United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 6, 1984, in 13 states and two territories. The Republicans had a net gain of one seat in this election, which coincided with the Senate, House elections and presidential election.

This was the last year in which Arkansas held a gubernatorial election in the same year as the presidential election. The length of gubernatorial terms for Arkansas' governor would be extended from two years to four years with elections taking place in midterm election years following the passage of the Sixty-third Amendment to the Arkansas Constitution.AR Const. amendment 63

Election results State Incumbent Party Firstelected Result Candidates Arkansas Bill Clinton 19781980 1982 Incumbent re-elected. Delaware Pete du Pont 1976 Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Republican hold. Indiana Robert D. Orr 1980 Incumbent re-elected. Missouri Kit Bond 1980 Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Republican hold. Montana Ted Schwinden 1980 Incumbent re-elected. New Hampshire John H. Sununu 1982 Incumbent re-elected. North Carolina Jim Hunt 1976 Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Republican gain. North Dakota Allen I. Olson 1980 Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. Democratic-NPL gain. Rhode Island J. Joseph Garrahy 1976 Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Republican gain. Utah Scott M. Matheson 1976 Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Republican gain. Vermont Richard A. Snelling 1982 Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Democratic gain. Washington John Spellman 1980 Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. Democratic gain. West Virginia Jay Rockefeller 1976 Incumbent term-limited to run for U.S. Senator. New governor elected. Republican gain.

Territories Territory Incumbent Party Firstelected Result Candidates Puerto Rico Carlos Romero Barceló New Progressive 1976 Incumbent lost re-election.Popular Democratic gain.

Close states States where the margin of victory was under 5%: Vermont, 1.5% Puerto Rico, 3.2% Indiana, 4.98%

States where the margin of victory was under 10%: Washington, 6.6% West Virginia, 6.6% North Carolina, 8.9%

Arkansas

The 1984 Arkansas gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1984. Incumbent Governor Bill Clinton won reelection with a 25% margin of victory over Jonesboro businessman Woody Freeman. This was the last gubernatorial election in Arkansas before the implementation of Amendment 63, lengthening the term of the governor of Arkansas from two to four years. Winning his third of five terms as Governor of Arkansas, Clinton continued to serve this office until shortly after he was elected to the presidency in 1992.

Delaware

The 1984 Delaware gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 1984. Incumbent Republican governor Pierre S. duPont IV was barred from seeking a third term in office. Lieutenant Governor Mike Castle was elected to succeed him, defeating State Supreme Court Justice William T. Quillen.

Indiana

The 1984 Indiana gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1984, in all 92 counties of Indiana. Robert D. Orr, the state's incumbent Republican governor, who defeated former State Treasurer John Snyder for the nomination, was comfortably reelected to a second term, defeating State Senator Wayne Townsend and two minor party challengers in the general election.

Missouri

The 1984 Missouri gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1984 and resulted in a victory for the Republican nominee, Missouri Attorney General John Ashcroft, over the Democratic candidate, Lt. Governor Ken Rothman, and Independent Bob Allen. Incumbent Republican Governor Kit Bond, who was elected to the Governorship in 1972, but lost re-election in 1976 before regaining the office in 1980, chose not to seek a third non-consecutive term.

Montana

The 1984 Montana gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 1984. Incumbent Governor of Montana Ted Schwinden, who was first elected in 1980, ran for re-election. Schwinden won the Democratic primary against a perennial candidate, and moved on to the general election, where he faced Pat M. Goodover, a State Senator and the Republican nominee. Although then-President Ronald Reagan won the state in a landslide that year in the presidential election, Schwinden defeated Goodover with over 70% of the vote to win his second and final term as governor.

New Hampshire

The 1984 New Hampshire gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 1984. Incumbent Governor John Sununu was re-elected to a second term in office.

North Carolina

The 1984 North Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1984. Democratic incumbent Jim Hunt was unable to run for another consecutive term under the North Carolina Constitution. Hunt ran instead for the U.S. Senate against Jesse Helms and lost, although he later announced his campaign for a third gubernatorial term in the 1992 election. Popular 9th District Congressman James G. Martin ran as the Republican nominee against Democratic Attorney General Rufus L. Edmisten, who defeated Hunt's Lt. Governor, James Green, among other candidates, in a hotly contested primary.

Martin won by a comfortable margin on Election Day thanks to the surprise endorsement of Green, and to President Ronald Reagan's coattails (see also 1984 United States presidential election). Martin became just the second Republican elected to the state's highest office in the 20th century.

North Dakota

The 1984 North Dakota gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 1984 to elect the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota. Voters selected Democratic candidate George A. Sinner and his running mate Ruth Meiers in a landslide over Republican incumbent Governor Allen I. Olson and Lieutenant Governor Ernest Sands.

Rhode Island

The 1984 Rhode Island gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1984. Republican nominee and Cranston mayor Edward D. DiPrete defeated Democratic nominee Anthony J. Solomon with 60% of the vote.

Utah

The 1984 Utah gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1984. Republican nominee Norman H. Bangerter defeated Democratic nominee Wayne Owens with 55.87% of the vote, becoming Utah's first Republican governor in 20 years.

Vermont

The 1984 Vermont gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 1984. Incumbent Republican Richard A. Snelling did not run for another term as Governor of Vermont. Democratic candidate Madeleine Kunin defeated Republican candidate John J. Easton Jr. to succeed him. Kunin's win coincided with the presidential election, which saw Republican Ronald Reagan win Vermont with nearly 58% of the vote.

Washington

The 1984 Washington gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1984. Incumbent Republican John Spellman ran for re-election to a second term but was defeated by Democrat Booth Gardner despite Republican President Ronald Reagan carrying the state by 13 points in the concurrent 1984 Election.

West Virginia

The 1984 West Virginia gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 1984, to elect the governor of West Virginia. Until 2020, this was the last time West Virginia voted for the Republican candidate for Governor and for President, as both elections are held concurrently in the state.

See also 1984 United States elections 1984 United States presidential election 1984 United States Senate elections 1984 United States House of Representatives elections

References