United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 3, 1992, in 12 states and two territories. Going into the elections, six of the seats were held by Democrats and six by Republicans. After the elections, Democrats held eight seats and Republicans held four. The elections coincided with the presidential election.

This was the last year in which Rhode Island held a gubernatorial election in the same year as the presidential election. The length of gubernatorial terms for Rhode Island's governor would be extended from two to four years, with elections taking place in midterm election years.

This is the only series of elections in the overall 1992 election cycle that Democrats retained a majority of seats while simultaneously picking up new seats, while in Congress, Democrats lost 9 seats in the House of Representatives and neither party netted gains in the Senate despite Bill Clinton defeating Republican George H. W. Bush and Independent Ross Perot on the same night.

Election results States State Incumbent Party Firstelected Result Candidates Delaware Mike Castle Republican 1984 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Democratic gain. Indiana Evan Bayh Democratic 1988 Incumbent re-elected. Missouri John Ashcroft Republican 1984 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Democratic gain. Montana Stan Stephens Republican 1988 Incumbent retired.New governor elected.Republican hold. New Hampshire Judd Gregg Republican 1988 Incumbent retired to run for U.S. Senator.New governor elected.Republican hold. North Carolina James G. Martin Republican 1984 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Democratic gain. North Dakota George A. Sinner Democratic–NPL 1984 Incumbent retired.New governor elected.Republican gain. Rhode Island Bruce Sundlun Democratic 1990 Incumbent re-elected. Utah Norman H. Bangerter Republican 1984 Incumbent retired.New governor elected.Republican hold. Vermont Howard Dean Democratic 1991 Incumbent elected to full term. Washington Booth Gardner Democratic 1984 Incumbent retired.New governor elected.Democratic hold. West Virginia Gaston Caperton Democratic 1988 Incumbent re-elected.

Territories Territory Incumbent Party Firstelected Result Candidates American Samoa Peter Tali Coleman Republican 1988 Incumbent lost re-election.New governor elected.Democratic gain. Puerto Rico Rafael Hernández Colón Popular Democratic 1984 Incumbent retired.New governor elected.New Progressive gain.

Closest races States where the margin of victory was under 5%: Montana, 2.7% Puerto Rico, 4.0% Washington, 4.3%

States where the margin of victory was under 10%: Utah, 8.6% North Carolina, 9.5%

Delaware

The 1992 Delaware gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1992. Incumbent Republican governor Mike Castle, barred by term limits from seeking another term as Governor of Delaware, instead sought election to the United States House of Representatives. Congressman and Democratic nominee Tom Carper defeated Republican nominee B. Gary Scott in a landslide, winning his first term in office and becoming Delaware's first Democratic governor since 1977.

Indiana

The 1992 Indiana gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1992. Incumbent Governor Evan Bayh, a Democrat, won reelection over his Republican challenger, Linley E. Pearson with 62% of the vote. He was the first Democratic governor of Indiana to win reelection since governors became eligible for election to consecutive terms in office in 1972.

Missouri

The 1992 Missouri gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1992, and resulted in a victory for the Democratic nominee, Lt. Governor Mel Carnahan, over the Republican candidate, Missouri Attorney General William L. Webster, and Libertarian Joan Dow. Carnahan had defeated St. Louis mayor Vincent C. Schoemehl for the Democratic nomination, while Webster had defeated Secretary of State Roy Blunt and Treasurer Wendell Bailey for the Republican nomination.

Montana

The 1992 Montana gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1992. Incumbent Governor of Montana Stan Stephens, who was first elected in 1988, declined to seek re-election. Marc Racicot, the Attorney General of Montana, won the Republican primary and advanced to the general election, where he faced State Representative Dorothy Bradley, who had emerged from a crowded Democratic primary as the nominee of her party. A close election ensued, but in the end, Racicot ended up defeating Bradley to win his first of two terms as governor. While on the same ballot, Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton won the state of Montana, and eventually won the 1992 United States presidential election.

New Hampshire

The 1992 New Hampshire gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1992. Republican nominee Steve Merrill, who defeated Ed Dupont and Liz Hager for the Republican nomination, won the election, defeating Deborah Arnie Arnesen, who had defeated Norman D'Amours for the Democratic nomination.

North Carolina

The 1992 North Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1992. Incumbent Governor James G. Martin was unable to run for a third consecutive term due to term limits, and his Lieutenant Governor, Jim Gardner, was chosen to replace him as the Republican nominee. Gardner had also been the nominee in a previous gubernatorial election over twenty years earlier. Former Governor Jim Hunt decided to seek his third term as the Democratic nominee. The race became one of the nastiest and most talked about races in the country, with Hunt winning a third term easily over Gardner and Libertarian nominee Scott McLaughlin.

North Dakota

The 1992 North Dakota gubernatorial election took place on 3 November 1992. Incumbent Democratic-NPL Governor George A. Sinner retired. Republican nominee Ed Schafer defeated Democratic former Attorney General of North Dakota Nicholas Spaeth in a landslide. This was the only gubernatorial seat which the Republicans gained during this election cycle.

Rhode Island

The 1992 Rhode Island gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1992. Incumbent Democrat Bruce Sundlun defeated Republican nominee Elizabeth A. Leonard with 61.55% of the vote.

A Democrat would not be elected Governor of Rhode Island again until Gina Raimondo did so in 2014.

Utah

The 1992 Utah gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1992. Republican nominee Michael Leavitt won the three-way election.

Vermont

The 1992 Vermont gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1992. After Republican Governor Richard Snelling died in office on August 13, 1991, Lieutenant Governor Howard Dean, a Democrat, took over for the remainder of his term. Incumbent Democrat Howard Dean ran successfully for election to a full term as Governor of Vermont, defeating Republican candidate John McClaughry. This is the best Democratic performance for governor in the history of the state.

Washington

The 1992 Washington gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1992. Incumbent Democratic Governor Booth Gardner chose not to run for a third term. This resulted in an open race for Governor of Washington in which Democrat Mike Lowry narrowly defeated Republican Ken Eikenberry. This is the last time that a gubernatorial nominee and a lieutenant gubernatorial nominee of different political parties were elected governor and lieutenant governor of Washington.

West Virginia

The 1992 West Virginia gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 1992. Incumbent Democratic governor Gaston Caperton won re-election by defeating former Republican U.S. representative Cleve Benedict and Democratic State Senator Charlotte Pritt, who ran as an independent write-in candidate after losing to Caperton in the Democratic primary election. Benedict had defeated Vernon Criss for his party's nomination; this was the only election between 1964 and 2000 that the Republicans had nominated someone other than Arch A. Moore or Cecil H. Underwood.

Territories American Samoa

Puerto Rico

See also 1992 United States elections 1992 United States presidential election 1992 United States Senate elections 1992 United States House of Representatives elections

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