United States gubernatorial elections were held in the fall of 1979, in three states and one territory.
Republicans gained one gubernatorial seat in this year with Dave Treen's victory in Louisiana, who, as a result, became the first Republican Governor of that state since the Reconstruction era. Treen led a field of six major candidates in the October 27 primary and narrowly edged state senator Louis Lambert in the December 8 general election (or "runoff"). This was the first gubernatorial election in Louisiana's history that was conducted under the nonpartisan blanket primary (a.k.a. "jungle primary") format.
Democrats held control of the governor's mansions in Kentucky and Mississippi in the November 6 general elections.
Close states
States where the margin of victory was under 1%:
- Louisiana, 0.7%
Kentucky
The 1979 Kentucky gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1979. Democratic nominee John Y. Brown Jr. defeated Republican nominee Louie Nunn with 59.41% of the vote.
Louisiana
The 1979 Louisiana gubernatorial election was held on December 8, 1979. Incumbent Governor Edwin Edwards was ineligible to run for a third term, making it the only gubernatorial election in Louisiana between 1972 and 1991 to not feature Edwards as a candidate. In the race to succeed him, Dave Treen narrowly defeated Louis Lambert to become the first Republican governor of Louisiana since the Reconstruction Era.
This was the first gubernatorial election held after the adoption of the Louisiana primary in 1978. In the primary election held on October 27, Treen and Lambert finished first and second, respectively, to advance against a field of Democratic candidates including Lieutenant Governor Jimmy Fitzmorris, Secretary of State Paul Hardy, speaker of the Louisiana House E. L. Henry, and state senator Sonny Mouton.
Mississippi
The 1979 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 1979, in order to elect the Governor of Mississippi. Incumbent Democrat Cliff Finch was term-limited, and could not run for reelection to a second term.