1982 United States gubernatorial elections
United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 2, 1982 in 36 states and two territories. The Democratic party had a net gain of seven seats. This election coincided with the Senate and the House elections. This was the last election in which a Republican won the gubernatorial race in Oregon.
Election results
A bolded state name features an article about the specific election.| State | Incumbent | Party | Status | Opposing candidates |
| Alabama | Fob James | Democratic | Retired, Democratic victory | George Wallace 57.6% Emory Folmar 39.1% Leo Suiter 1.6% Henry Klingler 0.7% John Jackson 0.4% John Dyer 0.4% Martin J. Boyers 0.2% |
| Alaska | Jay Hammond | Republican | Term-limited, Democratic victory | Bill Sheffield 46.1% Tom Fink 37.1% Dick Randolph 14.9% Joe Vogler 1.7% |
| Arizona | Bruce Babbitt | Democratic | Re-elected, 62.5% | Leo Corbet 32.5% Sam Steiger 5.0% |
| Arkansas | Frank D. White | Republican | Defeated, 45.3% | Bill Clinton 54.7% |
| California | Jerry Brown | Democratic | Retired, Republican victory | George Deukmejian 49.3% Tom Bradley 48.1% Don P. Dougherty 1.0% Elizabeth Martinez 0.9% James C. Griffin 0.7% |
| Colorado | Richard Lamm | Democratic | Re-elected, 65.7% | John D. Fuhr 31.2% Paul K. Grant 2.0% Earl Dodge 0.4% Alan Gummerson 0.3% |
| Connecticut | William A. O'Neill | Democratic | Re-elected, 53.7% | Lewis B. Rome 46.3% |
| Florida | Bob Graham | Democratic | Re-elected, 64.7% | Skip Bafalis 35.3% |
| Georgia | George Busbee | Democratic | Term-limited, Democratic victory | Joe Frank Harris 62.8% Robert H. Bell 37.2% |
| Hawaii | George Ariyoshi | Democratic | Re-elected, 45.2% | Frank Fasi 28.6% D. G. Anderson 26.1% |
| Idaho | John Evans | Democratic | Re-elected, 52.9% | Phil Batt 47.1% |
| Illinois | James R. Thompson | Republican | Re-elected, 49.44% | Adlai Stevenson III 49.30% Bea Armstrong 0.67% John E. Roche 0.60% |
| Iowa | Robert D. Ray | Republican | Retired, Republican victory | Terry Branstad 52.8% Roxanne Conlin 46.6% Marcia Farrington 0.3% Jim Bittner 0.3% |
| Kansas | John W. Carlin | Democratic | Re-elected, 53.2% | Sam Hardage 44.5% James H. Ward 1.0% Frank Shelton 0.8% Warren C. Martin 0.6% |
| Maine | Joseph E. Brennan | Democratic | Re-elected, 61.2% | Charles R. Cragin 37.7% Venn Warren 0.6% J. Martin "Marty" Vachon 0.6% |
| Maryland | Harry Hughes | Democratic | Re-elected, 62.0% | Robert A. Pascal 38.0% |
| Massachusetts | Edward J. King | Democratic | Defeated in primary, Democratic victory | Michael Dukakis 59.5% John W. Sears 36.6% Frank Rich 3.1% Rebecca Shipman 0.9% |
| Michigan | William Milliken | Republican | Retired, Democratic victory | James Blanchard 51.4% Richard Headlee 45.1% Robert Tisch 2.6% Dick Jacobs 0.5% James Phillips 0.2% Leslie E. Craine 0.1% Martin P. McLaughlin 0.1% |
| Minnesota | Al Quie | Republican | Retired, Democratic victory | Rudy Perpich 58.6% Wheelock Whitney 40.0% Kathy Wheeler 0.6% Tom McDonald 0.5% Franklin H. Haws 0.4% |
| Nebraska | Charles Thone | Republican | Defeated, 49.3% | Bob Kerrey 50.7% |
| Nevada | Robert List | Republican | Defeated, 41.8% | Richard Bryan 53.4% None of These Candidates 2.9% Dan Becan 1.9% |
| New Hampshire | Hugh Gallen | Democratic | Defeated, 46.8% | John H. Sununu 51.5% Meldrim Thomson Jr. 1.7% |
| New Mexico | Bruce King | Democratic | Term-limited, Democratic victory | Toney Anaya 53.0% John B. Irick 47.0% |
| New York | Hugh Carey | Democratic | Retired, Democratic victory | Mario Cuomo 50.9% Lewis Lehrman 47.5% Robert J. Bohner 1.0% John H. Northrup 0.3% Jane Benedict 0.1% Nancy Ross 0.1% Diane Wang 0.1% |
| Ohio | Jim Rhodes | Republican | Term-limited, Democratic victory | Dick Celeste 59.0% Bud Brown 38.9% Phyllis Goetz 1.2% Kurt O. Landefiled 0.5% Erwin Reupert 0.4% |
| Oklahoma | George Nigh | Democratic | Re-elected, 62.1% | Tom Daxon 37.6% Allah-U Akbar Allah-U Wahid 0.3% |
| Oregon | Victor Atiyeh | Republican | Re-elected, 63.1% | Ted Kulongoski 36.9% |
| Pennsylvania | Dick Thornburgh | Republican | Re-elected, 50.8% | Allen E. Ertel 48.1% Mark Zola 0.4% Lee Frissell 0.4% Richard D. Fuerle 0.3% |
| Rhode Island | J. Joseph Garrahy | Democratic | Re-elected, 73.3% | Vincent Marzullo 23.6% Hilary R. Salk 2.1% Peter Van Daam 1.0% |
| South Carolina | Richard Riley | Democratic | Re-elected, 69.8% | W. D. Workman Jr. 30.2% |
| South Dakota | Bill Janklow | Republican | Re-elected, 70.9% | Michael J. O'Connor 29.1% |
| Tennessee | Lamar Alexander | Republican | Re-elected, 59.6% | Randy Tyree 40.4% |
| Texas | Bill Clements | Republican | Defeated, 45.9% | Mark White 53.2% David Hutzelman 0.6% Bob Poteet 0.3% |
| Vermont | Richard A. Snelling | Republican | Re-elected, 55.0% | Madeleine Kunin 44.0% Richard Gottlieb 0.5% John L. Buttolph III 0.5% |
| Wisconsin | Lee S. Dreyfus | Republican | Retired, Democratic victory | Tony Earl 56.8% Terry Kohler 42.0% Larry Smiley 0.6% James Wickstrom 0.5% Peter Seidman 0.2% |
| Wyoming | Edgar Herschler | Democratic | Re-elected, 63.1% | Warren A. Morton 36.9% |