1997 United States gubernatorial elections

1997 United States gubernatorial elections

←  1996 November 4, 1997 1998  →
3 governorships 2 states; 1 territory
Majority party Minority party   Party Republican Democratic Seats before 32 17 Seats after 32 17 Seat change Seats up 2 0 Seats won 2 0
Map of the results      Republican gain     Republican hold      No election

United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 4, 1997, in two states and one territory. Republicans retained both seats.

Election results

States

State	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
New Jersey	Christine Todd Whitman	Republican	1993	Incumbent re-elected. [1]	Y Christine Todd Whitman (Republican) 46.9% Jim McGreevey (Democratic) 45.8% Murray Sabrin (Libertarian) 4.7% Richard Pezzullo (Conservative) 1.4%
Virginia	George Allen	Republican	1993	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Republican hold. [2]	Y Jim Gilmore (Republican) 55.8% Don Beyer (Democratic) 42.6%

Territory

State	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Northern Mariana Islands	Froilan Tenorio	Democratic	1993	Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. [3] Republican gain.	Y Pedro Tenorio (Republican) 46.5% Froilan Tenorio (Democratic) 27.3% Jesus Borja (Independent) 26.3%

Closest races

States where the margin of victory was under 5%:

1. New Jersey, 1.1%

New Jersey

1997 New Jersey gubernatorial election

←  1993 November 4, 1997 2001  →

Nominee Christine Todd Whitman Jim McGreevey Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,133,394 1,107,968 Percentage 46.9% 45.8%

County results Congressional district results Whitman:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70% McGreevey:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

Governor before election Christine Todd Whitman Republican Elected Governor Christine Todd Whitman Republican

The 1997 New Jersey gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1997. In the Democratic primary, state senator and Woodbridge Township mayor James McGreevey defeated pre-U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews ^[4] by 9,993 votes. In the general election, Republican Governor Christine Todd Whitman defeated McGreevey by 26,953 votes. Whitman won 46.87% of the vote, with Democratic nominee James McGreevey receiving 45.82% and Libertarian Murray Sabrin receiving 4.7%.

Virginia

1997 Virginia gubernatorial election

←  1993 November 4, 1997 2001  →
Turnout	49.5% (voting eligible) [5]
Nominee Jim Gilmore Don Beyer Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 969,062 738,971 Percentage 55.8% 42.6%
County and independent city results Gilmore:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Beyer:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%
Governor before election George Allen Republican Elected Governor Jim Gilmore Republican

The 1997 Virginia gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1997. The incumbent Governor, George Allen, was barred from seeking a second term due to Virginia's unique term limits law. The Republican candidate, Jim Gilmore, the Attorney General of Virginia defeated the Democratic nominee, Don Beyer, the incumbent Lieutenant Governor.

Territories

Northern Mariana Islands

Northern Marina Islands election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Pedro Tenorio	{{{votes}}}	46.5%
	Democratic	Froilan Tenorio	{{{votes}}}	27.3%
	Independent	Jesus Borja	{{{votes}}}	26.3%
Total votes			{{{votes}}}	100.00
	Republican hold

References

1. "1997 Gubernatorial General Election Results - New Jersey". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Elections. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
2. "1997 Gubernatorial General Election Results - Virginia". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Elections. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
3. "Northern Mariana Islands Governor Race - Nov 01, 1997". Our Campaigns. January 21, 2006.
4. Pulley, Brett (June 4, 1997). "McGreevey Wins Democratic Nod for Governor" – via NYTimes.com.
5. Virginia Department of Elections (2016). "Registration/Turnout Statistics". The Commonwealth of Virginia. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved July 25, 2016.