1998 Minnesota gubernatorial election
election for the governorship of the U.S. state of Minnesota
The 1998 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1998. Reform Party candidate Jesse Ventura beat Republican Party challenger Norm Coleman and Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party challenger Hubert H. "Skip" Humphrey III.[1]
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![]() County results Ventura: 30-40% 40-50% 50-60% Coleman: 30–40% 40–50% Humphrey: 30-40% 40-50% 50–60% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ventura's victory as a third party candidate was seen as a historic major upset, especially since he was a former professional wrestler. He ran on the Reform Party ticket, a party which had been founded by two-time presidential candidate Ross Perot who had received 23% of the vote in Minnesota in the 1992 presidential election and 12% in the 1996 election.[2]
Primary results
changeDemocratic
changeParty | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Skip Humphrey | 154,037 | 37 | |
Democratic | Mike Freeman | 78,895 | 19 | |
Democratic | Doug Johnson | 78,041 | 19 | |
Democratic | Mark Dayton | 74,706 | 18 | |
Democratic | Ted Mondale | 29,749 | 7 | |
Invalid or blank votes | ||||
Total votes | 415,428 | 100 | ||
Turnout |
Republican
changeParty | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Norm Coleman | 107,989 | 91 | |
Republican | Bill Dahn | 10,505 | 9 | |
Invalid or blank votes | ||||
Total votes | 118,494 | 100 | ||
Turnout |
Results
change1998 Gubernatorial Election, Minnesota | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Reform | Jesse Ventura | 773,713 | 36.99% | n/a | |
Republican | Norm Coleman | 717,350 | 34.29% | -29.04% | |
Democratic (DFL) | Skip Humphrey | 587,528 | 28.09% | -6.02% | |
Green | Ken Pentel | 7,034 | 0.34% | n/a | |
Libertarian | Frank Germann | 1,932 | 0.09% | -0.80% | |
Grassroots | Chris Wright | 1,727 | 0.08% | -1.12% | |
People's Champion | Fancy Ray McCloney | 919 | 0.04% | n/a | |
Socialist Workers | Thomas Fiske | 787 | 0.04% | -0.14% | |
Write-ins | 776 | n/a | |||
Majority | 56,363 | 2.69% | |||
Turnout | 2,091,766 | 60% | |||
Reform gain from Republican | Swing |
References
change- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Minnesota primary results - September 15, 1998". CNN.
- ↑ "A 'Bad Boy' Wrestler's Unscripted Upset". The New York Times. 5 November 1998.