1998 Rhode Island gubernatorial election

1998 Rhode Island gubernatorial election
	Almond: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%; York: 40–50% 50–60%
Governor before election; Lincoln Almond ; Republican	Elected Governor; Lincoln Almond ; Republican

Last updated July 16, 2025

The 1998 Rhode Island gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1998. Incumbent Republican governor Lincoln Almond defeated Democratic nominee Myrth York in a rematch of the 1994 race.

Republican primary

Candidates

Lincoln Almond, incumbent governor of Rhode Island

Results

Republican primary results^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Lincoln Almond (incumbent)	5,510	100.00
Total votes			5,510	100.00

Democratic primary

Candidates

Myrth York, former Rhode Island state senator, 1994 Democratic nominee for governor
Jack Dennison Potter, perennial candidate

Results

Democratic primary results^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Myrth York	53,561	82.89
	Democratic	Jack Dennison Potter	11,055	17.11
Total votes			64,616	100.00

Cool Moose primary

Robert J. Healey, businessman and perennial candidate

Reform primary

Joseph Devine, 1992 Reform Party nominee for governor

General election

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size^[a]	Margin of error	Lincoln Almond (R)	Myrth York (D)	Undecided
Fleming & Associates^[3]^[A]	October 21–24, 1998	400 (RV)	± 5.0%	42%	38%	20%
Fleming & Associates^[3]^[A]	October 6–9, 1998	400 (LV)	± 5.0%	43%	38%	19%
KRC Communications Research^[3]^[B]	August 31 – September 2, 1998	400 (LV)	± 5.0%	42%	44%	14%

Results

Rhode Island gubernatorial election, 1998^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Lincoln Almond (incumbent)	156,180	50.97%	+3.59%
	Democratic	Myrth York	129,105	42.13%	−1.41%
	Cool Moose	Robert J. Healey	19,250	6.28%	−2.82%
	Reform	Joseph F. Devine	1,848	0.60%
	Write-ins		62	0.02%
Majority			27,075	8.84%	+5.01%
Turnout			306,445
	Republican hold		Swing

Notes

↑ Key:
A – all adults
RV – registered voters
LV – likely voters
V – unclear

Partisan clients

1 2 Poll sponsored by WPRI Channel 12
↑ Poll sponsored by The Providence Journal & WJAR

References

↑ "Republican Primary". State of Rhode Island Board of Elections. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
↑ "Democrat Primary". State of Rhode Island Board of Elections. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
1 2 3 "CNN AllPolitics Election '98 - Rhode Island 1998 Polls". CNN. Archived from the original on June 29, 2025. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
↑ http://www.elections.state.ri.us/elections/results/1998/fedstatetop.php ^{[ dead link ]}

This Rhode Island elections-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[3] Key:
A – all adults
RV – registered voters
LV – likely voters
V – unclear

[WPRI-5] 1 2 Poll sponsored by WPRI Channel 12

[6] Poll sponsored by The Providence Journal & WJAR

[1] "Republican Primary". State of Rhode Island Board of Elections. Retrieved June 29, 2025.

[2] "Democrat Primary". State of Rhode Island Board of Elections. Retrieved June 29, 2025.

[polls-4] 1 2 3 "CNN AllPolitics Election '98 - Rhode Island 1998 Polls". CNN. Archived from the original on June 29, 2025. Retrieved June 29, 2025.

[7] ttp://www.elections.state.ri.us/elections/results/1998/fedstatetop.php ^{[ dead link ]}

[1]

[2]

[a]

[3]

[A]

[B]

[4]

v t e Notable third-party performances in United States elections
* Third party is endorsed by a major party
Presidential	1788–89 * 1792 * 1832 1848 1856 1860 1872* 1892 1896* 1912 1924 1948 1960 1968 1980 1992 1996
Senatorial (since 1940)	California 1940 Minnesota 1940 North Dakota 1940 Wisconsin 1940 Minnesota 1942 Minnesota 1942 Nebraska 1942 Virginia 1942 North Dakota 1944 Wisconsin 1944 California 1946 (Republican write-in) North Dakota 1946 North Dakota 1946 Tennessee 1946 Arkansas 1948 Alabama 1950 New Hampshire 1950 California 1952 Maine 1952 New York 1952 North Dakota 1952 Virginia 1952 South Carolina 1954 (Democratic write-in) Virginia 1954 Utah 1958 Virginia 1958 Virginia 1960 Virginia 1964 Mississippi 1966 Virginia 1966 Virginia 1966 Alabama 1968 Alaska 1968 Maryland 1968 New York 1968 Connecticut 1970 Mississippi 1970 New York 1970 Virginia 1970 Louisiana 1972 Florida 1974 Hawaii 1974 Nevada 1974 New York 1974 Utah 1974 Minnesota 1976 Virginia 1976 Alabama 1978 Arkansas 1978 Maine 1978 Mississippi 1978 New York 1980 Washington 1982 Tennessee 1984 Virginia 1990 Alaska 1992 Arizona 1992 Hawaii 1992 Louisiana 1992 Ohio 1992 Arizona 1994 Minnesota 1994 Ohio 1994 Vermont 1994 Virginia 1994 Alaska 1996 Minnesota 1996 Arizona 2000 Massachusetts 2000 Minnesota 2000 Alaska 2002 Kansas 2002 Massachusetts 2002 Mississippi 2002 Oklahoma 2002 Virginia 2002 Oklahoma 2004 Connecticut 2006 Indiana 2006 Maine 2006 Vermont 2006 * Arkansas 2008 Idaho 2008 Minnesota 2008 Oregon 2008 Alaska 2010 (Republican write-in) Florida 2010 Indiana 2010 South Carolina 2010 Utah 2010 Indiana 2012 Maine 2012 Maryland 2012 Missouri 2012 Montana 2012 Vermont 2012 * Kansas 2014 South Dakota 2014 Wyoming 2014 Alaska 2016 Arizona 2016 Idaho 2016 Indiana 2016 Kansas 2016 Maine 2018 New Mexico 2018 Vermont 2018 * Alaska 2020* Arkansas 2020 Minnesota 2020 Nebraska 2020 Idaho 2022 North Dakota 2022 Utah 2022* Maine 2024 Nebraska 2024 Utah 2024 Vermont 2024 *
Gubernatorial (since 1940)	Minnesota 1940 Wisconsin 1940 Connecticut 1942 Minnesota 1942 New York 1942 Wisconsin 1942 North Dakota 1944 Wisconsin 1944 California 1946 Tennessee 1950 Maine 1952 Vermont 1952 Tennessee 1954 Nebraska 1956 Texas 1956 Utah 1956 Oklahoma 1958 Tennessee 1958 North Dakota 1960 Tennessee 1962 Virginia 1965 Alabama 1966 Georgia 1966 Idaho 1966 Maryland 1966 New York 1966 Tennessee 1966 Alabama 1970 Arkansas 1970 New Hampshire 1970 New York 1970 Mississippi 1971 New Hampshire 1972 Texas 1972 Washington 1972 Virginia 1973 Maine 1974 Nebraska 1974 Nevada 1974 Texas 1974 Vermont 1974 Vermont 1976 Alaska 1978 California 1978 Maine 1978 Rhode Island 1978 Alaska 1982 Arizona 1982 Hawaii 1982 Alaska 1986 Arizona 1986 Illinois 1986 Maine 1986 Oklahoma 1986 Vermont 1986 Utah 1988 Alaska 1990 Connecticut 1990 Kansas 1990 Maine 1990 New York 1990 Oklahoma 1990 Oregon 1990 Utah 1992 West Virginia 1992 Alaska 1994 Connecticut 1994 Hawaii 1994 Maine 1994 New Mexico 1994 Oklahoma 1994 Pennsylvania 1994 Rhode Island 1994 Vermont 1994 Alaska 1998 Maine 1998 Minnesota 1998 New York 1998 Pennsylvania 1998 Rhode Island 1998 Kentucky 1999 New Hampshire 2000 Vermont 2000 Arizona 2002 California 2002 Maine 2002 Minnesota 2002 New Mexico 2002 New York 2002 Oklahoma 2002 Vermont 2002 Wisconsin 2002 Alaska 2006 Illinois 2006 Maine 2006 Massachusetts 2006 Minnesota 2006 Texas 2006 Louisiana 2007 Vermont 2008 New Jersey 2009 Colorado 2010 Idaho 2010 Maine 2010 Massachusetts 2010 Minnesota 2010 Rhode Island 2010 Wyoming 2010 Kentucky 2011 Virginia 2013 Alaska 2014 * Hawaii 2014 Maine 2014 Rhode Island 2014 Wyoming 2014 Maine 2018 Kansas 2018 Indiana 2020 Vermont 2020* Alaska 2022 Idaho 2022 Oregon 2022 North Dakota 2024 Utah 2024 (Republican write-in)
Territorial Governors (since 1970)	U.S. Virgin Islands 1970 Puerto Rico 1972 District of Columbia 1974 U.S. Virgin Islands 1974 U.S. Virgin Islands 1978 Puerto Rico 1980 U.S. Virgin Islands 1986 Puerto Rico 1988 U.S. Virgin Islands 1990 U.S. Virgin Islands 1994 U.S. Virgin Islands 1998 Puerto Rico 2000 Northern Mariana Islands 2001 U.S. Virgin Islands 2002 Northern Mariana Islands 2005 U.S. Virgin Islands 2006 Northern Mariana Islands 2009 District of Columbia 2010 U.S. Virgin Islands 2010 District of Columbia 2014 Northern Mariana Islands 2014 U.S. Virgin Islands 2014 Puerto Rico 2016 District of Columbia 2018 Guam 2018 Northern Mariana Islands 2018 U.S. Virgin Islands 2018 Puerto Rico 2020 District of Columbia 2022 Northern Mariana Islands 2022 U.S. Virgin Islands 2022 Puerto Rico 2024
State legislative	Alaska Arkansas Colorado Hawaii Louisiana Montana Utah West Virginia Wyoming
Portal:Politics Third party (U.S. politics) List of third-party and independent performances in United States elections Third-party and independent members of the United States Congress

v t e (1997 ←) 1998 United States elections (→ 1999)
U.S. Senate	Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maryland Missouri Nevada New Hampshire New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania South Carolina South Dakota Utah Vermont Washington Wisconsin
U.S. House	Alabama Alaska Arkansas Arizona California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
Governors	Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Iowa Kansas Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Mexico New York Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Lt. Gov Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Vermont Wisconsin Wyoming
Attorneys General	California Connecticut Florida Michigan Minnesota New York
State legislatures	Arizona Senate California Assembly Senate Iowa Senate Maryland House Senate Minnesota House Texas House West Virginia Senate Wyoming Senate
State officials	California Secretary of State Connecticut Secretary of State Michigan Secretary of State Minnesota Secretary of State New York Comptroller
States generally	Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
Mayors	Long Beach, CA New Orleans, LA Oakland, CA Providence, RI San Jose, CA Washington, DC

1998 Rhode Island gubernatorial election

Contents

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Cool Moose primary

Reform primary

General election

Polling

Results

Notes

References