1995 United States gubernatorial elections

1995 United States gubernatorial elections

October 21, November 7 and 18, 1995
3 governorships
Majority party Minority party   Party Republican Democratic Seats before 30 19 Seats after 31 18 Seat change 1 1 Seats up 1 2 Seats won 2 1
Republican gain      Republican hold      Democratic hold

United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 7, 1995, in three states. Prior to the elections, Democrats held two seats and Republicans one. With the Republican gain of the open seat in Louisiana, Republicans held two seats and Democrats one following the elections.

Election results

State	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Kentucky	Brereton Jones	Democratic	1991	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic hold.	Y Paul E. Patton (Democratic) 50.9% Larry Forgy (Republican) 48.7%
Louisiana	Edwin Edwards	Democratic	1972 1979 (term-limited) 1983 1987 (withdrew) 1991	Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Republican gain.	Y Mike Foster (Republican) 63.5% Cleo Fields (Democratic) 36.5%
Mississippi	Kirk Fordice	Republican	1991	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Kirk Fordice (Republican) 55.6% Dick Molpus (Democratic) 44.4%

Closest races

States where the margin of victory was under 5%:

1. Kentucky, 2.2%

Kentucky

1995 Kentucky gubernatorial election

November 7, 1995
Turnout	43.8% 0.4 pp
Nominee Paul Patton Larry Forgy Party Democratic Republican Running mate Steve Henry Tom Handy Popular vote 500,605 479,227 Percentage 50.9% 48.7%
Patton:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Forgy:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Governor before election Brereton Jones Democratic Elected Governor Paul E. Patton Democratic

The 1995 Kentucky gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 1995. Incumbent Governor Brereton Jones was not eligible to run for a second term due to term limits established by the Kentucky Constitution, creating an open seat. At the time, Kentucky and Virginia were the only states that prohibited their Governors from serving immediate successive terms. The Democratic nominee, Lieutenant Governor Paul E. Patton, defeated Republican nominee Larry Forgy to win his first term as governor. It was the last time that the election was held until the Kentucky General Assembly changed its term limits law in 1992, allowing Patton to run again in 1999 and leaving Virginia as the only state that prohibits its governor from serving immediate successive terms.

Louisiana

1995 Louisiana gubernatorial election

October 21, 1995 (first round) November 18, 1995 (runoff)

Candidate Mike Foster Cleo Fields Mary Landrieu Party Republican Democratic Democratic First round 385,267 26.14% 280,921 19.06% 271,938 18.45% Runoff 984,499 63.5% 565,861 36.5% Eliminated   Candidate Buddy Roemer Phil Preis Party Republican Democratic First round 263,330 17.87% 133,271 9.04% Runoff Eliminated Eliminated

Foster:      20–30%      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Fields:      20–30%      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      70–80% Landrieu:      20–30%      30–40% Roemer:      20–30%      30–40% Preis:      20–30%      30–40%

Governor before election Edwin Edwards Democratic Elected Governor Mike Foster Republican

The 1995 Louisiana gubernatorial election was held on November 18, 1995, to elect the governor of Louisiana.

Incumbent Democratic governor Edwin Edwards had planned to run for re-election to a second consecutive and fifth overall term in office, but he announced in June 1994, shortly after marrying his second wife Candy Picou, that he would be retiring from politics at the end of his term.

All elections in Louisiana— with the exception of U.S. presidential elections— follow a variation of the open primary system called the jungle primary. Candidates of any and all parties are listed on one ballot; voters need not limit themselves to the candidates of one party when voting. Unless one candidate takes more than 50% of the vote in the first round, a run-off election is then held between the top two candidates, who may in fact be members of the same party.

In this election, the first round of voting was held on October 21, 1995, with Republican state senator Mike Foster and Democratic U.S. representative Cleo Fields finishing first and second with 26.1% and 19%, respectively. Foster defeated Fields in the November 18 runoff in a landslide. As of 2023, this is the most recent Louisiana gubernatorial election in which a successful Republican candidate was not elected in the first round.

Mississippi

1995 Mississippi gubernatorial election

November 7, 1995

Nominee Kirk Fordice Dick Molpus Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 455,261 364,210 Percentage 55.56% 44.44%

County results Fordice:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80% Molpus:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%      80-90% Tie:      50-60%

Governor before election Kirk Fordice Republican Elected Governor Kirk Fordice Republican

The 1995 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 1995 to elect the Governor of Mississippi. Incumbent Republican Kirk Fordice won reelection to a second term. This is the last time that a gubernatorial nominee and a lieutenant gubernatorial nominee of different political parties were elected governor and lieutenant governor in Mississippi.

See also

• • 1995 United States House of Representatives elections