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14 governorships 12 states; 2 territories | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Democratic gain Democratic hold Republican gain Republican hold New Progressive gain Nonpartisan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 3, 1992, in 12 states and two territories. Going into the elections, six of the seats were held byDemocrats and six byRepublicans. After the elections, Democrats held eight seats and Republicans held four. The elections coincided with thepresidential election.
This was the last year in whichRhode Island held a gubernatorial election in the same year as the presidential election. The length of gubernatorial terms for Rhode Island's governor would be extended from two to four years, with elections taking place inmidterm election years.
| State | Incumbent | Party | First elected | Result | Candidates |
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| Delaware | Mike Castle | Republican | 1984 | Incumbent term-limited. New governorelected. Democratic gain. |
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| Indiana | Evan Bayh | Democratic | 1988 | Incumbentre-elected. |
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| Missouri | John Ashcroft | Republican | 1984 | Incumbent term-limited. New governorelected. Democratic gain. |
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| Montana | Stan Stephens | Republican | 1988 | Incumbent retired. New governorelected. Republican hold. |
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| New Hampshire | Judd Gregg | Republican | 1988 | Incumbent retired torun for U.S. Senator. New governorelected. Republican hold. |
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| North Carolina | James G. Martin | Republican | 1984 | Incumbent term-limited. New governorelected. Democratic gain. |
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| North Dakota | George A. Sinner | Democratic–NPL | 1984 | Incumbent retired. New governorelected. Republican gain. |
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| Rhode Island | Bruce Sundlun | Democratic | 1990 | Incumbentre-elected. |
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| Utah | Norman H. Bangerter | Republican | 1984 | Incumbent retired. New governorelected. Republican hold. |
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| Vermont | Howard Dean | Democratic | 1991[a] | Incumbentelected to full term. |
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| Washington | Booth Gardner | Democratic | 1984 | Incumbent retired. New governorelected. Democratic hold. |
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| West Virginia | Gaston Caperton | Democratic | 1988 | Incumbentre-elected. |
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| Territory | Incumbent | Party | First elected | Result | Candidates |
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| American Samoa | Peter Tali Coleman | Republican | 1988 | Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected.[1] Democratic gain. |
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| Puerto Rico | Rafael Hernández Colón | Popular Democratic | 1984 | Incumbent retired. New governorelected. New Progressive gain. |
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States where the margin of victory was under 5%:
States where the margin of victory was under 10%:
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Carper: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The1992 Delaware gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1992. IncumbentRepublican governorMike Castle, barred by term limits from seeking another term asGovernor of Delaware, instead sought election to theUnited States House of Representatives. Congressman andDemocratic nomineeTom Carper defeatedRepublican nominee B. Gary Scott in alandslide, winning his first term in office and becoming Delaware's first Democratic governor since 1977.
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County results Bayh: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Pearson: 40–50% 50–60% | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The1992 Indiana gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1992. Incumbent Governor Evan Bayh, aDemocrat, won reelection over hisRepublican challenger,Linley E. Pearson with 62% of the vote. He was the first Democratic governor of Indiana to win reelection since governors became eligible for election to consecutive terms in office in 1972.
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County results Carnahan: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Webster: 50-60% 60-70% Tie: 50–50% | |||||||||||||||||
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The1992 Missouri gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1992, and resulted in a victory for theDemocratic nominee,Lt. GovernorMel Carnahan, over theRepublican candidate,Missouri Attorney GeneralWilliam L. Webster, andLibertarian Joan Dow.[2] Carnahan had defeated St. Louis mayorVincent C. Schoemehl for the Democratic nomination, while Webster had defeated Secretary of StateRoy Blunt and TreasurerWendell Bailey for the Republican nomination.
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| Turnout | 78.90% | |||||||||||||||||||
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County results Racicot: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Bradley: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The1992 Montana gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1992. IncumbentGovernor of MontanaStan Stephens, who was first elected in1988, declined to seek re-election.Marc Racicot, theAttorney General of Montana, won theRepublican primary and advanced to the general election, where he facedState RepresentativeDorothy Bradley, who had emerged from a crowdedDemocratic primary as the nominee of her party. A close election ensued, but in the end, Racicot ended up defeating Bradley to win his first of two terms as governor. While on the same ballot, Democratic presidential candidateBill Clinton won the state of Montana, and eventually won the1992 United States presidential election.
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Merrill: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% >90% Arnesen: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% >90% | |||||||||||||||||
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The1992 New Hampshire gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1992.Republican nomineeSteve Merrill, who defeatedEd Dupont andLiz Hager for the Republican nomination, won the election, defeatingDeborah Arnie Arnesen, who had defeatedNorman D'Amours for the Democratic nomination.
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County results Hunt: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||
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The1992 North Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1992. Incumbent GovernorJames G. Martin was unable to run for a third consecutive term due to term limits, and his Lieutenant Governor,Jim Gardner, was chosen to replace him as theRepublican nominee. Gardner had also been the nominee in aprevious gubernatorial election over twenty years earlier. Former GovernorJim Hunt decided to seek his third term as theDemocratic nominee. The race became one of the nastiest and most talked about races in the country, with Hunt winning a third term easily over Gardner andLibertarian nominee Scott McLaughlin.
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County results Schafer: 40-50% 50-60% 60-70% Spaeth: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The1992 North Dakota gubernatorial election took place on 3 November 1992. IncumbentDemocratic-NPL GovernorGeorge A. Sinner retired. Republican nomineeEd Schafer defeated Democratic formerAttorney General of North DakotaNicholas Spaeth in a landslide. This was the only gubernatorial seat which the Republicans gained during this election cycle.
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Sundlun: 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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The1992 Rhode Island gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1992. IncumbentDemocratBruce Sundlun defeatedRepublican nominee Elizabeth A. Leonard with 61.55% of the vote.
ADemocrat would not be electedGovernor of Rhode Island again untilGina Raimondo did so in2014.
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County results Leavitt: 30–40% 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% Cook: 30-40% Hanson: 30–40% 40–50% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The1992 Utah gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1992. Republican nomineeMichael Leavitt won the three-way election.
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Dean: 40-50% 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% 80-90% McClaughry: 40-50% 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% | |||||||||||||||||
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The1992 Vermont gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1992. After Republican GovernorRichard Snelling died in office on August 13, 1991,Lieutenant GovernorHoward Dean, a Democrat, took over for the remainder of his term. Incumbent Democrat Howard Dean ran successfully for election to a full term asGovernor of Vermont, defeating Republican candidate John McClaughry. This is the best Democratic performance for governor in the history of the state.
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County results Lowry: 50–60% 60–70% Eikenberry: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||
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The1992 Washington gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1992. Incumbent Democratic GovernorBooth Gardner chose not to run for a third term. This resulted in an open race for Governor of Washington in which DemocratMike Lowry narrowly defeated RepublicanKen Eikenberry. This is the last time that a gubernatorial nominee and a lieutenant gubernatorial nominee of different political parties were elected governor and lieutenant governor of Washington.
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County results Caperton: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Benedict: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||||||
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The1992 West Virginia gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 1992. IncumbentDemocratic governorGaston Caperton won re-election by defeating formerRepublicanU.S. representativeCleve Benedict andDemocraticState SenatorCharlotte Pritt, who ran as an independent write-in candidate after losing to Caperton in the Democraticprimary election. Benedict had defeatedVernon Criss for his party's nomination; this was the only election between1964 and 2000 that the Republicans had nominated someone other thanArch A. Moore orCecil H. Underwood.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | A.P. Lutali | {{{votes}}} | 53.0% | |
| Republican | Peter Tali Coleman | {{{votes}}} | 47.0% | |
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pedro Rosselló | New Progressive Party | 938,969 | 49.90 | |
| Victoria Muñoz Mendoza | Popular Democratic Party | 862,989 | 45.86 | |
| Fernando Martín García | Puerto Rican Independence Party | 79,219 | 4.21 | |
| Other candidates | 695 | 0.04 | ||
| Total | 1,881,872 | 100.00 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 2,242,381 | – | ||
| Source: Nohlen | ||||