1994 Michigan gubernatorial election

← 1990

November 8, 1994

1998 →


Nominee	John Engler	Howard Wolpe
Party	Republican	Democratic
Running mate	Connie Binsfeld	Debbie Stabenow
Popular vote	1,899,101	1,188,438
Percentage	61.5%	38.5%

County results
Engler: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%
Wolpe: 50–60%

Governor before election

John Engler
Republican

Elected Governor

John Engler
Republican

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The 1994 Michigan gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1994, to elect the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of the state of Michigan. Incumbent Governor John Engler, a member of the Republican Party, was re-elected over Democratic Party nominee and Congressman Howard Wolpe. The voter turnout was 45.5%.

Republican primary

Candidates

John Engler, incumbent Governor

Engler, who was narrowly elected in 1990, ran unopposed in the GOP Primary and retained Lt. Gov. Connie Binsfeld as his running mate.

Results

Michigan gubernatorial Republican primary, 1994
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Engler	549,565	99.81
	Republican	Write-ins	1,034	0.19
Total votes			550,599	100.00

Democratic primary

Candidates

H. Lynn Jondahl, State Representative from Okemos
Larry Owen, former mayor of East Lansing and former member of the Michigan State University Board of Trustees
Debbie Stabenow, State Senator from Lansing
Howard Wolpe, former U.S. Representative from Lansing

All four candidates were notably from Lansing or its immediate surroundings.

Wolpe, who had served 7 terms in Congress before retiring in 1993, won a 4-way battle for the Democratic nomination, taking 35 percent of the vote. He bested his closest rival, state Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who had 30 percent. Wolpe eventually chose Stabenow as his running mate.

Results

Michigan gubernatorial Democratic primary, 1994
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Howard Wolpe	242,847	35.25
	Democratic	Debbie Stabenow	209,641	30.43
	Democratic	Larry Owen	176,675	25.64
	Democratic	H. Lynn Jondahl	59,127	8.58
	Democratic	Write-ins	712	0.10
Total votes			689,002	100.00

General election

Polling

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Source	Date	Engler (R)	Wolpe (D)
WDIV-TV	Oct. 30, 1994	56%	30%
Detroit News	Oct. 16, 1994	54%	29%
WJBK-TV	Sep. 16, 1994	50%	39%

Results

Michigan gubernatorial election, 1994
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	John Engler (incumbent)	1,899,101	61.50	+11.7
	Democratic	Howard Wolpe	1,188,438	38.50	−10.6
	Write-in		1,538	0.05	-0.02
Majority			710,663	23.0	+22.3
Turnout			1,900,639	45.5	−25.9%
	Republican hold

Results by county

This section is missing information about how many votes each candidate received in each county. Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page. (October 2024)

County	Engler	Feiger	Others
Alcona	.%	.%	.%
Alger	.%	.%	.%
Allegan	.%	.%	.%
Alpena	.%	.%	.%
Antrim	.%	.%	.%
Arenac	.%	.%	.%
Baraga	.%	.%	.%
Barry	.%	.%	.%
Bay	.%	.%	.%
Benzie	.%	.%	.%
Berrien	.%	.%	.%
Branch	.%	.%	.%
Calhoun	.%	.%	.%
Cass	.%	.%	.%
Charlevoix	.%	.%	.%
Cheboygan	.%	.%	.%
Chippewa	.%	.%	.%
Clare	.%	.%	.%
Clinton	.%	.%	.%
Crawford	.%	.%	.%
Delta	.%	.%	.%
Dickinson	.%	.%	.%
Eaton	.%	.%	.%
Emmet	.%	.%	.%
Genesee	.%	.%	.%
Gladwin	.%	.%	.%
Gogebic	.%	.%	.%
Grand Traverse	.%	.%	.%
Gratiot	.%	.%	.%
Hillsdale	.%	.%	.%
Houghton	.%	.%	.%
Huron	.%	.%	.%
Ingham	.%	.%	.%
Ionia	.%	.%	.%
Iosco	.%	.%	.%
Iron	.%	.%	.%
Isabella	.%	.%	.%
Jackson	.%	.%	.%
Kalamazoo	.%	.%	.%
Kalkaska	.%	.%	.%
Kent	.%	.%	.%
Keweenaw	.%	.%	.%
Lake	.%	.%	.%
Lapeer	.%	.%	.%
Leelanau	.%	.%	.%
Lenawee	.%	.%	.%
Livingston	.%	.%	.%
Luce	.%	.%	.%
Mackinac	.%	.%	.%
Macomb	.%	.%	.%
Manistee	.%	.%	.%
Marquette	.%	.%	.%
Mason	.%	.%	.%
Mecosta	.%	.%	.%
Menominee	.%	.%	.%
Midland	.%	.%	.%
Missaukee	.%	.%	.%
Monroe	.%	.%	.%
Montcalm	.%	.%	.%
Montmorency	.%	.%	.%
Muskegon	.%	.%	.%
Newaygo	.%	.%	.%
Oakland	.%	.%	.%
Oceana	.%	.%	.%
Ogemaw	.%	.%	.%
Ontonagon	.%	.%	.%
Osceola	.%	.%	.%
Oscoda	.%	.%	.%
Otsego	.%	.%	.%
Ottawa	.%	.%	.%
Presque Isle	.%	.%	.%
Roscommon	.%	.%	.%
Saginaw	.%	.%	.%
St. Clair	.%	.%	.%
St. Joseph	.%	.%	.%
Sanilac	.%	.%	.%
Schoolcraft	.%	.%	.%
Shiawassee	.%	.%	.%
Tuscola	.%	.%	.%
Van Buren	.%	.%	.%
Washtenaw	.%	.%	.%
Wayne	.%	.%	.%
Wexford	.%	.%	.%

References

"General Election Voter Registration/Turnout Statistics". State of Michigan official website. Archived from the original on December 22, 2011. Retrieved December 13, 2011.
^ "Victors in Michigan Primaries". New York Times. August 4, 1994. Archived from the original on October 15, 2017. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
^ Michigan (1997). Michigan manual. 1995/1996. Archived from the original on April 28, 2023. Retrieved October 5, 2024 – via HathiTrust.
Bill Ballenger (May 10, 2016). "Stabenow for Governor — in 1994". The Ballenger Report. Archived from the original on October 15, 2017. Retrieved October 15, 2017.

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