1979 United States gubernatorial elections

United States gubernatorial elections were held in the fall of 1979, in three states and one territory.

1979 United States gubernatorial elections

October 27, November 6, and December 8, 1979
4 governorships 3 states; 1 territory
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic Republican Seats before 32 18 Seats after 31 19 Seat change 1 1 Seats up 3 0 Seats won 2 1
Democratic hold   Republican gain

Republicans gained one gubernatorial seat in this year with Dave Treen's victory in Louisiana, who as a result became the first Republican Governor of that state since the Reconstruction era (1865-1877). Treen led a field of six major candidates in the October 27 primary, and narrowly edged state senator Louis Lambert in the December 8 general election (or "runoff").

Democrats held control of the governor's mansions in Kentucky and Mississippi in the November 6 general elections.

Election results

A bolded state name features an article about the specific election.

State	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Kentucky	Julian Carroll	Democratic	1974	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic hold.	Y John Y. Brown Jr. (Democratic) 59.41% Louie Nunn (Republican) 40.59%
Louisiana	Edwin Edwards	Democratic	1972	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Republican gain.	Y Dave Treen (Republican) 21.79% (50.35% in Runoff) Louis Lambert (Democratic) 20.74% (49.65% in Runoff) Jimmy Fitzmorris (Democratic) 20.56% Paul Hardy (Democratic) 16.62% E. L. Henry (Democratic) 9.94 Edgar G. "Sonny" Mouton Jr. (Democratic) 9.103% L. D. Knox (Democratic) 0.46%
Mississippi	Cliff Finch	Democratic	1975	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic hold.	Y William Winter (Democratic) 61.07% Gil Carmichael (Republican) 38.93%