# 1998 United States gubernatorial elections

United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 3, 1998, in 36 states and two territories. Going into the election cycle, 24 of the seats were held by Republicans, 11 by Democrats, and one by an Independent. The elections changed the national balance of power by the loss of one Republican and the gain of one Independent, although political party dominance was shifted in nine states. Democrats gained open seats in California and Iowa and defeated incumbents Fob James of Alabama and David Beasley of South Carolina, while Republicans won open seats in Colorado, Florida, Nebraska, and Nevada and the Reform Party won an open Republican governorship in Minnesota. By the end of the election, 23 seats were held by Republicans, 11 by Democrats, one by the Reform Party, and one by an Independent.
The elections coincided with the midterm elections for the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. With the exception of two states (New Hampshire and Vermont), the governors elected in this election served four-year terms. New Hampshire and Vermont's governors would serve two-year terms.
As of 2025, this election marked the most recent cycle in which Alabama, Alaska, Georgia, and South Carolina elected Democrats to their respective governorships, and by extension, any even-year gubernatorial election in the Deep South. This is also the last time that someone other than a Democrat or a Republican was elected governor in Maine and Minnesota. This would be the last time a third-party candidate (not an independent) would be elected governor of any state, as well as the last time an independent would be elected governor of a state until the 2010 election in Rhode Island. This was the last midterm election until 2022 in which the non-incumbent political party suffered net losses of governorships.

## Election results
### States

| State | Incumbent | Party | First elected | Result | Candidates |
| Alabama | Fob James | Republican | 1978 1982 (retired) 1994 | Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. Democratic gain. | Y Don Siegelman (Democratic) 57.9% Fob James (Republican) 42.1% |
| Alaska | Tony Knowles | Democratic | 1994 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y Tony Knowles (Democratic) 51.3% Robin L. Taylor (Write-in) 18.3% John Howard Lindauer (Republican) 17.9% Ray Metcalfe (Republican Moderate) 6.1% Desa Jacobsson (Green) 3.0% Sylvia Sullivan (AK Independence) 1.9% |
| Arizona | Jane Dee Hull | Republican | 1997 | Incumbent elected to full term. | Y Jane Dee Hull (Republican) 60.9% Paul Johnson (Democratic) 35.5% Katherine Gallant (Libertarian) 2.7% |
| Arkansas | Mike Huckabee | Republican | 1996 | Incumbent elected to full term. | Y Mike Huckabee (Republican) 59.8% Bill Bristow (Democratic) 38.7% Keith Carle (Reform) 1.6% |
| California | Pete Wilson | Republican | 1990 | Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic gain. | Y Gray Davis (Democratic) 58.0% Dan Lungren (Republican) 38.4% Daniel Hamburg (Green) 1.2% |
| Colorado | Roy Romer | Democratic | 1986 | Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Republican gain. | Y Bill Owens (Republican) 49.0% Gail Schoettler (Democratic) 48.4% Sandra D. Johnson (Libertarian) 1.7% |
| Connecticut | John G. Rowland | Republican | 1994 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y John G. Rowland (Republican) 62.9% Barbara Kennelly (Democratic) 35.4% |
| Florida | Lawton Chiles | Democratic | 1990 | Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Republican gain. | Y Jeb Bush (Republican) 55.3% Buddy MacKay (Democratic) 44.7% |
| Georgia | Zell Miller | Democratic | 1990 | Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic hold. | Y Roy Barnes (Democratic) 52.5% Guy Millner (Republican) 44.1% Jack Cashin (Libertarian) 3.4% |
| Hawaii | Ben Cayetano | Democratic | 1994 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y Ben Cayetano (Democratic) 50.1% Linda Lingle (Republican) 48.8% George Peabody (Libertarian) 1.1% |
| Idaho | Phil Batt | Republican | 1994 | Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Republican hold. | Y Dirk Kempthorne (Republican) 67.7% Robert C. Huntley (Democratic) 29.1% Peter Rickards (Independent) 3.2% |
| Illinois | Jim Edgar | Republican | 1990 | Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Republican hold. | Y George Ryan (Republican) 51.0% Glenn Poshard (Democratic) 47.5% Lawrence Redmond (Reform) 1.5% |
| Iowa | Terry Branstad | Republican | 1982 | Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Democratic gain. | Y Tom Vilsack (Democratic) 52.3% Jim Ross Lightfoot (Republican) 46.5% |
| Kansas | Bill Graves | Republican | 1994 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y Bill Graves (Republican) 73.4% Tom Sawyer (Democratic) 22.6% Kirt Poovey (Constitution) 2.9% Darrel King (Reform) 1.1% |
| Maine | Angus King | Independent | 1994 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y Angus King (Independent) 58.6% James B. Longley Jr. (Republican) 18.9% Thomas J. Connolly (Democratic) 12.0% Pat LaMarche (Green) 6.8% William P. Clarke Jr. (Constitution) 3.6% |
| Maryland | Parris Glendening | Democratic | 1994 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y Parris Glendening (Democratic) 55.1% Ellen Sauerbrey (Republican) 44.8% |
| Massachusetts | Paul Cellucci | Republican | 1997 | Incumbent elected to full term. | Y Paul Cellucci (Republican) 50.8% Scott Harshbarger (Democratic) 47.4% Dean Cook (Libertarian) 1.7% |
| Michigan | John Engler | Republican | 1990 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y John Engler (Republican) 62.2% Geoffrey Fieger (Democratic) 37.8% |
| Minnesota | Arne Carlson | Republican | 1990 | Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Reform gain. | Y Jesse Ventura (Reform) 37.0% Norm Coleman (Republican) 34.3% Skip Humphrey (Democratic) 28.1% |
| Nebraska | Ben Nelson | Democratic | 1990 | Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Republican gain. | Y Mike Johanns (Republican) 53.9% Bill Hoppner (Democratic) 46.0% |
| Nevada | Bob Miller | Democratic | 1989 | Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Republican gain. | Y Kenny Guinn (Republican) 51.6% Jan Laverty Jones (Democratic) 42.0% Chuck Horne (Independent American) 1.7% Terry C. Savage (Libertarian) 1.7% |
| New Hampshire | Jeanne Shaheen | Democratic | 1996 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y Jeanne Shaheen (Democratic) 66.1% Jay Lucas (Republican) 30.9% Ken Blevens (Libertarian) 2.7% |
| New Mexico | Gary Johnson | Republican | 1994 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y Gary Johnson (Republican) 54.5% Martin Chávez (Democratic) 45.5% |
| New York | George Pataki | Republican | 1994 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y George Pataki (Republican) 54.3% Peter Vallone Sr. (Democratic) 33.2% Tom Golisano (Independence) 7.7% Betsy McCaughey (Liberal) 1.6% Michael Reynolds (Right to Life) 1.2% Al Lewis (Green) 1.1% |
| Ohio | George Voinovich | Republican | 1990 | Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Republican hold. | Y Bob Taft (Republican) 50.0% Lee Fisher (Democratic) 44.7% John R. Mitchel (Reform) 3.3% Zanna Feitler (Natural Law) 1.9% |
| Oklahoma | Frank Keating | Republican | 1994 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y Frank Keating (Republican) 57.9% Laura Boyd (Democratic) 40.9% Hoppy Heidelberg (Reform) 1.2% |
| Oregon | John Kitzhaber | Democratic | 1994 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y John Kitzhaber (Democratic) 64.4% Bill Sizemore (Republican) 30.0% Richard P. Burke (Libertarian) 1.8% Blair Bobier (Pacific Green) 1.4% |
| Pennsylvania | Tom Ridge | Republican | 1994 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y Tom Ridge (Republican) 57.4% Ivan Itkin (Democratic) 31.0% Peg Luksik (Constitution) 10.4% Ken Krawchuk (Libertarian) 1.1% |
| Rhode Island | Lincoln Almond | Republican | 1994 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y Lincoln Almond (Republican) 51.0% Myrth York (Democratic) 42.1% Robert J. Healey (Cool Moose) 6.3% |
| South Carolina | David Beasley | Republican | 1994 | Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. Democratic gain. | Y Jim Hodges (Democratic) 53.2% David Beasley (Republican) 45.2% Timothy Moultrie (Libertarian) 1.4% |
| South Dakota | Bill Janklow | Republican | 1978 1986 (term-limited) 1994 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y Bill Janklow (Republican) 64.0% Bernie Hunhoff (Democratic) 32.8% Bob Newland (Libertarian) 1.7% Ronald Wieczorek (Independent) 1.4% |
| Tennessee | Don Sundquist | Republican | 1994 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y Don Sundquist (Republican) 68.6% John Jay Hooker (Democratic) 29.5% |
| Texas | George W. Bush | Republican | 1994 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y George W. Bush (Republican) 68.2% Garry Mauro (Democratic) 31.2% |
| Vermont | Howard Dean | Democratic | 1991 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y Howard Dean (Democratic) 55.7% Ruth Dwyer (Republican) 41.1% Joel Williams (Grassroots) 1.5% Amy Berkey (Libertarian) 1.0% |
| Wisconsin | Tommy Thompson | Republican | 1986 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y Tommy Thompson (Republican) 59.7% Ed Garvey (Democratic) 38.7% |
| Wyoming | Jim Geringer | Republican | 1994 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y Jim Geringer (Republican) 55.6% John Vinich (Democratic) 40.5% Dave Dawson (Libertarian) 3.9% |

### Territories and federal district

| Territory | Incumbent | Party | First elected | Result | Candidates |
| District of Columbia | Marion Barry | Democratic | 1994 | Incumbent retired. New mayor elected. Democratic hold. | Y Anthony A. Williams (Democratic) 66.2% Carol Schwartz (Republican) 30.2% John Gloster (Statehood Green) 1.7% |
| Guam | Carl Gutierrez | Democratic | 1994 | Incumbent re-elected. | Y Carl Gutierrez (Democratic) 51.2% Joseph F. Ada (Republican) 44.8% |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | Roy Schneider | Independent | 1994 | Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. Democratic gain. | Y Charles Turnbull (Democratic) 58.9% Roy Schneider (Independent) 41.1% |

## Closest races

States where the margin of victory was under 1%:
* Colorado, 0.6%
States where the margin of victory was under 5%:
* Hawaii, 1.3%
* Minnesota, 2.7%
* Massachusetts, 3.4%
* Illinois, 3.5%
States where the margin of victory was under 10%:
* Ohio, 5.3%
* Iowa, 5.8%
* Guam, 6.4%
* Nebraska, 7.9%
* South Carolina, 8.0%
* Georgia, 8.4%
* Rhode Island, 8.9%
* New Mexico, 9.0%
* Nevada, 9.6%