The 1998 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1998. Reform Party candidate

Jesse Ventura Jesse Ventura (born James George Janos; July 15, 1951) is an American politician, political commentator, actor, media personality, and retired professional wrestler. After achieving fame in the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), he ...

, the former mayor of Brooklyn Park and a former

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

, won office, defeating Republican

St. Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

mayor

Norm Coleman Norman Bertram Coleman Jr. (born August 17, 1949) is an American politician, attorney, and lobbyist. From 2003 to 2009, he served as a United States Senate, United States Senator for Minnesota. From 1994 to 2002, he was mayor of Saint Paul, Mi ...

and DFL state attorney general

Skip Humphrey Hubert Horatio "Skip" Humphrey III (born June 26, 1942) is an American retired politician who served as attorney general of the state of Minnesota (1983–1999) and State Senator (1973–1983). Humphrey led the Office of Older Americans as the as ...

. He succeeded Republican incumbent

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 ...

. Ventura's victory as a third-party candidate was considered a historic major upset. As of , the election marks the only time a Reform Party candidate won a major government office. It also remains the last time a third-party candidate won any statewide election in Minnesota. Ventura's vote share of 36.99% is the lowest for a Minnesota gubernatorial election winner since

1890 Events January * January 1 – The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony in the Horn of Africa. * January 2 – Alice Sanger becomes the first female staffer in the White House. * January 11 – 1890 British Ultimatum: The Uni ...

DFL primary

Candidates

Attorney General of Minnesota The attorney general of Minnesota is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Thirty individuals have held the office of Attorney General since statehood. The incumbent is Keith Ellison, a Democratic-F ...

and son of former

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the Executive branch of the United States government, executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks f ...

Hubert Humphrey Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American politician who served from 1965 to 1969 as the 38th vice president of the United States. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing Minnesota from 19 ...

and former

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

Muriel Humphrey **Running mate:

Roger Moe Roger Moe (born June 2, 1944) is an American politician who served as a member and majority leader of the Minnesota Senate. He was the Democratic nominee for governor in the 2002 Minnesota gubernatorial election. Early life and education Born ...

, Minnesota Senate Majority Leader (SD2) *

Ted Mondale Theodore Adams Mondale (born October 12, 1957) is an American politician and businessman who served as a member of the Minnesota Senate from 1991 to 1997. He is the elder son of the late former U.S. Vice President Walter Mondale and the late Jo ...

, former State Senator (SD44) and son of former Vice President

Walter Mondale Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale (January 5, 1928April 19, 2021) was the 42nd vice president of the United States serving from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter. He previously served as a U.S. senator from Minnesota from 1964 to 1976. ...

**Running mate: Deanna Winter, political reporter * Mike Freeman,

Hennepin County Hennepin County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1,281,565, and was estimated to be 1,273,334 in 2024, making it the List of counties in ...

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 ...

**Running mate:

Ruth Johnson Ruth Johnson (born January 8, 1955) is an American businesswoman and politician currently serving as a member of the Michigan Senate since 2019. She was the 42nd Secretary of State of Michigan from 2011 to 2019 and a member of the Michigan House ...

, State Representative (HD24B) * Doug Johnson, State Senator (SD6) from the

Iron Range The Iron Range is collectively or individually a number of elongated iron-ore mining districts around Lake Superior in the United States and Canada. Much of the ore-bearing region lies alongside the range of granite hills formed by the Giants ...

and Chair of the Senate Committee on Taxation **Running mate: Tom Foley, former Ramsey County Attorney and Washington County Attorney *

Mark Dayton Mark Brandt Dayton (born January 26, 1947) is an American politician who served as the List of governors of Minnesota, 40th governor of Minnesota from 2011 to 2019. He served as a United States Senate, United States Senator representing Minneso ...

, Minnesota Auditor and heir to the

Dayton's Dayton's was an American department store chain founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1902 by George Draper Dayton. It operated several local high-end department stores throughout Minnesota and the Upper Midwest for almost 100 years. Although i ...

fortune **Running mate: Julie Jansen,

Olivia Olivia may refer to: People and fictional characters * Olivia (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Olivia (singer), American singer Olivia Longott (born 1981) * Olívia (basketball), Brazilian basketball playe ...

day care provider and environmental activist *Ole Savior, perennial candidate **Running mate: Ron Moseng

Polling

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

, mayor of

**Running mate: Gen Olson, State Senator (Rep-SD34) * Bill Dahn, retired

auto mechanic An auto mechanic is a mechanic who services and repairs automobiles, sometimes specializing in one or more List of car brands, automobile brands or sometimes working with any brand. In fixing cars, their main role is to Diagnosis, diagnose and ...

Norm Coleman was elected mayor of St. Paul in 1993 as a Democrat with almost 55% of the vote. In 1996, he switched parties to become a Republican after years of heat from his party. He won re-election as mayor in the heavily Democratic city with almost 59% of the vote in 1997.

Polling

Results

Coleman won the Republican nomination by winning the primary with token opposition.

General election

Candidates

, mayor of

(Republican) **Running mate: Gen Olson, State Senator (Rep-SD34) * Thomas Fiske (Socialist Workers) * Frank Germann (Libertarian) *

and son of former

and former

Muriel Humphrey (DFL) **Running mate:

, Minnesota Senate Majority Leader (SD2) * "Fancy" Ray McCloney ("People's Champion") * Ken Pentel (Green) *

, former mayor of Brooklyn Park and professional wrestler (Reform) ** Running mate: Mae Schunk, Inver Grove Heights teacher * Chris Wright (Grassroots) Ventura ran unopposed in his party's primary.

Campaign

Humphrey was seen as the initial favorite, having scored a $6 billion settlement with the tobacco industry in May of that year. The DFL primary saw candidates mostly focusing on issues, rather than attacking Humphrey. Humphrey had lost the party's endorsement to Mike Freeman. The primary was nicknamed the "My Three Sons" campaign, owing to the political pedigree of three of the candidates, and Mark Dayton, heir to the Dayton fortune. Humphrey was endorsed by the

Star Tribune ''The Minnesota Star Tribune'', formerly the ''Minneapolis Star Tribune'', is an American daily newspaper based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As of 2023, it is Minnesota's largest newspaper and the List of newspapers in the United States, seventh- ...

in the run up to November. Coleman started as a strong challenger to Humphrey. Coleman received the Republican endorsement over more conservative candidates

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 ...

and Joanne Benson. Coleman ran as a social conservative, opposing abortion and gay marriage. He also campaigned on using the state's budget surplus to cut taxes, as well as expanding the state's school choice program to include

school voucher A school voucher, also called an education voucher in a voucher system, is a certificate of government funding for students at schools chosen by themselves or their parents. Funding is usually for a particular year, term, or semester. In some cou ...

s. Ventura spent around $300,000 and combined it with an aggressive

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 ...

campaign that featured a statewide bus tour, pioneered use of the Internet for political purposes, and aired quirky TV ads designed by Bill Hillsman, who forged the phrase "Don't vote for politics as usual." Unable to afford many television ads, Ventura mainly focused on televised debates and public appearances, preaching his brand of

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 ...

politics. His speech at a parade in rural Minnesota during the summer attracted what organizers of the annual event described as one of its largest audiences. He ran on cutting taxes, reducing state government, and reducing public school classroom sizes to a 17 to 1 ratio. He also supported a public debate on the viability of legalized prostitution.

Polling

A poll taken in June showed that Coleman would defeat any other Democratic candidate than Humphrey; Humphrey would defeat Coleman 44% to 34%. However, Ventura polled in the double digits. No other candidate in the Reform Party's brief history in Minnesota has received more than 5 percent of the votes in a statewide election. Following the primary election in September, a poll on October 20 showed Humphrey leading 35% to Coleman (34%) and Ventura (21%). But the Star Tribune poll suggested that Ventura's surge with the voters had come mostly at Humphrey's expense. Since the primary, Humphrey's support among likely voters had dropped by 14 percentage points, while Coleman's had increased by 5 percentage points. ;Coleman vs. Humphrey ;Ventura vs. Coleman vs. Dayton ;Ventura vs. Coleman vs. Freeman ;Ventura vs. Coleman vs. Johnson ;Ventura vs. Coleman vs. Mondale ;Ventura vs. Benson vs. Freeman ;Ventura vs. Benson vs. Humphrey ;Ventura vs. Benson vs. Mondale ;Ventura vs. Quist vs. Freeman ;Ventura vs. Quist vs. Humphrey ;Ventura vs. Quist vs. Mondale ;Coleman vs. Freeman ;Coleman vs. Mondale ;Benson vs. Freeman ;Benson vs. Humphrey ;Benson vs. Mondale

DFL primary

Candidates

Polling

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Polling

Results

General election

Candidates

Campaign

Polling

Debate

Results

Results breakdown

Notes

References

Further reading