1954 United States gubernatorial elections

United States gubernatorial elections were held in 1954, in 34 states, concurrent with the House and Senate elections, on November 2, 1954 (September 13 in Maine). The special election in Florida was due to the death of incumbent governor Daniel T. McCarty on September 28, 1953.

1954 United States gubernatorial elections

November 2, 1954; September 13, 1954 (ME)
34 state governorships (including 1 special election)
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic Republican Last election 19 governorships 29 governorships Seats before 19 29 Seats after 27 21 Seat change 8 8
Democratic holds   Democratic pickups   Republican holds   Republican pickups

In Tennessee, the governor was elected to a 4-year term for the first time, instead of a 2-year term.[1]

State	Incumbent	Party	Status	Opposing Candidates
Alabama	Gordon Persons	Democratic	Term-limited, Democratic victory	Jim Folsom (Democratic) 73.37% Tom Abernathy (Republican) 26.63% [2]
Arizona	John Howard Pyle	Republican	Defeated, 47.49%	Ernest McFarland (Democratic) 52.51% [3]
Arkansas	Francis Cherry	Democratic	Defeated in Democratic primary, Democratic victory	Orval Faubus (Democratic) 62.09% Pratt C. Remmel (Republican) 37.89% Scattering 0.02% [4]
California	Goodwin Knight	Republican	Re-elected, 56.83%	Richard P. Graves (Democratic) 43.16% Scattering 0.01% [5]
Colorado	Daniel I. J. Thornton	Republican	Retired, Democratic victory	Edwin C. Johnson (Democratic) 53.56% Donald G. Brotzman (Republican) 46.44% [6]
Connecticut	John Davis Lodge	Republican	Defeated, 49.16%	Abraham Ribicoff (Democratic) 49.50% Jasper McLevy (Socialist) 1.19% Vivien Kellems (Independent Republican) (write-in) 0.15% [7]
Florida (special)	Charley Eugene Johns	Democratic	Defeated in Democratic primary, Democratic victory	LeRoy Collins (Democratic) 80.43% J. Thomas Watson[8] (Republican) 19.52% Scattering 0.05% [9]
Georgia	Herman Talmadge	Democratic	Term-limited, Democratic victory	Marvin Griffin (Democratic) 99.98% Scattering 0.02% [10] (Democratic primary results) Marvin Griffin 36.32% (302) Melvin E. Thompson 25.07% (56) Tom Linder 13.50% (26) Fred Hand 12.09% (22) Charlie Gowen 11.42% (4) Grace Wilkey Thomas 0.97% Ben Garland 0.44% [11]
Idaho	Leonard B. Jordan	Republican	Term-limited, Republican victory	Robert E. Smylie (Republican) 54.24% Clark Hamilton (Democratic) 45.76% [12]
Iowa	William S. Beardsley	Republican	Retired, Republican victory	Leo Hoegh (Republican) 51.37% Clyde E. Herring (Democratic) 48.35% Howard H. Tyler (Independent) 0.28% [13]
Kansas	Edward F. Arn	Republican	Retired, Republican victory	Fred Hall (Republican) 52.98% George Docking (Democratic) 45.97% Chester A. Roberts (Prohibition) 0.89% W. W. Tamplin (Socialist) 0.16% [14]
Maine (held, September 13, 1954)	Burton M. Cross	Republican	Defeated, 45.51%	Edmund Muskie (Democratic) 54.49% [15]
Maryland	Theodore McKeldin	Republican	Re-elected, 54.46%	Curley Byrd (Democratic) 45.55% [16]
Massachusetts	Christian Herter	Republican	Re-elected, 51.76%	Robert F. Murphy (Democratic) 47.80% Lawrence Gilfedder (Socialist Labor) 0.30% Guy S. Williams (Prohibition) 0.14% [17]
Michigan	G. Mennen Williams	Democratic	Re-elected, 55.62%	Donald S. Leonard (Republican) 44.05% E. Harold Munn (Prohibition) 0.27% Theos A. Grove (Socialist Labor) 0.05% Frank Lovell (Socialist Workers) 0.03% [18]
Minnesota	C. Elmer Anderson	Republican	Defeated, 46.80%	Orville Freeman (Democratic Farmer-Labor) 52.73% Ross P. Schelin (Industrial Government) 0.47% [19]
Nebraska	Robert B. Crosby	Republican	Retired to run for U.S. Senate, Republican victory	Victor E. Anderson (Republican) 60.28% William Ritchie (Democratic) 39.72% [20]
Nevada	Charles H. Russell	Republican	Re-elected, 53.10%	Vail M. Pittman (Democratic) 46.90% [21]
New Hampshire	Hugh Gregg	Republican	Retired, Republican victory	Lane Dwinell (Republican) 55.12% John Shaw (Democratic) 44.88% [22]
New Mexico	Edwin L. Mechem	Republican	Retired to run for U.S. Senate, Democratic victory	John F. Simms (Democratic) 57.01% Alvin Stockton (Republican) 42.99% [23]
New York	Thomas E. Dewey	Republican	Retired, Democratic victory	W. Averell Harriman (Democratic) 49.61% Irving Ives (Republican) 49.40% John T. McManus (American Labor) 0.91% David L. Weiss (Socialist Workers) 0.05% Nathan Karp (Industrial Government) 0.03% [24]
North Dakota	Norman Brunsdale	Republican	Re-elected, 64.21%	Cornelius Bymers (Democratic) 35.79% [25]
Ohio	Frank Lausche	Democratic	Re-elected, 54.10%	Jim Rhodes (Republican) 45.91% [26]
Oklahoma	Johnston Murray	Democratic	Term-limited, Democratic victory	Raymond Gary (Democratic) 58.67% Reuben K. Sparks (Republican) 41.34% [27]
Oregon	Paul L. Patterson	Republican	Re-elected, 56.91%	Joseph K. Carson (Democratic) 43.09% [28]
Pennsylvania	John S. Fine	Republican	Term-limited, Democratic victory	George M. Leader (Democratic) 53.66% Lloyd H. Wood (Republican) 46.15% Henry Beitscher (Progressive) 0.12% Louis Dirle (Socialist Labor) 0.07% [29]
Rhode Island	Dennis J. Roberts	Democratic	Re-elected, 57.69%	Dean J. Lewis (Republican) 41.72% Arthur E. Marley (Independent) 0.59% [30]
South Carolina	James F. Byrnes	Democratic	Term-limited, Democratic victory	George Bell Timmerman Jr. (Democratic) unopposed [31] (Democratic primary results) George Bell Timmerman Jr. 61.34% Lester L. Bates 38.66% [32]
South Dakota	Sigurd Anderson	Republican	Term-limited, Republican victory	Joe Foss (Republican) 56.67% Ed C. Martin (Democratic) 43.33% [33]
Tennessee	Frank G. Clement	Democratic	Re-elected, 87.20%	John Randolph Neal Jr. (Independent) 12.27% W. E. Michel (Republican) 0.53% Scattering 0.01% [34] (Democratic primary results) Frank G. Clement 68.17% Gordon W. Browning 27.61% Raulston Schoolfield 4.23% [35]
Texas	Allan Shivers	Democratic	Re-elected, 89.42%	Tod R. Adams (Republican) 10.39% Scattering 0.19% [36]
Vermont	Lee E. Emerson	Republican	Retired, Republican victory	Joseph B. Johnson (Republican) 52.27% E. Frank Branon (Democratic) 47.70% Scattering 0.02% [37]
Wisconsin	Walter J. Kohler Jr.	Republican	Re-elected, 51.45%	William Proxmire (Democratic) 48.40% Arthur Wepfer (Socialist Labor) 0.15% [38]
Wyoming	Clifford Joy Rogers	Republican	Defeated in Republican primary, Republican victory	Milward Simpson (Republican) 50.50% William M. Jack (Democratic) 49.50% [39]

References

1. "Government | Tennessee Encyclopedia". Tennessee Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 21, 2018.
2. "AL Governor, 1954". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
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8. Watson died on August 25, 1954 but remained on the ballot paper
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34. "TN Governor, 1954". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
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36. "TX Governor, 1954". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
37. "VT Governor, 1954". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
38. "WI Governor, 1954". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
39. "WY Governor, 1954". Our Campaigns. Retrieved March 15, 2019.