| Election Name: | 1938 United States gubernatorial elections |
| Country: | United States |
| Flag Year: | 1912 |
| Type: | legislative |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1937 United States gubernatorial elections |
| Previous Year: | 1937 |
| Next Election: | 1939 United States gubernatorial elections |
| Next Year: | 1939 |
| 1Blank: | Seats up |
| 2Blank: | Seats won |
| Seats For Election: | 33 governorships |
| Election Date: | November 8, 1938; September 12, 1938 (ME) |
| Party1: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Seats Before1: | 39 |
| Seats After1: | 30 |
| Seat Change1: | 9 |
| 1Data1: | 24 |
| 2Data1: | 15 |
| Party2: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Seats Before2: | 6 |
| Seats After2: | 18 |
| Seat Change2: | 12 |
| 1Data2: | 6 |
| 2Data2: | 18 |
| Party4: | Farmer–Labor Party (United States) |
| Seats Before4: | 1 |
| Seats After4: | 0 |
| Seat Change4: | 1 |
| 1Data4: | 1 |
| 2Data4: | 0 |
| Party5: | Wisconsin Progressive Party |
| Seats Before5: | 1 |
| Seats After5: | 0 |
| Seat Change5: | 1 |
| 1Data5: | 1 |
| 2Data5: | 0 |
| Party7: | Non-Partisan League |
| Color7: | FCF5D9 |
| Seats Before7: | 1 |
| Seats After7: | 0 |
| Seat Change7: | 1 |
| 1Data7: | 1 |
| 2Data7: | 0 |
| Map Size: | 324px |
United States gubernatorial elections were held in 1938, in 33 states, concurrent with the House and Senate elections, on November 8, 1938. Elections took place on September 12 in Maine.
Governor Herbert H. Lehman was only able to win reelection due to the votes he received on the American Labor Party's ballot line.[1] In New York, the governor was elected to a 4-year term for the first time, instead of a 2-year term.
| State | Incumbent | Party | Status | Opposing candidates | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Democratic | Term-limited, Democratic victory | Frank Dixon (Democratic) 87.52% W. A. Clardy (Republican) 12.48% [2] | ||
| Arizona | Democratic | Retired, Democratic victory | Robert Taylor Jones (Democratic) 68.57% Jerrie W. Lee (Republican) 27.33% James H. Kerby (Independent Democrat) 4.11% [3] | ||
| Arkansas | Carl E. Bailey | Democratic | Re-elected, 86.32% | Charles F. Cole (Independent) 8.78% Walter S. McNutt (Republican) 4.89% [4] | |
| California | Republican | Defeated, 44.17% | Culbert Olson (Democratic) 52.49% Raymond L. Haight (Progressive) 2.43% Robert Noble (Commonwealth) 0.90% Scattering 0.02% [5] | ||
| Colorado | Democratic | Defeated, 40.02% | Ralph Lawrence Carr (Republican) 59.50% Jack R. White (National Union) 0.25% Harvey L. Mayfield (Royal Way) 0.23% [6] | ||
| Connecticut | Democratic | Defeated, 36.00% | Raymond E. Baldwin (Republican) 36.43% Jasper McLevy (Socialist) 26.30% Joseph C. Borden Jr. (Socialist Labor) 1.15% Devere Allen (Labor) 0.12% [7] | ||
| Georgia | Eurith D. Rivers | Democratic | Re-elected, 94.28% | E. S. Fuller (Independent) 2.70% L. P. Glass (Prohibition) 1.92% Alexander Stephens Mitchell (Independent) 1.11% [8] (Democratic primary results) Eurith D. Rivers 50.72% Hugh Howell 42.40% J. J. Mangham 6.18% Robert F. Wood 0.70% [9] | |
| Idaho | Democratic | Defeated in Democratic primary, Republican victory | C. A. Bottolfsen (Republican) 57.30% C. Ben Ross (Democratic) 41.89% R. B. Wilson (National Progressive) 0.81% [10] | ||
| Iowa | Democratic | Defeated, 45.72% | George A. Wilson (Republican) 52.71% Wallace M. Short (Farmer Labor) 1.20% John F. Wirds (Progressive) 0.25% J. Alvin Mitchell (Prohibition) 0.13% [11] | ||
| Kansas | Democratic | Defeated, 45.13% | Payne Ratner (Republican) 52.10% Jonathan M. Davis (Independent) 1.99% C. Floyd Hester (Prohibition) 0.57% Ida A. Beloof (Socialist) 0.20% [12] | ||
| Maine (held, 12 September 1938) | Lewis O. Barrows | Republican | Re-elected, 52.89% | Louis J. Brann (Democratic) 47.02% Winfred Tabbutt (Communist) 0.10% [13] | |
| Maryland | Republican | Defeated, 42.88% | Herbert O'Conor (Democratic) 54.62% Herbert Brune (Independent) 1.33% Joshua C. Gwin (Union) 0.75% David W. Eyman (Socialist) 0.17% Robert Kadish (Labor) 0.13% Samuel Gordon (Communist) 0.11% [14] | ||
| Massachusetts | Democratic | Defeated in Democratic primary, Republican victory | Leverett Saltonstall (Republican) 53.32% James Michael Curley (Democratic) 44.96% William McMasters (Townsend Party) 0.41% Jeffrey W. Campbell (Socialist) 0.32% Henning A. Blomen (Socialist Labor) 0.22% Otis Archer Hood (Communist) 0.20% Roland S. Bruneau (Independent) 0.19% [15] | ||
| Michigan | Democratic | Defeated, 46.96% | Frank Fitzgerald (Republican) 52.78% Nahum Burnett (Socialist) 0.18% Clayton O’Donohue (Socialist Labor) 0.03% Scattering 0.05% [16] | ||
| Minnesota | Defeated, 34.18% | Harold Stassen (Republican) 59.92% Thomas F. Gallagher (Democratic) 5.82% John William Castle (Industrial) 0.08% [17] | |||
| Nebraska | Robert L. Cochran | Democratic | Re-elected, 44.03% | Charles J. Warner (Republican) 40.63% Charles W. Bryan (Independent) 15.35% [18] | |
| Nevada | Democratic | Retired, Democratic victory | Edward P. Carville (Democratic) 61.86% John A. Fulton (Republican) 38.14% [19] | ||
| New Hampshire | Francis P. Murphy | Republican | Re-elected, 57.08% | John L. Sullivan (Democratic) 42.79% Elba K. Chase (Communist) 0.13% [20] | |
| New Mexico | Democratic | Term-limited, Democratic victory | John E. Miles (Democratic) 52.24% Albert K. Mitchell (Republican) 47.59% J. D. Shuster (Independent) 0.17% [21] | ||
| New York | Herbert H. Lehman | Democratic | Re-elected, 50.38% | Thomas E. Dewey (Republican) 49.02% Norman M. Thomas (Socialist) 0.53% Aaron M. Orange (Industrial Government) 0.07% [22] | |
| North Dakota | Retired to run for U.S. Senate, Democratic victory | John Moses (Democratic) 52.47% John N. Hagan (Republican) 47.53% [23] | |||
| Ohio | Democratic | Defeated in Democratic primary, Republican victory | John W. Bricker (Republican) 52.45% Charles Sawyer (Democratic) 47.55% [24] | ||
| Oklahoma | Democratic | Term-limited, Democratic victory | Leon C. Phillips (Democratic) 70.03% Ross Rizley (Republican) 29.31% John Wesley Lanham (Prohibition) 0.51% John Franing (Independent) 0.15% [25] | ||
| Oregon | Democratic | Defeated in Democratic primary, Republican victory | Charles A. Sprague (Republican) 57.40% Henry L. Hess (Democratic) 42.59% Scattering 0.02% [26] | ||
| Pennsylvania | Democratic | Term-limited, Republican victory | Arthur James (Republican) 53.39% Charles Alvin Jones (Democratic) 46.07% Jesse H. Holmes (Socialist) 0.33% Robert G. Burnham (Prohibition) 0.17% Ella Reeve Bloor Omholt (Communist) 0.03% [27] | ||
| Rhode Island | Democratic | Defeated, 41.63% | William Henry Vanderbilt III (Republican) 54.17% Walter E. O'Hara (Square Deal) 4.08% Morris Kominsky (Communist) 0.12% [28] | ||
| South Carolina | Democratic | Term-limited, Democratic victory | Burnet R. Maybank (Democratic) 99.43% Joseph A. Tolbert (Republican) 0.57% [29] (Democratic primary run-off results) Burnet Rhett Maybank 52.33% Wyndham Meredith Manning 47.67% [30] | ||
| South Dakota | Republican | Retired to run for U.S. Senate, Republican victory | Harlan J. Bushfield (Republican) 53.95% Oscar Fosheim (Democratic) 46.05% [31] | ||
| Tennessee | Democratic | Defeated in Democratic primary, Democratic victory | Prentice Cooper (Democratic) 71.72% Howard Baker Sr. (Republican) 28.28% [32] | ||
| Texas | Democratic | Retired, Democratic victory | W. Lee O'Daniel (Democratic) 96.82% A. Boynton (Republican) 3.05% Earl E. Miller (Socialist) 0.08% Homer Brooks (Communist) 0.06% [33] | ||
| Vermont | George D. Aiken | Republican | Re-elected, 66.75% | Fred C. Martin (Democratic) 33.25% [34] | |
| Wisconsin | Defeated, 36.00% | Julius P. Heil (Republican) 55.39% Harry W. Bolens (Democratic) 7.99% Frank W. Smith (Union) 0.47% John Schleier Jr. (Independent) 0.15% [35] | |||
| Wyoming | Democratic | Defeated, 40.19% | Nels H. Smith (Republican) 59.81% [36] |