1995 United States gubernatorial elections

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1995 United States gubernatorial elections
Flag of the United States.svg
  1994 October 21, November 7 and 18, 1995 1996  
  1991
1999  

3 governorships
 Majority partyMinority party
 
Party Republican Democratic
Seats before3019
Seats after3118
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 1Decrease2.svg 1
Seats up12
Seats won21

1995 United States gubernatorial elections results map.svg
     Republican gain     Republican hold
     Democratic hold

United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 7, 1995, in three states. Prior to the elections, Democrats held two seats and Republicans one. With the Republican gain of the open seat in Louisiana, Republicans held two seats and Democrats one following the elections.

Contents

Election results

StateIncumbentPartyFirst
elected
ResultCandidates
Kentucky Brereton Jones Democratic 1991 Incumbent term-limited.
New governor elected.
Democratic hold.
Louisiana Edwin Edwards Democratic 1972
1979 (term-limited)
1983
1987 (withdrew)
1991
Incumbent retired.
New governor elected.
Republican gain.
Mississippi Kirk Fordice Republican 1991 Incumbent re-elected.

Closest races

States where the margin of victory was under 5%:

  1. Kentucky, 2.2%

Kentucky

1995 Kentucky gubernatorial election
Flag of Kentucky.svg
  1991 November 7, 1995 1999  
Turnout43.8% Decrease2.svg 0.4 pp
  Paul E. Patton 2013 (cropped).jpg 3x4.svg
Nominee Paul Patton Larry Forgy
Party Democratic Republican
Running mate Steve Henry Tom Handy
Popular vote500,605479,227
Percentage50.9%48.7%

1995 Kentucky gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
1995 Kentucky gubernatorial election results map by congressional district.svg
Patton:      50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%
Forgy:      40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

Governor before election

Brereton Jones
Democratic

Elected Governor

Paul E. Patton
Democratic

The 1995 Kentucky gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 1995. Incumbent Governor Brereton Jones was not eligible to run for a second term due to term limits established by the Kentucky Constitution, creating an open seat. At the time, Kentucky and Virginia were the only states that prohibited their Governors from serving immediate successive terms. The Democratic nominee, Lieutenant Governor Paul E. Patton, defeated Republican nominee Larry Forgy to win his first term as governor. It was the last time that the election was held until the Kentucky General Assembly changed its term limits law in 1992, allowing Patton to run again in 1999 and leaving Virginia as the only state that prohibits its governor from serving immediate successive terms.

Louisiana

1995 Louisiana gubernatorial election
Flag of Louisiana (1912-2006).svg
  1991 October 21, 1995 (first round)
November 18, 1995 (runoff)
1999  
  GovFoster1 (cropped).JPG Cleo Fields.jpg Landrieu-lg (cropped).jpg
Candidate Mike Foster Cleo Fields Mary Landrieu
Party Republican Democratic Democratic
First round385,267
26.14%
280,921
19.06%
271,938
18.45%
Runoff984,499
63.5%
565,861
36.5%
Eliminated

  Buddy Roemer Congress.jpg 3x4.svg
Candidate Buddy Roemer Phil Preis
Party Republican Democratic
First round263,330
17.87%
133,271
9.04%
RunoffEliminatedEliminated

LouisianaGovernorOct95.svg
1995 Louisiana gubernatorial runoff election results map by parish.svg
Foster:     20–30%     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%
Fields:     20–30%     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     70–80%
Landrieu:     20–30%     30–40%
Roemer:     20–30%     30–40%
Preis:     20–30%     30–40%

Governor before election

Edwin Edwards
Democratic

Elected Governor

Mike Foster
Republican

The 1995 Louisiana gubernatorial election was held on November 18, 1995, to elect the governor of Louisiana.

Incumbent Democratic governor Edwin Edwards had planned to run for re-election to a second consecutive and fifth overall term in office, but he announced in June 1994, shortly after marrying his second wife Candy Picou, that he would be retiring from politics at the end of his term. [2]

All elections in Louisiana— with the exception of U.S. presidential elections— follow a variation of the open primary system called the jungle primary. Candidates of any and all parties are listed on one ballot; voters need not limit themselves to the candidates of one party when voting. Unless one candidate takes more than 50% of the vote in the first round, a run-off election is then held between the top two candidates, who may in fact be members of the same party.

In this election, the first round of voting was held on October 21, 1995, with Republican state senator Mike Foster and Democratic U.S. representative Cleo Fields finishing first and second with 26.1% and 19%, respectively. Foster defeated Fields in the November 18 runoff in a landslide. As of 2023, this is the most recent Louisiana gubernatorial election in which a successful Republican candidate was not elected in the first round.

Mississippi

1995 Mississippi gubernatorial election
Flag of Mississippi (1894-1996).svg
  1991 November 7, 1995 1999  
  KirkFordice (cropped).jpg Dick Molpus cropped.jpg
Nominee Kirk Fordice Dick Molpus
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote455,261364,210
Percentage55.56%44.44%

1995 Mississippi gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
County results
Fordice:     50-60%     60-70%     70-80%
Molpus:     50-60%     60-70%     70-80%     80-90%
Tie:     50-60%

Governor before election

Kirk Fordice
Republican

Elected Governor

Kirk Fordice
Republican

The 1995 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 1995 to elect the Governor of Mississippi. Incumbent Republican Kirk Fordice won reelection to a second term. This is the last time that a gubernatorial nominee and a lieutenant gubernatorial nominee of different political parties were elected governor and lieutenant governor in Mississippi.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Leip, David. "1995 Gubernatorial General Election Results - Kentucky". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved March 1, 2025.
  2. "Governor Retirement Address". C-SPAN. June 6, 1994. Retrieved November 9, 2014.