| Election Name: | 1946 United States gubernatorial elections |
| Country: | United States |
| Flag Year: | 1912 |
| Type: | legislative |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1945 United States gubernatorial elections |
| Previous Year: | 1945 |
| Next Election: | 1947 United States gubernatorial elections |
| Next Year: | 1947 |
| 1Blank: | Seats up |
| 2Blank: | Seats won |
| Seats For Election: | 34 governorships |
| Election Date: | November 5, 1946; September 9, 1946 (ME) |
| Party1: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Seats Before1: | 22 |
| Seats After1: | 25 |
| Seat Change1: | 3 |
| 1Data1: | 17 |
| 2Data1: | 20 |
| Party2: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Seats Before2: | 26 |
| Seats After2: | 23 |
| Seat Change2: | 3 |
| 1Data2: | 17 |
| 2Data2: | 14 |
| Map Size: | 324px |
United States gubernatorial elections were held in 1946, in 34 states, concurrent with the House and Senate elections, on November 5, 1946. Elections took place on September 9 in Maine.
In Idaho, the governor was elected to a 4-year term for the first time, instead of a 2-year term. In New Jersey, this was the last election on a 3-year cycle, before switching to a 4-year term for governors from 1949.
| State | Incumbent | Party | Status | Opposing candidates | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Democratic | Term-limited, Democratic victory | Jim Folsom (Democratic) 88.67% Lyman Ward (Republican) 11.33% [1] | ||
| Arizona | Sidney Preston Osborn | Democratic | Re-elected, 60.10% | Bruce Brockett (Republican) 39.90% [2] | |
| Arkansas | Benjamin Travis Laney | Democratic | Re-elected, 84.14% | W. T. Mills (Republican) 15.86% [3] | |
| California | Earl Warren | Republican[4] | Re-elected, 91.64% | Henry R. Schmidt (Prohibition) 7.06% Archie Brown (write-in) (Communist) 0.88% James Roosevelt (write-in) (Democratic) 0.13% Robert W. Kenny (Independent) 0.06% Albert Clark (Independent) 0.03% [5] | |
| Colorado | Republican | Retired, Democratic victory | William Lee Knous (Democratic) 52.11% Leon E. Lavington (Republican) 47.89% [6] | ||
| Connecticut | Republican | Retired to run for U.S. Senate, Republican victory | James L. McConaughy (Republican) 54.38% Charles Wilbert Snow (Democratic) 40.41% Jasper McLevy (Socialist) 4.72% Herman N. Simon (Socialist Labor) 0.50% [7] | ||
| Georgia | Democratic | Term-limited, Democratic victory | Eugene Talmadge (Democratic) 98.54% Herman Talmadge (write-in) (Democratic) 0.46% James V. Carmichael (write-in) (Democratic) 0.46% D. Talmadge Bowers (write-in) (Independent) 0.44% Ellis Arnall (write-in) (Democratic) 0.08% Scattering 0.01% [8] (Democratic primary results) Eugene Talmadge 42.96% (244) James V. Carmichael 45.30% (144) Eurith D. Rivers 10.04% (22) Hoke O’Kelley 1.70% [9] | ||
| Idaho | Democratic | Defeated, 43.63% | C. A. Robins (Republican) 56.37% [10] | ||
| Iowa | Robert D. Blue | Republican | Re-elected, 57.40% | Frank Miles (Democratic) 42.14% E. P. Gabriel (Prohibition) 0.46% [11] | |
| Kansas | Republican | Retired, Republican victory | Frank Carlson (Republican) 53.50% Harry Hines Woodring (Democratic) 44.02% David C. White (Prohibition) 2.17% Harry Graber (Socialist) 0.32% [12] | ||
| Maine | Horace Hildreth | Republican | Re-elected, 61.31% | F. Davis Clark (Democratic) 38.69% [13] | |
| Maryland | Democratic | Retired to run for U.S. Senate, Democratic victory | William Preston Lane Jr. (Democratic) 54.73% Theodore McKeldin (Republican) 45.27% [14] | ||
| Massachusetts | Democratic | Defeated, 45.31% | Robert F. Bradford (Republican) 54.12% Horace I. Hillis (Socialist Labor) 0.42% Guy S. Williams (Prohibition) 0.14% [15] | ||
| Michigan | Republican | Retired, Republican victory | Kim Sigler (Republican) 60.28% Murray Van Wagoner (Democratic) 38.70% Gordon Phillips (Prohibition) 0.72% James Sim (Socialist Labor) 0.30% [16] | ||
| Minnesota | Republican | Retired to run for U.S. Senate, Republican victory | Luther Youngdahl (Republican) 58.96% Harold H. Barker (DFL) 39.71% Rudolph Gustafson (Industrial Government) 1.33% [17] | ||
| Nebraska | Republican | Retired to run for U.S. Senate, Republican victory | Val Peterson (Republican) 65.51% Frank Sorrell (Democratic) 34.49% [18] | ||
| Nevada | Vail M. Pittman | Democratic | Re-elected, 57.42% | Melvin E. Jepson (Republican) 42.58% [19] | |
| New Hampshire | Charles M. Dale | Republican | Re-elected, 63.14% | F. Clyde Keefe (Democratic) 36.86% [20] | |
| New Jersey | Republican | Term-limited, Republican victory | Alfred E. Driscoll (Republican) 57.08% Lewis G. Hansen (Democratic) 41.42% Alan Kohlman (Socialist Workers) 0.69% Lawrence Mahan (Communist) 0.29% Rubye Smith (Socialist) 0.16% Robert L. Gittings (Independent) 0.15% George E. Bopp (Socialist Labor) 0.10% John Binns (Prohibition) 0.10% [21] | ||
| New Mexico | Democratic | Retired to run for U.S. Senate, Republican victory | Thomas J. Mabry (Democratic) 52.70% Edward L. Safford (Republican) 47.30% [22] | ||
| New York | Thomas E. Dewey | Republican | Re-elected, 56.92% | James M. Mead (Democratic) 43.08% [23] | |
| North Dakota | Fred G. Aandahl | Republican | Re-elected, 68.88% | Quentin Burdick (Democratic) 31.12% [24] | |
| Ohio | Democratic | Defeated, 48.88% | Thomas J. Herbert (Republican) 50.64% Arla A. Albaugh (Socialist Labor) 0.49% [25] | ||
| Oklahoma | Democratic | Term-limited, Democratic victory | Roy J. Turner (Democratic) 52.47% Olney F. Flynn (Republican) 45.98% Mildred “Mickey” Harrell (Independent) 1.45% R. M. Funk (Independent) 0.05% Bruno H. Miller (Independent) 0.05% [26] | ||
| Oregon | Earl Snell | Republican | Re-elected, 69.06% | Carl C. Donaugh (Democratic) 30.94% [27] | |
| Pennsylvania | Republican | Term-limited, Republican victory | James H. Duff (Republican) 58.53% John S. Rice (Democratic) 40.68% James Killip (Prohibition) 0.44% George S. Taylor (Socialist Labor) 0.34% [28] | ||
| Rhode Island | John Pastore | Democratic | Re-elected, 54.27% | John G. Murphy (Republican) 45.73% [29] | |
| South Carolina | Democratic | Defeated in Democratic primary, Democratic victory | Strom Thurmond (Democratic) unopposed [30] (Democratic primary run-off results) Strom Thurmond 56.95% James C. McLeod 43.05% [31] | ||
| South Dakota | Republican | Defeated in Republican primary, Republican victory | George Theodore Mickelson (Republican) 67.16% Richard Haeder (Democratic) 32.84% [32] | ||
| Tennessee | Jim Nance McCord | Democratic | Re-elected, 65.35% | W. O. Lowe (Republican) 31.91% John Randolph Neal Jr. (Independent) 2.74% [33] | |
| Texas | Democratic | Retired, Democratic victory | Beauford H. Jester (Democratic) 91.23% Eugene Nolte (Republican) 8.77% [34] | ||
| Vermont | Republican | Defeated in Republican primary, Republican victory | Ernest W. Gibson Jr. (Republican) 80.30% Berthold C. Coburn (Democratic) 19.57% Scattering 0.14% [35] | ||
| Wisconsin | Walter Samuel Goodland | Republican | Re-elected, 59.78% | Daniel Hoan (Democratic) 39.07% Walter H. Uphoff (Socialist) 0.87% Sigmund Eisenscher (Communist) 0.18% Jerry Kenyon (Socialist Labor) 0.09% Scattering 0.02% [36] | |
| Wyoming | Lester C. Hunt | Democratic | Re-elected, 52.88% | Earl Wright (Republican) 47.12% [37] |