1992 United States gubernatorial elections

1992 United States gubernatorial elections
14 governorships ; 12 states; 2 territories
	Democratic gain Democratic hold; Republican gain Republican hold; New Progressive gain Nonpartisan

United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 3, 1992, in 12 states and two territories. Going into the elections, six of the seats were held by Democrats and six by Republicans. After the elections, eight seats were held by Democrats and four by Republicans. The elections coincided with the presidential election.

This was the last year in which Rhode Island held a gubernatorial election in the same year as the presidential election. The length of gubernatorial terms for Rhode Island's governor would be extended from two to four years, with elections taking place in midterm election years.

Election results

States

State	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Delaware	Mike Castle	Republican	1984	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic gain.	Y Tom Carper (Democratic) 64.7% B. Gary Scott (Republican) 32.7% Floyd E. McDowell (A Delaware Party) 1.4% Richard A. Cohen (Libertarian) 1.1%
Indiana	Evan Bayh	Democratic	1988	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Evan Bayh (Democratic) 62.0% Linley E. Pearson (Republican) 36.9% Mary Barton (New Alliance) 1.1%
Missouri	John Ashcroft	Republican	1984	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic gain.	Y Mel Carnahan (Democratic) 58.7% William L. Webster (Republican) 41.3%
Montana	Stan Stephens	Republican	1988	Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Republican hold.	Y Marc Racicot (Republican) 51.3% Dorothy Bradley (Democratic) 48.6%
New Hampshire	Judd Gregg	Republican	1988	Incumbent retired to run for U.S. Senator. New governor elected. Republican hold.	Y Steve Merrill (Republican) 56.0% Deborah Arnie Arnesen (Democratic) 40.0% Miriam Luce (Libertarian) 4.0%
North Carolina	James G. Martin	Republican	1984	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic gain.	Y Jim Hunt (Democratic) 52.7% Jim Gardner (Republican) 43.2% Scott McLaughlin (Libertarian) 4.0%
North Dakota	George A. Sinner	Democratic–NPL	1984	Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Republican gain.	Y Ed Schafer (Republican) 56.0% Nicholas Spaeth (Democratic-NPL) 39.3%
Rhode Island	Bruce Sundlun	Democratic	1990	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Bruce Sundlun (Democratic) 61.6% Elizabeth A. Leonard (Republican) 34.3% Joseph F. Devine (Independent) 3.4%
Utah	Norman H. Bangerter	Republican	1984	Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Republican hold.	Y Mike Leavitt (Republican) 42.2% Merrill Cook (Independent) 33.5% Stewart Hanson (Democratic) 23.2%
Vermont	Howard Dean	Democratic	1991^[a]	Incumbent elected to full term.	Y Howard Dean (Democratic) 74.7% John McClaughry (Republican) 23.0% Richard F. Gottlieb (Liberty Union) 1.1% August Jaccaci (Natural Law) 1.0%
Washington	Booth Gardner	Democratic	1984	Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Democratic hold.	Y Mike Lowry (Democratic) 52.2% Ken Eikenberry (Republican) 47.8%
West Virginia	Gaston Caperton	Democratic	1988	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Gaston Caperton (Democratic) 56.0% Cleve Benedict (Republican) 36.6% Charlotte Pritt (Write-in) 7.4%

Territories

Territory	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
American Samoa	Peter Tali Coleman	Republican	1988	Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected.^[1] Democratic gain.	Y A. P. Lutali (Democratic) 53.0% Peter Tali Coleman (Republican) 36.0%
Puerto Rico	Rafael Hernández Colón	Popular Democratic	1984	Incumbent retired. New governor elected. New Progressive gain.	Y Pedro Rosselló (PNP) 49.9% Victoria Muñoz Mendoza (PPD) 45.9% Fernando Martín García (PIP) 4.2%

Closest races

States where the margin of victory was under 5%:

Montana, 2.7%
Puerto Rico, 4.0%
Washington, 4.3%

States where the margin of victory was under 10%:

Utah, 8.6%
North Carolina, 9.5%

Notes

^ Dean took office after his predecessor (Richard Snelling) died.

References

^ "AS Governor Race - Nov 03, 1992". Our Campaigns. January 1, 2006.