United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 3, 1998, in 36 states and two territories. Going into the election cycle, 24 of the seats were held by Republicans, 11 by Democrats, and one by an independent. The elections changed the national balance of power by the loss of one Republican and the gain of one Independent, although political party dominance was shifted in nine states. Democrats gained open seats in California and Iowa and defeated incumbents Fob James of Alabama and David Beasley of South Carolina, while Republicans won open seats in Colorado, Florida, Nebraska, and Nevada and the Reform Party won an open Republican governorship in Minnesota. By the end of the election, 23 seats were held by Republicans, 11 by Democrats, one by the Reform Party, and one by an Independent.

The elections coincided with the midterm elections for the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. With the exception of two states (New Hampshire and Vermont), the governors elected in this election served four-year terms. New Hampshire and Vermont's governors would serve two-year terms.

As of , this election marked the most recent cycle in which Alabama, Alaska, Georgia, and South Carolina elected Democrats to their respective governorships, and by extension, any even-year gubernatorial election in the Deep South. This is also the last time that someone other than a Democrat or a Republican was elected governor in Maine and Minnesota. This would be the last time a third-party candidate (not an independent) would be elected governor of any state, as well as the last time an independent would be elected governor of a state until the 2010 election in Rhode Island. This was the last midterm election until 2022 in which the political party not holding the White House suffered net losses of governorships.

Election results States State Incumbent Party Firstelected Result Candidates Alabama Fob James Republican 19781982 1994 Incumbent lost re-election.New governor elected.Democratic gain. Alaska Tony Knowles Democratic 1994 Incumbent re-elected. Arizona Jane Dee Hull Republican 1997 Incumbent elected to full term. Arkansas Mike Huckabee Republican 1996 Incumbent elected to full term. California Pete Wilson Republican 1990 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Democratic gain. Colorado Roy Romer Democratic 1986 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Republican gain. Connecticut John G. Rowland Republican 1994 Incumbent re-elected. Florida Lawton Chiles Democratic 1990 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Republican gain. Georgia Zell Miller Democratic 1990 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Democratic hold. Hawaii Ben Cayetano Democratic 1994 Incumbent re-elected. Idaho Phil Batt Republican 1994 Incumbent retired.New governor elected.Republican hold. Illinois Jim Edgar Republican 1990 Incumbent retired.New governor elected.Republican hold. Iowa Terry Branstad Republican 1982 Incumbent retired.New governor elected.Democratic gain. Kansas Bill Graves Republican 1994 Incumbent re-elected. Maine Angus King Independent 1994 Incumbent re-elected. Maryland Parris Glendening Democratic 1994 Incumbent re-elected. Massachusetts Paul Cellucci Republican 1997 Incumbent elected to full term. Michigan John Engler Republican 1990 Incumbent re-elected. Minnesota Arne Carlson Republican 1990 Incumbent retired.New governor elected.Reform gain. Nebraska Ben Nelson Democratic 1990 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Republican gain. Nevada Bob Miller Democratic 1989 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Republican gain. New Hampshire Jeanne Shaheen Democratic 1996 Incumbent re-elected. New Mexico Gary Johnson Republican 1994 Incumbent re-elected. New York George Pataki Republican 1994 Incumbent re-elected. Ohio George Voinovich Republican 1990 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Republican hold. Oklahoma Frank Keating Republican 1994 Incumbent re-elected. Oregon John Kitzhaber Democratic 1994 Incumbent re-elected. Pennsylvania Tom Ridge Republican 1994 Incumbent re-elected. Rhode Island Lincoln Almond Republican 1994 Incumbent re-elected. South Carolina David Beasley Republican 1994 Incumbent lost re-election.New governor elected.Democratic gain. South Dakota Bill Janklow Republican 19781986 1994 Incumbent re-elected. Tennessee Don Sundquist Republican 1994 Incumbent re-elected. Texas George W. Bush Republican 1994 Incumbent re-elected. Vermont Howard Dean Democratic 1991 Incumbent re-elected. Wisconsin Tommy Thompson Republican 1986 Incumbent re-elected. Wyoming Jim Geringer Republican 1994 Incumbent re-elected.

Territories and federal district Territory Incumbent Party Firstelected Result Candidates District of Columbia Marion Barry Democratic 1994 Incumbent retired.New mayor elected.Democratic hold. Guam Carl Gutierrez Democratic 1994 Incumbent re-elected. U.S. Virgin Islands Roy Schneider Independent 1994 Incumbent lost re-election.New governor elected.Democratic gain.

Closest races States where the margin of victory was under 1%: Colorado, 0.6%

States where the margin of victory was under 5%: Hawaii, 1.3% Minnesota, 2.7% Massachusetts, 3.4% Illinois, 3.5%

States where the margin of victory was under 10%: Ohio, 5.3% Iowa, 5.8% Guam, 6.4% Nebraska, 7.9% South Carolina, 8.0% Georgia, 8.4% Rhode Island, 8.9% New Mexico, 9.0% Nevada, 9.6%

Alabama

The Alabama gubernatorial election of 1998 was held on November 3, 1998, to select the governor of Alabama. The election saw incumbent Governor Fob James (R) against Lieutenant Governor Don Siegelman (D). The result saw Don Siegelman win a decisive victory over Fob James. This was the second of three consecutive Alabama gubernatorial elections in which the incumbent was defeated. As of , this was the last time that a Democrat was elected governor of Alabama.

Alaska

The 1998 Alaska gubernatorial general election took place on November 3, 1998. The election resulted in a landslide for the Democratic incumbent, Tony Knowles, who had won the 1994 gubernatorial election by only 536 votes.http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/08/17/ap/alaska/index.html?eref=sitesearch Jim Sykes, founder of the Green Party of Alaska, ran on that party's ticket, but Desa Jacobsson later replaced him on the ballot.

Arizona

The 1998 Arizona gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1998, for the post of Governor of Arizona. Jane Dee Hull, the incumbent Republican Governor of Arizona, defeated the Democratic nominee and Mayor of Phoenix, Paul Johnson in a landslide victory. Hull became the first woman to win a gubernatorial election in Arizona, although not the first woman to serve as governor of Arizona, (a distinction held by Democrat Rose Mofford, who ascended to the position in 1988 upon Republican Evan Mecham's impeachment and removal from office, and who served until 1990, declining to run for a full term).

Arkansas

The 1998 Arkansas gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1998, for the post of Governor of Arkansas. Incumbent Republican governor Mike Huckabee defeated Democratic nominee Bill Bristow to win a full term in office.

California

The 1998 California gubernatorial election was an election that occurred on November 3, 1998, resulting in the election of Lieutenant Governor Gray Davis as the state's first Democratic governor in 16 years. Davis won the general election by an almost 20% margin over his closest opponent, Republican Attorney General Dan Lungren. Davis succeeded Pete Wilson who was term limited. The 1998 California gubernatorial election featured the state's only gubernatorial blanket primary, a practice which was later struck down in United States Supreme Court in California Democratic Party v. Jones in 2000.

Colorado

The 1998 Colorado gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1998, to select the governor of the state of Colorado. Under newly applicable term limits, incumbent Governor Roy Romer, a Democrat, was unable to seek re-election. Lieutenant Governor Gail Schoettler, ran to succeed Romer, and won the Democratic primary; her running mate, Bernie Buescher, won the lieutenant-gubernatorial primary unopposed. In the Republican primary, Bill Owens, the State Treasurer, and his eventual running mate, Joe Rogers, won their respective primaries by wide margins.

In the general election, Owens narrowly defeated Schoettler, aided by a strong performance by Republican U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell in his re-election campaign. Owens's narrow election meant that he was the first Republican Governor in 24 years, and Rogers's election made him the second Black Lieutenant Governor in the state's history, after George L. Brown, who was elected in 1974. This was also the last election in which Colorado held separate primary elections for governor and lieutenant governor; following a statutory change in 2000, gubernatorial candidates selected their running mates prior to the primary.

Connecticut

The 1998 Connecticut gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1998, and incumbent Republican Governor John G. Rowland won re-election against Democratic Candidate United States Congresswoman Barbara B. Kennelly. This election was the first time since 1944 that an incumbent Republican Governor of Connecticut was re-elected.

Florida

The 1998 Florida gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1998, to determine the Governor for the State of Florida. Two-term Democratic incumbent Governor Lawton Chiles was term-limited and could not run for re-election. John Ellis "Jeb" Bush, who had previously run for governor in 1994 was the Republican nominee, and incumbent Lieutenant Governor Kenneth Hood "Buddy" MacKay was the Democratic nominee. Bush defeated MacKay by nearly 11% of the vote, and won his first of two terms as governor.

Georgia

The 1998 Georgia gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1998. Incumbent Democratic governor Zell Miller was unable to seek re-election due to term limits, therefore creating an open seat. To replace him, State Representative Roy Barnes won the Democratic Party's nomination after a close and highly contested primary election, while businessman Guy Millner, who had run for governor and the United States Senate in the previous four years, won the nomination of the Republican Party.

In the general election, Barnes was able to defeat Millner by a margin of victory larger than Governor Miller's victory over Millner four years prior, which was in part due to the unpopularity and controversy of Mitch Skandalakis, the Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia.

Hawaii

The 1998 Hawaii gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1998. Incumbent Democratic Governor of Hawaii Ben Cayetano ran for re-election to a second and final term, and he was contested by Maui Mayor Linda Lingle. The race between Cayetano and Lingle was close, with Lingle holding a sizable polling advantage. Ultimately, Cayetano narrowly won re-election to a second term in the closest gubernatorial election in Hawaii's history.

Idaho

The 1998 Idaho gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1998, to elect the Governor of Idaho. Phil Batt, the Republican incumbent, chose not to run for a second term. The Republican nominee, United States Senator Dirk Kempthorne, handily defeated the Democratic nominee, former Idaho Supreme Court justice Robert C. Huntley, to keep the seat in GOP hands.

Illinois

The 1998 Illinois gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1998. Incumbent Republican Governor Jim Edgar did not run for a third term in office. Republican nominee George Ryan, the Illinois Secretary of State, narrowly won the election against Democratic Congressman Glenn Poshard.

With this election Corinne Wood became the first female lieutenant governor of the state.

Iowa