The 1991 United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 5, 1991 in three states — Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

, Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

, and Mississippi

Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

. Prior to the elections, Democrats

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 held two seats and Republicans

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 one. The national balance of power did not change as a result of the elections, but the balance of power shifted in two states.

Election results

A bolded state name features an article about the specific election.

State	Incumbent	Party	Status	Opposing Candidates
Kentucky Kentucky gubernatorial election, 1991 The 1991 Kentucky gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1991. Incumbent Governor Wallace G. Wilkinson was unable to seek a second term due to term limits, creating an open seat. The Democratic nominee, Lieutenant Governor Brereton C. Jones, defeated Republican nominee and U.S....	Wallace G. Wilkinson Wallace G. Wilkinson Wallace Glenn Wilkinson was an American businessman and politician from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. From 1987 to 1991, he served as the state's fifty-seventh governor. Wilkinson dropped out of college at the University of Kentucky in 1962 to attend to a book retail business he started...	Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...	Term-limited, Democratic victory	Brereton Jones Brereton Jones Brereton Chandler Jones is a horse breeder and politician from the US state of Kentucky. From 1987 to 1991, he served as lieutenant governor of Kentucky and from 1991 to 1995, he was the state's 58th governor... (Democratic) 64.7% Larry Hopkins Larry Hopkins Larry Jones Hopkins represented Kentucky's Sixth Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. He was the Republican nominee for Governor of Kentucky in 1991 and lost to Brereton C. Jones....  (Republican Republican Party (United States) The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S... ) 35.3%
Louisiana Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1991 The Louisiana gubernatorial election of 1991 resulted in the election of Edwin Edwards to his fourth non-consecutive term as governor of Louisiana...	Buddy Roemer Buddy Roemer Charles Elson "Buddy" Roemer III is an American politician who served as the 52nd Governor of Louisiana, from 1988 to 1992. He was elected as a Democrat but switched to the Republican Party on March 11, 1991...	Republican Republican Party (United States) The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...	Defeated in primary (26.5%), Democratic victory	Edwin Edwards Edwin Edwards Edwin Washington Edwards served as the Governor of Louisiana for four terms , twice as many terms as any other Louisiana chief executive has served. Edwards was also Louisiana's first Roman Catholic governor in the 20th century... (Democratic) 33.7% (61.2% in runoff) David Duke David Duke David Ernest Duke is a former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan an American activist and writer, and former Republican Louisiana State Representative. He was also a former candidate in the Republican presidential primaries in 1992, and in the Democratic presidential primaries in...  (Republican) 31.7% (38.3% in runoff) Clyde C. Holloway Clyde C. Holloway Clyde Cecil Holloway is an American small business owner from Forest Hill in the southern part of Rapides Parish who is one of five members of the Louisiana Public Service Commission. He also served as a conservative Republican member of the U.S...  (Republican) 5.3% Sam S. Jones (Democratic) 0.8% Ed Karst Ed Karst Charles Edward "Ed" Karst was an attorney and politician remembered for his controversial tenure as the mayor of Alexandria, the seat of Rapides Parish and the largest city in central Louisiana...  (no party) 0.6%
Mississippi Mississippi Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...	Ray Mabus Ray Mabus Raymond Edwin "Ray" Mabus, Jr. is the 75th United States Secretary of the Navy. Mabus served as the 60th Governor of the U.S...	Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...	Defeated, 47.6%	Kirk Fordice Kirk Fordice Daniel Kirkwood "Kirk" Fordice, Jr. was a politician from the US state of Mississippi. He was the 61st Governor of Mississippi from January 14, 1992, until January 11, 2000.-Biography:... (Republican) 50.8% Shawn O'Hara (Independent Independent (politician) In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do... ) 1.6%

Note: Candidates' vote percentages rounded to the nearest tenth of one percent. Candidates earning 0.05% or more of the vote are included.