Michigan gubernatorial elections, 1956-2010

The following is a list of gubernatorial elections held in the state of Michigan from 1956 to 2010.

1956-1964

During this time, gubernatorial elections were held every two years.

1956

Results by county, showing percentages. Blue indicates counties carried by Williams, while red indicates counties carried by Cobo.

On November 6, 1956, G. Mennen Williams won re-election to the office of Governor of Michigan. He defeated Albert E. Cobo in the general election.

Governor of Michigan, 1956
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	G. Mennen Williams Incumbent	54.7%	1,666,689
	Republican	Albert E. Cobo	45.1%	1,376,376
	Prohibition	Alfred T. Halstead	0.2%	6,538
	Other	Write-ins	0%	48
Total Votes				3,049,651
Election results via David Leip, "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections," accessed February 14, 2014.

1958

Results by county, showing percentages. Blue indicates counties carried by Williams, while red indicates counties carried by Bagwell.

On November 4, 1958, G. Mennen Williams won re-election to the office of Governor of Michigan. He defeated Paul D. Bagwell in the general election.

Governor of Michigan, 1958
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	G. Mennen Williams Incumbent	53%	1,225,533
	Republican	Paul D. Bagwell	46.6%	1,078,089
	Socialist Labor	Ralph W. Muncy	0.2%	3,983
	Prohibition	Rollin M. Severance	0.2%	3,622
	Socialist Workers	Frank Lovell	0%	957
Total Votes				2,312,184
Election results via David Leip, "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections," accessed February 14, 2014.

1960

Results by county, showing percentages. Blue indicates counties carried by Swainson, while red indicates counties carried by Bagwell.

On November 8, 1960, John B. Swainson won election to the office of Governor of Michigan. He defeated Paul D. Bagwell in the general election.

Governor of Michigan, 1960
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	John B. Swainson	50.5%	1,643,634
	Republican	Paul D. Bagwell	49.2%	1,602,022
	Socialist Workers	Robert Himmel, Jr.	0.1%	3,387
	Prohibition	Delmar D. Gibbons	0.1%	2,183
	Tax Cut	F. J. Toohey	0.1%	1,899
	Socialist Labor	Theos A. Grove	0%	1,479
	Independent American	R. Roy Pursell	0%	1,354
	Other	Write-ins	0%	33
Total Votes				3,255,991
Election results via David Leip, "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections," accessed February 14, 2014.

1962

Results by county, showing percentages. Red indicates counties carried by Romney, while blue indicates counties carried by Swainson.

On November 6, 1962, George Romney won re-election to the office of Governor of Michigan. He defeated John B. Swainson in the general election.

Governor of Michigan, 1962
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	George Romney	51.4%	1,420,086
	Democratic	John B. Swainson Incumbent	48.4%	1,339,513
	Socialist Labor	James Sim	0.2%	5,219
	Other	Write-ins	0%	21
Total Votes				2,764,839
Election results via David Leip, "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections," accessed February 14, 2014.

1964

Results by county, showing percentages. Red indicates counties carried by Romney, while blue indicates counties carried by Staebler.

On November 3, 1964, George Romney won re-election to the office of Governor of Michigan. He defeated Neil Staebler in the general election.

Governor of Michigan, 1964
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	George Romney Incumbent	55.9%	1,764,355
	Democratic	Neil Staebler	43.7%	1,381,442
	Socialist Workers	Frank Lovell	0.2%	5,649
	Freedom Now	Albert B. Cleage, Jr.	0.2%	4,767
	Socialist Labor	James Horvath	0.1%	1,777
	Other	Write-ins	0%	112
Total Votes				3,158,102
Election results via David Leip, "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections," accessed February 14, 2014.

1966-2010

Starting with the 1966 election, gubernatorial elections began being held every four years.

1966

Results by county, showing percentages. Red indicates counties carried by Romney, while blue indicates counties carried by Ferency.

On November 8, 1966, George Romney won re-election to the office of Governor of Michigan. He defeated Zolton Ferency in the general election.

Governor of Michigan, 1966
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	George Romney Incumbent	60.5%	1,490,430
	Democratic	Zolton Ferency	39.1%	963,383
	Socialist Labor	James Horvath	0.3%	8,017
	Other	Write-ins	0%	79
Total Votes				2,461,909
Election results via David Leip, "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections," accessed February 14, 2014.

1970

Results by county, showing percentages. Red indicates counties carried by Milliken, while blue indicates counties carried by Levin.

On January 22, 1969, Governor George Romney resigned to become Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Richard Nixon; Lieutenant Governor William G. Milliken was sworn in as his successor. On November 3, 1970, William G. Milliken won re-election to the office of Governor of Michigan. He defeated Sander Levin in the general election.

Governor of Michigan, 1970
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	William G. Milliken Incumbent	50.4%	1,339,047
	Democratic	Sander Levin	48.7%	1,294,638
	American Independent	James L. McCormick	0.7%	18,006
	Socialist Workers	George Bouse	0.1%	2,220
	Socialist Labor	James Horvath	0.1%	2,144
	Other	Write-ins	0%	107
Total Votes				2,656,162
Election results via David Leip, "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections," accessed February 14, 2014.

1974

Results by county, showing percentages. Red indicates counties carried by Milliken, while blue indicates counties carried by Levin.

On November 5, 1974, William G. Milliken won re-election to the office of Governor of Michigan. He defeated Sander Levin in the general election.

Governor of Michigan, 1974
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	William G. Milliken Incumbent	51.1%	1,356,865
	Democratic	Sander Levin	46.8%	1,242,247
	Human Rights	Zolton Ferency	1.1%	28,675
	American Independent	Hugh McDermand Davidson	0.8%	20,278
	Conservative	Eldon K. Andrews	0.2%	4,117
	Socialist Workers	Robin Maisel	0.1%	1,505
	Socialist Labor	James Horvath	0%	1,296
	Communist	Thomas D. Dennis	0%	1,119
	United States Labor	Peter A. Signorelli	0%	898
	Other	Write-ins	0%	17
Total Votes				2,657,017
Election results via http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/ David Leip, "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections," accessed February 14, 2014].

1978

Results by county, showing percentages. Red indicates counties carried by Milliken, while blue indicates counties carried by Fitzgerald.

On November 7, 1978, William G. Milliken won re-election to the office of Governor of Michigan. He defeated William B. Fitzgerald in the general election.

Governor of Michigan, 1978
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	William G. Milliken Incumbent	56.8%	1,628,485
	Democratic	William B. Fitzgerald	43.2%	1,237,256
	Other	Write-ins	0.1%	1,471
Total Votes				2,867,212
Election results via http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/ David Leip, "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections," accessed February 14, 2014].

1982

On November 2, 1982, James Blanchard won election to the office of Governor of Michigan. He defeated Richard H. Headlee in the general election.

Governor of Michigan, 1982
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	James Blanchard	51.4%	1,561,291
	Republican	Richard H. Headlee	45.1%	1,369,582
	Tisch Independent Citizens	Robert F. Tisch	2.6%	80,288
	Libertarian	Dick Jacobs	0.5%	15,603
	American Independent	James O. Phillips	0.2%	7,356
	Socialist Workers	Tim Craine	0.1%	3,682
	Workers' League	Martin P. McLaughlin	0.1%	1,980
	Other	Write-ins	0%	226
Total Votes				3,040,008
Election results via David Leip, "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections," accessed February 14, 2014.

1986

On November 4, 1986, James Blanchard won re-election to the office of Governor of Michigan. He defeated William Lucas in the general election.

Governor of Michigan, 1986
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	James Blanchard Incumbent	68.1%	1,632,138
	Republican	William Lucas	31.4%	753,647
	Workers' League	Martin P. McLaughlin	0.4%	9,477
	Other	Write-ins	0.1%	1,302
Total Votes				2,396,564
Election results via David Leip, "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections," accessed February 14, 2014.

1990

On November 6, 1990, John Engler won re-election to the office of Governor of Michigan. He defeated James Blanchard in the general election.

Governor of Michigan, 1990
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	John Engler	49.8%	1,276,134
	Democratic	James Blanchard Incumbent	49.1%	1,258,539
	Workers' World	William Roundtree	1.1%	28,091
	Other	Write-ins	0.1%	1,799
Total Votes				2,564,563
Election results via David Leip, "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections," accessed February 14, 2014.

1994

On November 8, 1994, John Engler won re-election to the office of Governor of Michigan. He defeated Howard E. Wolpe in the general election.

Governor of Michigan, 1994
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	John Engler Incumbent	61.5%	1,899,101
	Democratic	Howard E. Wolpe	38.5%	1,188,438
	Other	Write-ins	0%	1,538
Total Votes				3,089,077
Election results via David Leip, "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections," accessed February 14, 2014.

1998

On November 3, 1998, John Engler won re-election to the office of Governor of Michigan. He defeated Geoffrey Fieger in the general election.

Governor of Michigan, 1998
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	John Engler Incumbent	62.2%	1,883,005
	Democratic	Geoffrey Fieger	37.8%	1,143,574
	Other	Write-ins	0%	525
Total Votes				3,027,104
Election results via Michigan Department of State, "1998 Official Michigan General Election Results - Governor 4 Year Term (1) Position," February 9, 1999," accessed February 14, 2014.

2002

On November 5, 2002, Jennifer Granholm won election to the office of Governor of Michigan. She defeated Dick Posthumus in the general election.

Governor of Michigan, 2002
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jennifer Granholm	51.4%	1,633,796
	Republican	Dick Posthumus	47.4%	1,506,104
	Libertarian	Douglas Campbell	0.8%	25,236
	Taxpayers	Joseph Pilchak	0.4%	12,411
	Other	Write-ins	0%	18
Total Votes				3,177,565
Election results via Michigan Department of State, "2002 Official Michigan General Election Results - Governor 4 Year Term (1) Position," December 17, 2002," accessed February 14, 2014.

2006

On November 7, 2006, Jennifer Granholm won re-election to the office of Governor of Michigan. She defeated Dick DeVos in the general election.

Governor of Michigan, 2006
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jennifer Granholm Incumbent	56.4%	2,142,513
	Republican	Dick DeVos	42.3%	1,608,086
	Libertarian	Gregory Creswell	0.6%	23,524
	Green	Douglas Campbell	0.5%	20,009
	Taxpayers	Bhagwan Dashairya	0.2%	7,087
	Other	Write-ins	0%	37
Total Votes				3,801,256
Election results via Michigan Department of State, "2006 Official Michigan General Election Results - Governor 4 Year Term (1) Position," May 10, 2007," accessed February 14, 2014.

2010

On November 2, 2010, Rick Snyder won election to the office of Governor of Michigan. He defeated Virg Bernero in the general election.

Governor of Michigan, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Rick Snyder	58.1%	1,874,834
	Democratic	Virg Bernero	39.9%	1,287,320
	Libertarian	Ken Proctor	0.7%	22,390
	Taxpayers	Stacey Mathia	0.6%	20,818
	Green	Harvey Mikkelson	0.6%	20,699
	Other	Write-ins	0%	27
Total Votes				3,226,088
Election results via Michigan Department of State, "2010 Official Michigan General Election Results - Governor 4 Year Term (1) Position," March 2, 2011," accessed February 14, 2014.