1994 New Mexico gubernatorial election

1994 New Mexico gubernatorial election

← 1990 November 8, 1994 1998 →
 
Nominee Gary Johnson Bruce King Roberto Mondragón
Party Republican Democratic Green
Running mate Walter Bradley Patricia A. Madrid Steven Schmidt
Popular vote 232,945 186,686 47,990
Percentage 49.81% 39.92% 10.3%

County results
Johnson:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
King:      40–50%      50–60%

Governor before election

Bruce King
Democratic

Elected Governor

Gary Johnson
Republican

The 1994 New Mexico gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1994, for the four-year term beginning on January 1, 1995. Candidates for governor and lieutenant governor ran on a ticket as running mates.

Incumbent Democrat Bruce King ran for a fourth term with Patricia Madrid as a running mate, losing to Republican nominees Gary Johnson, a businessman, and Walter Bradley, a former state senator. Former Lieutenant Governor Roberto Mondragón ran with Steven Schmidt as the nominees of the Green Party, receiving 10.4 percent of the vote.

The election was marked by the surprising rise of Republican Gary Johnson, the 41-year-old owner of one of the state's largest construction companies. Johnson, who had never before held elected office, upset a crowded Republican primary field by a margin of fewer than 1,300 votes. With the state's non-Republicans split between the centrist King and progressive Mondragón, King failed to gain a majority and Johnson won the election with 49.8% of the vote.[1]

This is the last time a governor of New Mexico lost re-election. This was one of four gubernatorial elections where an incumbent Democrat was defeated in 1994.

  1. ^ Birnbaum, Ben (August 12, 2016). "Gary Johnson Has a Plan". Politico Magazine. ISSN 2381-1595.