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34 governorships[a] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 2, 1954, in 34 states, concurrent with theHouse andSenate elections. Elections also took place on September 13 in Maine. The special election in Florida was due to the death of incumbent governorDaniel T. McCarty on September 28, 1953.
InTennessee, the governor was elected to a 4-year term for the first time, instead of a 2-year term.[1]
| State | Incumbent | Party | Status | Opposing candidates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Gordon Persons | Democratic | Term-limited, Democratic victory | Jim Folsom (Democratic) 73.37% Tom Abernathy (Republican) 26.63% [2] |
| Arizona | John Howard Pyle | Republican | Defeated, 47.49% | Ernest McFarland (Democratic) 52.51% [3] |
| Arkansas | Francis Cherry | Democratic | Defeated in Democratic primary, Democratic victory | Orval Faubus (Democratic) 62.09% Pratt C. Remmel (Republican) 37.89% Scattering 0.02% [4] |
| California | Goodwin Knight | Republican | Re-elected, 56.83% | Richard P. Graves (Democratic) 43.16% Scattering 0.01% [5] |
| Colorado | Daniel I. J. Thornton | Republican | Retired, Democratic victory | Edwin C. Johnson (Democratic) 53.56% Donald G. Brotzman (Republican) 46.44% [6] |
| Connecticut | John Davis Lodge | Republican | Defeated, 49.16% | Abraham Ribicoff (Democratic) 49.50% Jasper McLevy (Socialist) 1.19% Vivien Kellems (Independent Republican) (write-in) 0.15% [7] |
| Florida (special) | Charley Eugene Johns | Democratic | Defeated in Democratic primary, Democratic victory | LeRoy Collins (Democratic) 80.43% J. Thomas Watson[8] (Republican) 19.52% Scattering 0.05% [9] |
| Georgia | Herman Talmadge | Democratic | Term-limited, Democratic victory | Marvin Griffin (Democratic) 99.98% Scattering 0.02% [10] (Democratic primary results) Marvin Griffin 36.32% (302) Melvin E. Thompson 25.07% (56) Tom Linder 13.50% (26) Fred Hand 12.09% (22) Charlie Gowen 11.42% (4) Grace Wilkey Thomas 0.97% Ben Garland 0.44% [11] |
| Idaho | Leonard B. Jordan | Republican | Term-limited, Republican victory | Robert E. Smylie (Republican) 54.24% Clark Hamilton (Democratic) 45.76% [12] |
| Iowa | William S. Beardsley | Republican | Retired, Republican victory | Leo Hoegh (Republican) 51.37% Clyde E. Herring (Democratic) 48.35% Howard H. Tyler (Independent) 0.28% [13] |
| Kansas | Edward F. Arn | Republican | Retired, Republican victory | Fred Hall (Republican) 52.98% George Docking (Democratic) 45.97% Chester A. Roberts (Prohibition) 0.89% W. W. Tamplin (Socialist) 0.16% [14] |
| Maine (held, September 13, 1954) | Burton M. Cross | Republican | Defeated, 45.51% | Edmund Muskie (Democratic) 54.49% [15] |
| Maryland | Theodore McKeldin | Republican | Re-elected, 54.46% | Curley Byrd (Democratic) 45.55% [16] |
| Massachusetts | Christian Herter | Republican | Re-elected, 51.76% | Robert F. Murphy (Democratic) 47.80% Lawrence Gilfedder (Socialist Labor) 0.30% Guy S. Williams (Prohibition) 0.14% [17] |
| Michigan | G. Mennen Williams | Democratic | Re-elected, 55.62% | Donald S. Leonard (Republican) 44.05% E. Harold Munn (Prohibition) 0.27% Theos A. Grove (Socialist Labor) 0.05% Frank Lovell (Socialist Workers) 0.03% [18] |
| Minnesota | C. Elmer Anderson | Republican | Defeated, 46.80% | Orville Freeman (Democratic Farmer-Labor) 52.73% Ross P. Schelin (Industrial Government) 0.47% [19] |
| Nebraska | Robert B. Crosby | Republican | Retired torun for U.S. Senate, Republican victory | Victor E. Anderson (Republican) 60.28% William Ritchie (Democratic) 39.72% [20] |
| Nevada | Charles H. Russell | Republican | Re-elected, 53.10% | Vail M. Pittman (Democratic) 46.90% [21] |
| New Hampshire | Hugh Gregg | Republican | Retired, Republican victory | Lane Dwinell (Republican) 55.12% John Shaw (Democratic) 44.88% [22] |
| New Mexico | Edwin L. Mechem | Republican | Retired torun for U.S. Senate, Democratic victory | John F. Simms (Democratic) 57.01% Alvin Stockton (Republican) 42.99% [23] |
| New York | Thomas E. Dewey | Republican | Retired, Democratic victory | W. Averell Harriman (Democratic) 49.61% Irving Ives (Republican) 49.40% John T. McManus (American Labor) 0.91% David L. Weiss (Socialist Workers) 0.05% Nathan Karp (Industrial Government) 0.03% [24] |
| North Dakota | Norman Brunsdale | Republican | Re-elected, 64.21% | Cornelius Bymers (Democratic) 35.79% [25] |
| Ohio | Frank Lausche | Democratic | Re-elected, 54.10% | Jim Rhodes (Republican) 45.91% [26] |
| Oklahoma | Johnston Murray | Democratic | Term-limited, Democratic victory | Raymond Gary (Democratic) 58.67% Reuben K. Sparks (Republican) 41.34% [27] |
| Oregon | Paul L. Patterson | Republican | Re-elected, 56.91% | Joseph K. Carson (Democratic) 43.09% [28] |
| Pennsylvania | John S. Fine | Republican | Term-limited, Democratic victory | George M. Leader (Democratic) 53.66% Lloyd H. Wood (Republican) 46.15% Henry Beitscher (Progressive) 0.12% Louis Dirle (Socialist Labor) 0.07% [29] |
| Rhode Island | Dennis J. Roberts | Democratic | Re-elected, 57.69% | Dean J. Lewis (Republican) 41.72% Arthur E. Marley (Independent) 0.59% [30] |
| South Carolina | James F. Byrnes | Democratic | Term-limited, Democratic victory | George Bell Timmerman Jr. (Democratic) unopposed [31] (Democratic primary results) George Bell Timmerman Jr. 61.34% Lester L. Bates 38.66% [32] |
| South Dakota | Sigurd Anderson | Republican | Term-limited, Republican victory | Joe Foss (Republican) 56.67% Ed C. Martin (Democratic) 43.33% [33] |
| Tennessee | Frank G. Clement | Democratic | Re-elected, 87.20% | John Randolph Neal Jr. (Independent) 12.27% W. E. Michel (Republican) 0.53% Scattering 0.01% [34] (Democratic primary results) Frank G. Clement 68.17% Gordon W. Browning 27.61% Raulston Schoolfield 4.23% [35] |
| Texas | Allan Shivers | Democratic | Re-elected, 89.42% | Tod R. Adams (Republican) 10.39% Scattering 0.19% [36] |
| Vermont | Lee E. Emerson | Republican | Retired, Republican victory | Joseph B. Johnson (Republican) 52.27% E. Frank Branon (Democratic) 47.70% Scattering 0.02% [37] |
| Wisconsin | Walter J. Kohler Jr. | Republican | Re-elected, 51.45% | William Proxmire (Democratic) 48.40% Arthur Wepfer (Socialist Labor) 0.15% [38] |
| Wyoming | Clifford Joy Rogers | Republican | Defeated in Republican primary, Republican victory | Milward Simpson (Republican) 50.50% William M. Jack (Democratic) 49.50% [39] |
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