1946 United States gubernatorial elections

United States gubernatorial elections were held in 1946, in 34 states, concurrent with the House and Senate elections, on November 5, 1946 (September 9 in Maine).

1946 United States gubernatorial elections

November 5, 1946; September 9, 1946 (ME)
34 state governorships
Majority party Minority party   Party Republican Democratic Last election 23 governorships 25 governorships Seats before 22[1] 26 Seats after 25 23 Seat change 3 3
Democratic holds   Democratic pickups   Republican holds   Republican pickups

In Idaho, the governor was elected to a 4-year term for the first time, instead of a 2-year term. In New Jersey, this was the last election on a 3-year cycle, before switching to a 4-year term for governors from 1949.

Results

State	Incumbent	Party	Status	Opposing Candidates
Alabama	Chauncey Sparks	Democratic	Term-limited, Democratic victory	Jim Folsom (Democratic) 88.67% Lyman Ward (Republican) 11.33% [2]
Arizona	Sidney Preston Osborn	Democratic	Re-elected, 60.10%	Bruce Brockett (Republican) 39.90% [3]
Arkansas	Benjamin Travis Laney	Democratic	Re-elected, 84.14%	W. T. Mills (Republican) 15.86% [4]
California	Earl Warren	Republican[5]	Re-elected, 91.64%	Henry R. Schmidt (Prohibition) 7.06% Archie Brown (write-in) (Communist) 0.88% James Roosevelt (write-in) (Democratic) 0.13% Robert W. Kenny (Independent) 0.06% Albert Clark (Independent) 0.03% [6]
Colorado	John Charles Vivian	Republican	Retired, Democratic victory	William Lee Knous (Democratic) 52.11% Leon E. Lavington (Republican) 47.89% [7]
Connecticut	Raymond E. Baldwin	Republican	Retired to run for U.S. Senate, Republican victory	James L. McConaughy (Republican) 54.38% Charles Wilbert Snow (Democratic) 40.41% Jasper McLevy (Socialist) 4.72% Herman N. Simon (Socialist Labor) 0.50% [8]
Georgia	Ellis Arnall	Democratic	Term-limited, Democratic victory	Eugene Talmadge (Democratic) 98.54% Herman Talmadge (write-in) (Democratic) 0.46% James V. Carmichael (write-in) (Democratic) 0.46% D. Talmadge Bowers (write-in) (Independent) 0.44% Ellis Arnall (write-in) (Democratic) 0.08% Scattering 0.01% [9] (Democratic primary results) Eugene Talmadge 42.96% (244) James V. Carmichael 45.30% (144) Eurith D. Rivers 10.04% (22) Hoke O’Kelley 1.70% [10]
Idaho	Arnold Williams	Democratic	Defeated, 43.63%	C. A. Robins (Republican) 56.37% [11]
Iowa	Robert D. Blue	Republican	Re-elected, 57.40%	Frank Miles (Democratic) 42.14% E. P. Gabriel (Prohibition) 0.46% [12]
Kansas	Andrew Frank Schoeppel	Republican	Retired, Republican victory	Frank Carlson (Republican) 53.50% Harry Hines Woodring (Democratic) 44.02% David C. White (Prohibition) 2.17% Harry Graber (Socialist) 0.32% [13]
Maine	Horace Hildreth	Republican	Re-elected, 61.31%	F. Davis Clark (Democratic) 38.69% [14]
Maryland	Herbert O'Conor	Democratic	Retired to run for U.S. Senate, Democratic victory	William Preston Lane Jr. (Democratic) 54.73% Theodore McKeldin (Republican) 45.27% [15]
Massachusetts	Maurice J. Tobin	Democratic	Defeated, 45.31%	Robert F. Bradford (Republican) 54.12% Horace I. Hillis (Socialist Labor) 0.42% Guy S. Williams (Prohibition) 0.14% [16]
Michigan	Harry Kelly	Republican	Retired, Republican victory	Kim Sigler (Republican) 60.28% Murray Van Wagoner (Democratic) 38.70% Gordon Phillips (Prohibition) 0.72% James Sim (Socialist Labor) 0.30% [17]
Minnesota	Edward John Thye	Republican	Retired to run for U.S. Senate, Republican victory	Luther Youngdahl (Republican) 58.96% Harold H. Barker (DFL) 39.71% Rudolph Gustafson (Industrial Government) 1.33% [18]
Nebraska	Dwight Griswold	Republican	Retired to run for U.S. Senate, Republican victory	Val Peterson (Republican) 65.51% Frank Sorrell (Democratic) 34.49% [19]
Nevada	Vail M. Pittman	Democratic	Re-elected, 57.42%	Melvin E. Jepson (Republican) 42.58% [20]
New Hampshire	Charles M. Dale	Republican	Re-elected, 63.14%	F. Clyde Keefe (Democratic) 36.86% [21]
New Jersey	Walter Evans Edge	Republican	Term-limited, Republican victory	Alfred E. Driscoll (Republican) 57.08% Lewis G. Hansen (Democratic) 41.42% Alan Kohlman (Socialist Workers) 0.69% Lawrence Mahan (Communist) 0.29% Rubye Smith (Socialist) 0.16% Robert L. Gittings (Independent) 0.15% George E. Bopp (Socialist Labor) 0.10% John Binns (Prohibition) 0.10% [22]
New Mexico	John J. Dempsey	Democratic	Retired to run for U.S. Senate, Republican victory	Thomas J. Mabry (Democratic) 52.70% Edward L. Safford (Republican) 47.30% [23]
New York	Thomas E. Dewey	Republican	Re-elected, 56.92%	James M. Mead (Democratic) 43.08% [24]
North Dakota	Fred G. Aandahl	Republican	Re-elected, 68.88%	Quentin Burdick (Democratic) 31.12% [25]
Ohio	Frank Lausche	Democratic	Defeated, 48.88%	Thomas J. Herbert (Republican) 50.64% Arla A. Albaugh (Socialist Labor) 0.49% [26]
Oklahoma	Robert S. Kerr	Democratic	Term-limited, Democratic victory	Roy J. Turner (Democratic) 52.47% Olney F. Flynn (Republican) 45.98% Mildred “Mickey” Harrell (Independent) 1.45% R. M. Funk (Independent) 0.05% Bruno H. Miller (Independent) 0.05% [27]
Oregon	Earl Snell	Republican	Re-elected, 69.06%	Carl C. Donaugh (Democratic) 30.94% [28]
Pennsylvania	Edward Martin	Republican	Term-limited, Republican victory	James H. Duff (Republican) 58.53% John S. Rice (Democratic) 40.68% James Killip (Prohibition) 0.44% George S. Taylor (Socialist Labor) 0.34% [29]
Rhode Island	John Pastore	Democratic	Re-elected, 54.27%	John G. Murphy (Republican) 45.73% [30]
South Carolina	Ransome Judson Williams	Democratic	Defeated in Democratic primary, Democratic victory	Strom Thurmond (Democratic) unopposed [31] (Democratic primary run-off results) Strom Thurmond 56.95% James C. McLeod 43.05% [32]
South Dakota	Merrell Q. Sharpe	Republican	Defeated in Republican primary, Republican victory	George Theodore Mickelson (Republican) 67.16% Richard Haeder (Democratic) 32.84% [33]
Tennessee	Jim Nance McCord	Democratic	Re-elected, 65.35%	W. O. Lowe (Republican) 31.91% John Randolph Neal Jr. (Independent) 2.74% [34]
Texas	Coke R. Stevenson	Democratic	Retired, Democratic victory	Beauford H. Jester (Democratic) 91.23% Eugene Nolte (Republican) 8.77% [35]
Vermont	Mortimer R. Proctor	Republican	Defeated in Republican primary, Republican victory	Ernest W. Gibson Jr. (Republican) 80.30% Berthold C. Coburn (Democratic) 19.57% Scattering 0.14% [36]
Wisconsin	Walter Samuel Goodland	Republican	Re-elected, 59.78%	Daniel Hoan (Democratic) 39.07% Walter H. Uphoff (Socialist) 0.87% Sigmund Eisenscher (Communist) 0.18% Jerry Kenyon (Socialist Labor) 0.09% Scattering 0.02% [37]
Wyoming	Lester C. Hunt	Democratic	Re-elected, 52.88%	Earl Wright (Republican) 47.12% [38]

References

1. Charles Wilbert Snow (D) succeeded Connecticut Governor Raymond E. Baldwin (R) who resigned to take a seat in the U.S. Senate in December 1946.
2. "AL Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
3. "AZ Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
4. "AR Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
5. Warren also won the Democratic nomination by cross-filing
6. "CA Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
7. "CO Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
8. "CT Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
9. "GA Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
10. "GA Governor, 1946 – D Primary". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
11. "ID Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
12. "IA Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
13. "KS Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
14. "ME Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
15. "MD Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
16. "MA Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
17. "MI Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
18. "MN Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
19. "NE Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
20. "NV Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
21. "NH Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
22. "NJ Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
23. "NM Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
24. "NY Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
25. "ND Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
26. "OH Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
27. "OK Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
28. "OR Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
29. "PA Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
30. "RI Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
31. "SC Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
32. "SC Governor, 1948 – D Runoff". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
33. "SD Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
34. "TN Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
35. "TX Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
36. "VT Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
37. "WI Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
38. "WY Governor, 1946". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 3 March 2019.