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1998 New Mexico gubernatorial election

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1998 New Mexico gubernatorial election

← 1994 November 3, 1998 2002 →
 
Nominee Gary Johnson Martin Chávez
Party Republican Democratic
Running mate Walter Bradley Diane Denish
Popular vote 271,948 226,755
Percentage 54.53% 45.47%

County results
Johnson:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Chávez:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Governor before election

Gary Johnson
Republican

Elected Governor

Gary Johnson
Republican

The 1998 New Mexico gubernatorial election was a contest to elect the next governor of New Mexico. The winner of the election would serve a term from January 1, 1999 until January 1, 2003. Incumbent Republican (now Libertarian) Governor Gary Johnson was re-elected to a second term. As of 2024, this is the last time a non-Hispanic was elected governor of New Mexico.

In his campaign, Johnson promised to continue the policies of his first term: improving schools; cutting state spending, taxes, and bureaucracy; and frequent use of his veto and line-item veto power.[1] Fielding a strong Hispanic candidate in a 40% Hispanic state, the Democrats were expected to oust Johnson,[2] but Johnson won by a margin of 55% to 45%.[3] This made him the first governor of New Mexico to serve two successive four-year terms after term limits were expanded to two terms in 1991.[4] Johnson made the promotion of a school voucher system a "hallmark issue" of his second term.[5] This election is the first time since 1968 that an incumbent Republican Governor of New Mexico was re-elected or won re-election.

Primary election

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Democratic Party

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Candidates

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Results

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Democratic primary results[6]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Martin J. Chávez 82,147 48.11%
Democratic Gary K. King 51,847 30.37%
Democratic Jerry Apodaca 16,303 9.55%
Democratic Robert E. Vigil 10,483 6.14%
Democratic Reese P. Fullerton 5,800 3.40%
Democratic Ben Chavez 4,127 2.42%
Democratic Frances Salas (write-in) 29 0.02%
Total votes 170,736 100.00%

Republican Party

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Candidates

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Results

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Republican primary results[6]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Gary Johnson (incumbent) 64,669 100.00%
Total votes 64,669 100.00%

General election

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Campaign

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In his campaign, Johnson promised to continue the policies of his first term: improving schools; cutting state spending, taxes, and bureaucracy; and frequent use of his veto and line-item veto power.[1] Fielding a strong Hispanic candidate in a 40% Hispanic state, the Democrats were expected to oust Johnson,[2] but Johnson won by a margin of 55% to 45%.[3] This made him the first governor of New Mexico to serve two successive four-year terms after term limits were expanded to two terms in 1991.[4] Johnson made the promotion of a school voucher system a "hallmark issue" of his second term.[5]

Results

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1998 New Mexico gubernatorial election[7][8][a]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Gary Johnson (incumbent) 271,948 54.53% +4.72%
Democratic Martin Chávez 226,755 45.47% +5.55%
Majority 45,193 9.06%
Total votes 498,703 100.00%
Republican hold Swing -0.83%

Results by county

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County Gary Johnson
Republican
Martin Chávez
Democratic
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # %
Bernalillo 96,329 57.55% 71,067 42.45% 25,262 15.09% 167,396
Catron 1,063 66.73% 530 33.27% 533 33.46% 1,593
Chaves 10,409 63.55% 5,969 36.45% 4,440 27.11% 16,378
Cibola 2,952 43.69% 3,805 56.31% -853 -12.62% 6,757
Colfax 2,541 54.36% 2,133 45.64% 408 8.73% 4,674
Curry 7,248 71.49% 2,890 28.51% 4,358 42.99% 10,138
De Baca 714 65.63% 374 34.38% 340 31.25% 1,088
Doña Ana 16,635 49.67% 16,858 50.33% -223 -0.67% 33,493
Eddy 8,927 60.47% 5,835 39.53% 3,092 20.95% 14,762
Grant 4,689 47.14% 5,259 52.86% -570 -5.73% 9,948
Guadalupe 756 33.80% 1,481 66.20% -725 -32.41% 2,237
Harding 389 57.89% 283 42.11% 106 15.77% 672
Hidalgo 1,117 53.55% 969 46.45% 148 7.09% 2,086
Lea 9,066 74.12% 3,166 25.88% 5,900 48.23% 12,232
Lincoln 3,613 63.70% 2,059 36.30% 1,554 27.40% 5,672
Los Alamos 5,729 64.02% 3,220 35.98% 2,509 28.04% 8,949
Luna 3,375 57.03% 2,543 42.97% 832 14.06% 5,918
McKinley 5,788 41.72% 8,085 58.28% -2,297 -16.56% 13,873
Mora 697 27.86% 1,805 72.14% -1,108 -44.28% 2,502
Otero 8,721 66.38% 4,417 33.62% 4,304 32.76% 13,138
Quay 2,265 60.22% 1,496 39.78% 769 20.45% 3,761
Rio Arriba 3,206 30.26% 7,389 69.74% -4,183 -39.48% 10,595
Roosevelt 3,387 69.12% 1,513 30.88% 1,874 38.24% 4,900
San Juan 20,233 70.53% 8,454 29.47% 11,779 41.06% 28,687
San Miguel 2,015 22.91% 6,781 77.09% -4,766 -54.18% 8,796
Sandoval 14,595 59.94% 9,756 40.06% 4,839 19.87% 24,351
Santa Fe 13,821 33.81% 27,053 66.19% -13,232 -32.37% 40,874
Sierra 2,624 63.54% 1,506 36.46% 1,118 27.07% 4,130
Socorro 2,920 45.21% 3,539 54.79% -619 -9.58% 6,459
Taos 2,713 31.12% 6,005 68.88% -3,292 -37.76% 8,718
Torrance 2,623 61.16% 1,666 38.84% 957 22.31% 4,289
Union 1,077 64.76% 586 35.24% 491 29.52% 1,663
Valencia 9,711 54.03% 8,263 45.97% 1,448 8.06% 17,974
Total 271,948 54.53% 226,755 45.47% 45,193 9.06% 498,703

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

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Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

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Notes

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  1. ^ The New Mexico Secretary of State has not published the complete statewide general election canvass on its 1998 election page. The county results can be obtained from the individual county pages and the statewide total from an archived version of the Secretary of State's website

References

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  1. ^ a b Ayres, B. Drummond Jr. (October 23, 1998). "Democrats Renew Push in New Mexico". The New York Times. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  2. ^ a b "America's boldest governor". The Economist. April 15, 1999. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  3. ^ a b "CNN election results 1998". Retrieved July 2, 2012.
  4. ^ a b Lynch, Michael W. (January 2001). "America's Most Dangerous Politician – Republican Governor of New Mexico Gary E. Johnson". Reason. Retrieved February 7, 2011.
  5. ^ a b Janofsky, Michael (January 31, 2000). "Parents Lead Way as States Debate School Vouchers". The New York Times. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  6. ^ a b "Canvass of Returns of Primary Election Held on June 2, 1998 – State of New Mexico". New Mexico Secretary of State. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
  7. ^ "STATE OF NEW MEXICO Official 1998 General Election Results for GOVERNOR OF NEW MEXICO". April 12, 1998. Archived from the original on June 22, 2006.
  8. ^ "Election Results 1998". New Mexico Secretary of State. Retrieved July 29, 2024.

See also

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