1999 United States gubernatorial elections

1999 United States gubernatorial elections

←  1998 October 23 and November 2, 1999 2000  →
3 governorships
Majority party Minority party   Party Republican Democratic Seats before 31 17 Seats after 30 18 Seat change 1 1 Seats up 2 1 Seats won 1 2
Map of the results      Democratic hold     Republican hold      Democratic gain     No election

United States gubernatorial elections were held in three states in October and November 1999. Kentucky and Mississippi held their general elections on November 2. Louisiana held the first round of its jungle primary on October 23 and did not need to hold a runoff.

The Democratic Party had a net gain of one seat, picking up an open seat in Mississippi. As of 2025, this is the last time a Democrat was elected governor of Mississippi.

Election results

State	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Kentucky	Paul E. Patton	Democratic	1995	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Paul E. Patton (Democratic) 60.7% Peppy Martin (Republican) 22.2% Gatewood Galbraith (Reform) 15.3% Nailah Jumoke-Yarbrough (Natural Law) 1.2% [1]
Louisiana	Mike Foster	Republican	1995	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Mike Foster (Republican) 62.2% Bill Jefferson (Democratic) 29.5% Tom Greene (Republican) 2.7% Phil Preis (Democratic) 1.8% [2]
Mississippi	Kirk Fordice	Republican	1991	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic gain.	Y Ronnie Musgrove (Democratic) 49.6% Michael Parker (Republican) 48.5% Jerry Ladner (Reform) 1.1% [3]

Closest races

States where the margin of victory was under 5%:

1. Mississippi, 1.1%

Kentucky

1999 Kentucky gubernatorial election

←  1995 November 2, 1999 2003  →
Turnout	22.3% 21.5 pp
Nominee Paul Patton Peppy Martin Gatewood Galbraith Party Democratic Republican Reform Running mate Steve Henry Wanda Cornelius Kathy Lyons Popular vote 352,099 128,788 88,930 Percentage 60.7% 22.2% 15.3%
County results Congressional district results Patton:     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Martin:     40–50%     50–60%
Governor before election Paul E. Patton Democratic Elected Governor Paul E. Patton Democratic

The 1999 Kentucky gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 1999, for the post of Governor of Kentucky. Democratic incumbent Governor Paul E. Patton defeated Republican nominee Peppy Martin to win a second term.

Louisiana

1999 Louisiana gubernatorial election

←  1995 October 23, 1999 2003  →

Nominee Mike Foster Bill Jefferson Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 805,203 382,445 Percentage 62.17% 29.53%

Parish results Foster:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Jefferson:     40–50%     60–70%

Governor before election Mike Foster Republican Elected Governor Mike Foster Republican

The 1999 Louisiana gubernatorial election was held on October 23, 1999, incumbent Republican Mike Foster won reelection to a second term as governor of Louisiana becoming the first Republican to ever do so.

Mississippi

1999 Mississippi gubernatorial election

←  1995 November 2, 1999 January 4, 2000 (contingent election) 2003  →

Nominee Ronnie Musgrove Michael Parker Party Democratic Republican Electoral vote 61 61 House vote 86 36 Popular vote 379,033 370,691 Percentage 49.62% 48.52%

County results Musgrove:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Parker:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

Governor before election Kirk Fordice Republican Elected Governor Ronnie Musgrove Democratic via contingent election

The 1999 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 1999 to elect the Governor of Mississippi. Incumbent Governor Kirk Fordice, a member of the Republican Party who had been first elected in 1991, was ineligible to run for reelection due to term limits.

In the general election, Democrat Lieutenant Governor Ronnie Musgrove won a plurality of the vote over Republican Congressman Mike Parker. Per the Mississippi Constitution, since no candidate had received a majority of the vote, the election was decided by the Mississippi House of Representatives in a contingent election. On January 4, 2000, the House voted 86–36, which was nearly along partisan lines, to elect Musgrove governor. As of 2025, this remains the last time a Democrat was officially elected governor of Mississippi to date.

See also

• 1999 United States elections
  • 1999 United States House of Representatives elections

References

1. "1999 Gubernatorial General Election Results - Kentucky". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Elections. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
2. "1999 Gubernatorial General Election Results - Louisiana". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Elections. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
3. "1999 Gubernatorial General Election Results - Mississippi". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Elections. Retrieved March 3, 2025.