United States gubernatorial elections were held on Tuesday November 8, in 35 states. 12 Democratic governors and 23 Republican governors won election, bringing the partisan reflection of the U.S. states to 25 Democrats and 25 Republicans. This election coincided with the Senate and the House elections. As of , this is the last time the amount of governorships each party held was tied.
Race summary StateGovernorPartyFirstelectedStatusCandidates Alabama 1962 Incumbent term-limited.Democratic hold. Alaska 1958 Incumbent lost re-election.Republican gain. Arizona 1964 Incumbent lost re-election.Republican gain. Arkansas 1954 Incumbent retired.Republican gain. California 1958 Incumbent lost re-election.Republican gain. Colorado 1962 Incumbent re-elected. Connecticut 1961Incumbent re-elected. Florida 1964 Incumbent lost renomination.New governor elected.Republican gain. Georgia 1962 Incumbent term-limited.Democratic hold. Hawaii 1962Incumbent re-elected. Idaho 1954 Incumbent lost renomination.New governor elected.Republican hold. Iowa 1962Incumbent re-elected. Kansas 1964 Incumbent lost re-election.Democratic gain. Maine 1959 Incumbent lost re-election.Democratic gain. Maryland 1958 Incumbent term-limited.Republican gain. Massachusetts 19601962 1964 Incumbent re-elected. Michigan 1962 Incumbent re-elected. Minnesota 1962 Incumbent lost re-election.Republican gain. Nebraska 1960 Incumbent retired.Republican gain. Nevada 1958 Incumbent lost re-election.Republican gain. New Hampshire 1962Incumbent re-elected. New Mexico 1962 Incumbent term-limited.Republican gain. New York 1958Incumbent re-elected. Ohio 1962Incumbent re-elected. Oklahoma 1962 Incumbent term-limited.Republican hold. Oregon 1958 Incumbent term-limited.Republican hold. Pennsylvania 1962 Incumbent term-limited.Republican hold. Rhode Island 1962Incumbent re-elected. South Carolina 1965Incumbent elected to full term. South Dakota 1964Incumbent re-elected. Tennessee 19521962 Incumbent term-limited.Democratic hold. Texas 1962Incumbent re-elected. Vermont 1962Incumbent re-elected. Wisconsin 1964Incumbent re-elected. Wyoming 1962 Incumbent retired.Republican hold.
Closest races States where the margin of victory was under 5%: Georgia, -0.31% Alaska, 1.62% Hawaii, 2.12% New Mexico, 3.47% Idaho, 4.30% Nevada, 4.32%
States where the margin of victory was under 10%: Minnesota, 5.61% Pennsylvania, 5.97% Maine, 6.24% New York, 6.50% Wisconsin, 7.42% Arizona, 7.54% New Hampshire, 7.97% Wyoming, 8.58% Arkansas, 8.72% Maryland, 8.89%
Red denotes states won by Republicans. Blue denotes states won by Democrats.
Alabama
Until 1968, Alabama governors were not allowed two successive terms. To circumvent this, Wallace used his wife Lurleen as his stand-in. She died in 1968.
Alaska
Egan was defeated in 1966, but would be re-elected in 1970 (see 1970 United States gubernatorial elections).
Arizona
Arizona operated on governors serving two-year terms until 1970, when Jack Richard Williams was the first governor to be elected to a four-year term. He had previously been elected governor for two two-year terms in 1966. and in 1968. Arizona made the switch official from two-year to four-year terms in 1968 with an amendment.
Arizona not only adopted a four-year term for governors starting in the general election of 1970, but also adopted a two consecutive term limit in 1992.
Arkansas
Arkansas had two-year terms for governors until 1984, when they switched to four-year terms with Amendment 63.
Winthrop Rockefeller was elected the first Republican governor since Reconstruction. He became the first Republican governor of any former Confederate State since Alfred A. Taylor of Tennessee was defeated in 1922.
California
Incumbent governor Pat Brown (Democrat) was defeated in his bid for a third term by future U.S. president Ronald Reagan (Republican).
Florida
William Haydon Burns was elected in 1964 for a two-year term because Florida shifted their governors' races from presidential years to midterm years. Starting in 1966, Florida held their four-year gubernatorial races in midterm years.
Kirk was the first Republican governor in the 20th century.
In 1968, Florida adopted a new state constitution, and the governor now had the option to serve two four-year terms in a row.
Georgia
Maddox was elected by the State Legislature, and Callaway was the first Republican nominee for governor since 1876.
Oklahoma
During Henry Bellmon's first term (1963–1967), the Oklahoma Constitution was changed to allow its governor to serve consecutive terms. However, the rule change did not apply to Bellmon. Thus, he was not eligible to serve a second term. He later served another term, from 1987 to 1991.
See also 1966 United States elections 1966 United States Senate elections 1966 United States House of Representatives elections
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