The 1994 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 1994, in the midst of that year's

Republican Revolution The "Republican Revolution", "Revolution of '94", or "Gingrich Revolution" are political slogans that refer to the Republican Party's (GOP) success in the 1994 U.S. midterm elections, which resulted in a net gain of 54 seats in the House o ...

. Incumbent Republican

Arne Carlson Arne Helge Carlson (born September 24, 1934) is an American politician who served from 1991 to 1999 as the 37th governor of Minnesota. Carlson is considered a liberal Republican. Before his governorship, he served as the Minnesota State Audito ...

easily won re-election over Democrat–Farmer–Labor state senator

John Marty John J. Marty (born November 1, 1956) is a member of the Minnesota Senate, representing District 40, which includes parts of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County in the northern Twin Cities metropolitan area. As a young state senator, he ran ...

. To date, this is the most recent gubernatorial election in which Hennepin and

Ramsey Ramsey may refer to: Companies *Ramsey (retailer), Turkish clothing retailer People * Ramsey (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Ramsey (surname), including a list of people with the surname * Baron de Ramsey, a title i ...

counties voted for the Republican candidate. This was the first time since

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

that an incumbent Republican Governor of Minnesota won re-election. It is also the most recent statewide election in which a Republican won a majority of the vote.

Republican Party

While incumbent Arne Carlson was popular in the state, he was not popular with rank-and-file Republicans, who viewed his victory in 1990 as an accident, as he was chosen as a replacement nominee shortly before the general election. Carlson, who was

pro-choice Abortion-rights movements, also self-styled as pro-choice movements, are movements that advocate for legal access to induced abortion services, including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their ...

and in favor of extending civil rights to homosexuals, was seen as too moderate by delegates to the GOP state convention, who ultimately chose former state representative Allen Quist, a staunch conservative, as their nominee. Ultimately, though, Carlson easily defeated Quist in the state primary, putting himself on the ballot for November.

Candidates

, incumbent governor since 1991 ** Running mate: Joanne Benson, state senator from St. Cloud *

Allen Quist Allen J. Quist (born October 14, 1944) is a Minnesota politician, a former state representative, and a two-time candidate for governor of the state. Political career State representative A Republican, Quist was first elected to the Minnes ...

, St. Peter farmer and former

state representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United St ...

:*Running mate: Doug McFarland,

Hamline University Hamline University ( ) is a private university in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1854, Hamline is the oldest university in Minnesota, the first coeducational university in the state, and is one of five Associated Colleges of th ...

law professor

Primary results

Democratic Party

At the DFL convention, Marty received the party endorsement, beating back a strong challenge by three opponents, one of whom Mike Freeman, son of a popular former governor withdrew, but Marty still faced a strong challenge from former Minneapolis Chief of Police Tony Bouza. Bouza faded, however, when it was revealed that he supported severe restrictions on handguns. Marty ultimately won a narrow victory in the primary over former Commerce Commissioner Mike Hatch, who lost his second consecutive gubernatorial primary.

Candidates

* Tony Bouza, former

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

Chief of Police and director of the Minnesota Gaming Commission ** Running mate: Kim Stokes,

Britt Britt may refer to: Places * Britt, Iowa, United States * Britt, Minnesota, United States * Britt, Ontario, Canada * Britt Peak, Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica * Britt Township, Hancock County, Iowa, United States Other uses * Britt (actress), Swedi ...

resident *

Mike Hatch Michael Alan Hatch (born November 12, 1948) is an American politician and lawyer. He was the Attorney General of Minnesota from 1999 to 2007, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Commerce from 1983 to 1989, and chair of the Minnesota DF ...

, former commissioner of Commerce and candidate for governor in 1990 ** Running mate: Robert Schmitz, farmer and former state senator from

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

State Senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

from Roseville ** Running mate: Nancy Larson, executive director of the Minnesota Association of Small Cities * Richard T. Van Bergen,

Buffalo Buffalo most commonly refers to: * True buffalo or Bubalina, a subtribe of wild cattle, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, a genus of wild cattle, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York, a city in the n ...

resident and Lyndon LaRouche supporter ** Running mate: Glenn Mesaros, Minneapolis resident and perennial candidate

Withdrew

* Michael O. Freeman, Hennepin County Attorney and son of former Governor

Orville Freeman Orville Lothrop Freeman (May 9, 1918February 20, 2003) was an American politician who served as the 29th governor of Minnesota from 1955 to 1961, and as the U.S. secretary of agriculture from 1961 to 1969 under Presidents John F. Kennedy and L ...

(withdrew after DFL Convention)

Primary results

General election

Campaign

The 1994 election nationwide was noted for a GOP wave of election victories. In Minnesota, that wave wasn't as evident, as half of the statewide elections went for each party. The GOP won the governorship, U.S. Senator, and State Auditor positions, and the DFL won the State Attorney General, Secretary of State, and State Treasurer positions. Additionally, the Minnesota State House remained in DFL control by a 72–64 margin. The results of the gubernatorial general election were: Arne Carlson 1,094,165, John Marty 589,344, Will Shetterly 20,785, Jon Hillson 3,022, Eric Arthur Olson 15,467, Leslie Davis 4,611.Minnesota Election Results 1994, p.29-30 Retrieved Oct 20, 2014
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Candidates

, incumbent governor since 1991 ( Independent-Republican) ** Running mate: Joanne Benson, state senator * Leslie Davis, Minneapolis environmental activist and

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates are most common where there is no limit on the number of times that a person can run for office and little cost ...

(Nutritional Rights) ** Running mate: Phil Ratté, perennial candidate * John Hillson, St. Paul railroad switchman ( Socialist Workers) ** Running mate: Leah Finger *

, state senator from Roseville ( Democratic–Farmer–Labor) ** Running mate: Nancy Larson, executive director of the Minnesota Association of Small Cities * Eric Olson, Minneapolis insurance agent (

Libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

) ** Running mate: Michael Strand, Minneapolis resident *

Will Shetterly Will Shetterly (born 1955) is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction best known for his novel '' Dogland'' (1997). The novel is inspired by his childhood at the tourist attraction Dog Land owned by his parents. He won the Minnesota B ...

, Minneapolis fantasy and comic book writer (

Grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or continent movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from volunteers at the local level to imp ...

) ** Running mate: Tim Davis, Minneapolis forklift operator and candidate for state representative in 1990

Polling

Debate

Results

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20060425113929/http://www.sos.state.mn.us/docs/mn_leg_man_06_chapt7.pdf

References

{{Minnesota elections

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

Gubernatorial A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...