The 1966 Maine gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 1966. Incumbent
Republican Governor John Reed, had been elected to finish the term of
Clinton Clauson
Clinton Amos Clauson (March 28, 1895 – December 30, 1959) was a Democratic Party politician and the 66th Governor of Maine. Clauson died while in office, having served as governor for just under a year.
Life and career
Clauson grew up in Iow ...
in 1960, was then re-elected in 1962 and became the state's first four-year Governor. Reed was seeking a second full four-year term, and was challenged by
Democrat Kenneth M. Curtis, having defeated
James Erwin for the Republican nomination. Curtis defeated Reed, beginning a twenty-year period of
Republican isolation from the
Blaine House.
This was the last gubernatorial election in Maine in which a non-incumbent candidate won with a majority of the vote, until
Janet Mills won with 50.8% of the vote in
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
. As of 2023, Reed is the most recent incumbent governor to lose re-election; all succeeding Governors have been re-elected, with the exception of
James B. Longley, who did not run for re-election in
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...
, holding himself to a one-term promise.
Results
Notes
1966
Events January
* January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko.
* January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...
Maine
Gubernatorial
November 1966 events in the United States
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