The 1998 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1998. Reform Party candidate Jesse Ventura defeated Republican Party challenger Norm Coleman and Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party challenger Hubert H. "Skip" Humphrey III. Ventura governed with a DFL controlled state Senate and a Republican controlled state House. Ventura's victory as a third party candidate was considered a historical major upset. He ran on the Reform Party ticket, which was founded by Ross Perot, who received 24% of the vote in 1992 in Minnesota.[1] [edit] Candidates [edit] Republican - Norm Coleman: Won the Republican nomination for governor, by winning the primary with taken opposition.[2] He is the Mayor of St. Paul. He was elected mayor in 1993 as a Democrat with almost 55% of the vote. In 1996, he switched parties to become a Republican after years of heat from his party.[3] He won re-election as mayor in the heavily liberal city (70% registered Democrats) with almost 59% of the vote in 1997.
- Bill Dahn: Retired auto mechanic, around the same age as Coleman.[4]
[edit] Reform [edit] Other independents [edit] Primary results (Sept. 15) [edit] Democratic [edit] Republican [edit] General election [edit] Campaign Ventura spent around $300,000 and combined it with an aggressive grassroots campaign that featured a statewide bus tour, pioneered use of the Internet for political purposes, and aired quirky TV ads designed by Bill Hillsman, who forged the phrase “Don’t vote for politics as usual.”[5] Unable to afford many television ads, Ventura mainly focused on televised debates and public appearances, preaching his brand of libertarian politics. His speech at a parade in rural Minnesota during the summer attracted what organizers of the annual event described as one of its largest audiences. He ran on cutting taxes, reducing state government, and reducing public school classroom sizes to a 17 to 1 ratio. He also supported prostitution. [6] [edit] Polling A poll taken in June showed that Coleman would defeat any other Democratic candidate than Humphrey. But Humphrey would defeat Coleman 44% to 34%. However, Ventura polled in the double digits. No other candidate in the Reform party's brief history in Minnesota has received more than 5 percent of the votes in a statewide election.[7] Following the primary election in September, a poll on October 20 showed Humphrey leading 35% to Coleman (34%) and Ventura (21). But the Star Tribune poll suggests that Ventura's surge with the voters has come mostly at Humphrey's expense. Since the primary, Humphrey's support among likely voters has dropped by 14 percentage points, while Coleman's has increased by 5 percentage points.[8] [edit] Results | 1998 Gubernatorial Election, Minnesota | | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | | Reform | Jesse Ventura | 773,713 | 36.99% | n/a | | Republican | Norm Coleman | 717,350 | 34.29% | -29.04% | | DFL | Hubert H. "Skip" Humphrey III | 587,528 | 28.09% | -6.02% | | Green | Ken Pentel | 7,034 | 0.34% | n/a | | Libertarian | Frank Germann | 1,932 | 0.09% | -0.80% | | Grassroots | Chris Wright | 1,727 | 0.08% | -1.12% | | People's Champion | Fancy Ray McCloney | 919 | 0.04% | n/a | | Socialist Workers | Thomas Fiske | 787 | 0.04% | -0.14% | | | Write-ins | 776 | | n/a | | Majority | 56,363 | 2.69% | | | Turnout | 2,091,766 | 60% | | | Reform gain from Republican | Swing | | | [edit] Results Breakdown By county:[9][10] | County | Coleman | Votes | Humphrey | Votes | Ventura | Votes | Others | Votes | | Aiken | 31.6% | 2,447 | 30.3% | 2,347 | 37.4% | 2,897 | 0.6% | 47 | | Anoka | 29.3% | 37,111 | 19.7% | 24,975 | 50.7% | 64,100 | 0.3% | 363 | | Becker | 41.4% | 5,030 | 35.7% | 4,349 | 22.4% | 2,721 | 0.5% | 62 | | Beltrami | 39.8% | 5,872 | 35.9% | 5,289 | 23.0% | 3,387 | 1.3% | 195 | | Benton | 33.2% | 4,388 | 20.8% | 2,750 | 45.6% | 6,027 | 0.4% | 47 | | Big Stone | 31.9% | 912 | 40.0% | 1,144 | 27.5% | 786 | 0.5% | 15 | | Blue Earth | 30.9% | 7,031 | 24.9% | 5,666 | 43.8% | 9,973 | 0.6% | 111 | | Brown | 35.4% | 5,150 | 21.2% | 2,417 | 33.3% | 3,794 | 0.4% | 44 | | Carlton | 31.0% | 3,929 | 42.9% | 5,439 | 25.5% | 3,226 | 0.6% | 70 | | Carver | 39.9% | 11,479 | 16.1% | 4,621 | 43.8% | 12,606 | 0.3% | 88 | | Cass | 32.0% | 4,781 | 28.1% | 3,288 | 28.7% | 3,268 | 0.5% | 55 | | Chippewa | 38.3% | 1,721 | 34.0% | 2,064 | 37.4% | 2,271 | 0.3% | 19 | | Chisago | 28.0% | 5,376 | 18.9% | 3,621 | 52.8% | 10,138 | 0.4% | 71 | | Clay | 34.7% | 6,200 | 43.5% | 7,766 | 21.8% | 3,797 | 0.5% | 91 | | Clearwater | 44.8% | 1,439 | 35.0% | 1,124 | 19.5% | 625 | 0.7% | 24 | | Cook | 38.6 | 1,010 | 39.6% | 1,046 | 18.0% | 474 | 3.8% | 100 | | Cottonwood | 39.6% | 2,420 | 30.8% | 1,884 | 29.2 | 1,788 | 0.5% | 29 | | Crow Wing | 39.7% | 9,559 | 26.0% | 6,257 | 33.9% | 8,162 | 0.4% | 104 | | Dakota | 37.3% | 56,242 | 22.0% | 33,253 | 40.4% | 60,909 | 0.3% | 484 | | Dodge | 37.4% | 2,619 | 21.2% | 1,484 | 41.0% | 2,867 | 0.4% | 27 | | Douglas | 42.1% | 6,323 | 23.3% | 3,503 | 34.3% | 5,162 | 0.3% | 41 | | Faribault | 34.2% | 2,778 | 29.3% | 2,382 | 36.0% | 2,923 | 0.4% | 34 | | Fillmore | 39.7% | 3,359 | 33.4% | 2,823 | 26.2% | 2,219 | 0.7% | 56 | | Freeborn | 39.5% | 5,463 | 33.3% | 4,605 | 26.9% | 3,706 | 0.5% | 65 | | Goodhue | 33.9% | 6,786 | 22.7% | 4,547 | 43.0% | 8,610 | 0.5% | 92 | | Grant | 30.6% | 1,055 | 31.6% | 1,089 | 37.5% | 1,294 | 0.3% | 10 | | Hennepin | 31.9% | 155,311 | 30.2% | 147,059 | 36.9% | 179,954 | 1.0% | 4,778 | | Houston | 48.8% | 3,616 | 37.7% | 2,797 | 12.0% | 891 | 1.5% | 111 | | Hubbard | 42.6% | 3,697 | 30.1% | 2,609 | 26.7% | 2,317 | 0.7% | 57 | | Isanti | 27.3% | 3,719 | 19.6% | 2,665 | 52.9% | 7,209 | 0.3% | 36 | | Itasca | 37.8% | 7,181 | 41.6% | 7,911 | 19.8% | 3,768 | 0.8% | 143 | | Jackson | 34.9% | 1,796 | 33.5% | 1,728 | 31.1% | 1,605 | 0.5% | 24 | | Kanabec | 29.0% | 1,895 | 21.1% | 1,374 | 49.6% | 3,238 | 0.3% | 17 | | Kandiyohi | 34.5% | 6,287 | 29.3% | 5,337 | 35.9% | 6,530 | 0.2% | 45 | | Kittson | 32.2% | 757 | 50.3% | 1,185 | 16.5% | 389 | 1.0% | 23 | | Koochiching | 46.4% | 2,721 | 34.9% | 2,347 | 18.1% | 1,064 | 0.56% | 31 | | Lac Qui | 27.6% | 1,133 | 39.5% | 1,621 | 32.4% | 1,330 | 0.4% | 16 | | Lake | 30.1% | 1,766 | 42.2% | 2,472 | 26.4% | 1,545 | 1.3% | 75 | | LOTW | 41.5% | 837 | 42.2% | 852 | 14.3% | 288 | 2.1% | 41 | | Le Sueur | 30.4% | 3,582 | 22.2% | 2,614 | 47.1% | 5,551 | 0.3% | 35 | | Lincoln | 36.4% | 1,129 | 36.7% | 1,136 | 26.3% | 815 | 0.6% | 18 | | Lyon | 39.1% | 4,043 | 28.7% | 2,966 | 31.7% | 3,277 | 0.6% | 66 | | McLeod | 30.9% | 4,754 | 15.9% | 2,449 | 52.8% | 8,126 | 0.3% | 50 | | Mahnomen | 41.8% | 821 | 36.5% | 716 | 20.7% | 406 | 1.1% | 21 | | Marshall | 40.5 | 1,959 | 41.5% | 2,008 | 17.2% | 834 | 0.8% | 38 | | Martin | 38.8% | 3,676 | 26.7% | 2,534 | 34.2% | 3,243 | 0.2% | 23 | | Meeker | 31.3% | 3,320 | 19.7% | 2,083 | 48.6% | 5,153 | 0.4% | 39 | | Mille Lacs | 31.0% | 2,898 | 21.4% | 1,998 | 47.2% | 4,404 | 0.4% | 39 | | Morrison | 40.6% | 5,377 | 21.9% | 2,899 | 37.0% | 4,905 | 0.6% | 78 | | Mower | 34.9% | 5,529 | 39.3% | 6,234 | 25.2% | 3,990 | 0.7% | 111 | | Murray | 38.7% | 1,819 | 34.5% | 1,620 | 26.2% | 1,233 | 0.6% | 30 | | Nicollet | 33.2% | 4,345 | 25.9% | 3,384 | 40.3% | 5,272 | 0.6% | 78 | | Nobles | 39.0% | 3,265 | 31.8% | 2,664 | 28.7% | 2,404 | 0.4% | 34 | | Norman | 31.4% | 1,024 | 49.7% | 1,621 | 18.3% | 596 | 0.6% | 19 | | Olmsted | 26.8% | 19,480 | 30.4% | 12,205 | 30.1% | 13,710 | 0.4% | 199 | | Otter Tail | 45.0% | 10,785 | 29.1% | 6,982 | 25.3% | 6,069 | 0.5% | 116 | | Pennington | 38.8% | 2,226 | 39.3% | 2,253 | 21.4% | 1,226 | 0.6% | 35 | | Pine | 26.9% | 2,869 | 25.6% | 2,730 | 47.1% | 5,027 | 0.4% | 48 | | Pipestone | 46.8% | 2,127 | 35.7% | 1,621 | 16.6% | 752 | 0.9% | 43 | | Polk | 40.7% | 4,462 | 43.5% | 2,347 | 15.5% | 1,699 | 0.4% | 44 | | Pope | 33.6% | 1,954 | 32.9% | 1,738 | 36.1% | 2,099 | 0.3% | 17 | | Ramsey | 32.4% | 69,240 | 32.1% | 68,619 | 34.6% | 73,993 | 0.8% | 1,714 | | Red Lake | 39.6% | 842 | 43.3% | 920 | 16.0% | 339 | 1.1% | 24 | | Redwood | 42.8% | 3,140 | 22.5% | 1,654 | 34.5% | 2,533 | 0.2% | 17 | | Renville | 30.7% | 2,514 | 25.4% | 2,079 | 43.7% | 3,583 | 0.3% | 24 | | Rice | 29.7% | 6,732 | 28.5% | 6,518 | 41.3% | 9,444 | 0.7% | 170 | | Rock | 47.7% | 1,832 | 36.1% | 1,384 | 15.5% | 596 | 0.7% | 25 | | Roseau | 49.8% | 2,975 | 31.2% | 1,863 | 18.1% | 1,081 | 1.0% | 57 | | St. Louis | 28.1% | 24,439 | 47.3% | 41,208 | 23.8% | 20,682 | 0.8% | 17 | | Scott | 34.9% | 12,075 | 16.7% | 5,787 | 48.1% | 16,612 | 0.3% | 97 | | Sherburne | 32.1% | 8,139 | 16.4% | 4,163 | 51.2% | 13,004 | 0.3% | 73 | | Sibley | 32.1% | 2,261 | 17.9% | 1,262 | 49.7% | 3,497 | 0.3% | 24 | | Stearns | 38.5% | 20,731 | 21.7% | 11,696 | 39.2% | 21,116 | 0.6% | 320 | | Steele | 38.5% | 5,399 | 21.6% | 3,022 | 39.7% | 5,559 | 0.3% | 37 | | Stevens | 40.7% | 2,052 | 29.9% | 1,507 | 28.9% | 1,455 | 0.5% | 25 | | Swift | 26.7% | 1,410 | 35.1% | 1,852 | 38.0% | 2,006 | 0.2% | 11 | | Todd | 39.3% | 4,293 | 22.4% | 2,426 | 37.9% | 4,146 | 0.5% | 60 | | Traverse | 34.3% | 733 | 33.7% | 733 | 31.5% | 674 | 0.7% | 14 | | Wabasha | 35.8% | 3,363 | 23.6% | 2,221 | 40.2% | 3,776 | 0.4% | 41 | | Wadena | 43.1% | 2,563 | 25.9% | 1,537 | 30.3% | 1,782 | 1.1% | 63 | | Waseca | 35.8% | 3,064 | 22.3% | 1,904 | 41.4% | 3,543 | 0.5% | 42 | | Washington | 35.8% | 32,565 | 22.2% | 20,205 | 41.7% | 37,910 | 0.3% | 300 | | Watonwan | 33.4% | 1,711 | 27.9% | 1,429 | 38.3% | 1,965 | 0.4% | 19 | | Wilkin | 43.2% | 1,181 | 32.6% | 892 | 23.4% | 639 | 0.8% | 22 | | Winona | 42.9% | 7,856 | 33.7% | 6,176 | 22.1% | 4,039 | 1.3% | 235 | | Wright | 32.1% | 11,957 | 16.2% | 6,027 | 51.4% | 19,124 | 0.3% | 106 | | Yellow | 29.8% | 1,628 | 33.7% | 1,838 | 36.0% | 1,966 | 0.5% | 25 | [edit] References [edit] External links |
