1998 Minnesota gubernatorial election

The 1998 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1998. Reform Party candidate Jesse Ventura beat Republican Party challenger Norm Coleman and Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party challenger Hubert H. "Skip" Humphrey III.

1998 Minnesota gubernatorial election

November 3, 1998

Nominee Jesse Ventura Norm Coleman Skip Humphrey Party Reform Republican Democratic (DFL) Running mate Mae Schunk Gen Olson Roger Moe Popular vote 773,713 717,350 587,528 Percentage 37.0% 34.3% 28.1%

County results Ventura:      30-40%      40-50%      50-60% Coleman:      30–40%      40–50% Humphrey:      30-40%      40-50%      50–60%

Governor before election Arne Carlson Republican Elected Governor Jesse Ventura Reform

Ventura's victory as a third party candidate was seen as a historic major upset, especially since he was a former professional wrestler. He ran on the Reform Party ticket, a party which had been founded by two-time presidential candidate Ross Perot who had received 23% of the vote in Minnesota in the 1992 presidential election and 12% in the 1996 election.

Primary results

Democratic

Democratic Primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Skip Humphrey	154,037	37
	Democratic	Mike Freeman	78,895	19
	Democratic	Doug Johnson	78,041	19
	Democratic	Mark Dayton	74,706	18
	Democratic	Ted Mondale	29,749	7
Invalid or blank votes
Total votes			415,428	100
Turnout

Republican

Republican Primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Norm Coleman	107,989	91
	Republican	Bill Dahn	10,505	9
Invalid or blank votes
Total votes			118,494	100
Turnout

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%
	Democratic (DFL)	Skip Humphrey	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