1979 United States gubernatorial elections

1979 United States gubernatorial elections

October 27, 1979 (Louisiana primary) November 6, 1979 (Kentucky and Mississippi) December 8, 1979 (Louisiana general election)
4 governorships 3 states; 1 territory
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic Republican Last election 32 governorships 18 governorships Seats before 32 18 Seats after 31 19 Seat change 1 1
324px   Democratic holds   Republican pickups

United States gubernatorial elections were held in the fall of 1979, in three states and one territory.

Republicans gained one gubernatorial seat in this year with Dave Treen's victory in Louisiana, who as a result became the first Republican Governor of that state since Reconstruction. Treen led a field of six major candidates in the October 27 primary, and narrowly edged state senator Louis Lambert in the December 8 general election (or "runoff").

Democrats held control of the governor's mansions in Kentucky and Mississippi in the November 6 general elections.

Election results

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

State	Incumbent	Party	Status	Opposing candidates
Kentucky	Julian Carroll	Democratic	Term-limited, Democratic victory	John Y. Brown Jr. (Democratic) 59.41% Louie Nunn (Republican) 40.59%
Louisiana	Edwin Edwards	Democratic	Term-limited, Republican victory	Dave Treen (Republican) 21.79% (50.35% in Runoff) Louis Lambert (Democratic) 20.74% (49.65% in Runoff) Jimmy Fitzmorris (Democratic) 20.56% Paul Hardy (Democratic) 16.62% E. L. Henry (Democratic) 9.94% Edgar G. "Sonny" Mouton, Jr. (Democratic) 9.103% L. D. Knox (Democratic) 0.46%
Mississippi	Cliff Finch	Democratic	Term-limited, Democratic victory	William Winter (Democratic) 61.07% Gil Carmichael (Republican) 38.93%