1998 New Mexico gubernatorial election

1998 New Mexico gubernatorial election
	County results; Johnson: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%; Chávez: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%
Governor before election; Gary Johnson; Republican	Elected Governor ; Gary Johnson; Republican

The 1998 New Mexico gubernatorial election was a contest to elect the next governor of New Mexico. The winner of the election would serve a term from January 1, 1999 until January 1, 2003. Incumbent Republican (now Libertarian) Governor Gary Johnson was re-elected to a second term. As of 2025, this is the last time a non-Hispanic was elected governor of New Mexico.

In his campaign, Johnson promised to continue the policies of his first term: improving schools; cutting state spending, taxes, and bureaucracy; and frequent use of his veto and line-item veto power.^[1] Fielding a strong Hispanic candidate in a 40% Hispanic state, the Democrats were expected to oust Johnson,^[2] but Johnson won by a margin of 55% to 45%.^[3] This made him the first governor of New Mexico to serve two successive four-year terms after term limits were expanded to two terms in 1991.^[4] Johnson made the promotion of a school voucher system a "hallmark issue" of his second term.^[5] This election is the first time since 1968 that an incumbent Republican Governor of New Mexico was re-elected or won re-election.

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1998 New Mexico gubernatorial election

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