1982 United States gubernatorial elections

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November 2, 1982

1983 →

38 governorships
36 states; 2 territories

	Majority party	Minority party

Party	Democratic	Republican
Seats before	27	23
Seats after	34	16
Seat change	7	7
Seats up	20	16
Seats won	27	9

Republican hold Republican gain Democratic hold Democratic gain

United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 2, 1982, in 36 states and two territories. The Democratic party had a net gain of seven seats. This election coincided with the Senate and the House elections. As of 2024, this remains the last election cycle in which a Republican won the governorship of Oregon.

Election results

A bolded state name features an article about the specific election.

States

State	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Alabama	Fob James	Democratic	1978	Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Democratic hold.	Y George Wallace (Democratic) 57.6% Emory Folmar (Republican) 39.1% Leo Suiter (Alabama Conservative) 1.6% Henry Klingler (Libertarian) 0.7% John Jackson (Alabama Nat'l Democrat) 0.4% John Dyer (Prohibition) 0.4% Martin J. Boyers (Socialist Workers) 0.2%
Alaska	Jay Hammond	Republican	1974	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic gain.	Y Bill Sheffield (Democratic) 46.1% Tom Fink (Republican) 37.1% Dick Randolph (Libertarian) 14.9% Joe Vogler (Alaskan Ind.) 1.7%
Arizona	Bruce Babbitt	Democratic	1978	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Bruce Babbitt (Democratic) 62.5% Leo Corbet (Republican) 32.5% Sam Steiger (Libertarian) 5.0%
Arkansas	Frank D. White	Republican	1980	Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. Democratic gain.	Y Bill Clinton (Democratic) 54.7% Frank D. White (Republican) 45.3%
California	Jerry Brown	Democratic	1974	Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Republican gain.	Y George Deukmejian (R) 49.3% Tom Bradley (D) 48.1% Don P. Dougherty (L) 1.0% Elizabeth Martinez (PF) 0.9% James C. Griffin (AI) 0.7%
Colorado	Richard Lamm	Democratic	1974	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Richard Lamm (Democratic) 65.7% John Fuhr (Republican) 31.2% Paul K. Grant (Libertarian) 2.0% Earl Dodge (Prohibition) 0.4% Alan Gummerson (Socialist Workers) 0.3%
Connecticut	William A. O'Neill	Democratic	1980	Incumbent elected to full term.	Y William A. O'Neill (Democratic) 53.7% Lewis B. Rome (Republican) 46.3%
Florida	Bob Graham	Democratic	1978	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Bob Graham (Democratic) 64.7% Skip Bafalis (Republican) 35.3%
Georgia	George Busbee	Democratic	1974	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic hold.	Y Joe Frank Harris (Democratic) 62.8% Robert H. Bell (Republican) 37.2%
Hawaii	George Ariyoshi	Democratic	1974	Incumbent re-elected.	Y George Ariyoshi (Democratic) 45.2% Frank Fasi (Independent Democrat) 28.6% D. G. Anderson (Republican) 26.1%
Idaho	John Evans	Democratic	1977	Incumbent re-elected.	Y John Evans (Democratic) 52.9% Phil Batt (Republican) 47.1%
Illinois	James R. Thompson	Republican	1976	Incumbent re-elected.	Y James R. Thompson (Republican) 49.44% Adlai Stevenson III (Democratic) 49.30% Bea Armstrong (Libertarian) 0.67% John E. Roche (U.S. Taxpayers) 0.60%
Iowa	Robert D. Ray	Republican	1968	Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Republican hold.	Y Terry Branstad (Republican) 52.8% Roxanne Conlin (Democratic) 46.6% Marcia Farrington (Libertarian) 0.3% Jim Bittner (Socialist) 0.3%
Kansas	John W. Carlin	Democratic	1976	Incumbent re-elected.	Y John W. Carlin (Democratic) 53.2% Sam Hardage (Republican) 44.5% James H. Ward (Libertarian) 1.0% Frank Shelton (American) 0.8% Warren C. Martin (Prohibition) 0.6%
Maine	Joseph E. Brennan	Democratic	1978	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Joseph E. Brennan (Democratic) 61.9% Charles R. Cragin (Republican) 38.1% Venn Warren (Independent) 0.6% J. Martin "Marty" Vachon (Independent) 0.6%
Maryland	Harry Hughes	Democratic	1978	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Harry Hughes (Democratic) 62.0% Robert A. Pascal (Republican) 38.0%
Massachusetts	Edward J. King	Democratic	1978	Incumbent lost re-nomination. New governor elected. Democratic hold.	Y Michael Dukakis (Democratic) 59.5% John W. Sears (Republican) 36.6% Frank Rich (Independent) 3.1% Rebecca Shipman (Libertarian) 0.9%
Michigan	William Milliken	Republican	1969	Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Democratic gain.	Y James Blanchard (Democratic) 51.4% Richard Headlee (Republican) 45.1% Robert Tisch (Tisch Ind. Citizens) 2.6% Dick Jacobs (Libertarian) 0.5% James Phillips (American Ind.) 0.2% Leslie E. Craine (Socialist Workers) 0.1% Martin P. McLaughlin (Workers League) 0.1%
Minnesota	Al Quie	Republican	1978	Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Democratic gain.	Y Rudy Perpich (Democratic) 58.6% Wheelock Whitney (Republican) 40.0% Kathy Wheeler (Socialist Workers) 0.6% Tom McDonald (Honest Government) 0.5% Franklin H. Haws (Libertarian) 0.4%
Nebraska	Charles Thone	Republican	1978	Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. Democratic gain.	Y Bob Kerrey (Democratic) 50.7% Charles Thone (Republican) 49.3%
Nevada	Robert List	Republican	1978	Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. Democratic gain.	Y Richard Bryan (Democratic) 53.4% Robert List (Republican) 41.8% None of These Candidates 2.9% Dan Becan (Libertarian) 1.9%
New Hampshire	Hugh Gallen	Democratic	1978	Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. Republican gain.	Y John H. Sununu (Republican) 51.5% Hugh Gallen (Democratic) 46.8% Meldrim Thomson Jr. (Independent) 1.7%
New Mexico	Bruce King	Democratic	1970 1974 (term-limited) 1978	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic hold.	Y Toney Anaya (Democratic) 53.0% John B. Irick (Republican) 47.0%
New York	Hugh Carey	Democratic	1974	Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Democratic hold.	Y Mario Cuomo (Democratic) 50.9% Lewis Lehrman (Republican) 47.5% Robert J. Bohner (Right to Life) 1.0% John H. Northrup (Libertarian) 0.3% Jane Benedict (Unity) 0.1% Nancy Ross (New Alliance) 0.1% Diane Wang (Socialist Workers) 0.1%
Ohio	Jim Rhodes	Republican	1962 1970 (term-limited) 1974	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic gain.	Y Dick Celeste (Democratic) 59.0% Bud Brown (Republican) 38.9% Phyllis Goetz (Libertarian) 1.2% Kurt O. Landefiled (Independent) 0.5% Erwin Reupert (Independent) 0.4%
Oklahoma	George Nigh	Democratic	1978	Incumbent re-elected.	Y George Nigh (Democratic) 62.1% Tom Daxon (Republican) 37.6% Allah-U Akbar Allah-U Wahid (Independent) 0.3%
Oregon	Victor Atiyeh	Republican	1978	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Victor Atiyeh (Republican) 63.1% Ted Kulongoski (Democratic) 36.9%
Pennsylvania	Dick Thornburgh	Republican	1978	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Dick Thornburgh (Republican) 50.8% Allen E. Ertel (Democratic) 48.1% Mark Zola (Socialist Workers) 0.4% Lee Frissell (Consumer) 0.4% Richard D. Fuerle (Libertarian) 0.3%
Rhode Island	J. Joseph Garrahy	Democratic	1976	Incumbent re-elected.	Y J. Joseph Garrahy (Democratic) 73.3% Vincent Marzullo (Republican) 23.6% Hilary R. Salk (Independent) 2.1% Peter Van Daam (Independent) 1.0%
South Carolina	Richard Riley	Democratic	1978	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Richard Riley (Democratic) 69.8% W. D. Workman Jr. (Republican) 30.2%
South Dakota	Bill Janklow	Republican	1978	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Bill Janklow (Republican) 70.9% Michael J. O'Connor (Democratic) 29.1%
Tennessee	Lamar Alexander	Republican	1978	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Lamar Alexander (Republican) 59.6% Randy Tyree (Democratic) 40.4%
Texas	Bill Clements	Republican	1978	Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. Democratic gain.	Y Mark White (Democratic) 53.2% Bill Clements (Republican) 45.9% David Hutzelman (Libertarian) 0.6% Bob Poteet (U.S. Taxpayers) 0.3%
Vermont	Richard A. Snelling	Republican	1976	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Richard A. Snelling (Republican) 55.0% Madeleine Kunin (Democratic) 44.0% Richard Gottlieb (Liberty Union) 0.5% John L. Buttolph III (Libertarian) 0.5%
Wisconsin	Lee S. Dreyfus	Republican	1978	Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Democratic gain.	Y Tony Earl (Democratic) 56.8% Terry Kohler (Republican) 42.0% Larry Smiley (Libertarian) 0.6% James Wickstrom (U.S. Taxpayers) 0.5% Peter Seidman (Socialist Workers) 0.2%
Wyoming	Edgar Herschler	Democratic	1974	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Edgar Herschler (Democratic) 63.1% Warren A. Morton (Republican) 36.9%

Territories and federal district

Territory	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
District of Columbia	Marion Barry	Democratic	1978	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Marion Barry (Democratic) 81.0% E. Brooke Lee Jr. (Republican) 14.1% Dennis S. Sobin (Independent) 2.3% Glenn B. White (Socialist Workers) 1.3%
Guam	Paul M. Calvo	Republican	1978	Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. Democratic gain.	Y Ricardo Bordallo (Democratic) 52.4% Paul McDonald Calvo (Republican) 47.6%
U.S. Virgin Islands	Juan Francisco Luis	Independent	1978	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Juan Francisco Luis (Independent) 100%

Notes

Babbitt took office after his predecessor (Wesley Bolin) died.
O'Neill took office after his predecessor (Ella Grasso) resigned.
Evans took office after his predecessor (Cecil Andrus) resigned.
Milliken took office after his predecessor (George W. Romney) resigned.
Luis took office after his predecessor (Cyril E. King) died. He was subsequently elected in the 1978 United States Virgin Islands gubernatorial election.

References

"Guam Governor Race - Nov 02, 1982". Our Campaigns. July 3, 2015.
"USVI Governor Race - Nov 02, 1982". Our Campaigns. January 19, 2006.

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v t e (1981 ←) 1982 United States elections (→ 1983)
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