The tables below show state-by-state data of
which elections were won by plurality between 1990 and 2003. Each table gives the year of the election, the type of election
(primary or general), the candidate's name and party affiliation,
and the percentage of votes received by the candidate.
* indicates a currently serving Governor .
Bold type
indicates candidates that served as governor.
AL, AK,
AZ,
CA,
CO,
CT,
GA,
HI,
ID,
IL,
KS,
KY,
LA,
ME,
MA,
MI,
MN,
MS,
MO,
NE,
NH,
NJ,
NM,
NY,
OK,
OR,
PA,
RI, SD,
TX,
UT,
VT,
WA,
WV,
WI,
WY, Puerto Rico
Alabama:
2002 |
General |
Bob Riley
(R)*
|
49% |
The 2002 election in Alabama was
extremely close, with Riley and Democrat Sieglman both winning 49%
of the vote. Riley, a former congressman, defeated the
incumbent by a 3,120-vote margin.
Alaska:
1998 |
Primary |
John Lindauer
(R)
|
38% |
1994 |
Primary |
Tony
Knowles (D) |
44% |
1994 |
General |
Tony
Knowles (D) |
41% |
1990 |
Primary |
Arliss Sturgulewski (R) |
38% |
1990 |
General |
Walter J.
Hickel (Alaska Ind. Party) |
39% |
In 1990, Alaska became
one of the four states to elect a non-major party candidate when
Walter Hickel won with 39%.
In 1994, Democrat
Knowles won by 536 votes out of more than 211,000 cast (by 0.3%),
defeating a Republican and a more conservative candidate from the
Alaska Independene Party. Republicans have also suffered divisions in
their party due to controversial plurality victories in
gubernatorial blanket primaries in which all voters can choose among
all candidates regardless of party.
Although Lindauer won
his primary in 1998, he was defeated in the general election by
Knowles, and even received less votes than Robin Taylor, a
write-in. Taylor had 20% to Lindauer's 18%.
Arizona:
2002 |
General |
Janet
Napolitano
(D)*
|
46% |
1990 |
Primary |
Fife
Symington (R) |
44% |
Note that in 1997,
former governor Fife Symington (R) resigned. He had been elected in
his 1990 primary with 44%. He then won a runoff in the general
election with fewer votes than he won in the election that forced
the runoff. Arizona voters had
voted to adopt general election runoffs after controversial governor
Evan Mecham was elected with 40% in 1986, but then voted them out in
1992 after the perceived waste and confusion associated with
Symington���s 1990 runoff win.
The 2002 elections
resulted in another plurality win, this time by
Janet Napolitano, narrowly defeating Republican candidate
Matt Salmon by 1%.
California:
2003 |
General |
Arnold Schwarzenegger (R)* |
48.6% |
2002 |
General |
Gray Davis
(D)
|
47% |
1998 |
Primary |
Gray Davis (D) |
35% |
1990 |
General |
Pete Wilson (R) |
49% |
Following a state-wide energy crisis as well
as a budget crisis in 2001, Governor Davis' popularity decreased
significantly. His job approval rating dropped from 50% in
2000 to 38% in 2001. However, Davis was re-elected in 2002,
defeating Republican Simon 47% to 42%, in a race where Green
Party candidate Camejo won 5% of the vote. With
continuing budget problems, Davis' approval rates were as low as 27%
in early 2003, when two groups of Californians began efforts to
recall the governor. In the 2003 special election, a majority of
voters decided to recall Davis (55.4%), and Schwarzenegger won the
race with 48.6% of the vote. Of the remaining 134 candidates,
most notable are Democrat Cruz Bustamante (31.5%), Republican Tom
McClintock (13.5) and Peter Miguel Camejo of the Green Party (2.8%).
See
Lessons from the
California Recall for more
information.
Colorado:
1998 |
General |
Bill Owens
(R)
*
|
49% |
In 1998, Owens narrowly defeated Democrat
Schoettler 49% to 48%, but won re-election in 2002 by almost a 30%
margin over the Democratic challenger.
Connecticut:
1994 |
General |
John Rowland (R)
*
|
36% |
1990 |
General |
Lowell P
Weicker, Jr. (I) |
40%
|
Four candidates
won more than 10% of the vote each in 1994 in the wake of Lowell
Weicker's win as an independent in 1990.
Hawaii:
1994 |
General |
Benjamin Cayetano
(D)
|
37% |
Three
candidates won at least 29% of the vote in the 1994 general
election, and Cayetano beat the runner-up by 6%.
Idaho:
1994 |
Primary |
Phil Batt
(R)
|
48% |
Batt went on to win the 1994 governor's race
with 52% to 44% of the vote for the Democrat runner-up, and an
independent candidate captured 4%.
Illinois
2002 |
Primary |
Rod
Blagojevich
(D)*
|
37% |
Rod Blagojevich went on
to win the 2002 general election with 52% of the vote, about 7% more
than Republican Jim Ryan.
Kansas
:
1994 |
Primary |
Bill Graves (R) |
41% |
1990 |
Primary |
Joan
Finney (D) |
47% |
1990 |
General |
Joan
Finney (D) |
49% |
In 1990
Finney won the Democratic primary by 1,844 votes of 172,228 cast
(1%), then won the general election by 6 percentage points, 49% to
43% (Hayden). Independent candidate
Campbell-Cline took 9% of the vote in the general election.
Though Graves won his primary by
plurality in 1994, he won the general election by a landslide - 64%
to 36% for the runner-up.
Kentucky:
1995 |
Primary |
Paul Patton (
D) |
45% |
1991 |
Primary |
Brereton C. Jones (D) |
38% |
In 1991, Jones
defeated Republican Hopkins in the general election 65% to
35%.
Paul Patton went on
to win the 1995 general election with 51% of the vote, compared to
49% for his Republican challenger.
Louisiana:
2003 |
Primary |
Kathleen Blanco (D)* |
31% |
Louisiana's unique
system makes calculations of plurality wins somewhat complicated. In
the first round, all candidates run on a single ballot, and a
candidate can win by obtaining more than 50% of the vote.
In
October
2003, Kathleen Blanco
qualified for the runoff election after having won just 31% of the
Democratic votes and 18% of total votes in the first round. Blanco went on to ultimately defeat Republican Bobby
Jindal, who had received 33% of total votes in the first round.
In
the second round of the 1995 election, Republican Mike Foster won
26% of the total votes in the blanket primary, before
going on to defeat Democrat Cleo
Fields with 64% in the final round.
Maine:
2002 |
General |
John
Baldacci (D)* |
47% |
1994 |
General |
Angus
King(I) |
35% |
1990 |
General |
John R.
McKernan Jr.(R) |
47% |
In 1990,
McKernan won the general election by 3 percentage points, with
independent candidate Andrew Adam drawing 9% of the
vote.
In 1994,
independent King defeated Democrat Joseph Brennan
by 1% in an election in which four candidates won at least 5%.
He went on to be re-elected in 1998 with 59%
of votes.
Baldacci defeated republican Cianchette by a 6%
margin in 2002.
Massachusetts:
2002 |
General |
Mitt
Romney (R)*
|
49.8% |
Mitt Romney was unopposed in the 2002
primary and won the general election by about 5%.
Michigan:
2002 |
Primary |
Jennifer
Granholm
(D)*
|
48% |
1990 |
General |
John
Engler (R) |
49.8% |
Although near a majority, Engler won by less
than 1% in 1990.
In 2002, Jennifer Granholm went on to win the
general election with 51% of the vote, 4% more than her nearest
opponent.
Minnesota:
2002 |
General
|
Tim
Pawlenty (R)* |
44% |
1998 |
General |
Jesse
Ventura (Ref) |
37% |
1990 |
Primary |
Jon Grunseth (IR) |
49% |
In 1990
Arne Carlson (IR) lost the Republican primary to Grunseth with only
32% of the vote.
Beset by scandal, however, Grunseth withdrew nine
days before the general election, which Carlson then won with 51% of
the vote.
In the most publicized
gubernatorial upset of 1998, Reform Party candidate Jesse Ventura
beat Republican Norm Coleman (34%) and Hubert Humphrey
III (28%).
Tim Pawlenty won in
2002 by a margin of 8%, in an election in which a third party
candidate captured 16% of the vote.
Mississippi:
1999 |
General |
Ronnie Musgrove
(D)
|
49.6% |
Musgrove was
ultimately elected governor in January 2000 by a vote in the
Legislature. Mississippi���s constitution requires a legislative vote
if no candidate wins a majority of the vote. Musgrove came out of
the general election with 49.6% of votes compared to opponent Mike
Parker���s 48.5%.
Missouri:
2000 |
General |
Bob Holden
(D)
* |
49% |
Holden won
the 2000 general election by 21,445 votes over suburban
Republican Jim Talent, in one of the closest races in the
country that year.
Nebraska:
1998 |
Primary |
Mike
Johanns (R)
*
|
40% |
1990 |
Primary |
E.
Benjamin Nelson (D) |
27% |
Nelson won the 1990
primary, 48 days and a recount later, by 42 votes. He went on
to win the general election with 50% to 49% for the
runner-up.
In 1998, three candidates in a bitter Republican
primary took over 28% of votes each. Mike Johanns went on to
win the general election with 54% of votes.
New Hampshire:
2002 |
Primary |
Craig
Benson
(R)*
|
37% |
2000 |
General |
Jean
Shaheen (D ���
Incumbent)
|
49% |
Incumbent Shaheen won
the 2000 general election with 49% to 44% for former Senator
Gorden Humphrey (R) and 6% for pro-income tax independent candidate
Mary Brown.
In 2002, Benson
defeated the democratic candidate, Mark Fernald, by a 59% - 38%
margin.
New Jersey:
1997 |
General |
Christine Todd Whitman (R)
|
47% |
1993 |
Primary |
Christine Todd Whitman (R)
|
40% |
1993 |
General |
Christine
Todd Whitman (R) |
49% |
When Whitman won
the Republican primary in 1993, two other candidates drew over 24%
of the vote each; She went on to win against Democrat Florio in the
general election by 26,093 votes of 2,505,964 cast, or just 1%. Her
re-election in 1997 was no easier, and she won with 49% of the votes
to Democrat McGreevey���s 46%; Libertarian Sabrin won 5% of the
votes.
New
Mexico:
1994 |
Primary |
Gary
Johnson (R) |
34% |
1994 |
General |
Gary
Johnson (R)
|
49.9% |
Against three other
candidates who each took over 13% of primary votes, Johnson defeated
the runner-up by barely 1,000 votes in 1994. Green
candidate Robert Mondragon took 10% of the votes in the general
election.
New York:
2002 |
General |
George
Pataki
(R-C)*
|
49%
|
1994 |
General |
George
Pataki (R)*
|
49%
|
Pataki was unopposed in the 2002 primary, but
defeated Democrat Carl McCall with 49% of the vote to McMcall's
34%. Independent candidate Golisano took 14% of the vote
in this election, almost double the 8% he captured in
1998.
Oklahoma:
2002 |
General |
Brad Henry
(D)*
|
43% |
1994 |
General |
Frank
Keating
(R)
|
47% |
A three-way race in 1994 saw Democrat Mildren
with 30% and Independent Watkins with 23%.
In 2002, the Independent candidate, Richardson
also won a significant portion of the vote (14%), leaving Largent
(R) and Henry with 43% of the vote each, and Henry winning by just
6,866 votes.
Oregon:
2002 |
Primary |
Ted
Kulongoski (D)* |
49% |
2002 |
General |
Ted
Kulongoski
(D)*
|
49% |
1990 |
General |
Barbara
Roberts
(D)
|
43% |
Incumbent Roberts was
elected with 46% in a three-way general election; Independent
Mobley���s 13% more than made the difference between Roberts and
Republican Frohnmayer���s 40%.
Pennsylvania:
1994 |
Primary |
Tom Ridge
(R) |
35% |
1994 |
General |
Tom Ridge
(R)
|
45% |
Four candidates won
at least 14% in the 1994 primary. Ridge won the general election
only 5 percentage points ahead of Democrat Singel; Constitutional
candidate Luksik took 13%
Rhode Island:
1994 |
General |
Lincoln
Almond (R)
*
|
47% |
1990 |
Primary |
Bruce
Sundlun (D) |
41% |
The 1990 Democratic
primary split between three candidates who had at least 25% of votes
each. Sundlun went on to win in the general election in a
landslide - 74% to Republican DiPrete's 26%.
The 1994 race was
almost duplicated in 1998, with Almond taking 51% of the vote
to the same opponent Myrth York (42%) and Cool Moose
party candidate Robert Healey again taking enough votes to have
influenced the outcome (9% in 1994 and 6% in 1998)
South
Dakota:
2002 |
Primary |
Mike
Rounds
(R)*
|
44% |
Mike Rounds went on
to win the 2002 general election with 57% of the vote, 15% more than
the Democrat runner-up.
Texas:
1990 |
General |
Ann W.
Richards
(D) |
49% |
After winning a runoff of the 1990
Democratic primary, Richards defeated Republican Williams in the
general election by 2%.
Utah:
1992 |
General |
Michael Leavitt
(R)
|
42% |
Then-independent
Merrill Cook took 34% in 1992.
Vermont:
2002 |
General |
Jim
Douglas
(R)*
|
45% |
In the 2002 race,
Independent Hogan received 10% of the votes, and Douglas won
the election by just 3%.
Washington:
1996 |
Primary |
Gary Locke
(D) *
|
45%
|
Locke's total was among Democratic candidates in
blanket primary.
West
Virginia:
1996 |
Primary |
Cecil Underwood
(R) |
41% |
1992 |
Primary |
Gaston Caperton (D) |
43% |
In 1992, Caperton won
56% of the vote and the governorship.
Underwood went on to
win the general election of 1996 with 52% of the votes
cast.
Wisconsin:
2002 |
Primary |
James
Doyle (D)* |
38% |
2002 |
General |
James
Doyle
(D)*
|
45% |
Libertarian candidate
Ed Thompson won 11% of the votes in 2002, and Doyle narrowly
defeated Republican McCallum by 3%.
Wyoming:
2002 |
General |
Dave
Freudenthal
(D)*
|
49.9% |
1994 |
Primary |
Jim
Geringer
(R)
|
43% |
In 1994, Geringer went on to win the
general election with 59% of the vote.
Freudenthal's 2002 victory was a narrow
2% over the runner-up.
Puerto Rico:
2000 |
General(Governor) |
Sila Maria
Calderon*
|
49% |
The first female Governor won a 49%-46%
victory over former Transportation Secretary Carlos Pesquera in
2000.
Return to Plurality
Index.