1990 Maine gubernatorial election

The 1990 Maine gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 1990 to elect the governor of Maine. Incumbent Republican governor John McKernan won re-election to a second term, defeating Democratic nominee, former governor and incumbent Congressman Joseph E. Brennan in a tight contest. Independent Andrew Adam took in 9.3% of the vote. Both Brennan and McKernan were unopposed in their respective primaries.

1990 Maine gubernatorial election

← 1986 November 6, 1990 1994 →

Nominee John McKernan Joseph Brennan Andrew Adam Party Republican Democratic Independent Popular vote 243,766 230,038 48,377 Percentage 46.7% 44.1% 9.3%

County results Municipality results McKernan:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Brennan:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Tie:      30–40%      40–50%

Governor before election John McKernan Republican Elected Governor John McKernan Republican

This was the last election until 2010 that Maine elected a Republican governor. This was also the last Maine gubernatorial election until 2022 in which the winner was of the same party as the incumbent president. This is also the last Maine gubernatorial election that an incumbent governor won with a smaller margin of victory in their re-election bid.

General election

Candidates

• Joseph E. Brennan (Democratic), former governor of Maine and incumbent U.S. Representative from the 1st congressional district
• John McKernan Jr. (Republican), incumbent governor of Maine
• Andrew Adam (independent)

Results

1990 Maine gubernatorial election results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	John McKernan Jr. (incumbent)	243,766	46.68%	−
	Democratic	Joseph E. Brennan	230,038	44.05%	−
	Independent	Andrew Adam	48,377	9.27%	−
Plurality			13,728	2.63%
Turnout			522,181
	Republican hold		Swing

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Cumberland (largest city: Portland)
• Kennebec (largest city: Augusta)
• Oxford (largest town: Rumford)
• Penobscot (largest city: Bangor)
• Somerset (largest town: Skowhegan)