United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 5, 1974, in 35 states and two territories. The Democrats achieved a net gain of four seats, Republicans took a net loss of five seats, and one Independent was elected to the governorship of a state. This election coincided with the Senate and the House elections.

In Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota and Texas, governors were elected to four-year terms for the first time, instead of two-year terms. As of , this is the last time that a Democrat was elected South Dakota governor. This is the first time a woman has been elected governor whose husband was not governor of any state. (In this case, Connecticut.)

Election results States State Incumbent Party Firstelected Result Candidates Alabama George Wallace 19621966 1970 Incumbent re-elected. Alaska William A. Egan 19581966 1970 Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. Republican gain. Arizona Jack Williams 1966 Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Democratic gain. Arkansas Dale Bumpers 1970 Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Democratic hold. California Ronald Reagan 1966 Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Democratic gain. Colorado John D. Vanderhoof 1973 Incumbent lost election to full term. New governor elected. Democratic gain. Connecticut Thomas Meskill 1970 Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Democratic gain. Florida Reubin Askew 1970 Incumbent re-elected. Georgia Jimmy Carter 1970 Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic hold. Hawaii John A. Burns 1962 Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Democratic hold. Idaho Cecil Andrus 1970 Incumbent re-elected. Iowa Robert D. Ray 1968 Incumbent re-elected. Kansas Robert Docking 1966 Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Republican gain. Maine Kenneth M. Curtis 1970 Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Independent gain. Maryland Marvin Mandel 1966 Incumbent re-elected. Massachusetts Francis Sargent 1969 Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. Democratic gain. Michigan William Milliken 1969 Incumbent re-elected. Minnesota Wendell R. Anderson 1970 Incumbent re-elected. Nebraska J. James Exon 1970 Incumbent re-elected. Nevada Mike O'Callaghan 1970 Incumbent re-elected. New Hampshire Meldrim Thomson Jr. 1972 Incumbent re-elected. New Mexico Bruce King 1970 Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic hold. New York Malcolm Wilson 1973 Incumbent lost election to full term. New governor elected. Democratic gain. Ohio John J. Gilligan 1970 Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. Republican gain. Oklahoma David Hall 1970 Incumbent lost re-nomination. New governor elected. Democratic hold. Oregon Tom McCall 1966 Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic gain. Pennsylvania Milton Shapp 1970 Incumbent re-elected. Rhode Island Philip Noel 1972 Incumbent re-elected. South Carolina John C. West 1970 Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Republican gain. South Dakota Richard F. Kneip 1970 Incumbent re-elected. Tennessee Winfield Dunn 1970 Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic gain. Texas Dolph Briscoe 1972 Incumbent re-elected. Vermont Thomas P. Salmon 1972 Incumbent re-elected. Wisconsin Patrick Lucey 1970 Incumbent re-elected. Wyoming Stanley K. Hathaway 1966 Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Democratic gain.

Territories and federal district Territory Incumbent Party Firstelected Result Candidates District of Columbia None New office.New mayor elected.Democratic gain. Guam Carlos Camacho 1970 Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. Democratic gain. U.S. Virgin Islands Melvin H. Evans 1970 Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. Independent gain.

Closest races States where the margin of victory was under 1%: Alaska, 0.3% Ohio, 0.37% Kansas, 0.47% Arizona, 0.85%

States where the margin of victory was under 5%: New Mexico, 1.14% New Hampshire, 2.36% Guam, 2.8% Maine, 2.81% California, 2.86% South Carolina, 3.27% Michigan, 4.32%

States where the margin of victory was under 10%: South Dakota, 7.22% Colorado, 7.57% Pennsylvania, 8.55% Hawaii, 9.16%

Alabama

The 1974 Alabama gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1974. Incumbent Democratic governor George Wallace was reelected in a landslide over his Republican opponent, businessman and former state senator Elvin McCary. Wallace was the first Alabama governor to win election to a second consecutive term, as the state's Constitution was amended in 1968 to allow governors to serve a maximum two elected consecutive terms. This was also Wallace's first campaign after having been paralyzed following being shot by Arthur Bremer in an assassination attempt during Wallace's run for the 1972 Democratic presidential nomination.

Alaska

The 1974 Alaska gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1974, for the post of Governor of Alaska. Republican challenger and mayor of Bristol Bay Borough Jay Hammond narrowly beat Democratic incumbent Bill Egan in a close race that was forced into a recount to verify the results. The formation of the new Alaskan Independence Party was considered to have a large impact on the race. Hammond had defeated former governors Wally Hickel and Keith Harvey Miller for the Republican nomination, while Egan defeated Eben Hopson and Don Wright for the Democratic nomination.

Arizona

The 1974 Arizona gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1974. Incumbent Governor Jack Williams decided not to run for a fourth term as governor. Former United States Ambassador to Bolivia Raúl Héctor Castro, who was the Democratic nominee in 1970, won the Democratic nomination again in 1974, and narrowly won the general election, defeating Republican nominee Russell Williams by 0.85%. Castro was sworn into his first and only term as governor on January 6, 1975.

Prior to the election, there was a recall effort led by Cesar Chavez against incumbent Governor Jack Williams, with 180,000 signatures submitted. Many of the signatures were invalidated by the Attorney General Gary Nelson, but this was eventually overturned. By the time this occurred, however, it was meaningless due to the close proximity of the 1974 gubernatorial election, and thus a recall election did not occur.

Approximately two years into his term as governor, Castro would resign to become United States Ambassador to Argentina.

Arkansas

The 1974 Arkansas gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1974. Incumbent Democratic Governor Dale Bumpers retired to run for the U.S. Senate. Democratic nominee David Pryor defeated Republican nominee Ken Coon with 65.57% of the vote.

California

The 1974 California gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1974. The primary elections occurred on June 4, 1974. Incumbent Governor and former actor Ronald Reagan retired after two terms. Democratic Secretary of State Jerry Brown, son of former Governor Pat Brown, defeated Republican Controller Houston I. Flournoy in the general election. This is the first election since 1958 to not feature a Republican candidate that went on to become a U.S. president.

Colorado

The 1974 Colorado gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1974. Democratic nominee Richard Lamm defeated incumbent Republican John D. Vanderhoof with 53.22% of the vote.

Connecticut

The 1974 Connecticut gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1974. Democratic nominee Ella Grasso defeated Republican nominee Robert H. Steele with 58.35% of the vote. Grasso thus became the first woman to be elected Governor of Connecticut and the first woman elected governor of a US state who was not the spouse or widow of a former Governor.

Florida

The 1974 Florida gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1974. Incumbent Democratic Governor Reubin Askew won re-election to a second term.

Georgia

The 1974 Georgia gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1974. Under Georgia's constitution at the time, incumbent Democratic governor Jimmy Carter was ineligible to serve a second consecutive term. He was elected President of the United States in the 1976 presidential election. George Busbee was elected as the 77th Governor of Georgia.

Hawaii

The 1974 Hawaii gubernatorial election was Hawaii's fifth gubernatorial election. The election was held on November 5, 1974, and resulted in a victory for the Democratic candidate, Lt. Gov. George Ariyoshi over Republican candidate, former State Senator Randolph Crossley. Ariyoshi received more votes than Crossley in every county in the state.

Although he was by law Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii at the time of this election, George Ariyoshi had had all the power and responsibility of the Governorship since October 26, 1973, when Governor John A. Burns was incapacitated due to illness and Ariyoshi was made acting governor.

This was Crossley's second failed attempt to win the Governorship, having previously lost the 1966 election.

Idaho

The 1974 Idaho gubernatorial election was held on Tuesday, November 5. Incumbent Democrat Cecil Andrus soundly defeated Republican nominee Jack Murphy, the lieutenant governor, with 70.92% of the vote.

Iowa

The 1974 Iowa gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1974. Incumbent Republican Robert D. Ray defeated Democratic nominee James Schaben with 58.07% of the vote.

Kansas

The 1974 Kansas gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1974. Republican nominee Robert Frederick Bennett narrowly defeated Democratic nominee Vern Miller with 49.5% of the vote.

Maine

The 1974 Maine gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1974. Incumbent Democratic Governor Kenneth M. Curtis was term-limited and could not seek re-election. Independent candidate James B. Longley defeated Democratic Party challenger (and future Senate Majority Leader) George J. Mitchell and Republican James Erwin in a tight three-way contest. Longley's victory made him the first independent (non-party-affiliated) governor in Maine's history.

Maryland

The 1974 Maryland gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1974. Incumbent Democrat Marvin Mandel defeated Republican nominee Louise Gore with 63.50% of the vote.

Massachusetts

The 1974 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1974. Michael Dukakis was elected to a four-year term, from January 2, 1975 until January 4, 1979. He defeated incumbent Governor of Massachusetts Francis W. Sargent in the general election.

Michigan

The 1974 Michigan gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1974. William Milliken was elected to his second term as Governor of Michigan in a rematch with Sander Levin.2011–2012 Michigan Manual: Chapter IX—Elections: Summary of Vote for Governor, 1835-2010 This was the last time until 1990 that the state elected a governor of the same party as the sitting president.

Minnesota

The 1974 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1974. The 1974 election was the first election where the Governor and Lieutenant Governor ran on the same ticket. Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party candidate Wendell Anderson defeated Republican Party of Minnesota challenger John W. Johnson.

Nebraska

The 1974 Nebraska gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1974, and featured incumbent Governor J. James Exon, a Democrat, defeating Republican nominee, state Senator Richard D. Marvel. Independent state Senator Ernie Chambers also captured 5% of the vote as a write-in candidate. This was the first gubernatorial election in Nebraska in which the nominees for Governor and Lieutenant Governor ran as a single ticket in the general election, though they were chosen in separate primary elections.

Nevada

The 1974 Nevada gubernatorial election occurred on November 5, 1974. Incumbent Democrat Mike O'Callaghan successfully ran for re-election to a second term as Governor of Nevada, defeating Republican nominee Shirley Crumpler and Independent American nominee James Hay Houston.

New Hampshire