The 1996 United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 5, 1996 in eleven U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 states. Going into the elections, seven of the seats were held by 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...

 and four by 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...

. Democrats picked up the open seat in New Hampshire

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

, and Republicans picked up the open seat in West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

, for no net change in the partisan balance of power.

Election results

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

State	Incumbent	Party	Status	Opposing Candidates
Delaware Delaware gubernatorial election, 1996 The 1996 Delaware gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1996, to elect the Governor of the state of Delaware. Incumbent governor Thomas Carper, the Democratic nominee, was re-elected to his second and final term in a landslide over Republican nominee and Delaware State Treasurer Janet...	Thomas R. Carper Thomas R. Carper Thomas Richard "Tom" Carper is the senior United States Senator from Delaware and a member of the Democratic Party. He was previously the 71st Governor of Delaware and a United States Representative....	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...	Re-elected, 69.5%	Janet Rzewnicki (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... ) 30.5%
Indiana Indiana Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...	Evan Bayh Evan Bayh Birch Evans "Evan" Bayh III is a lawyer, advisor and former Democratic politician who served as the junior U.S. Senator from Indiana from 1999 to 2011. He earlier served as the 46th Governor of Indiana from 1989 to 1997. Bayh is a current Fox News contributor as of March 14, 2011.Bayh first held...	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	Frank O'Bannon Frank O'Bannon Frank Lewis O'Bannon was an American politician who was the 47th Governor of Indiana from 1997 until his death in 2003.-Background:... (Democratic) 51.5% Stephen Goldsmith Stephen Goldsmith Stephen "Steve" Goldsmith is the former mayor of Indianapolis and most recently served as the Deputy Mayor of New York City for Operations, stepping down effective August 4, 2011 after a domestic violence arrest. He is also the Daniel Paul Professor of Government at the John F...  (Republican) 46.8% Steve Dillon (Libertarian Libertarian Party (United States) The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the United States. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects its brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration... ) 1.7%
Missouri Missouri Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...	Mel Carnahan Mel Carnahan Melvin Eugene "Mel" Carnahan was an American politician. A Democrat, he served as the 51st Governor of Missouri from 1993 to 2000. He died in a plane crash on the Pevely and Hillsboro, Missouri border during a campaign for 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...	Re-elected, 57.2%	Margaret B. Kelly Margaret B. Kelly Margaret Blake Kelly is an American accountant and politician from Missouri. She served as the State Auditor of Missouri from 1984 to 1999. She was the first woman to hold statewide office in Missouri, and the fourth Certified Public Accountant to hold the auditor's position. She is a...  (Republican) 40.4% Mark Oglesby (Libertarian) 2.4%
Montana Montana Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...	Marc Racicot Marc Racicot Marc F. Racicot is a U.S. politician and lobbyist and member of the Republican Party. He was the governor of Montana from 1993 until 2001. After leaving office, Racicot worked as a lobbyist for the law firm Bracewell & Giuliani. His notable clients included Enron, Burlington Northern Santa Fe,...	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...	Re-elected, 79.2%	Judy Jacobson (Democratic) 20.8%
New Hampshire New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...	Steve Merrill Steve Merrill Stephen E. "Steve" Merrill is an American lawyer and Republican politician from Manchester, New Hampshire.- Biography :Merrill was born in Hampton, New Hampshire. He studied at the University of New Hampshire, graduating from it in 1969. He received his J.D...	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...	Retired, Democratic victory	Jeanne Shaheen Jeanne Shaheen Jeanne Shaheen is an American politician, a member of the Democratic Party, and the Senior United States Senator from New Hampshire. The first woman in U.S. history to be elected as both a Governor and U.S. Senator, she was the first woman to be elected Governor of New Hampshire, serving from... (Democratic) 57.2% Ovide Lamontagne (Republican) 39.5% Fred Bramante (Independent Reform Reform Party of the United States of America The Reform Party of the United States of America is a political party in the United States, founded in 1995 by Ross Perot... ) 2.1% Robert Kingsbury (Libertarian) 1.2%
North Carolina North Carolina gubernatorial election, 1996 The North Carolina gubernatorial election of 1996 was held on 5 November 1996. The general election was fought between the Democratic nominee Jim Hunt and the Republican nominee Robin Hayes. Hunt won by 56% to 43%, winning his fourth term as Governor....	Jim Hunt Jim Hunt James Baxter Hunt Jr. is an American politician who was the 69th and 71st Governor of the state of North Carolina . He is the longest-serving governor in the state's history.-Early life:...	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...	Re-elected, 56.0%	Robin Hayes Robin Hayes Robert Cannon "Robin" Hayes is the current chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party. For five terms from 1999 to 2009, he represented North Carolina's 8th congressional district in the House of Representatives.-Early life:...  (Republican) 42.8% Scott Yost (Libertarian) 0.7% Julia Van Witt (Natural Law) 0.6%
North Dakota North Dakota North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....	Ed Schafer	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...	Re-elected, 66.2%	Lee Kaldor (Democratic) 33.8%
Utah Utah Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...	Michael Leavitt	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...	Re-elected, 75.0%	E. James Bradley E. James Bradley E. James "Jim" Bradley is currently serving as a councilman of Salt Lake County, Utah. He is a member of the Democratic Party.Bradley is a 1984 graduate of the University of Utah....  (Democratic) 23.3% Ken Larsen Ken Larsen Ken Larsen was the Personal Choice Party candidate for governor of Utah in 2004, receiving 8,399 votes for 0.9%. He is a medical researcher in Salt Lake City and has a Ph.D. in Zoology from Brigham Young University...  (Independent American Independent American Party The Independent American Party officially started in 1998. It began as the Utah Independent American Party. The founders claim to have been inspired by a speech given by Ezra Taft Benson, former United States Secretary of Agriculture, entitled “The Proper Role of Government”. The initial party... ) 0.7% Dub Richards (Independent) 0.6% Robert Lesh (Natural Law) 0.4%
Vermont Vermont Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...	Howard Dean Howard Dean Howard Brush Dean III is an American politician and physician from Vermont. He served six terms as the 79th Governor of Vermont and ran unsuccessfully for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009. Although his 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...	Re-elected, 70.5%	John Gropper (Republican) 22.5% Mary Alice Herbert Mary Alice Herbert Mary Alice "Mal" Herbert ran for Vice President as the candidate for the Socialist Party USA in 2004. She and her running-mate, Walt Brown, pulled in 10,837 votes, the highest total for the Socialist Party since 1952....  (Liberty Union Liberty Union Party The Liberty Union Party of Vermont, founded in 1970 by former Congressman William H. Meyer, Peter Diamondstone and others, originated in the anti-war and People's Party movements of the late 1960s and defines itself as a nonviolent socialist party.-History:... ) 1.6% Dennis Lane (Grassroots Grassroots Party The Grassroots Party is a minor political party. It was created in the 1980s to oppose drug prohibition. The party shares the political leftist values of the Greens but with a greater emphasis on marijuana/hemp legalization issues.... ) 1.4% Bill Brunelle (Natural Law) 1.3% August St. John (Independent) 1.3% Neil Randall (Libertarian) 1.2%
Washington Washington gubernatorial election, 1996 The state of Washington holds its gubernatorial elections every four years, concurrently with United States presidential elections. The 1996 gubernatorial election was especially significant in that it resulted in Washington electing the first Asian American governor in the mainland United States...	Mike Lowry Mike Lowry Michael Edward "Mike" Lowry served as the 20th Governor of the U.S. state of Washington from 1993 to 1997. Lowry is a Democrat.Lowry was born and raised in St. John, Washington, and graduated from Washington State University in 1962...	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...	Retired, Democratic victory	Gary Locke (Democratic) 58.0% Ellen Craswell Ellen Craswell Ellen Craswell was an American politician, a former Washington state legislator, and a candidate in the 1996 Washington gubernatorial election. She ran as a Republican, but grew disillusioned with the party and later joined the American Heritage Party, the Washington State affiliate of the...  (Republican) 42.0%
West Virginia West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...	Gaston Caperton Gaston Caperton William Gaston Caperton III was the 31st Governor of the U.S. state of West Virginia from 1989 until 1997. He is currently the president of the College Board, which administers the nationally recognized SAT and AP tests. Caperton announced his intention to step down as president of the College...	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, Republican victory	Cecil H. Underwood Cecil H. Underwood Cecil Harland Underwood was an American Republican Party politician from West Virginia, known for the length of his career. He was the 25th and 32nd Governor of West Virginia from 1957 until 1961 and from 1997 until 2001. He ran for reelection in 2000 but was defeated by Bob Wise... (Republican) 51.6% Charlotte Pritt Charlotte Pritt Charlotte Pritt is an educator, businesswoman, and politician in the U.S. state of West Virginia. From 1984 to 1988, she served in the West Virginia House of Delegates. From 1988 to 1996, she served in the West Virginia State Senate... (Democratic) 45.8% Wallace Johnson (Libertarian) 2.6%

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