1990 Maine gubernatorial election

1990 Maine gubernatorial election
November 6, 1990
	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

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.

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, as well as the most recent Maine gubernatorial election that an incumbent governor won re-election with a smaller margin of victory than in their first election.

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

Sources^[1]^[2]

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)

References

^ "1990 Gubernatorial General Election Results - Maine". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Elections. Retrieved November 29, 2025.
^ "How Maine voted: Governor's races 1990 – 2018". The Portland Press Herald. October 5, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2025.

[1] "1990 Gubernatorial General Election Results - Maine". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Elections. Retrieved November 29, 2025.

[2] "How Maine voted: Governor's races 1990 – 2018". The Portland Press Herald. October 5, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2025.

[1]

[2]

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