1990 Wisconsin gubernatorial election

The 1990 Wisconsin gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1990. Incumbent Republican governor Tommy Thompson won the election with 58% of the vote, winning a second term as Governor of Wisconsin. The primary elections were held on September 11, 1990.

1990 Wisconsin gubernatorial election

← 1986 November 6, 1990 1994 →

Nominee Tommy Thompson Thomas A. Loftus Party Republican Democratic Running mate Scott McCallum Joseph Czarnezki Popular vote 802,321 576,280 Percentage 58.15% 41.77%

County results Precinct results Thompson:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Loftus:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Tie:

Governor before election Tommy G. Thompson Republican Elected Governor Tommy G. Thompson Republican

As of 2022, this is the most recent Wisconsin gubernatorial election in which a Republican candidate won at the same time the party held the presidency. Neither party would pull off such a feat again until 2022, when Democratic governor Tony Evers won re-election during the presidency of fellow Democrat Joe Biden.

Republican primary

Governor

Nominee

• Tommy G. Thompson, incumbent governor

Eliminated in primary

• Michele Ann Gess (write-in)
• Edmond Hou-Seye, perennial candidate
• Willie G. Lovelace (write-in)
• Bennett A. Masel

Results

Republican gubernatorial primary results^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Tommy G. Thompson (incumbent)	201,467	92.68%
	Republican	Bennett A. Masel	11,230	5.17%
	Republican	Edmond Hou-Seye	4,665	2.15%
	Republican	Willie G. Lovelace (write-in)	8	0.00%
Total votes			217,370	100.00%

Lieutenant Governor

Nominee

• Scott McCallum, incumbent lieutenant governor

Results

Republican lieutenant gubernatorial primary results^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Scott McCallum (incumbent)	169,403	100.00%
Total votes			169,403	100.00%

Democratic party

Governor

Nominee

• Thomas A. Loftus, incumbent Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly

Results

Democratic gubernatorial primary results^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Thomas A. Loftus	153,346	100.00%
Total votes			153,346	100.00%

Lieutenant Governor

Nominee

• Joseph Czarnezki, member of Wisconsin Senate

Results

Democratic lieutenant gubernatorial primary results^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Joseph Czarnezki	128,885	100.00%
Total votes			128,885	100.00%

Labor-Farm party

Governor

Nominee

• Rickey D. Keilholtz

Results

Labor-Farm gubernatorial primary results^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labor-Farm	Rickey D. Keilholtz (write-in)	223	100.00%
Total votes			223	100.00%

Lieutenant Governor

Nominee

• Richard L. Ackley

Results

Labor-Farm lieutenant gubernatorial primary results^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labor-Farm	Richard L. Ackley (write-in)	208	100.00%
Total votes			208	100.00%

General election

Results

1990 Wisconsin gubernatorial election^[3][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Tommy G. Thompson	802,321	58.15%	+5.43%
	Democratic	Thomas A. Loftus	576,280	41.77%	−4.44%
		Scattering	1,126	0.08%
Majority			226,041	16.38%
Total votes			1,379,727	100.00%
	Republican hold		Swing	+9.87%

Results by county

Thompson was the first Republican since Philip La Follette in 1930 to win Iron County, the first since Walter S. Goodland in 1946 to win Milwaukee County, and the first since Walter J. Kohler Jr. in 1952 to win Douglas County and Kenosha County.

County[3][4]	Tommy G. Thompson Republican		Thomas A. Loftus Democratic		Scattering Write-in		Margin		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Adams	2,391	52.60%	2,154	47.38%	1	0.02%	237	5.21%	4,546
Ashland	3,066	59.49%	2,087	40.49%	1	0.02%	979	18.99%	5,154
Barron	5,494	52.37%	4,982	47.49%	14	0.13%	512	4.88%	10,490
Bayfield	3,309	59.24%	2,276	40.74%	1	0.02%	1,033	18.49%	5,586
Brown	35,561	57.62%	26,143	42.36%	14	0.02%	9,418	15.26%	61,718
Buffalo	2,262	52.06%	2,083	47.94%	0	0.00%	179	4.12%	4,345
Burnett	2,175	48.44%	2,307	51.38%	8	0.18%	-132	-2.94%	4,490
Calumet	6,109	65.96%	3,151	34.02%	2	0.02%	2,958	31.94%	9,262
Chippewa	7,954	54.86%	6,542	45.12%	3	0.02%	1,412	9.74%	14,499
Clark	5,761	58.22%	4,131	41.75%	3	0.03%	1,630	16.47%	9,895
Columbia	8,304	57.92%	6,021	42.00%	12	0.08%	2,283	15.92%	14,337
Crawford	2,456	55.37%	1,976	44.54%	4	0.09%	480	10.82%	4,436
Dane	55,998	45.63%	66,638	54.29%	98	0.08%	-10,640	-8.67%	122,734
Dodge	12,325	64.27%	6,842	35.68%	9	0.05%	5,483	28.59%	19,176
Door	5,291	62.06%	3,235	37.94%	0	0.00%	2,056	24.11%	8,526
Douglas	7,898	56.25%	6,140	43.73%	4	0.03%	1,758	12.52%	14,042
Dunn	4,613	48.42%	4,900	51.43%	14	0.15%	-287	-3.01%	9,527
Eau Claire	14,864	53.89%	12,711	46.09%	5	0.02%	2,153	7.81%	27,580
Florence	808	58.00%	585	42.00%	0	0.00%	223	16.01%	1,393
Fond du Lac	16,043	66.73%	7,992	33.24%	7	0.03%	8,051	33.49%	24,042
Forest	1,711	55.64%	1,364	44.36%	0	0.00%	347	11.28%	3,075
Grant	6,782	62.11%	4,131	37.83%	7	0.06%	2,651	24.28%	10,920
Green	4,454	58.31%	3,180	41.63%	4	0.05%	1,274	16.68%	7,638
Green Lake	3,412	69.10%	1,526	30.90%	0	0.00%	1,886	38.19%	4,938
Iowa	3,425	56.84%	2,593	43.03%	8	0.13%	832	13.81%	6,026
Iron	1,794	69.83%	774	30.13%	1	0.04%	1,020	39.70%	2,569
Jackson	3,196	52.27%	2,918	47.73%	0	0.00%	278	4.55%	6,114
Jefferson	10,646	62.79%	6,305	37.18%	5	0.03%	4,341	25.60%	16,956
Juneau	5,244	70.83%	2,158	29.15%	2	0.03%	3,086	41.68%	7,404
Kenosha	14,750	53.19%	12,977	46.79%	6	0.02%	1,773	6.39%	27,733
Kewaunee	4,140	57.29%	3,087	42.71%	0	0.00%	1,053	14.57%	7,227
La Crosse	16,790	54.24%	14,164	45.76%	2	0.01%	2,626	8.48%	30,956
Lafayette	3,203	61.22%	2,028	38.76%	1	0.02%	1,175	22.46%	5,232
Langlade	3,637	60.80%	2,341	39.13%	4	0.07%	1,296	21.66%	5,982
Lincoln	4,443	55.69%	3,534	44.30%	1	0.01%	909	11.39%	7,978
Manitowoc	12,967	56.15%	10,098	43.73%	28	0.12%	2,869	12.42%	23,093
Marathon	21,908	59.86%	14,693	40.14%	0	0.00%	7,215	19.71%	36,601
Marinette	7,524	58.73%	5,286	41.26%	2	0.02%	2,238	17.47%	12,812
Marquette	2,245	59.47%	1,526	40.42%	4	0.11%	719	19.05%	3,775
Menominee	390	41.76%	544	58.24%	0	0.00%	-154	-16.49%	934
Milwaukee	128,835	54.06%	108,812	45.66%	670	0.28%	20,023	8.40%	238,317
Monroe	5,189	59.38%	3,546	40.58%	3	0.03%	1,643	18.80%	8,738
Oconto	5,441	58.68%	3,831	41.32%	0	0.00%	1,610	17.36%	9,272
Oneida	7,208	62.47%	4,328	37.51%	2	0.02%	2,880	24.96%	11,538
Outagamie	27,500	64.68%	15,010	35.31%	5	0.01%	12,490	29.38%	42,515
Ozaukee	16,078	75.58%	5,193	24.41%	1	0.00%	10,885	51.17%	21,272
Pepin	1,047	50.97%	1,006	48.98%	1	0.05%	41	2.00%	2,054
Pierce	4,809	55.79%	3,806	44.15%	5	0.06%	1,003	11.64%	8,620
Polk	5,779	55.08%	4,711	44.90%	2	0.02%	1,068	10.18%	10,492
Portage	7,976	51.47%	7,514	48.49%	5	0.03%	462	2.98%	15,495
Price	3,592	54.88%	2,949	45.06%	4	0.06%	643	9.82%	6,545
Racine	29,318	61.64%	18,243	38.36%	0	0.00%	11,075	23.29%	47,561
Richland	2,666	61.37%	1,678	38.63%	0	0.00%	988	22.74%	4,344
Rock	19,979	55.14%	16,231	44.80%	23	0.06%	3,748	10.34%	36,233
Rusk	2,697	51.67%	2,523	48.33%	0	0.00%	174	3.33%	5,220
Sauk	8,191	59.99%	5,458	39.97%	6	0.04%	2,733	20.01%	13,655
Sawyer	2,530	58.96%	1,757	40.95%	4	0.09%	773	18.01%	4,291
Shawano	6,690	64.35%	3,705	35.64%	2	0.02%	2,985	28.71%	10,397
Sheboygan	18,903	60.93%	12,118	39.06%	5	0.02%	6,785	21.87%	31,026
St. Croix	7,052	53.37%	6,158	46.61%	3	0.02%	894	6.77%	13,213
Taylor	3,280	57.26%	2,443	42.65%	5	0.09%	837	14.61%	5,728
Trempealeau	3,566	47.85%	3,878	52.04%	8	0.11%	-312	-4.19%	7,452
Vernon	3,945	53.48%	3,426	46.44%	6	0.08%	519	7.04%	7,377
Vilas	5,003	68.18%	2,331	31.77%	4	0.05%	2,672	36.41%	7,338
Walworth	11,937	64.92%	6,447	35.06%	3	0.02%	5,490	29.86%	18,387
Washburn	2,743	55.46%	2,201	44.50%	2	0.04%	542	10.96%	4,946
Washington	15,983	70.58%	6,662	29.42%	0	0.00%	9,321	41.16%	22,645
Waukesha	61,002	71.19%	24,679	28.80%	13	0.02%	36,323	42.39%	85,694
Waupaca	7,227	66.57%	3,619	33.34%	10	0.09%	3,608	33.24%	10,856
Waushara	3,300	63.49%	1,896	36.48%	2	0.04%	1,404	27.01%	5,198
Winnebago	25,972	64.58%	14,187	35.28%	57	0.14%	11,785	29.30%	40,216
Wood	11,540	59.64%	7,811	40.36%	0	0.00%	3,729	19.27%	19,351
Total	802,321	58.15%	576,280	41.77%	1,126	0.08%	226,041	16.38%	1,379,727

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Bayfield
• Chippewa
• Douglas
• Eau Claire
• Iron
• Kenosha
• Milwaukee
• Pierce
• Polk
• Portage
• St. Croix