; 1 territory
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic Republican Seats before 31 [a] 17 Seats after 29 19 Seat change 2 2 Seats up 2 0 Seats won 0 2
Democratic gain     Republican gain

United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 2, 1993, in two states and one territory, as well as other statewide offices and members of state legislatures. Both seats were originally held by Democrats, but they switched parties following the elections.

Election results

States

State	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
New Jersey	James Florio	Democratic	1989	Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. Republican gain. [1]	Y Christine Todd Whitman (Republican) 49.3% James Florio (Democratic) 48.3%
Virginia	Douglas Wilder	Democratic	1989	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Republican gain. [2]	Y George Allen (Republican) 58.3% Mary Sue Terry (Democratic) 40.9%

Territory

Territory	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Northern Mariana Islands	Lorenzo I. De Leon Guerrero	Republican	1989	Incumbent retired. New governor elected. [3] Democratic gain.	Y Froilan Tenorio (Democratic) [ data missing ]

Closest races

States where the margin of victory was under 5%:

1. New Jersey, 1.0%

New Jersey

1993 New Jersey gubernatorial election

←  1989 November 2, 1993 1997  →

Nominee Christine Todd Whitman James Florio Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,236,124 1,210,031 Percentage 49.3% 48.3%

County results Congressional district results [b] Whitman:      40–50%     50–60%     60–70% Florio:      40–50%     50–60%     60–70%

Governor before election James Florio Democratic Elected Governor Christine Todd Whitman Republican

The 1993 New Jersey gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1993. Incumbent Democratic governor James Florio was narrowly defeated by Republican former Somerset County freeholder and 1990 U.S. Senate nominee Christine Todd Whitman. Primary elections were held on June 8, 1993. In the Democratic primary, Governor Florio's only challenger, anti-tax activist John Budzash, was disqualified from the ballot due to invalid petition signatures. In the Republican primary, Whitman defeated W. Cary Edwards and James Wallwork.

Florio's defeat followed backlash from voters against his administration's tax increases.

Virginia

1993 Virginia gubernatorial election

←  1989 November 2, 1993 1997  →
Turnout	61.1% (voting eligible) [4]
Nominee George Allen Mary Sue Terry Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,045,319 733,527 Percentage 58.27% 40.89%
County and independent city results Allen:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Terry:     50–60%     60–70%
Governor before election L. Douglas Wilder Democratic Elected Governor George Allen Republican

The 1993 Virginia gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1993. Barred from seeking a second term due to term limits restricting consecutive terms for Virginia governor, incumbent Democratic governor L. Douglas Wilder was replaced by Republican nominee and former U.S. representative George Allen. Allen, who had defeated Clinton Miller for the Republican nomination, defeated longtime attorney general of Virginia Mary Sue Terry, the Democratic nominee by 58.27% to 40.89%, which ended 12 consecutive years of Democratic control of the governor's mansion.

Territories

Northern Mariana Islands

Northern Marina Islands election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Froilan Tenorio	{{{votes}}}	100%

Notes

1. Jim Folsom, Jr. (D) succeeded Alabama governor H. Guy Hunt (R) following Hunt's resignation due to criminal indictments and conviction for theft, conspiracy, and ethics violations.
2. Only top two candidates

References

1. "1993 Gubernatorial General Election Results - New Jersey". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Elections. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
2. "1993 Gubernatorial General Election Results - Virginia". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Elections. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
3. "Northern Mariana Islands Governor Race - Nov 02, 1993". Our Campaigns. January 21, 2006.
4. Virginia Department of Elections (2016). "Registration/Turnout Statistics". The Commonwealth of Virginia. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved July 25, 2016.