Democrats won the most governorships up in 1978.
36 governor's races on the ballot — Democrats won 21, Republicans 15. Each state below links to its candidate results.
Results by state
Every row links to the state's full governor result with its county map.
| State | Won | Governor-elect | Margin | Pres. 1976 | Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | D | Fob James | D+13.1 | 748,749 | |
| Alaska | R | Jay Hammond | R+22.3 | 124,447 | |
| Arizona | D | Bruce Babbitt | R+16.6 | 538,556 | |
| Arkansas | D | Bill Clinton | D+30.0 | 528,847 | |
| California | D | Jerry Brown | R+1.8 | 6,921,273 | |
| Colorado | D | Richard Lamm | R+11.5 | 823,807 | |
| Connecticut | D | Ella Grasso | R+5.2 | 1,035,425 | |
| Florida | D | Bob Graham | D+5.3 | 2,530,468 | |
| Georgia | D | George Busbee | D+33.9 | 662,711 | |
| Hawaii | D | George Ariyoshi | D+2.5 | 281,587 | |
| Idaho | D | John Evans | R+22.8 | 288,566 | |
| Illinois | R | Jim Thompson | R+2.0 | 3,150,095 | |
| Iowa | R | Robert D. Ray | R+1.0 | 843,190 | |
| Kansas | D | John W. Carlin | R+7.6 | 736,246 | |
| Maine | D | Joseph Brennan | R+0.8 | 369,244 | |
| Maryland | D | Harry Hughes | D+6.1 | 999,545 | |
| Massachusetts | D | Edward J. King | D+15.7 | 1,956,366 | |
| Michigan | R | William Milliken | R+5.4 | 2,865,741 | |
| Minnesota | R | Al Quie | D+12.9 | 1,585,702 | |
| Nebraska | R | Charles Thone | R+20.7 | 492,227 | |
| Nevada | R | Robert List | R+4.4 | 192,445 | |
| New Hampshire | D | Hugh Gallen | R+11.3 | 269,587 | |
| New Mexico | D | Bruce King | R+2.5 | 345,479 | |
| New York | D | Hugh Carey | D+4.4 | 4,768,820 | |
| Ohio | R | Jim Rhodes | D+0.3 | 2,843,351 | |
| Oklahoma | D | George Nigh | R+1.2 | 777,414 | |
| Oregon | R | Victor Atiyeh | R+0.2 | 907,863 | |
| Pennsylvania | R | Dick Thornburgh | D+2.7 | 3,741,969 | |
| Rhode Island | D | J. Joseph Garrahy | D+11.3 | 314,363 | |
| South Carolina | D | Richard Riley | D+13.1 | 627,182 | |
| South Dakota | R | Bill Janklow | R+1.5 | 259,795 | |
| Tennessee | R | Lamar Alexander | D+13.0 | 1,185,454 | |
| Texas | R | Bill Clements | D+3.2 | 2,350,747 | |
| Vermont | R | Richard Snelling | R+11.2 | 124,482 | |
| Wisconsin | R | Lee S. Dreyfus | D+1.7 | 1,500,996 | |
| Wyoming | D | Edgar Herschler | R+19.5 | 137,567 |
Source. MIT Election Data + Science Lab precinct returns + official statewide canvasses — 1978 gubernatorial elections · statewide certified totals; county maps from precinct returns where available. Real returns — nothing estimated.