Plurality Winners in General Elections for Governors, 1948-2003
Sorted by State
Party takeover refers to elections in which the winner was from a non-incumbent party.
| State | Year | Winner | Winning % | Party Takeover |
| Alabama | 2002 | Bob Riley | 49.0 | Yes |
| Alaska | 1978 | Jay S. Hammond | 39.1 | |
| Alaska | 1982 | Bill Sheffield | 46.1 | Yes |
| Alaska | 1986 | Steve Cowper | 47.3 | |
| Alaska | 1990 | Walter J. Hickel | 39.0 | Yes |
| Alaska | 1994 | Tony Knowles | 41.1 | Yes |
| Arizona | 1986 | Evan Mecham | 39.7 | Yes |
| Arizona | 2002 | Janet Napolitano | 46.0 | Yes |
| California | 1982 | George Deukmeiian | 49.3 | Yes |
| California | 1990 | Pete Wilson | 49.0 | |
| California | 2002 | Gray Davis | 47.0 | |
| California | 2003 | Arnold Schwarzenegger | 48.6 | Yes |
| Colorado | 1998 | Bill Owens | 49.0 | Yes |
| Connecticut | 1948 | Chester Bowles | 49.3 | Yes |
| Connecticut | 1950 | John D. Lodge | 49.7 | Yes |
| Connecticut | 1954 | Abraham A. Ribicoff | 49.5 | Yes |
| Connecticut | 1990 | Lowell P. Weicker, Jr. | 40.0 | Yes |
| Connecticut | 1994 | John Rowland | 36.0 | Yes |
| Hawaii | 1982 | George R. Ariyoshi | 45.2 | |
| Hawaii | 1994 | Benjamin Cayetano | 37.0 | |
| Idaho | 1966 | Don Samuelson | 41.4 | |
| Idaho | 1986 | Cecil D. Adrus | 49.9 | |
| Illinois | 1982 | James R. Thompson | 49.4 | |
| Kansas | 1974 | Robert F. Bennett | 49.5 | Yes |
| Kansas | 1978 | John Carlin | 49.4 | Yes |
| Kansas | 1990 | Joan Finney | 49.0 | Yes |
| Maine | 1974 | James B. Longley | 39.1 | Yes |
| Maine | 1978 | Joseph E. Brennan | 47.7 | Yes |
| Maine | 1986 | John R. McKernan, Jr. | 39.9 | Yes |
| Maine | 1990 | John R. McKernan, Jr. | 47.0 | |
| Maine | 1994 | Angus King | 35.0 | Yes |
| Maine | 2002 | John Baldacci | 47.0 | Yes |
| Massachusetts | 1952 | Paul A. Dever | 49.9 | Yes |
| Massachusetts | 1962 | Endicott Peabody | 49.9 | Yes |
| Massachusetts | 2002 | Mitt Romney | 49.8 | |
| Michigan | 1950 | G. Mennen Williams | 49.8 | |
| Michigan | 1990 | John Engler | 49.8 | Yes |
| Minnesota | 1962 | Karl F. Rolvaag | 49.7 | Yes |
| Minnesota | 1990 | Arne Carlson | 49.6 | Yes |
| Minnesota | 1998 | Jesse Ventura | 37.0 | Yes |
| Minnesota | 2002 | Tim Pawlenty | 44.0 | Yes |
| Mississippi | 1999 | Ronnie Musgrove | 49.6 | Yes |
| Missouri | 2000 | Bob Holden | 49.0 | |
| Nebraska | 1990 | Ben Nelson | 49.9 | Yes |
| Nevada | 1970 | Mike O'Callaghan | 48.1 | Yes |
| New Hampshire | 1970 | Walter R. Peterson | 46.0 | |
| New Hampshire | 1972 | Meldrim Thomson | 41.4 | |
| New Hampshire | 1978 | Hugh J. Gallen | 49.4 | Yes |
| New Hampshire | 2000 | Jean Shaheen | 49.0 | |
| New Jersey | 1981 | Thomas H. Kean | 49.5 | Yes |
| New Jersey | 1993 | Christine Todd Whitman | 49.0 | Yes |
| New Jersey | 1997 | Christine Todd Whitman | 47.0 | |
| New Mexico | 1974 | Jerry Apodaca | 49.9 | |
| New Mexico | 1994 | Gary Johnson | 49.9 | Yes |
| New York | 1954 | Averell Harriman | 49.6 | Yes |
| New York | 1966 | Nelson A. Rockefeller | 44.6 | |
| New York | 1994 | George Pataki | 49.0 | Yes |
| New York | 2002 | George Pataki | 49.0 | |
| North Dakota | 1960 | William L. Guy | 49.4 | Yes |
| Ohio | 1974 | James A. Rhodes | 48.6 | Yes |
| Ohio | 1978 | James A. Rhodes | 49.3 | |
| Oklahoma | 1970 | David Hall | 48.4 | Yes |
| Oklahoma | 1986 | Henry Bellmon | 47.5 | Yes |
| Oklahoma | 1994 | Frank Keating | 47.0 | Yes |
| Oklahoma | 2002 | Brad Henry | 43.0 | Yes |
| Oregon | 1990 | Barbara Roberts | 43.0 | |
| Oregon | 2002 | Ted Kulongoski | 49.0 | |
| Pennsylvania | 1994 | Tom Ridge | 45.0 | Yes |
| Rhode Island | 1994 | Lincoln Almond | 47.0 | Yes |
| Texas | 1972 | Dolph Briscoe | 47.9 | |
| Texas | 1990 | Ann W. Richards | 49.0 | Yes |
| Utah | 1956 | George D. Clyde | 38.2 | |
| Utah | 1988 | Norman H. Bangerter | 40.1 | |
| Utah | 1992 | Michael Leavitt | 42.0 | |
| Vermont | 1986 | Madeleine M. Kunin | 47.0 | |
| Vermont | 2002 | Jim Douglas | 45.0 | Yes |
| Virginia | 1965 | Mills E. Godwin | 47.9 | |
| Wisconsin | 2002 | James Doyle | 45.0 | Yes |
| Wyoming | 1958 | J. J. Hickey | 48.9 | Yes |
| Wyoming | 2002 | Dave Freudenthal | 49.9 | Yes |
