The predictions shown in the table below were made during October 1996.
Since 1996 was a presidential election year, only 11 states held gubernatorial elections. Around a third of all states will hold elections for governors in 1998.
| US Gubernatorial Elections 1996 |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Incumbent | Party | Opponent | Prognosis | Result |
| Delaware | Thomas R. Carper | Democrat | Janet Rzewnicki (Rep) | Safe Democrat. Carper won in 1992 with 65% of the vote. His opponent is GOP state treasurer and is campaigning on cutting state taxes. | Carper 69-31 |
| Indiana | Evan Bayh (cannot run, term limited); Frank O’Bannon, currently Lt.Gov., is new candidate |
Democrat | Stephen Goldsmith (Rep), Mayor of Indianapolis | Indiana tends to be a GOP state (both senators and 6 of 10 House members are Republican), but Bayh is popular. This is a rough and costly race. | O’Bannon 51-47 |
| Missouri | Mel Carnahan | Democrat | Margaret Kelley (Rep), state auditor | Safe Democrat. Polls show Kelley well behind. The campaign is turning on tax and allegations by Carnahan that Kelley favoured her political allies as auditor. | Carnahan 57-40 |
| Montana | Marc Racicot | Republican | Chet Blaylock (Dem), ex-state senator | Safe Republican. Racicot considered running against Democratic Senator Baucus this year, but decided to run for re-election as governor instead. Several unions, including teachers, are backing the GOP incumbent.Blaylock died in October and was replaced by Judy Jacobson. | Racicot 80-20 |
| New Hampshire | Stephen Merrill (retiring) Ovid Lamontagne, New Hampshire Education Board chair, is the new Republican candidate. |
Republican | Jeanne Shaheen (Dem), state senator | New Hampshire has 2-year terms for Governor. Democrats are apparently confident about their chances. Lamontagne, a conservative favourite, fought a tough battle with Bill Zeliff, a moderate, for the GOP nomination. | Shaheen 57-40 |
| North Carolina | James B. Hunt Jr. | Democrat | Robin Hayes (Rep), State House Majority Whip |
Safe Democrat, although this state hasn’t supported a Democrat for President since 1976. Hunt is campaigning on education and reducing taxation, whilst Hayes has the support of the NRA and Christian Coalition. | Hunt 56-43 |
| North Dakota | Edward T. Schafer | Republican | Lee Kaldor (Dem), State Representative |
Safe Republican. Education is a big issue in this race, whilst Schafer has had to deal with questions about his links to a fishing company. | Schafer 66-34 |
| Utah | Michael O. Leavitt | Republican | Jim Bradley (Dem), ex-Salt Lake Co. commissioner | Safe Republican. Leavitt has the highest approval rating of any governor in the country. Bradley was a late entry into the race to prevent the Democrats simply conceding the seat. | Leavitt 75-23 |
| Vermont | Howard Dean M.D. | Democrat | John Gropper (Rep), 1994 candidate | Vermont has 2-year terms for Governor; Dean is one of the most liberal governors and should be comfortably re-elected, recent polls showing he could top 70% of the vote. | Dean 71-23 |
| Washington | Michael Lowry (retiring), Gary Locke is new candidate |
Democrat | Ellen Craswell (Rep) | Lowry quit amid sexual harrassment charges; this should be a Democratic seat. Locke would become the first mainland Asian-American governor. | Locke 59-41 |
| West Virginia | Gaston Caperton (cannot run, term limited) Charlotte Pritt, ex-state senator, is new candidate |
Democrat | Cecil Underwood (Rep), ex-Governor |
A close race. Pritt, a former teacher, lacks the support of Caperton, whilst Underwood has 50 years of government experience and is campaigning on jobs and economic development. | Underwood 52-46 |
