1998 Alabama gubernatorial election

none related races 1998 United States gubernatorial elections January 2025 September 2023 1998 Alabama gubernatorial election Alabama presidential no 1994 Alabama gubernatorial election 1994 2002 Alabama gubernatorial election 2002 November 3, 1998 File:Don Siegelman at Netroots Nation 2008 (cropped).jpg Don Siegelman Democratic Party (United States) 752,087 57.92% File:Reagan Contact Sheet C1331 (cropped2) (cropped).jpg Fob James Republican Party (United States) 546,504 42.08% 1998 Alabama gubernatorial election results map by county.svg 250px County resultsSiegelman: #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% #3933e5 80–90%James: #e27f7f 50–60% Governor Fob James Republican Party (United States) Don Siegelman Democratic Party (United States) The 1998 Alabama gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1998. The election saw incumbent Governor Fob James (R) face off against Lieutenant Governor Don Siegelman (D), resulting in Siegelman winning more than 57% of votes. This was the second of three consecutive Alabama gubernatorial elections where the incumbent was defeated. As of , this was the last time that a Democrat was elected governor of Alabama, and the only time since 1982. Republican primary The Republican primary took place on June 2 and saw no candidate secure over 50% of the vote, leading to a runoff between Fob James and Winton Blount on June 30. The period leading up to the runoff election was marked by numerous insults and accusations by both candidates against each other.Alabama's Republican Runoff Gets Nasty https://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/06/30/alabama.runoff/ CNN 22 June 2024 30 June 1998 Incumbent Governor Fob James won the runoff 55% to 44%. Candidates Winton Blount, businessman, 1994 candidate for governor and son of former U.S. postmaster general Winton M. Blount Guy Hunt, former governor Fob James, incumbent governor since 1995 Mac McAllister, businessmanhttps://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/03/us/alabama-governor-forced-into-runoff-in-3d-term-bid.html The New York Times June 3, 1998 October 3, 2014 Kevin Sack Alabama Governor Forced Into Runoff in 3d-Term Bid Phil Williams Sr., former director of the Alabama Department of Finance Results thumb|center| #E27F7F James #FFB2B2 40–50% #E27F7F 50–60% #D75D5D 60–70% #D72F30 70–80% #5fd35f Blount #87de87 40–50% #5fd35f 50–60% #FF9A50 Hunt #FFCCA9 30–40% Republican primary resultshttp://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/06/03/alabama.results/ Alabama Primary Results - June 3, 1998 www.cnn.com Fob James (incumbent) Republican Party (United States) 163,711 47.96 Winton Blount Republican Party (United States) 139,941 40.99 Guy Hunt Republican Party (United States) 27,824 8.15 Mac McAllister Republican Party (United States) 5,641 1.65 Phil Williams Republican Party (United States) 4,258 1.25 341,375 100.00 Debate + 1998 Alabama gubernatorial election republican primary debate No. Number Date Host Moderator Link Republican RepublicanKey:black #90ff90  P  Participant  black #FFFFDD  A  Absent  black #ff9090  N  Not invited  black #CCFFCC  I  Invited #f0e68c W Withdrawn Winton Blount Fob James1 Jun. 25, 1998 WVTM-TV Fran Curry C-SPAN P P thumb|center| #E27F7F James #E27F7F 50–60% #D75D5D 60–70% #D72F30 70–80% #5fd35f Blount #5fd35f 50–60% Republican primary runoff resultshttp://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/07/01/alabama.results/ Alabama Runoff Results - June 30, 1998 www.cnn.com Fob James (incumbent) Republican Party (United States) 253,965 55.92 Winton Blount Republican Party (United States) 200,200 44.08 454,165 100.00 Democratic primary The Democratic primary took place on June 2 and saw Lieutenant Governor Don Siegelman easily chosen as the Democratic nominee over Birmingham attorney Lenora Pate and Wayne Sowell. Candidates Lee Lamb Lenora Pate, attorney and former director of the Alabama Department of Industrial Relationshttps://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/keyraces98/algov/candidates.htm The Washington Post Alabama Governor: The Candidates October 3, 2014 Don Siegelman, lieutenant governor of Alabama Results Democratic primary results Don Siegelman Democratic Party (United States) 254,507 78.26 Lenora Pate Democratic Party (United States) 53,618 16.49 Wayne Sowell Democratic Party (United States) 10,108 3.11 Lee Lamb Democratic Party (United States) 6,597 2.03 325,190 100.00 General election Candidates Fob James, incumbent governor since 1995 (Republican) Don Siegelman, lieutenant governor of Alabama (Democratic) Polling Poll source Date(s)administered SamplesizeKey:A – all adultsRV – registered votersLV – likely votersV – unclear Marginof error FobJames (R) DonSiegelman (D)Other / undecidedCalculated by taking the difference of 100% and all other candidates combined. pollingSouthern Opinion ResearchCNN AllPolitics Election '98 - Alabama 1998 Polls https://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/1998/states/AL/polls/AL98G.html CNN 12 June 2025 https://archive.today/20250612001404/https://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/1998/states/AL/polls/AL98G.html 12 June 2025 liveOctober 29–31, 1998490 (LV)± 5.0%45%53%12%Mason-Dixon Polling & StrategyOctober 29–31, 1998490 (LV)± 5.0%45%53%12%University of South AlabamaPoll sponsored by The Birmingham News, The Mobile Register, and The Huntsville TimesOctober 26–29, 1998820 (LV)± 3.5%36%52%12%Mason-Dixon Polling & StrategyOctober 24–26, 1998808 (LV)± 3.5%43%49%8%Southern Opinion ResearchFiveThirtyEight's Pollster Ratings Raw Polls File https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fivethirtyeight/data/refs/heads/master/pollster-ratings/2023/raw-polls.csv October 15, 2026 GitHub FiveThirtyEightOctober 22, 1998500—35%60%5%University of South AlabamaOctober 21, 1998820—32%46%22%Mason-Dixon Polling & StrategyOctober 10–12, 1998807 (LV)± 3.5%43%48%9%University of Alabama at BirminghamOctober 7–11, 1998401 (LV)± 5.0%39%46%15%USA Polling GroupRegisterOctober 5–7, 1998400 (A)± 5.0%40%52%8%Southern Opinion ResearchOctober 1–2, 1998501 (RV)± 5.0%39%52%9%Southern Opinion ResearchSeptember 3–4, 1998500 (RV)± 4.4%44%48%8%USA Polling GroupRegisterSeptember 1–3, 1998405 (A)± 5.0%40%48%12%Southern Opinion ResearchJune 23–26, 19981,019 (RV)± 3.0%41%51%8%Mason-Dixon Polling & StrategyJune 22–24, 1998804 (LV)± 3.5%41%46%13%USA Polling GroupRegister Poll sponsored by The Mobile RegisterJune 8–11, 1998800 (A)± 3.5%35%36%29% Debate + 1998 Alabama gubernatorial debate No. Number Date Host Moderator Link Republican DemocraticKey:black #90ff90  P  Participant  black #FFFFDD  A  Absent  black #ff9090  N  Not invited  black #CCFFCC  I  Invited #f0e68c W Withdrawn Fob James Don Siegelman1 Oct. 6, 1998 Junior League of Birmingham Malena Cunningham C-SPAN P P Results 1998 Alabama gubernatorial election Democratic Party (United States) Don Siegelman 752,087 57.92 +8.5 Republican Party (United States) Fob James (incumbent) 546,504 42.08 -8.2 1,298,591 100.00 N/A Democratic Party (United States) Republican Party (United States) Notes Partisan clients References External links Recent Alabama gubernatorial election results CNN coverage of election result Official campaign websites (archived) Don Siegelman (D) for Governor Fob James (R) for Governor See also 1998 Gubernatorial Alabama